The McLaren driver has a seven-point lead over Ferrari's Felipe Massa with three races remaining.
Massa led early on but finished 13th after a delay when he left the pits with his fuel hose still attached.
Alonso ended a season's frustration when a safety car period tallied perfectly with his team's strategy.
The double world champion had been quick all weekend but qualified only 15th when a fuel pump problem stopped him taking part in the second session.
Renault put him on a short first stint and he climbed up to 11th before an early stop on lap 12.
That meant that when the safety car came out after Alonso's Renault team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr crashed on lap 15, the Spaniard was alone in not having to stop for fuel and tyres.
I need a couple of days to realise that we could win a race this year, we have been so far from the top guys
Fernando Alonso
Once everyone had stopped, Alonso was fifth behind Williams's Nico Rosberg, Toyota's Jarno Trulli, Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica.
But Rosberg and Kubica had to serve stop-go penalties for pitting while the pit lane was closed during the safety car period.
Trulli and Fisichella were on single-stop strategies but Alonso had more than enough pace to ensure he made enough of a gap to ensure he could make a second stop and stay ahead of them.
It was his first win since last year's Italian Grand Prix, when he was driving for McLaren, a team he left after one season following a tumultuous season as Hamilton's team-mate.
A second intervention by the safety car closed the field up for the last 10 laps but Alonso was always in control and he finished ahead of Rosberg and Hamilton.
Alonso said: "Fantastic. The first podium of the season and the first victory.
"I can't believe it right now, I need a couple of days to realise that we could win a race this year, we have been so far from the top guys.
Massa's race - and possibly his title hopes - were wrecked by an error
"We were unlucky in qualifying yesterday but lucky in the race. The safety car really helped me today.
"We chose to do a very aggressive first stint because we knew starting 15th you couldn't overtake.
"We thought about doing a one-stop strategy but we had some concern over the brakes and we knew a one-stop was not possible. But the pace was there. All through the race were able to pull a gap on the guys behind us. The pace was super today."
Toyota's Timo Glock was fourth ahead of Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel, BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, Red Bull's David Coulthard and Williams's Kazuki Nakajima.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen crashed out coming out at the notorious Turn 10 chicane on lap 57 while running fifth.
The first safety car intervention defined the race in more ways than Alonso's victory.
606: DEBATE
I have to say please can Ferrari do that every weekend it was hilarious
SportsAddict2000
Massa had looked set to dominate, leading away from pole position and pulling away from Hamilton in the early stages of the race.
But when Massa stopped for fuel and tyres under the safety car, he was given a green light to leave the pits from Ferrari's pit equipment before the refuelling hose had been detached.
The Brazilian pulled away, knocked over a mechanic, and tore the refuelling hose away from the equipment.
He had to stop at the end of the pit lane and wait for his mechanics to sprint down and remove it before he could rejoin the race at the back.
Massa's afternoon was then made even worse when he was given a drive-through penalty for leaving his pit dangerously.
Hamilton dropped back behind the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and David Coulthard when most of the field stopped during the safety car period.
But the gearbox on Webber's car failed and Hamilton passed Coulthard just before his final stop on lap 42.
That left the Englishman third behind Alonso and Rosberg when a second safety car period following an accident to Force India's Adrian Sutil on lap 51 closed the field right up.
Alonso's 20-second lead was reduced to nothing, but he got a jump on Rosberg as the race re-started and pulled away again to secure the win.
Hamilton tracked Rosberg to the finish but, with the championship at stake and Massa not scoring, preferred not to take any risks in pursuit of an extra couple of points and secure the six for third place.
Hamilton had plenty to celebrate after finishing third
"I enjoyed driving here and I'm pretty happy," Hamilton said. "It was a tough weekend but we got some good points."
The first safety car period was as unlucky for Rosberg as it was lucky for Alonso - he was forced to come in when the pit lane was closed because it was the lap for his scheduled first stop and he would have run out of fuel had he stayed out.
But he was able to run long enough after the re-start to establish enough of a lead before serving his penalty to lose a place only to Alonso.
"When I saw the safety car coming out on the lap I was due to pit, I was like: 'This is not possible - it's every single time'," Rosberg said.
"I was really annoyed until I was able to pull a big enough gap afterwards."
Result of Singapore Grand Prix:
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault one hour 57 minutes 16.304 seconds2 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 2.9 seconds behind3 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes +5.9secs
Barack Obama Gives A Shout-Out To Hip-Hop
Senator says artists are 'thinking about social responsibility and how they can impact the culture in a positive way.'
Yes, hip-hop loves Barack Obama. From Weezy to Jeezy, Jay to 'Ye, some of rap's biggest names have saluted him in their lyrics, and he's inspired mixtapes, bootleg T-shirts and onstage shout-outs.
But what does the senator think of hip-hop? Sure, he went all Jay and brushed dirt off his shoulder at an April campaign stop and referenced Lil Wayne during a speech in July. But he was also quick to admonish Ludacris for a particularly fiery freestyle aimed at George W. Bush and then-rival Hillary Clinton. And while stars like Oprah Winfrey, Usher and John Legend have turned up next to Obama at campaign stops, the hip-hop nation has been virtually absent from the senator's stage.
So how does Obama feel about the genre that has rallied around him?
"I enjoy it, but these days I don't have the time to listen to it all the time," he told MTV News. He said that he still finds time to shuffle through MCs like Jay-Z and Kanye on his iPod, but he thinks the genre's impact extends far beyond a few hot tracks.
"I'm a little older than hip-hop culture," he said. "I was there at the beginning, but I was already getting older. ... What I've appreciated, watching this hip-hop generation, is to see how entrepreneurial they've been. In the past, musicians oftentimes were commodities. They were just shuffled around. Obviously, they did well, but they didn't have the vision to say, 'I'm going to build a business. I'm going to build my own studio. I'm going to create my own production operations.' I think they're a lot more sophisticated than in the past, and that is a wonderful thing."
He went on to tell MTV News that he's still seeing growth in the genre and that he's optimistic about what's ahead for hip-hop.
"What I'm starting to see is them stretching out more and thinking about social responsibility and how they can impact the culture in a positive way," he said. "And I hope that continues."
And where does he weigh in on hip-hop's hottest issue -- the greatest of all time?
"Oh no, I'm not going to get caught up in all that," he laughed.
Yes, hip-hop loves Barack Obama. From Weezy to Jeezy, Jay to 'Ye, some of rap's biggest names have saluted him in their lyrics, and he's inspired mixtapes, bootleg T-shirts and onstage shout-outs.
But what does the senator think of hip-hop? Sure, he went all Jay and brushed dirt off his shoulder at an April campaign stop and referenced Lil Wayne during a speech in July. But he was also quick to admonish Ludacris for a particularly fiery freestyle aimed at George W. Bush and then-rival Hillary Clinton. And while stars like Oprah Winfrey, Usher and John Legend have turned up next to Obama at campaign stops, the hip-hop nation has been virtually absent from the senator's stage.
So how does Obama feel about the genre that has rallied around him?
"I enjoy it, but these days I don't have the time to listen to it all the time," he told MTV News. He said that he still finds time to shuffle through MCs like Jay-Z and Kanye on his iPod, but he thinks the genre's impact extends far beyond a few hot tracks.
"I'm a little older than hip-hop culture," he said. "I was there at the beginning, but I was already getting older. ... What I've appreciated, watching this hip-hop generation, is to see how entrepreneurial they've been. In the past, musicians oftentimes were commodities. They were just shuffled around. Obviously, they did well, but they didn't have the vision to say, 'I'm going to build a business. I'm going to build my own studio. I'm going to create my own production operations.' I think they're a lot more sophisticated than in the past, and that is a wonderful thing."
He went on to tell MTV News that he's still seeing growth in the genre and that he's optimistic about what's ahead for hip-hop.
"What I'm starting to see is them stretching out more and thinking about social responsibility and how they can impact the culture in a positive way," he said. "And I hope that continues."
And where does he weigh in on hip-hop's hottest issue -- the greatest of all time?
"Oh no, I'm not going to get caught up in all that," he laughed.
New software turns PC into TiVo TV recorder
NEW YORK - TiVo Inc. and Nero AG of Germany were set to announce Monday that they will be launching a package that turns a Windows PC into a TV recorder, just like a TiVo set-top box.
It's not the first software that allows TV recording on the PC. That's been possible for years on computers equipped with TV tuners, and some versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system include the necessary software. But it will be the first time that both the TiVo interface and functions have been replicated on a PC.
The Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC will go on sale initially in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, but it could open up some markets where TiVo does not yet sell its set-top boxes. Joshua Danovitz, vice president and general manager of international business at TiVo, said the plan is to launch it in Europe next year, including in Nero's home country, Germany. Britain is the only European country where TiVo currently has subscribers.
"It's really part of a global TiVo strategy," Danovitz said.
For people who already have a tuner-equipped PC, Nero — a private company mainly known for CD- and DVD-burning software — will sell the TV recording software separately, for $99. Either way, buyers will get a one-year subscription to TiVo's program guide updates. Renewal will cost $99 per year.
The renewal cost sets the product apart from the digital video recording features of Windows Vista, which has a free program guide. However, Nero and TiVo are counting on the popularity of the TiVo interface and brand to overcome that hurdle.
Like TiVo's existing TiVo Desktop software, LiquidTV will allow users to transfer shows recorded on other TiVo devices in the home to the PC's hard drive, and bring shows out of the home, either on a laptop's drive or on an iPod or PlayStation Portable. LiquidTV also allows users to burn shows onto DVDs if the computer has a DVD burner.
It's not the first software that allows TV recording on the PC. That's been possible for years on computers equipped with TV tuners, and some versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system include the necessary software. But it will be the first time that both the TiVo interface and functions have been replicated on a PC.
The Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC will go on sale initially in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, but it could open up some markets where TiVo does not yet sell its set-top boxes. Joshua Danovitz, vice president and general manager of international business at TiVo, said the plan is to launch it in Europe next year, including in Nero's home country, Germany. Britain is the only European country where TiVo currently has subscribers.
"It's really part of a global TiVo strategy," Danovitz said.
For people who already have a tuner-equipped PC, Nero — a private company mainly known for CD- and DVD-burning software — will sell the TV recording software separately, for $99. Either way, buyers will get a one-year subscription to TiVo's program guide updates. Renewal will cost $99 per year.
The renewal cost sets the product apart from the digital video recording features of Windows Vista, which has a free program guide. However, Nero and TiVo are counting on the popularity of the TiVo interface and brand to overcome that hurdle.
Like TiVo's existing TiVo Desktop software, LiquidTV will allow users to transfer shows recorded on other TiVo devices in the home to the PC's hard drive, and bring shows out of the home, either on a laptop's drive or on an iPod or PlayStation Portable. LiquidTV also allows users to burn shows onto DVDs if the computer has a DVD burner.
Google phone to cost $179, debut Oct. 22
The first phone that harnesses Google Inc.'s ambition to make the Internet easy to use on the go was revealed Tuesday, and it looks a lot like an iPhone.
T-Mobile USA showed off the G1, a phone that, like Apple Inc.'s iPhone, has a large touch screen. But it also packs a trackball, a slide-out keyboard and easy access to Google's e-mail and mapping programs.
T-Mobile said it will begin selling the G1 for $179 with a two-year contract. The device hits U.S. stores Oct. 22 and heads to Britain in November and other European countries early next year.
The phone will be sold in T-Mobile stores only in the U.S. cities where the company has rolled out its faster, third-generation wireless data network. By launch, that will be 21 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Miami.
In other areas, people will be able to buy the phone from T-Mobile's Web site. The phone does work on T-Mobile's slower data network, but it's optimized for the faster networks. It can also connect at Wi-Fi hotspots.
The data plan for the phone will cost $25 per month on top of the calling service, at the low end of the range for data plans at U.S. wireless carriers. And at $179, the G1 is $20 less than the least expensive iPhone in the U.S.
Android, the free software powering the G1, is a crucial building block in Google's efforts to make its search engine and other services as accessible on cell phones as they already are on personal computers. The company believes it eventually might make more money selling ads that get shown on mobile devices than on PCs, a channel that will generate about $20 billion in revenue this year.
Both Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. also are investing heavily in the mobile market in hopes of preventing Google from extending the dominance it enjoys in searches initiated on PCs.
In an interview, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said Google's aims are broader than mobile advertising.
"Generally, we think if there are great (operating systems) out there that let people have great devices and great applications, people use the Internet on their phones much more," Brin said at the launch event in New York. "And whenever people use the Internet more, they end up using our services, and ultimately, that's good for our business. There's no secret plan to have ads pop up or anything."
Like the iPhone, the G1 has a high-resolution screen, making it easier to browse Web sites that haven't been specifically adapted for a cell phone. Unlike the iPhone, Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerrys and most other high-end smart phones sold in the U.S., the G1 has a very limited ability to connect to corporate e-mail servers. That means the device's initial market is likely to be consumers.
On the face of it, the G1 doesn't do much that other high-end phones don't already do. But Google is counting the device unleashing the creativity of software developers, who are free to write applications for it.
"There aren't a lot of `wow' features on it. I think what we can expect from it is that it's going to be a good Internet phone," said Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of PC Magazine.
Developers will be able to submit applications to an online store run by Google, which will apply minimal vetting.
"The key is going to be what app developers are going to do for it," said Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD Group. "They didn't have a lot to show today."
Apple launched a similar store for the iPhone this year, but keeps much tighter control over what applications are available. It has blocked programs that compete with its own.
The G1 won't connect to Apple's iTunes store, but one of the initial applications will be a music store from Amazon.com Inc., which will let users download songs directly to the phone. In an unusual move for a mobile-phone music store, the songs will have no copy protection.
Brin himself has written an application for the phone.
"It's just very exciting for me as a computer geek to be able to have a phone that I can play with and modify and innovate upon just like I have with computers in the past," he said.
Brin's program uses the phone's built-in motion sensor to measure how long it takes for the phone to land when tossed into the air. He acknowledged that the wisdom of including such a program with an expensive phone is dubious.
"We did not include that one by default," he said.
T-Mobile USA showed off the G1, a phone that, like Apple Inc.'s iPhone, has a large touch screen. But it also packs a trackball, a slide-out keyboard and easy access to Google's e-mail and mapping programs.
T-Mobile said it will begin selling the G1 for $179 with a two-year contract. The device hits U.S. stores Oct. 22 and heads to Britain in November and other European countries early next year.
The phone will be sold in T-Mobile stores only in the U.S. cities where the company has rolled out its faster, third-generation wireless data network. By launch, that will be 21 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Miami.
In other areas, people will be able to buy the phone from T-Mobile's Web site. The phone does work on T-Mobile's slower data network, but it's optimized for the faster networks. It can also connect at Wi-Fi hotspots.
The data plan for the phone will cost $25 per month on top of the calling service, at the low end of the range for data plans at U.S. wireless carriers. And at $179, the G1 is $20 less than the least expensive iPhone in the U.S.
Android, the free software powering the G1, is a crucial building block in Google's efforts to make its search engine and other services as accessible on cell phones as they already are on personal computers. The company believes it eventually might make more money selling ads that get shown on mobile devices than on PCs, a channel that will generate about $20 billion in revenue this year.
Both Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. also are investing heavily in the mobile market in hopes of preventing Google from extending the dominance it enjoys in searches initiated on PCs.
In an interview, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said Google's aims are broader than mobile advertising.
"Generally, we think if there are great (operating systems) out there that let people have great devices and great applications, people use the Internet on their phones much more," Brin said at the launch event in New York. "And whenever people use the Internet more, they end up using our services, and ultimately, that's good for our business. There's no secret plan to have ads pop up or anything."
Like the iPhone, the G1 has a high-resolution screen, making it easier to browse Web sites that haven't been specifically adapted for a cell phone. Unlike the iPhone, Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerrys and most other high-end smart phones sold in the U.S., the G1 has a very limited ability to connect to corporate e-mail servers. That means the device's initial market is likely to be consumers.
On the face of it, the G1 doesn't do much that other high-end phones don't already do. But Google is counting the device unleashing the creativity of software developers, who are free to write applications for it.
"There aren't a lot of `wow' features on it. I think what we can expect from it is that it's going to be a good Internet phone," said Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of PC Magazine.
Developers will be able to submit applications to an online store run by Google, which will apply minimal vetting.
"The key is going to be what app developers are going to do for it," said Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD Group. "They didn't have a lot to show today."
Apple launched a similar store for the iPhone this year, but keeps much tighter control over what applications are available. It has blocked programs that compete with its own.
The G1 won't connect to Apple's iTunes store, but one of the initial applications will be a music store from Amazon.com Inc., which will let users download songs directly to the phone. In an unusual move for a mobile-phone music store, the songs will have no copy protection.
Brin himself has written an application for the phone.
"It's just very exciting for me as a computer geek to be able to have a phone that I can play with and modify and innovate upon just like I have with computers in the past," he said.
Brin's program uses the phone's built-in motion sensor to measure how long it takes for the phone to land when tossed into the air. He acknowledged that the wisdom of including such a program with an expensive phone is dubious.
"We did not include that one by default," he said.
Clay is gay: Aiken comes out of the closet
The cover of the latest People magazine shows Aiken holding his infant son, Parker Foster Aiken, with the headline: "Yes, I'm Gay." The cover also has the quote: "I cannot raise a child to lie or hide things."
The magazine has an interview with Aiken and confirmed that he was on the cover but refused to release the article to The Associated Press until Wednesday.
The baby's mother is Aiken's friend and record producer Jaymes Foster.
Aiken, who gained fame as the runner-up on American Idol in 2003, rarely addressed the frequent rumors about his sexuality. In an interview with The Associated Press two years ago, he said: "I don't really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love."
The magazine has an interview with Aiken and confirmed that he was on the cover but refused to release the article to The Associated Press until Wednesday.
The baby's mother is Aiken's friend and record producer Jaymes Foster.
Aiken, who gained fame as the runner-up on American Idol in 2003, rarely addressed the frequent rumors about his sexuality. In an interview with The Associated Press two years ago, he said: "I don't really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love."
Ciara Insists: 'I Wasn't Nude' In Vibe Photo Shoot
'Go Girl' singer calls magazine cover 'very, very upsetting and somewhat misleading.'
R&B chanteuse Ciara would like to set the record straight about the photo spread she shot for the October issue of Vibe magazine: She was not nude, and yes, she's very upset by the magazine's depiction of her as such — but she is not planning any legal action against the urban glossy.
"I think, at this point, I'd rather just be quiet about things such as that but I definitely want to make it clear that I was going in to do something artistic, and I was upset that when I saw the photos, everything was gone," the singer told MTV News last weekend, from the set of her forthcoming music video for "Go Girl," which features a cameo from T-Pain. "It's very, very upsetting and somewhat misleading."
Online rumors have suggested that the singer was not nude during the photo shoot but instead wearing underwear, which the magazine allegedly airbrushed out. Vibe Editor in Chief Danyel Smith recently commented to New York's KISS-FM radio station that not only was Ciara shot au natural, the entire idea behind the spread was the singer's.
"I'm actually really sad," Smith said. "Almost any photo you see on the cover of Vibe or any magazine is airbrushed [to some degree]. What I was thinking of doing, actually, was releasing the untouched photos [on Vibe's] Web site, so people can see what the hullabaloo is all about. I have so much respect for Ciara, and Ciara was so happy when she pitched this idea to us, and the photos are actually striking and beautiful. It was pitched to me in a way that it was time [for her] to grow up and be beautiful and be free and be all the things she wanted to be."
Ciara said she's still hurt by the photos and was quite shocked when she finally got her hands on the October issue.
"I walked into the Vibe photo shoot very excited about making an artistic expression," she said. "And when I saw the photos, I was a little bothered because the photos appear as if I was nude, and I wasn't nude. I reached out to [Smith] — I sent her a letter — and I was a little upset, too, in the fact that she didn't respond to me, and that happened prior to me reading her quote on the Internet. That definitely bothered me, just because of the fact that I wasn't nude. I walked into the photo shoot to do an artistic photo shoot, so I was excited about that. I just didn't like the fact that I saw the picture and now, stuff is gone."
Ciara said the idea behind the entire shoot — at least on her end — was a celebration of the human form and that she'd walked away from the shoot thinking that everything had gone great. "When I saw the pictures, that wasn't what was discussed or what we were going in to do, so that definitely bothered me," she said. "I think the body is something beautiful, and I wanted to celebrate that. And unfortunately, it wasn't exactly what it was in the photo shoot, and I'm looking forward to moving forward."
No matter what Smith or anyone from Vibe says about the shoot, Ciara said she knows exactly what went down that day.
"I know what was there, I know what was taken, and I know what was done. And then to look at the book and go, 'It's gone' — it was just very upsetting to me," she said.
R&B chanteuse Ciara would like to set the record straight about the photo spread she shot for the October issue of Vibe magazine: She was not nude, and yes, she's very upset by the magazine's depiction of her as such — but she is not planning any legal action against the urban glossy.
"I think, at this point, I'd rather just be quiet about things such as that but I definitely want to make it clear that I was going in to do something artistic, and I was upset that when I saw the photos, everything was gone," the singer told MTV News last weekend, from the set of her forthcoming music video for "Go Girl," which features a cameo from T-Pain. "It's very, very upsetting and somewhat misleading."
Online rumors have suggested that the singer was not nude during the photo shoot but instead wearing underwear, which the magazine allegedly airbrushed out. Vibe Editor in Chief Danyel Smith recently commented to New York's KISS-FM radio station that not only was Ciara shot au natural, the entire idea behind the spread was the singer's.
"I'm actually really sad," Smith said. "Almost any photo you see on the cover of Vibe or any magazine is airbrushed [to some degree]. What I was thinking of doing, actually, was releasing the untouched photos [on Vibe's] Web site, so people can see what the hullabaloo is all about. I have so much respect for Ciara, and Ciara was so happy when she pitched this idea to us, and the photos are actually striking and beautiful. It was pitched to me in a way that it was time [for her] to grow up and be beautiful and be free and be all the things she wanted to be."
Ciara said she's still hurt by the photos and was quite shocked when she finally got her hands on the October issue.
"I walked into the Vibe photo shoot very excited about making an artistic expression," she said. "And when I saw the photos, I was a little bothered because the photos appear as if I was nude, and I wasn't nude. I reached out to [Smith] — I sent her a letter — and I was a little upset, too, in the fact that she didn't respond to me, and that happened prior to me reading her quote on the Internet. That definitely bothered me, just because of the fact that I wasn't nude. I walked into the photo shoot to do an artistic photo shoot, so I was excited about that. I just didn't like the fact that I saw the picture and now, stuff is gone."
Ciara said the idea behind the entire shoot — at least on her end — was a celebration of the human form and that she'd walked away from the shoot thinking that everything had gone great. "When I saw the pictures, that wasn't what was discussed or what we were going in to do, so that definitely bothered me," she said. "I think the body is something beautiful, and I wanted to celebrate that. And unfortunately, it wasn't exactly what it was in the photo shoot, and I'm looking forward to moving forward."
No matter what Smith or anyone from Vibe says about the shoot, Ciara said she knows exactly what went down that day.
"I know what was there, I know what was taken, and I know what was done. And then to look at the book and go, 'It's gone' — it was just very upsetting to me," she said.
Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1: Kalou crowns Chelsea fightback in compelling battle of heavyweights
It is too early in the season for this to be a seminal match, but for an hour yesterday it felt like it could be.
Manchester United, showing the form they have been searching for during the campaign's opening weeks, appeared poised to inflict Chelsea's first home League defeat for four-and-a-half years. That would have been a resounding psychological blow worth even more than the three precious points at stake.
Then Chelsea's resilience, which seems part of their DNA regardless of who is in the dugout, surfaced again. Trailing to Ji-Sung Park's 18th-minute goal, they had lacked the fluency previously displayed under Luiz Felipe Scolari. But the best teams graft when the craft is missing and Chelsea pushed the champions back by force of will.
Salomon Kalou levelled and United were hanging on at the final whistle which came just as Rio Ferdinand flattened Didier Drogba on the edge of the box. With Ferdinand's second yellow card seemingly imminent, and Chelsea anticipating a dangerously placed free-kick, Mike Riley signalled that time was up.
The result leaves United 15th, between Wigan and Bolton, with five points from four games. More pertinently they remain six points adrift of Chelsea, but with a game in hand, having already played two of their most demanding fixtures, here and at Liverpool last weekend. Chelsea are second, level with Liverpool and a point behind Arsenal. Those two teams will be happiest with this result, and the fact that Deco, Ricardo Carvalho and Edwin van der Sar all suffered injury. Van der Sar's may be the most significant as United last week lost reserve goalkeeper Ben Foster to an ankle injury for six weeks.
Sir Alex Ferguson picked a team designed to stifle Chelsea, but with orders to attack them. Owen Hargreaves and Park were stationed on the flanks of a midfield four with a view to pinning back Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa, who have been such an outlet for Chelsea this season. The intent, though, was offensive, United perhaps surprising Chelsea with their attacking approach, Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher having chances in the early minutes.
This was backed up by tackling fierce enough to suggest Ferguson's pre-match address had reminded his men how they had been second to the ball too often at Anfield. Scholes committed three fouls in the first 10 minutes and was the first of seven United names taken by Riley – to one of Chelsea. United will be fined by the Football Association for exceeding five cautions.
United's initial ascendancy was helped by Chelsea having to reshape their midfield after Deco became the weekend's third player – after Middlesbrough's Mido and Abdoulaye Méité of West Bromwich Albion – to be injured in the warm-up. Michael Ballack replaced him, his first start since missing four weeks with a foot injury. Deco has been Chelsea's midfield fulcrum and with Ballack taking time to settle their passing lacked cohesion. Then Carvalho had to limp off after 12 minutes to be replaced by Alex.
Outplayed though they were in the opening half, Chelsea should have scored first. Joe Cole, running on to Nicolas Anelka's flick-on, turned Patrice Evra, advanced on Van der Sar and to general astonishment steered his shot into the side netting. It proved an expensive miss as, 10 minutes later, United went ahead. Evra fed Dimitar Berbatov who laid the ball back to Rooney. He picked out Evra, who had continued his run into the box. The France international shrugged off Bosingwa and cut the ball back to Berbatov. Cech parried his side-footed shot and Park rolled in the rebound.
United had already gone close from an even unlikelier source. Ferdinand, having dispossessed Anelka and fed Berbatov, kept running and was played in by Rooney. Cech turned his shot onto the crossbar and over.
It was 10 minutes before Chelsea threatened to level, but through a defensive slip, Neville leaving a headed back-pass short. Florent Malouda just won a 50-50 race with Van der Sar but the Dutchman blocked his toe-poke with his chest before crashing into Malouda. On balance, Riley was right not to give a penalty and show a red card but the goalkeeper soon departed anyway, bruised in the collision.
Drogba came on at the restart, soon followed by Cristiano Ronaldo. The former had the greater impact with his physical presence and ability to hold the ball up. Gradually, Chelsea began to create chances. Ballack released Joe Cole over the top. This time he went for power, and blasted the ball at Tomasz Kuszczak's chest. Anelka managed to miskick when presented with gilt-edged chances by Bosingwa and Joe Cole, then Ballack shot wide.
Chelsea's profligacy should have been punished when Ronaldo released Rooney with 13 minutes left. He hit the side netting. Two minutes later, after Rooney had fouled Ashley Cole, Kalou exploited slack marking to head in John Obi Mikel's free-kick.
That there were no further goals was due to a last-ditch saving tackle by Neville on Kalou, and an extraordinary block by Alex from Fletcher's shot. Those two moments, as much as the artistry shown at times by red and blue, underlined why the title is likely to go to one of these teams for the fifth successive year.
Goals: Park (18) 0-1; Kalou (80) 1-1.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Carvalho (Alex, 12), Terry, A Cole; Ballack (Kalou, 74), Mikel, Lampard; J Cole, Anelka, Malouda (Drogba, h-t). Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Bridge, Ferriera, Belletti.
Manchester United (4-4-2): Van der Sar (Kuszczak, 32); Neville, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Hargreaves, Fletcher, Scholes (Ronaldo, 55), Park (O'Shea, 75); Rooney, Berbatov. Substitutes not used: Brown, Giggs, Nani, Tevez.
Referee: M Riley (West Yorkshire)
Booked: Chelsea Mikel; Manchester United Scholes, Ferdinand, Neville, Berbatov, Rooney, Evra, Ronaldo.
Man of the match: Rooney.
Attendance: 41,760
Manchester United, showing the form they have been searching for during the campaign's opening weeks, appeared poised to inflict Chelsea's first home League defeat for four-and-a-half years. That would have been a resounding psychological blow worth even more than the three precious points at stake.
Then Chelsea's resilience, which seems part of their DNA regardless of who is in the dugout, surfaced again. Trailing to Ji-Sung Park's 18th-minute goal, they had lacked the fluency previously displayed under Luiz Felipe Scolari. But the best teams graft when the craft is missing and Chelsea pushed the champions back by force of will.
Salomon Kalou levelled and United were hanging on at the final whistle which came just as Rio Ferdinand flattened Didier Drogba on the edge of the box. With Ferdinand's second yellow card seemingly imminent, and Chelsea anticipating a dangerously placed free-kick, Mike Riley signalled that time was up.
The result leaves United 15th, between Wigan and Bolton, with five points from four games. More pertinently they remain six points adrift of Chelsea, but with a game in hand, having already played two of their most demanding fixtures, here and at Liverpool last weekend. Chelsea are second, level with Liverpool and a point behind Arsenal. Those two teams will be happiest with this result, and the fact that Deco, Ricardo Carvalho and Edwin van der Sar all suffered injury. Van der Sar's may be the most significant as United last week lost reserve goalkeeper Ben Foster to an ankle injury for six weeks.
Sir Alex Ferguson picked a team designed to stifle Chelsea, but with orders to attack them. Owen Hargreaves and Park were stationed on the flanks of a midfield four with a view to pinning back Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa, who have been such an outlet for Chelsea this season. The intent, though, was offensive, United perhaps surprising Chelsea with their attacking approach, Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher having chances in the early minutes.
This was backed up by tackling fierce enough to suggest Ferguson's pre-match address had reminded his men how they had been second to the ball too often at Anfield. Scholes committed three fouls in the first 10 minutes and was the first of seven United names taken by Riley – to one of Chelsea. United will be fined by the Football Association for exceeding five cautions.
United's initial ascendancy was helped by Chelsea having to reshape their midfield after Deco became the weekend's third player – after Middlesbrough's Mido and Abdoulaye Méité of West Bromwich Albion – to be injured in the warm-up. Michael Ballack replaced him, his first start since missing four weeks with a foot injury. Deco has been Chelsea's midfield fulcrum and with Ballack taking time to settle their passing lacked cohesion. Then Carvalho had to limp off after 12 minutes to be replaced by Alex.
Outplayed though they were in the opening half, Chelsea should have scored first. Joe Cole, running on to Nicolas Anelka's flick-on, turned Patrice Evra, advanced on Van der Sar and to general astonishment steered his shot into the side netting. It proved an expensive miss as, 10 minutes later, United went ahead. Evra fed Dimitar Berbatov who laid the ball back to Rooney. He picked out Evra, who had continued his run into the box. The France international shrugged off Bosingwa and cut the ball back to Berbatov. Cech parried his side-footed shot and Park rolled in the rebound.
United had already gone close from an even unlikelier source. Ferdinand, having dispossessed Anelka and fed Berbatov, kept running and was played in by Rooney. Cech turned his shot onto the crossbar and over.
It was 10 minutes before Chelsea threatened to level, but through a defensive slip, Neville leaving a headed back-pass short. Florent Malouda just won a 50-50 race with Van der Sar but the Dutchman blocked his toe-poke with his chest before crashing into Malouda. On balance, Riley was right not to give a penalty and show a red card but the goalkeeper soon departed anyway, bruised in the collision.
Drogba came on at the restart, soon followed by Cristiano Ronaldo. The former had the greater impact with his physical presence and ability to hold the ball up. Gradually, Chelsea began to create chances. Ballack released Joe Cole over the top. This time he went for power, and blasted the ball at Tomasz Kuszczak's chest. Anelka managed to miskick when presented with gilt-edged chances by Bosingwa and Joe Cole, then Ballack shot wide.
Chelsea's profligacy should have been punished when Ronaldo released Rooney with 13 minutes left. He hit the side netting. Two minutes later, after Rooney had fouled Ashley Cole, Kalou exploited slack marking to head in John Obi Mikel's free-kick.
That there were no further goals was due to a last-ditch saving tackle by Neville on Kalou, and an extraordinary block by Alex from Fletcher's shot. Those two moments, as much as the artistry shown at times by red and blue, underlined why the title is likely to go to one of these teams for the fifth successive year.
Goals: Park (18) 0-1; Kalou (80) 1-1.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Carvalho (Alex, 12), Terry, A Cole; Ballack (Kalou, 74), Mikel, Lampard; J Cole, Anelka, Malouda (Drogba, h-t). Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Bridge, Ferriera, Belletti.
Manchester United (4-4-2): Van der Sar (Kuszczak, 32); Neville, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Hargreaves, Fletcher, Scholes (Ronaldo, 55), Park (O'Shea, 75); Rooney, Berbatov. Substitutes not used: Brown, Giggs, Nani, Tevez.
Referee: M Riley (West Yorkshire)
Booked: Chelsea Mikel; Manchester United Scholes, Ferdinand, Neville, Berbatov, Rooney, Evra, Ronaldo.
Man of the match: Rooney.
Attendance: 41,760
Palin Email Hacker Found
mortonda writes to tell us that the person responsible for breaching Sarah Palin's private email account has been found. We discussed the breach last Wednesday, shortly before a message from the hacker, a University of Tennessee-Knoxville student, posted a message detailing his methods. Wired has a story examining the potential legal consequences for the hacker.
Google grows search lead
Google saw its search lead expand in August
Google grows search lead
Company widens gap over Yahoo, MSN
Google has seen its total share of the search market grow to nearly two-thirds of all US search traffic, according to a recent report.
Research firm Comscore said in its monthly report that Google's total search share grew from 61.9 to 63 per cent over the month of August. The company saw an increase of 1.1 per cent over the month, in which Google's sites handled some 7.4 billion of the 11.7 billion searches performed in the US.
Most of Google's gain came at the expense of rivals Yahoo and Microsoft. Yahoo saw its share of the market fall by 0.9 per cent over the month to claim just 19.6 per cent of the total market with 2.3 billion searches.
Microsoft was a distant third, claiming 8.3 per cent of the market. The 977 million searches performed by Microsoft sites reflected a 0.6 per cent decrease over last month.
Ask Network saw its share increase slightly, claiming 4.8 per cent of the total market over 4.5 per cent in July. Fifth-place AOL also saw a slight gain, improving from 4.2 per cent to 4.3 per cent of the US search market.
Google grows search lead
Company widens gap over Yahoo, MSN
Google has seen its total share of the search market grow to nearly two-thirds of all US search traffic, according to a recent report.
Research firm Comscore said in its monthly report that Google's total search share grew from 61.9 to 63 per cent over the month of August. The company saw an increase of 1.1 per cent over the month, in which Google's sites handled some 7.4 billion of the 11.7 billion searches performed in the US.
Most of Google's gain came at the expense of rivals Yahoo and Microsoft. Yahoo saw its share of the market fall by 0.9 per cent over the month to claim just 19.6 per cent of the total market with 2.3 billion searches.
Microsoft was a distant third, claiming 8.3 per cent of the market. The 977 million searches performed by Microsoft sites reflected a 0.6 per cent decrease over last month.
Ask Network saw its share increase slightly, claiming 4.8 per cent of the total market over 4.5 per cent in July. Fifth-place AOL also saw a slight gain, improving from 4.2 per cent to 4.3 per cent of the US search market.
R. Kelly Speaks Out About Child-Pornography Trial For First — And Possibly Last — Time
When asked by interviewer whether he likes teenage girls, Kelly says, 'I don't like anybody illegal.'
In the first — and what he claimed would be his last — interview regarding his recent child-pornography trial, R&B singer R. Kelly sat down with BET News for a special that aired Tuesday, to say he has had been punished enough and that people should respect the not-guilty verdict he received three months ago.
"It's time for me to move on," Kelly told interviewer Touré during "R. Kelly Speaks." "I can't keep answering these questions. If you was charged with something and you was found innocent, then you can't be found guilty for being found innocent."
However, with that statement, Kelly failed to distinguish the difference between not guilty and innocent — no jury has the power to declare anyone innocent, only the power to say that the state did not meet its burden of proof to find someone guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And in this particular case, the members of Kelly's jury still had some doubts. Kelly expected his fans and public to have some doubts as well, but he hoped to overcome them with the interview, in which he claimed his sex-god image was just that, an image — not his real life.
"I wish people wouldn't connect the R. Kelly image — of champagne, girls ... sex, sex, sex — to Robert," Kelly said. "R. Kelly is an image, a brand. That's my job. There's a whole other side of me that's Robert, who is a father, a friend. But then I put on the game face and go into the studio and do the music. That's just another day at the office."
When asked directly if he likes teenage girls, Kelly asked in response, "How old are we talking?" Touré responded, "Girls who are teenagers." Kelly then asked, "Nineteen? I have some 19-year-old fans. I don't like anybody illegal, if that's what you're talking about." (The subject of his annulled marriage to a 15-year-old Aaliyah did not come up.)
(Head here for more questions R. Kelly could have been asked but wasn't.)
Touré countered that some of the singer's former employees (including an assistant and a publicist) and his brother Carey Kelly had raised "issues of concern" in this area. "Issues of concern?" Kelly asked. "What do you mean? Let me put it to you this way, man. People who don't work for me say that. The people who do work for me don't say that. The people who don't work for me were fired. ... Do not listen to the people who was fired. Don't even listen to the people who was hired. Listen to the facts."
But what about his own brother, who could hardly be considered just another disgruntled employee? "Doesn't matter," Kelly said. "I fired him too." Why? "I can't get into that," Kelly said. "But I fired him 1,000 times and I rehired him."
Kelly also claimed that he had been blackmailed, a claim he had made previously when a sex tape purporting to depict him and an underage girl was first made public, only now he said the blackmail attempts happened before, during and after the trial. (Kelly did not specify who had allegedly blackmailed him, but Kelly's own lawyer had dispelled the notion that ex-manager — and Aaliyah's uncle — Barry Hankerson was involved in any such attempt in his interview with MTV News immediately following the verdict.)
"I've been blackmailed a billion times," Kelly said. "I've been sued for ridiculous things. At one point in my life, I was an ATM machine. But I'm used to that. You don't get used to it, but I'm used to the fact that people will do this, even your own family members, and I don't hate none of them. A lot of people are out to get me, especially when I was vulnerable [because of the trial and public scandal]. When you're R. Kelly, they want a piece of you."
Kelly said the ordeal of the trial and the years leading up to it made him feel like he had already been given a guilty verdict. "I feel like I was in jail for the last seven years," he said. "A lot has been taken away from me. Going through that whole thing was hell, man. I wouldn't wish it on nobody."
Now that it's over, he wants to concentrate on his music (which he said would remain sexually explicit), his children (although he didn't mention his estranged wife) and humanitarian efforts. He's planning a trip to Africa — his first.
"I'm trying to put it all together," Kelly said. "I want to get over there not just to tour, but get into doing some humanity stuff. I don't know what that is yet."
Kelly said the trial and scandal experience has taught him a lot, including to be more humble, to be more spiritual and to separate his professional and private life.
"If it had an impact, I hope it to be a positive impact," he said. "If the 12 people who didn't know me, after hearing the facts and listening to everything, could find me innocent, [I hope that] people around the world could do the same thing."
In the first — and what he claimed would be his last — interview regarding his recent child-pornography trial, R&B singer R. Kelly sat down with BET News for a special that aired Tuesday, to say he has had been punished enough and that people should respect the not-guilty verdict he received three months ago.
"It's time for me to move on," Kelly told interviewer Touré during "R. Kelly Speaks." "I can't keep answering these questions. If you was charged with something and you was found innocent, then you can't be found guilty for being found innocent."
However, with that statement, Kelly failed to distinguish the difference between not guilty and innocent — no jury has the power to declare anyone innocent, only the power to say that the state did not meet its burden of proof to find someone guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And in this particular case, the members of Kelly's jury still had some doubts. Kelly expected his fans and public to have some doubts as well, but he hoped to overcome them with the interview, in which he claimed his sex-god image was just that, an image — not his real life.
"I wish people wouldn't connect the R. Kelly image — of champagne, girls ... sex, sex, sex — to Robert," Kelly said. "R. Kelly is an image, a brand. That's my job. There's a whole other side of me that's Robert, who is a father, a friend. But then I put on the game face and go into the studio and do the music. That's just another day at the office."
When asked directly if he likes teenage girls, Kelly asked in response, "How old are we talking?" Touré responded, "Girls who are teenagers." Kelly then asked, "Nineteen? I have some 19-year-old fans. I don't like anybody illegal, if that's what you're talking about." (The subject of his annulled marriage to a 15-year-old Aaliyah did not come up.)
(Head here for more questions R. Kelly could have been asked but wasn't.)
Touré countered that some of the singer's former employees (including an assistant and a publicist) and his brother Carey Kelly had raised "issues of concern" in this area. "Issues of concern?" Kelly asked. "What do you mean? Let me put it to you this way, man. People who don't work for me say that. The people who do work for me don't say that. The people who don't work for me were fired. ... Do not listen to the people who was fired. Don't even listen to the people who was hired. Listen to the facts."
But what about his own brother, who could hardly be considered just another disgruntled employee? "Doesn't matter," Kelly said. "I fired him too." Why? "I can't get into that," Kelly said. "But I fired him 1,000 times and I rehired him."
Kelly also claimed that he had been blackmailed, a claim he had made previously when a sex tape purporting to depict him and an underage girl was first made public, only now he said the blackmail attempts happened before, during and after the trial. (Kelly did not specify who had allegedly blackmailed him, but Kelly's own lawyer had dispelled the notion that ex-manager — and Aaliyah's uncle — Barry Hankerson was involved in any such attempt in his interview with MTV News immediately following the verdict.)
"I've been blackmailed a billion times," Kelly said. "I've been sued for ridiculous things. At one point in my life, I was an ATM machine. But I'm used to that. You don't get used to it, but I'm used to the fact that people will do this, even your own family members, and I don't hate none of them. A lot of people are out to get me, especially when I was vulnerable [because of the trial and public scandal]. When you're R. Kelly, they want a piece of you."
Kelly said the ordeal of the trial and the years leading up to it made him feel like he had already been given a guilty verdict. "I feel like I was in jail for the last seven years," he said. "A lot has been taken away from me. Going through that whole thing was hell, man. I wouldn't wish it on nobody."
Now that it's over, he wants to concentrate on his music (which he said would remain sexually explicit), his children (although he didn't mention his estranged wife) and humanitarian efforts. He's planning a trip to Africa — his first.
"I'm trying to put it all together," Kelly said. "I want to get over there not just to tour, but get into doing some humanity stuff. I don't know what that is yet."
Kelly said the trial and scandal experience has taught him a lot, including to be more humble, to be more spiritual and to separate his professional and private life.
"If it had an impact, I hope it to be a positive impact," he said. "If the 12 people who didn't know me, after hearing the facts and listening to everything, could find me innocent, [I hope that] people around the world could do the same thing."
Feds probe hack of Palin's e-mail account
Now we know the real reason why John McCain doesn't use e-mail.
Hackers have broken into the Yahoo e-mail account of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin. And, as you might expect, some snippets have appeared on Wikileaks.org in a convenient ZIP file.
"This is a shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law. The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them," the McCain campaign said in a statement on Wednesday.
It's still unclear exactly what happened, who was responsible, or how they obtained access to Palin's personal e-mail. Wikileaks attributed the break-in to the hacker group Anonymous, which has tangled with Scientology in the past.
In terms of embarrassing personal information, there wasn't much made public, save some silly family photographs. But there was some evidence that Gov. Palin conducted work business via personal e-mail--perhaps as a way to avoid divulging data in response to a subpoena or request made under Alaska's open government laws.
Though that wasn't exactly a revelation. The New York Times published an article on Sunday saying:
Her inner circle discussed the benefit of using private e-mail addresses. An assistant told her it appeared that such e-mail messages sent to a private address on a "personal device" like a BlackBerry "would be confidential and not subject to subpoena." Ms. Palin and aides use their private e-mail addresses for state business. A campaign spokesman said the governor copied e-mail messages to her state account "when there was significant state business."
On Feb. 7, Frank Bailey, a high-level aide, wrote to Ms. Palin's state e-mail address to discuss appointments. Another aide fired back: "Frank, this is not the governor's personal account." Mr. Bailey responded: "Whoops~!"
As of Wednesday morning, the gov.palin@yahoo.com was canceled and e-mail to it bounced (apparently Palin had another account, too, called gov.sarah@yahoo.com).
Probably the more interesting question is the legal fallout. The U.S. Secret Service is investigating the intrusion, which violated federal computer crime law.
Count on subpoenas already being sent to Yahoo for information about what Internet addresses were used to connect to the Palin account in the last few days. It may be a difficult legal task to force Wikileaks to delete the info, assuming the McCain-Palin camp even wanted to, but in legal terms would be a lot easier to try to get the site to divulge its source.
In the absence of a federal shield law, journalists enjoy scant protection when trying to protect the confidentiality of their sources. Ironically, perhaps, both Barack Obama (at least in the past) and John McCain (as of this spring) say they support enacting one.
Hackers have broken into the Yahoo e-mail account of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin. And, as you might expect, some snippets have appeared on Wikileaks.org in a convenient ZIP file.
"This is a shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law. The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them," the McCain campaign said in a statement on Wednesday.
It's still unclear exactly what happened, who was responsible, or how they obtained access to Palin's personal e-mail. Wikileaks attributed the break-in to the hacker group Anonymous, which has tangled with Scientology in the past.
In terms of embarrassing personal information, there wasn't much made public, save some silly family photographs. But there was some evidence that Gov. Palin conducted work business via personal e-mail--perhaps as a way to avoid divulging data in response to a subpoena or request made under Alaska's open government laws.
Though that wasn't exactly a revelation. The New York Times published an article on Sunday saying:
Her inner circle discussed the benefit of using private e-mail addresses. An assistant told her it appeared that such e-mail messages sent to a private address on a "personal device" like a BlackBerry "would be confidential and not subject to subpoena." Ms. Palin and aides use their private e-mail addresses for state business. A campaign spokesman said the governor copied e-mail messages to her state account "when there was significant state business."
On Feb. 7, Frank Bailey, a high-level aide, wrote to Ms. Palin's state e-mail address to discuss appointments. Another aide fired back: "Frank, this is not the governor's personal account." Mr. Bailey responded: "Whoops~!"
As of Wednesday morning, the gov.palin@yahoo.com was canceled and e-mail to it bounced (apparently Palin had another account, too, called gov.sarah@yahoo.com).
Probably the more interesting question is the legal fallout. The U.S. Secret Service is investigating the intrusion, which violated federal computer crime law.
Count on subpoenas already being sent to Yahoo for information about what Internet addresses were used to connect to the Palin account in the last few days. It may be a difficult legal task to force Wikileaks to delete the info, assuming the McCain-Palin camp even wanted to, but in legal terms would be a lot easier to try to get the site to divulge its source.
In the absence of a federal shield law, journalists enjoy scant protection when trying to protect the confidentiality of their sources. Ironically, perhaps, both Barack Obama (at least in the past) and John McCain (as of this spring) say they support enacting one.
Microsoft: Shift away from Seinfeld-Gates planned
The next ad in Microsoft's massive Windows campaign won't feature Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, but the move is part of a planned shift, Microsoft insisted on Wednesday
"That was always the plan," a Microsoft spokesperson said late Wednesday. That followed a report on Valleywag that Seinfeld and Gates were getting the boot.
Microsoft had indicated even before the second ad debuted last week that a shift was coming.
In any case, Wednesday's coverage is more bad news for Microsoft, which is banking on this $300 million ad push to help restore Microsoft's image after years of bad press for Windows Vista and relentless attacks from rival Apple.
Reaction to the ads has been largely negative since the first one debuted two weeks ago.
Update: Later on Wednesday, A Microsoft spokesman added this official statement: "We will be executing the second phase of our advertising campaign tomorrow, as planned from the start."
"That was always the plan," a Microsoft spokesperson said late Wednesday. That followed a report on Valleywag that Seinfeld and Gates were getting the boot.
Microsoft had indicated even before the second ad debuted last week that a shift was coming.
In any case, Wednesday's coverage is more bad news for Microsoft, which is banking on this $300 million ad push to help restore Microsoft's image after years of bad press for Windows Vista and relentless attacks from rival Apple.
Reaction to the ads has been largely negative since the first one debuted two weeks ago.
Update: Later on Wednesday, A Microsoft spokesman added this official statement: "We will be executing the second phase of our advertising campaign tomorrow, as planned from the start."
Beyonce's New LP, Featuring Justin Timberlake, Due November 18
Two tracks, 'If I Were a Boy' and 'Single Ladies,' will be released in advance of album.
While details have been largely kept under wraps, some information has emerged about Beyoncé's forthcoming, still-untitled third solo LP, which is slated for release on November 18 on Music World Music/ Columbia.
Justin Timberlake will appear on the LP, although further details on his involvement were not available at press time. The two sang together on a cover of the 1968 Marvin Gaye/ Tammi Terrell hit "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" at the Fashion Rocks concert in New York last weekend.
Timberlake told reporters outside the show, "I'll be in the studio this week with Beyoncé. Who knows what will come out of that?" according to MTV News U.K.
Beyoncé co-wrote or co-produced all the material on the album, which the label says comprises "her most personal, reflective and revelatory collection to-date."
Songwriter/ producer Sean Garrett (Mary J. Blige, Usher, Fergie) revealed to MTV News on the VMA red carpet that he's been Beyoncé's album. "I got to get a big secret out: Beyoncé!" he said. "I just finished some incredible records with her. She's probably going to be mad at me for telling you all — sorry, B!"
Producer Jim Jonsin (Lil Wayne's "Lollipop," T.I., Danity Kane) reportedly worked with the singer on the song the track "Beautiful Nightmare," which leaked earlier this year, although it was unclear at press time whether the song will appear on the LP.
Two tracks from the album, "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies," will be released in advance of the LP on October 7, according to the label. Beyoncé filmed a video for an undisclosed song in New York on Thursday.
Beyoncé also has two films in the works: She appears as legendary singer Etta James in "Cadillac Records," which does not yet have a release date, and the wife of a man being stalked in "Obsessed," due early next year.
While details have been largely kept under wraps, some information has emerged about Beyoncé's forthcoming, still-untitled third solo LP, which is slated for release on November 18 on Music World Music/ Columbia.
Justin Timberlake will appear on the LP, although further details on his involvement were not available at press time. The two sang together on a cover of the 1968 Marvin Gaye/ Tammi Terrell hit "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" at the Fashion Rocks concert in New York last weekend.
Timberlake told reporters outside the show, "I'll be in the studio this week with Beyoncé. Who knows what will come out of that?" according to MTV News U.K.
Beyoncé co-wrote or co-produced all the material on the album, which the label says comprises "her most personal, reflective and revelatory collection to-date."
Songwriter/ producer Sean Garrett (Mary J. Blige, Usher, Fergie) revealed to MTV News on the VMA red carpet that he's been Beyoncé's album. "I got to get a big secret out: Beyoncé!" he said. "I just finished some incredible records with her. She's probably going to be mad at me for telling you all — sorry, B!"
Producer Jim Jonsin (Lil Wayne's "Lollipop," T.I., Danity Kane) reportedly worked with the singer on the song the track "Beautiful Nightmare," which leaked earlier this year, although it was unclear at press time whether the song will appear on the LP.
Two tracks from the album, "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies," will be released in advance of the LP on October 7, according to the label. Beyoncé filmed a video for an undisclosed song in New York on Thursday.
Beyoncé also has two films in the works: She appears as legendary singer Etta James in "Cadillac Records," which does not yet have a release date, and the wife of a man being stalked in "Obsessed," due early next year.
Barack Obama, John McCain Agree On Importance Of Community Service At Columbia University Forum
Both candidates criticize Bush's failure to encourage volunteer involvement.
Columbia University students had it tough on Thursday, duking it out over seating arrangements and enduring intense security measures, as Senators John McCain and Barack Obama arrived on campus for their first televised appearances since their parties' national conventions. On the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the candidates tried to put politics aside to discuss their views on community service at the nonpartisan ServiceNation summit.
(Watch the entire ServiceNation presidential candidate forum here.)
The presidential forum, moderated by PBS' Judy Woodruff and Time managing editor Rick Stengel, drew an estimated 7,500 students and area residents who lined the steps of the library to watch on a JumboTron screen. The actual event took place in Roone Arledge Auditorium, where only 100 students were allowed (via a ticket lottery) to sit in the audience that also included families of September 11 victims, veterans, politicians and celebrities such as Tobey Maguire, Usher and Leonardo DiCaprio.
"We weren't Republicans on September 11. We weren't Democrats. We were Americans," said McCain, who was the first to appear. "This is an opportunity to lead the nation and talk to the American people and reform our government and ask for more service."
The Arizona senator criticized President Bush for not asking Americans to come together as volunteers after the attacks. While praising programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, McCain also said the government should be careful not to interfere with volunteer organizations. He also praised Obama's service as a community organizer early in his career, claiming that when Sarah Palin seemed to denigrate the job she was merely defending her own experience.
Michael Hennessy, 29, clapped enthusiastically during McCain's speech. "I appreciate that he's a big proponent of service. His personal history is a testament to government service and to the service of America," he said.
"I felt like he was just saying everything he knew that everyone wants to hear," Sharay Hale, a 19-year-old freshman, offered.
When Obama shook McCain's hand before his turn on the stage, the crowd inside and outside the auditorium erupted in applause. The Illinois senator, an alumnus of Columbia, joked that he had a home-court advantage.
Obama agreed with much of what McCain had said, but but he emphasized the important role the government plays in encouraging change and reiterated his campaign promise to institute an annual $4,000 college-tuition credit for students in exchange for community service.
"We've got to transform Washington, and we've got to do some housecleaning," Obama said. "But what we also want to do is to remind young people that if it weren't for government, then we wouldn't have a Civil Rights Act. If it weren't for government, we would not have the interstate highway system. If it weren't for government, we would not have some of our parks and natural wilderness areas that are so precious to America. And so part of my job, I think, as president, is to make government cool again."
Lisa Michl, a 23-year-old graduate student, said she was excited to see the candidates on campus. "Actually coming to a campus and doing this talk is a great way to get people more involved and inspire people to actually get out there and do something, because it's not a part of your daily conversation."
Not all of the action of the evening went down inside the auditorium. Three students were asked to leave the campus after donning boxing gloves and wearing homemade Obama and McCain cardboard boxes on their heads. Elliot D. (who would only give his last intial), a 21-year-old senior, was "Obama"; Gabe Espinal, a 21-year-old senior, was "McCain," and Jesse Waldman, also a 21-year-old senior, was a character on roller skates labeled "Spectacle." Waldman said that the three of them came to campus early and felt "uncomfortable with the lead-up to the event," so they decided to liven things up.
"We just wanted to get people to think about the political system itself, instead of 'Who are you voting for?' " Elliot D. said.
Thursday's presidential forum kicked off the two-day ServiceNation summit, where hundreds of students, businesses, universities, politicians and foundations will come together to expand national and community service opportunities.
Columbia University students had it tough on Thursday, duking it out over seating arrangements and enduring intense security measures, as Senators John McCain and Barack Obama arrived on campus for their first televised appearances since their parties' national conventions. On the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the candidates tried to put politics aside to discuss their views on community service at the nonpartisan ServiceNation summit.
(Watch the entire ServiceNation presidential candidate forum here.)
The presidential forum, moderated by PBS' Judy Woodruff and Time managing editor Rick Stengel, drew an estimated 7,500 students and area residents who lined the steps of the library to watch on a JumboTron screen. The actual event took place in Roone Arledge Auditorium, where only 100 students were allowed (via a ticket lottery) to sit in the audience that also included families of September 11 victims, veterans, politicians and celebrities such as Tobey Maguire, Usher and Leonardo DiCaprio.
"We weren't Republicans on September 11. We weren't Democrats. We were Americans," said McCain, who was the first to appear. "This is an opportunity to lead the nation and talk to the American people and reform our government and ask for more service."
The Arizona senator criticized President Bush for not asking Americans to come together as volunteers after the attacks. While praising programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, McCain also said the government should be careful not to interfere with volunteer organizations. He also praised Obama's service as a community organizer early in his career, claiming that when Sarah Palin seemed to denigrate the job she was merely defending her own experience.
Michael Hennessy, 29, clapped enthusiastically during McCain's speech. "I appreciate that he's a big proponent of service. His personal history is a testament to government service and to the service of America," he said.
"I felt like he was just saying everything he knew that everyone wants to hear," Sharay Hale, a 19-year-old freshman, offered.
When Obama shook McCain's hand before his turn on the stage, the crowd inside and outside the auditorium erupted in applause. The Illinois senator, an alumnus of Columbia, joked that he had a home-court advantage.
Obama agreed with much of what McCain had said, but but he emphasized the important role the government plays in encouraging change and reiterated his campaign promise to institute an annual $4,000 college-tuition credit for students in exchange for community service.
"We've got to transform Washington, and we've got to do some housecleaning," Obama said. "But what we also want to do is to remind young people that if it weren't for government, then we wouldn't have a Civil Rights Act. If it weren't for government, we would not have the interstate highway system. If it weren't for government, we would not have some of our parks and natural wilderness areas that are so precious to America. And so part of my job, I think, as president, is to make government cool again."
Lisa Michl, a 23-year-old graduate student, said she was excited to see the candidates on campus. "Actually coming to a campus and doing this talk is a great way to get people more involved and inspire people to actually get out there and do something, because it's not a part of your daily conversation."
Not all of the action of the evening went down inside the auditorium. Three students were asked to leave the campus after donning boxing gloves and wearing homemade Obama and McCain cardboard boxes on their heads. Elliot D. (who would only give his last intial), a 21-year-old senior, was "Obama"; Gabe Espinal, a 21-year-old senior, was "McCain," and Jesse Waldman, also a 21-year-old senior, was a character on roller skates labeled "Spectacle." Waldman said that the three of them came to campus early and felt "uncomfortable with the lead-up to the event," so they decided to liven things up.
"We just wanted to get people to think about the political system itself, instead of 'Who are you voting for?' " Elliot D. said.
Thursday's presidential forum kicked off the two-day ServiceNation summit, where hundreds of students, businesses, universities, politicians and foundations will come together to expand national and community service opportunities.
Obama backers break cash records as Palin redraws campaign battleground
Barack Obama pulled in $66 million last month, smashing his previous fundraising record amid clear signs that Sarah Palin has mobilised many grassroots Democrats against her as much as she has energised the Republican Party.
Mr Obama's fundraising total for August beat his monthly record of $55 million (£31 million) and was the highest in US presidential history. It came with the addition of 500,000 donors, many of whom signed on to the campaign after the extraordinary entry of Mrs Palin into the race as the Republican vice-presidential nominee.
Although the news was a muchneeded boost for Mr Obama after a turbulent month in which he has slipped behind John McCain in the polls, Democratic strategists conceded that the race was now too close to call, with two new polls showing the candidates in a statistical tie 50 days before the election.
With a newly energised McCain campaign and Republican Party - the result of the impact of Mrs Palin on the race - and a relentless barrage of attack advertisements against Mr Obama, a growing number of Democratic strategists believed that the dream of the Illinois senator to redraw and expand the electoral map had probably ended.
Related Links
John McCain camp braced for Troopergate
‘Xena’ Palin scythes through Obama support
Former president to campaign with Obama
Instead, they said, the White House contest suddenly resembled the last two presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 - extremely close, deeply partisan and likely to be decided by a handful of big battleground states in the Midwest, particularly Ohio and Michigan, and in Pennsylvania.
Mr McCain is limited to spending, between now and election day, the $84 million supplied by the US Treasury after he opted to stay within the public financing system. Yet he will receive the help of the same outside operatives who started the devastating Swift Boat attacks against John Kerry in 2004.
Funded mainly by Harold Simmons, the Texas billionaire behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth organisation - which claimed that Mr Kerry had lied about his military service in Vietnam - the American Issues Project is about to start a television campaign against Mr Obama's record. It is entirely independent from the McCain campaign, but will seek to raise questions about Mr Obama's Chicago ties to William Ayers, a 1970s radical who bombed federal buildings, and his relationship with Jeremiah Wright, his controversial former pastor.
Meanwhile, liberal groups unaffiliated with the Obama campaign are about to unleash their own multimillion-dollar advertising campaign against Mr McCain.
Mr McCain started a series of advertisements against Mr Obama in recent days that his rival has called dishonest, sparking an almost hysterical note from the aides of the Democrat at the weekend.
Bill Burton, a spokesman for Mr Obama, accused Mr McCain of “cynically running the sleaziest and least honourable campaign in modern presidential campaign history” with his “disgusting lies”.
Mr McCain, appearing on a daytime talk show, denied that the advertisements contained lies. He said that the harsh tone of the campaign would be different if Mr Obama had accepted his invitation to appear at joint, freewheeling debates across the country during the summer.
Amid mounting concerns that attempts to undermine Mrs Palin were backfiring, Mr Obama has decided to ignore her and concentrate sharper and more aggressive attacks against Mr McCain. On Saturday, having conceded that there was a new urgency to the campaign, he continued a strategy that played on the age of Mr McCain and his ties to President Bush. A blistering memo to reporters from his campaign manager, David Plouffe, mentioned the Alaska governor in passing only.
Bill Clinton, more than two months after Mr Obama clinched the nomination, will finally make his first campaign appearances at the end of this month.
The two had their first post-primary meal together in New York on Thursday at a time when Mr Obama found himself under attack from Republicans - and a growing number of nervous Democrats - for not picking Mrs Clinton as his running-mate.
“I think he's regretting not picking her now, I do. What, what determination, and grit, and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way,” Mrs Palin told ABC, as part of a strategy to woo women voters to the Republican ticket.
Mrs Clinton appeared for Mr Obama in Ohio yesterday, although there were lingering tensions between the two camps. There have been suggestions by some within the party that the Clintons were dragging their feet when it came to stumping for
Mr Obama. Aides to the former First Lady countered that she and her husband had simply not been asked to do very much.
Mr Obama's fundraising total for August beat his monthly record of $55 million (£31 million) and was the highest in US presidential history. It came with the addition of 500,000 donors, many of whom signed on to the campaign after the extraordinary entry of Mrs Palin into the race as the Republican vice-presidential nominee.
Although the news was a muchneeded boost for Mr Obama after a turbulent month in which he has slipped behind John McCain in the polls, Democratic strategists conceded that the race was now too close to call, with two new polls showing the candidates in a statistical tie 50 days before the election.
With a newly energised McCain campaign and Republican Party - the result of the impact of Mrs Palin on the race - and a relentless barrage of attack advertisements against Mr Obama, a growing number of Democratic strategists believed that the dream of the Illinois senator to redraw and expand the electoral map had probably ended.
Related Links
John McCain camp braced for Troopergate
‘Xena’ Palin scythes through Obama support
Former president to campaign with Obama
Instead, they said, the White House contest suddenly resembled the last two presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 - extremely close, deeply partisan and likely to be decided by a handful of big battleground states in the Midwest, particularly Ohio and Michigan, and in Pennsylvania.
Mr McCain is limited to spending, between now and election day, the $84 million supplied by the US Treasury after he opted to stay within the public financing system. Yet he will receive the help of the same outside operatives who started the devastating Swift Boat attacks against John Kerry in 2004.
Funded mainly by Harold Simmons, the Texas billionaire behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth organisation - which claimed that Mr Kerry had lied about his military service in Vietnam - the American Issues Project is about to start a television campaign against Mr Obama's record. It is entirely independent from the McCain campaign, but will seek to raise questions about Mr Obama's Chicago ties to William Ayers, a 1970s radical who bombed federal buildings, and his relationship with Jeremiah Wright, his controversial former pastor.
Meanwhile, liberal groups unaffiliated with the Obama campaign are about to unleash their own multimillion-dollar advertising campaign against Mr McCain.
Mr McCain started a series of advertisements against Mr Obama in recent days that his rival has called dishonest, sparking an almost hysterical note from the aides of the Democrat at the weekend.
Bill Burton, a spokesman for Mr Obama, accused Mr McCain of “cynically running the sleaziest and least honourable campaign in modern presidential campaign history” with his “disgusting lies”.
Mr McCain, appearing on a daytime talk show, denied that the advertisements contained lies. He said that the harsh tone of the campaign would be different if Mr Obama had accepted his invitation to appear at joint, freewheeling debates across the country during the summer.
Amid mounting concerns that attempts to undermine Mrs Palin were backfiring, Mr Obama has decided to ignore her and concentrate sharper and more aggressive attacks against Mr McCain. On Saturday, having conceded that there was a new urgency to the campaign, he continued a strategy that played on the age of Mr McCain and his ties to President Bush. A blistering memo to reporters from his campaign manager, David Plouffe, mentioned the Alaska governor in passing only.
Bill Clinton, more than two months after Mr Obama clinched the nomination, will finally make his first campaign appearances at the end of this month.
The two had their first post-primary meal together in New York on Thursday at a time when Mr Obama found himself under attack from Republicans - and a growing number of nervous Democrats - for not picking Mrs Clinton as his running-mate.
“I think he's regretting not picking her now, I do. What, what determination, and grit, and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way,” Mrs Palin told ABC, as part of a strategy to woo women voters to the Republican ticket.
Mrs Clinton appeared for Mr Obama in Ohio yesterday, although there were lingering tensions between the two camps. There have been suggestions by some within the party that the Clintons were dragging their feet when it came to stumping for
Mr Obama. Aides to the former First Lady countered that she and her husband had simply not been asked to do very much.
Lehman set to go into insolvency
Preparations are being made for Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest investment bank in the US, to file for bankruptcy.
The two strongest potential buyers appear to have pulled out of talks to rescue Lehman - the latest victim of the American credit crisis.
If no new financing comes before Wall Street opens, it will have to seek "Chapter 11" bankruptcy protection.
This could result in a severe shock to the global financial system, as banks unwind their complex deals with Lehman.
Late on Sunday the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, announced new moves to ease access to emergency credit for struggling financial companies.
The Fed said the step - which broadens the types of securities financial institutions can use to obtain emergency loans - was designed to mitigate the potential risks and disruptions to markets.
In a related move, a consortium of 10 investment banks announced a $70bn (£39bn) loan program that troubled financial companies can use to help ease the credit shortage.
BBC business editor Robert Peston on the potential implications
The banks - Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS - each agreed to provide $7bn (£4bn) to the pool.
On Monday, Asian stock markets fell amid concerns over the fate of Lehman Brothers.
Singapore stocks dropped 2.26% in morning trading and shares in Taiwan fell 1.83%.
Markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul were closed for public holidays.
Lehman employs about 25,000 worldwide, including 5,000 in the UK.
Accountancy firm PWC has already been lined up to run the British operations of Lehman should the firm go into administration.
BBC business editor Robert Peston says UK bank Barclays' decision to walk away from a Lehman deal was a huge setback for the effort to rescue the Lehman.
Barclays terminated the negotiations because it was unable to obtain guarantees in relation to financial commitments faced by Lehman when markets open on Monday.
Bad bank, good bank
The rescue effort for Lehman was being co-ordinated by the US Treasury and the New York Federal Reserve.
No other large firm should buy Lehman whole - its toxic real estate and securities are too difficult to value
Peter MoriciUniversity of Maryland
Robert Peston's BBC blog
The US government had hoped to arrange a bailout under which other US investment banks would finance a "bad bank" that would hold the most "toxic" investments of Lehman in the property and mortgage market.
The "good bank" or rest of the firm, including its investment and wealth management arms, would then be sold to another financial institution, for example Bank of America or the UK's Barclays.
Although such a deal would have cost the other investment banks millions, it might have restored confidence in the sector and avoided a sharp drop in the share price of all banks.
However, it appears that this plan is falling apart.
"The only thing that can prevent Lehman collapsing would be a huge injection of taxpayers' money," a banker close to the talks told the BBC, but added that US Treasury Secretary "Hank Paulson has made it clear he doesn't want to do that".
Hard choices
Bank of America, meanwhile, is said to be unconvinced that buying Lehman would be in the interest of its shareholders.
Instead, according to a report in the New York Times, Bank of America is in "advanced talks" to buy investment bank Merrill Lynch for more than $38bn.
HAVE YOUR SAY
It's amazing that companies which charge high interest to cover risk still need to be bailed out by the taxpayer.
Jack, Canada
Send us your comments
Like other US investment banks Merrill has suffered losses of tens of billions of dollars in the subprime crisis, and has seen its share price plummet during recent months.
"No other large firm should buy Lehman whole - its toxic real estate and securities are too difficult to value," said Peter Morici of the business school of the University of Maryland.
Lehman is up for sale after it reported a $3.9bn (£2.2bn) quarterly loss last week amid concerns over its long term financial viability.
The firm's share price has plummeted as fears over its future have mounted.
Former Federal Reserve boss Alan Greenspan said the US government faced "very difficult decisions" over Lehman if it could not secure a rescue deal that did not involve public funds.
Yet Mr Greenspan said it would be "unsustainable" for the government to bail out every US bank that got itself into difficulty.
Predicting that Lehman would not be the last to require rescuing, Mr Greenspan added that this would not necessarily pose a problem.
"The ordinary course of financial change has winners and losers," he said.
The two strongest potential buyers appear to have pulled out of talks to rescue Lehman - the latest victim of the American credit crisis.
If no new financing comes before Wall Street opens, it will have to seek "Chapter 11" bankruptcy protection.
This could result in a severe shock to the global financial system, as banks unwind their complex deals with Lehman.
Late on Sunday the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, announced new moves to ease access to emergency credit for struggling financial companies.
The Fed said the step - which broadens the types of securities financial institutions can use to obtain emergency loans - was designed to mitigate the potential risks and disruptions to markets.
In a related move, a consortium of 10 investment banks announced a $70bn (£39bn) loan program that troubled financial companies can use to help ease the credit shortage.
BBC business editor Robert Peston on the potential implications
The banks - Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS - each agreed to provide $7bn (£4bn) to the pool.
On Monday, Asian stock markets fell amid concerns over the fate of Lehman Brothers.
Singapore stocks dropped 2.26% in morning trading and shares in Taiwan fell 1.83%.
Markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul were closed for public holidays.
Lehman employs about 25,000 worldwide, including 5,000 in the UK.
Accountancy firm PWC has already been lined up to run the British operations of Lehman should the firm go into administration.
BBC business editor Robert Peston says UK bank Barclays' decision to walk away from a Lehman deal was a huge setback for the effort to rescue the Lehman.
Barclays terminated the negotiations because it was unable to obtain guarantees in relation to financial commitments faced by Lehman when markets open on Monday.
Bad bank, good bank
The rescue effort for Lehman was being co-ordinated by the US Treasury and the New York Federal Reserve.
No other large firm should buy Lehman whole - its toxic real estate and securities are too difficult to value
Peter MoriciUniversity of Maryland
Robert Peston's BBC blog
The US government had hoped to arrange a bailout under which other US investment banks would finance a "bad bank" that would hold the most "toxic" investments of Lehman in the property and mortgage market.
The "good bank" or rest of the firm, including its investment and wealth management arms, would then be sold to another financial institution, for example Bank of America or the UK's Barclays.
Although such a deal would have cost the other investment banks millions, it might have restored confidence in the sector and avoided a sharp drop in the share price of all banks.
However, it appears that this plan is falling apart.
"The only thing that can prevent Lehman collapsing would be a huge injection of taxpayers' money," a banker close to the talks told the BBC, but added that US Treasury Secretary "Hank Paulson has made it clear he doesn't want to do that".
Hard choices
Bank of America, meanwhile, is said to be unconvinced that buying Lehman would be in the interest of its shareholders.
Instead, according to a report in the New York Times, Bank of America is in "advanced talks" to buy investment bank Merrill Lynch for more than $38bn.
HAVE YOUR SAY
It's amazing that companies which charge high interest to cover risk still need to be bailed out by the taxpayer.
Jack, Canada
Send us your comments
Like other US investment banks Merrill has suffered losses of tens of billions of dollars in the subprime crisis, and has seen its share price plummet during recent months.
"No other large firm should buy Lehman whole - its toxic real estate and securities are too difficult to value," said Peter Morici of the business school of the University of Maryland.
Lehman is up for sale after it reported a $3.9bn (£2.2bn) quarterly loss last week amid concerns over its long term financial viability.
The firm's share price has plummeted as fears over its future have mounted.
Former Federal Reserve boss Alan Greenspan said the US government faced "very difficult decisions" over Lehman if it could not secure a rescue deal that did not involve public funds.
Yet Mr Greenspan said it would be "unsustainable" for the government to bail out every US bank that got itself into difficulty.
Predicting that Lehman would not be the last to require rescuing, Mr Greenspan added that this would not necessarily pose a problem.
"The ordinary course of financial change has winners and losers," he said.
T.I.’s Baby Mama Sues Rapper For More Child Support
Rap star T.I. has been sued by his former girlfriend and mother of two of his sons claiming she is in vital need of more child support payments.
According to the Associated Press, Lashon Dixon has reportedly been receiving $2,000 a month for their two children, ages 7 and 8 . Rather than demanding a specified amount, the 29 year-old is requesting a court to order a stipend equal to Tip’s financial success.
The two allegedly grew up together since they were teenagers and were romantically involved prior to his platinum-selling status in today’s hip-hop climate. In addition to Dixon’s two sons, Tip also has two boys with fiancée and R&B singer Tameka “Tiny” Cottle.
The Atlanta-bred rapper is currently fulfilling his 1,000 hours of community service for his gun possession charges last year.
T.I.’s rep was unavailable for comment at press time.
In related news, the self proclaimed “King of the South” made his first awards show appearance since being arrested at last year’s BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta at MTV’s VMA’s last weekend. He gave a star-studded performance with his Billboard record-breaking smash “Whatever You Like.” Shown walking a video hottie across the Paramount Studios backlot, visiting a fur shop, a club and finally riding in a Phantom, Tip then hit the stage to debut his new single, “Live Your Life,” with Rihanna off his upcoming release Paper Trail.
Paper Trail is currently scheduled to hit stores Tuesday, September 30 on Grand Hustle/Atlantic Records.
Kanye West Arrested At LAX For Smashing Paparazzi Cameras
Kanye West was arrested today at Los Angeles’ LAX airport on charges of felony vandalism. West was walking through the American Airlines terminal when he allegedly confronted a photographer and a struggle ensued, with the photographer yelling for help but not before West smashed his camera by throwing it to the ground. A TMZ cameraman videotaped Kanye in the act of smashing the camera, so Kanye’s bodyguard told the cameraman to give him the camera.
Usher, Tameka Foster Expecting Second Child
second child, People magazine reports.
The couple welcomed a son, Usher Raymond V, in November. Usher, 29, recently told People that he is very excited about fatherhood. "I'm so proud to be a father by the time I'm 30," he told the magazine last month. "I'd hate to be 80 years old and not be able to run with my kids. I need to still be able to do flips when they're in high school!
"Having a child just completed the story," he told the magazine. "I already had a giving heart, and I wanted to do something to mentor children."
The singer also opened up to Essence magazine in a July interview. He described his son, nicknamed Cinco, as an "extension of his union" with his wife, whom he married in August 2007.
The news comes in the wake of Usher's recent announcement that he will kick off a ladies-only tour called One Night Stand later this fall. Now that Usher is a married family man, he hopes this tour, in support of his latest album, Here I Stand, will prove that he's still sex-symbol material.
"The ladies like to see that masculine build," he said. "They question if I still got it.
"There's only a few artists that can pull that off," he added. "I feel like I've had such a connection with my audience. This album, I felt like, was definitely the type of one that was more intimate. So what better way to get up close and personal than to make it all women?"
The couple welcomed a son, Usher Raymond V, in November. Usher, 29, recently told People that he is very excited about fatherhood. "I'm so proud to be a father by the time I'm 30," he told the magazine last month. "I'd hate to be 80 years old and not be able to run with my kids. I need to still be able to do flips when they're in high school!
"Having a child just completed the story," he told the magazine. "I already had a giving heart, and I wanted to do something to mentor children."
The singer also opened up to Essence magazine in a July interview. He described his son, nicknamed Cinco, as an "extension of his union" with his wife, whom he married in August 2007.
The news comes in the wake of Usher's recent announcement that he will kick off a ladies-only tour called One Night Stand later this fall. Now that Usher is a married family man, he hopes this tour, in support of his latest album, Here I Stand, will prove that he's still sex-symbol material.
"The ladies like to see that masculine build," he said. "They question if I still got it.
"There's only a few artists that can pull that off," he added. "I feel like I've had such a connection with my audience. This album, I felt like, was definitely the type of one that was more intimate. So what better way to get up close and personal than to make it all women?"
Facebook unveils new look with a new approach
SAN FRANCISCO - Since he started Facebook in college 4 1/2 years ago, Mark Zuckerberg has learned — sometimes painfully — that he can't make significant changes to the popular online hangout without triggering an uproar among indignant users who preferred the status quo.
But Zuckerberg, still only 24, is hoping he has found a way to ease the journey down a different road so he won't have to issue public apologies like he did in each of the previous two years after springing new products on users.
His theory will face a major test Wednesday when Facebook will begin forcing its 100 million users to adapt to a redesigned Web site, whether they like the new look or not.
Since unveiling the makeover seven weeks ago, Facebook had left it up to users to decide whether they wanted to switch over. If they didn't like what they saw, the converts could just click on a link to switch back to the old format.
But that option will be taken away from all users by the end of the week, a shift that Zuckerberg already knows will alienate some of Facebook's audience and raise the risk of driving more traffic to rival social networks like MySpace and Bebo.
"Any change can be a big deal to our users because this how they connect with their family and friends," Zuckerberg said. "So when you move things around, it can be perceived as being not a positive thing even when it's a positive change."
About 40 million users already have checked out the new design and about 30 million embraced it without reverting to the old look, Zuckerberg said.
But the seeds of an uprising already have been planted on Facebook's own site, where several groups and petitions have cropped up to protest the change.
"It's not that we don't want change, period, it's that we don't like these particular changes," said Scott Sanders, 19, an Austin Peay University student who started one of the petitions opposing the redesign. "You have to navigate more and you have to click more to get to personal profiles. It's too much effort to get to basic information."
Facebook's facelift separates users' personal profiles into different areas of the site and provides more tools that are meant to make it easier to share information and photos.
The revisions also shift various applications to the bottom of a person's home page and clears up more white space — a move that Sanders worries will lead to more intrusive advertising on the site, although Zuckerberg says that won't happen.
Hoping to minimize the sting of the anticipated backlash, Facebook announced the planned makeover in May and then waited until July to take the wraps off. The transition period since then was aimed at giving users time to make suggestions and get used to the change.
The gradual approach differed from how Zuckerberg and the rest of Facebook's unusually young management team have managed past revisions to the site.
In 2006, the Palo Alto-based startup infuriated thousands of users by introducing a tool called "news feeds" that automatically broadcast certain personal details. Last year, Facebook faced another revolt when it rolled out a tracking device, dubbed "Beacon," that tracked and shared information about users' shopping habits and other activities at other Web sites.
In both instances, Zuckerberg wound up apologizing for going too far and placated the protesters by giving more control over news feeds and Beacon. News feeds are now considered indispensable by many users, but Beacon still hasn't gained traction.
With Facebook's audience now roughly 10 times larger than when news feeds first came out two years ago, Zuckerberg understood he needed to do a better job preparing for changes.
"There is more weight on making things smooth when you are dealing with 100 million people," he said. "No one cared as much when a bunch of students from a few colleges were complaining about some changes to some Web site."
Although he is still hoping to persuade Zuckerberg to retreat from some of the changes included in the redesign, Sanders suspects resistance might be futile this time.
"I definitely won't stop using Facebook because it's still the best social network out there," said Sanders, who has been using the site for two years. "People will probably protest the changes in the beginning, but then they will just get used to them."
But Zuckerberg, still only 24, is hoping he has found a way to ease the journey down a different road so he won't have to issue public apologies like he did in each of the previous two years after springing new products on users.
His theory will face a major test Wednesday when Facebook will begin forcing its 100 million users to adapt to a redesigned Web site, whether they like the new look or not.
Since unveiling the makeover seven weeks ago, Facebook had left it up to users to decide whether they wanted to switch over. If they didn't like what they saw, the converts could just click on a link to switch back to the old format.
But that option will be taken away from all users by the end of the week, a shift that Zuckerberg already knows will alienate some of Facebook's audience and raise the risk of driving more traffic to rival social networks like MySpace and Bebo.
"Any change can be a big deal to our users because this how they connect with their family and friends," Zuckerberg said. "So when you move things around, it can be perceived as being not a positive thing even when it's a positive change."
About 40 million users already have checked out the new design and about 30 million embraced it without reverting to the old look, Zuckerberg said.
But the seeds of an uprising already have been planted on Facebook's own site, where several groups and petitions have cropped up to protest the change.
"It's not that we don't want change, period, it's that we don't like these particular changes," said Scott Sanders, 19, an Austin Peay University student who started one of the petitions opposing the redesign. "You have to navigate more and you have to click more to get to personal profiles. It's too much effort to get to basic information."
Facebook's facelift separates users' personal profiles into different areas of the site and provides more tools that are meant to make it easier to share information and photos.
The revisions also shift various applications to the bottom of a person's home page and clears up more white space — a move that Sanders worries will lead to more intrusive advertising on the site, although Zuckerberg says that won't happen.
Hoping to minimize the sting of the anticipated backlash, Facebook announced the planned makeover in May and then waited until July to take the wraps off. The transition period since then was aimed at giving users time to make suggestions and get used to the change.
The gradual approach differed from how Zuckerberg and the rest of Facebook's unusually young management team have managed past revisions to the site.
In 2006, the Palo Alto-based startup infuriated thousands of users by introducing a tool called "news feeds" that automatically broadcast certain personal details. Last year, Facebook faced another revolt when it rolled out a tracking device, dubbed "Beacon," that tracked and shared information about users' shopping habits and other activities at other Web sites.
In both instances, Zuckerberg wound up apologizing for going too far and placated the protesters by giving more control over news feeds and Beacon. News feeds are now considered indispensable by many users, but Beacon still hasn't gained traction.
With Facebook's audience now roughly 10 times larger than when news feeds first came out two years ago, Zuckerberg understood he needed to do a better job preparing for changes.
"There is more weight on making things smooth when you are dealing with 100 million people," he said. "No one cared as much when a bunch of students from a few colleges were complaining about some changes to some Web site."
Although he is still hoping to persuade Zuckerberg to retreat from some of the changes included in the redesign, Sanders suspects resistance might be futile this time.
"I definitely won't stop using Facebook because it's still the best social network out there," said Sanders, who has been using the site for two years. "People will probably protest the changes in the beginning, but then they will just get used to them."
Obama win preferred in world poll
All 22 countries in a BBC World Service poll would prefer Democratic nominee Barack Obama to be US president, ahead of his Republican rival John McCain.
Mr Obama was favoured by a four-to-one margin across the 22,500 people polled.
In 17 of the 22 countries surveyed the most common view was that America's relations with the rest of the world would improve under a President Obama.
If Mr McCain were elected, the most common view in 19 countries was that relations would remain about the same.
The poll was conducted before the Democratic and Republican parties held their conventions and before the headline-grabbing nomination of Sarah Palin as Mr McCain's running mate.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the results could therefore be a reflection of the greater media focus on Mr Obama as he competed for the presidential candidacy against Hillary Clinton.
International ties
The margin of those in favour of Mr Obama winning November's US election ranged from 9% in India to 82% in Kenya, which is the birthplace of the Illinois senator's father.
On average 49% preferred Mr Obama to 12% in favour of Mr McCain. Nearly four in 10 of those polled did not take a view.
Some 30% of Americans expected relations to improve under Mr McCain
On average 46% thought US relations with the world would improve with Mr Obama in the White House, 22% that ties would stay the same, while seven per cent expected relations to worsen.
Only 20% thought ties would get better if Mr McCain were in the Oval Office.
The expectation that a McCain presidency would improve US relations with the world was the most common view, by a modest margin, only in China, India and Nigeria.
But across the board, the largest number - 37% - thought relations under a president McCain would stay the same, while 16% expected them to deteriorate.
In no country did most people think that a McCain presidency would worsen relations.
US poll
Oddly, in Turkey more people thought US relations would worsen with an Obama presidency than under Mr McCain, even though most Turks polled preferred Mr Obama to win.
In Egypt, Lebanon, Russia and Singapore, the predominant expectation was that relations would remain the same if Mr Obama won the election.
The countries most optimistic that an Obama presidency would improve ties were US Nato allies - Canada (69%), Italy (64%), France (62%), Germany (61%), and the UK (54%) - as well as Australia (62%), along with Kenya (87%) and Nigeria (71%).
When asked whether the election as president of the African-American Mr Obama would "fundamentally change" their perception of the US, 46% said it would while 27% said it would not.
The US public was polled separately and Americans also believed an Obama presidency would improve US ties with the world more than a McCain presidency.
Forty-six per cent of Americans expected relations to get better if Mr Obama were elected and 30% if Mr McCain won the White House.
A similar poll conducted for BBC World Service ahead of the 2004 US presidential election found most countries would have preferred to see Democratic nominee John Kerry beat the incumbent George W Bush.
At the time, the Philippines, Nigeria and Poland were among the few countries to favour Mr Bush's re-election. All three now favour Mr Obama over Mr McCain.
In total 22,531 citizens were polled in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, the UAE and the UK. A parallel survey was conducted with 1,000 US adults.
Polling firm GlobeScan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes carried out the survey between July and August.
Mr Obama was favoured by a four-to-one margin across the 22,500 people polled.
In 17 of the 22 countries surveyed the most common view was that America's relations with the rest of the world would improve under a President Obama.
If Mr McCain were elected, the most common view in 19 countries was that relations would remain about the same.
The poll was conducted before the Democratic and Republican parties held their conventions and before the headline-grabbing nomination of Sarah Palin as Mr McCain's running mate.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the results could therefore be a reflection of the greater media focus on Mr Obama as he competed for the presidential candidacy against Hillary Clinton.
International ties
The margin of those in favour of Mr Obama winning November's US election ranged from 9% in India to 82% in Kenya, which is the birthplace of the Illinois senator's father.
On average 49% preferred Mr Obama to 12% in favour of Mr McCain. Nearly four in 10 of those polled did not take a view.
Some 30% of Americans expected relations to improve under Mr McCain
On average 46% thought US relations with the world would improve with Mr Obama in the White House, 22% that ties would stay the same, while seven per cent expected relations to worsen.
Only 20% thought ties would get better if Mr McCain were in the Oval Office.
The expectation that a McCain presidency would improve US relations with the world was the most common view, by a modest margin, only in China, India and Nigeria.
But across the board, the largest number - 37% - thought relations under a president McCain would stay the same, while 16% expected them to deteriorate.
In no country did most people think that a McCain presidency would worsen relations.
US poll
Oddly, in Turkey more people thought US relations would worsen with an Obama presidency than under Mr McCain, even though most Turks polled preferred Mr Obama to win.
In Egypt, Lebanon, Russia and Singapore, the predominant expectation was that relations would remain the same if Mr Obama won the election.
The countries most optimistic that an Obama presidency would improve ties were US Nato allies - Canada (69%), Italy (64%), France (62%), Germany (61%), and the UK (54%) - as well as Australia (62%), along with Kenya (87%) and Nigeria (71%).
When asked whether the election as president of the African-American Mr Obama would "fundamentally change" their perception of the US, 46% said it would while 27% said it would not.
The US public was polled separately and Americans also believed an Obama presidency would improve US ties with the world more than a McCain presidency.
Forty-six per cent of Americans expected relations to get better if Mr Obama were elected and 30% if Mr McCain won the White House.
A similar poll conducted for BBC World Service ahead of the 2004 US presidential election found most countries would have preferred to see Democratic nominee John Kerry beat the incumbent George W Bush.
At the time, the Philippines, Nigeria and Poland were among the few countries to favour Mr Bush's re-election. All three now favour Mr Obama over Mr McCain.
In total 22,531 citizens were polled in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, the UAE and the UK. A parallel survey was conducted with 1,000 US adults.
Polling firm GlobeScan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes carried out the survey between July and August.
Ciara poses nude
Ciara has found a failsafe way to focus attention on her forthcoming third LP, Fantasy Ride: The singer appears nude (albeit with parts of her body strategically covered) on the cover of the October issue of Vibe magazine.
And the revelations don’t end there: The 22-year-old singer — who has been rumored to be romantically linked with 50 Cent — also talks about fame and her love life in the magazine, which hits newsstands on September 16.
More on Ciara, plus the controversial photo, after the jump.
According to a press release, Ciara addresses her relationship with 50 in the article, but we guess we’ll have to wait till the magazine arrives to find out what she said! She did, however, confirm that she and producer Jazzy Pha are no longer an item.
The singer also divulged her motto when it comes to dating: “You don’t have to sell yourself out,” she said. “Take your time to get to know somebody before you involve the physical aspect … it’s just not the way to start off. It creates confusion.
“When you subtract those things,” she continued, “it allows you to focus more on who the person is.”
The singer also provided some info about her forthcoming new LP, which she described as more eclectic than her previous efforts, and noted that some new producers came on board. “You’re gonna get more attitude, more aggressiveness — everything is intensified,” she said. “You get your sensual vibe. You’re gonna get the street, you’re gonna get the ‘hood.”
Ciara also talked about dealing with public scrutiny — including a bizarre rumor she heard that the Vibe cover should put to rest once and for all. “I was meticulous about the things I would share, but people are gonna say what they wanna say … they said I was a man!” she laughed. “It doesn’t get any worse than that.”
Ciara will be a presenter at Sunday’s Video Music Awards, along with Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson, Olympian Michael Phelps, “High School Musical” stars Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, and many more!
And the revelations don’t end there: The 22-year-old singer — who has been rumored to be romantically linked with 50 Cent — also talks about fame and her love life in the magazine, which hits newsstands on September 16.
More on Ciara, plus the controversial photo, after the jump.
According to a press release, Ciara addresses her relationship with 50 in the article, but we guess we’ll have to wait till the magazine arrives to find out what she said! She did, however, confirm that she and producer Jazzy Pha are no longer an item.
The singer also divulged her motto when it comes to dating: “You don’t have to sell yourself out,” she said. “Take your time to get to know somebody before you involve the physical aspect … it’s just not the way to start off. It creates confusion.
“When you subtract those things,” she continued, “it allows you to focus more on who the person is.”
The singer also provided some info about her forthcoming new LP, which she described as more eclectic than her previous efforts, and noted that some new producers came on board. “You’re gonna get more attitude, more aggressiveness — everything is intensified,” she said. “You get your sensual vibe. You’re gonna get the street, you’re gonna get the ‘hood.”
Ciara also talked about dealing with public scrutiny — including a bizarre rumor she heard that the Vibe cover should put to rest once and for all. “I was meticulous about the things I would share, but people are gonna say what they wanna say … they said I was a man!” she laughed. “It doesn’t get any worse than that.”
Ciara will be a presenter at Sunday’s Video Music Awards, along with Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson, Olympian Michael Phelps, “High School Musical” stars Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, and many more!
Jacksons reunite at BMI Urban Awards
The Jacksons were crowned icons at the BMI Urban Awards, but the King of Pop was an absentee.
Janet Jackson presented her music-making brothers — Michael, Tito, Jackie, Marlon, Jermaine and Randy — with the lifetime achievement BMI Icon award following a musical tribute at the award show celebrating R&B and hip-hop's top hitmakers. While Tito, Jackie, Marlon and Randy reunited Thursday to accept the award, Jermaine and Michael didn't attend the Wilshire Theatre ceremony.
Where was the Moonwalker?
"I don't know," Marlon told The Associated Press before the show. "I think he's in Egypt riding a camel or something."
The Jackson Five — which included Michael along with Marlon, Jackie, Tito and Jermaine — was a groundbreaking, best-selling act that debuted on the 1969 album "Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5." The group simply became the Jacksons after leaving Motown in 1976, replacing Jermaine with Randy. They continued their multiplatinum success with such hits as "ABC" and "I Want You Back."
"It's a great honor to know your music influenced a generation," said Tito. "We're very proud of this moment."
The tribute kicked off with dance troupe Jabbawockeez performing a funky "Dancing Machine" routine. Music group ONE sang "I Want You Back." JoJo and Lloyd partnered on "I'll Be There" before Mario unleashed a high-energy rendition of "Heartbreak Hotel" and Keri Hilson crooned "Who's Loving You." The finale featured Mario, Bobby Valentino, Lloyd and Ray J teaming up for "Never Can Say Goodbye."
Before presenting her brothers with the award, Janet said her family was her greatest commodity and that she was proud to salute her siblings for their accomplishments in the music industry.
Following the acceptance of the icon award, the Jackson brothers posed on stage for photos with father Joseph, mother Katherine and sisters Janet, LaToya and Rebbie. The Jacksons did not perform.
Other BMI Urban Award winners included Soulja Boy, Polow Da Don, Rodney Jerkins and DJ Montay. Song of the year was awarded to Ne-Yo, Espen Lind and Amund Bjorklund for "Irreplaceable." Jonathan "J.R." Rotem, Kanye West and T-Pain were honored as producers of the year. T-Pain was also selected as songwriter of the year. Universal Music Publishing Group was given the publisher of the year award.
BMI — Broadcast Music Inc. — is a performing rights organization that collects license fees on behalf of its songwriters, composers and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed.
Janet Jackson presented her music-making brothers — Michael, Tito, Jackie, Marlon, Jermaine and Randy — with the lifetime achievement BMI Icon award following a musical tribute at the award show celebrating R&B and hip-hop's top hitmakers. While Tito, Jackie, Marlon and Randy reunited Thursday to accept the award, Jermaine and Michael didn't attend the Wilshire Theatre ceremony.
Where was the Moonwalker?
"I don't know," Marlon told The Associated Press before the show. "I think he's in Egypt riding a camel or something."
The Jackson Five — which included Michael along with Marlon, Jackie, Tito and Jermaine — was a groundbreaking, best-selling act that debuted on the 1969 album "Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5." The group simply became the Jacksons after leaving Motown in 1976, replacing Jermaine with Randy. They continued their multiplatinum success with such hits as "ABC" and "I Want You Back."
"It's a great honor to know your music influenced a generation," said Tito. "We're very proud of this moment."
The tribute kicked off with dance troupe Jabbawockeez performing a funky "Dancing Machine" routine. Music group ONE sang "I Want You Back." JoJo and Lloyd partnered on "I'll Be There" before Mario unleashed a high-energy rendition of "Heartbreak Hotel" and Keri Hilson crooned "Who's Loving You." The finale featured Mario, Bobby Valentino, Lloyd and Ray J teaming up for "Never Can Say Goodbye."
Before presenting her brothers with the award, Janet said her family was her greatest commodity and that she was proud to salute her siblings for their accomplishments in the music industry.
Following the acceptance of the icon award, the Jackson brothers posed on stage for photos with father Joseph, mother Katherine and sisters Janet, LaToya and Rebbie. The Jacksons did not perform.
Other BMI Urban Award winners included Soulja Boy, Polow Da Don, Rodney Jerkins and DJ Montay. Song of the year was awarded to Ne-Yo, Espen Lind and Amund Bjorklund for "Irreplaceable." Jonathan "J.R." Rotem, Kanye West and T-Pain were honored as producers of the year. T-Pain was also selected as songwriter of the year. Universal Music Publishing Group was given the publisher of the year award.
BMI — Broadcast Music Inc. — is a performing rights organization that collects license fees on behalf of its songwriters, composers and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed.
Google turns up heat on Microsoft with Chrome's global debut
Google has declared war on Microsoft with the launch across the world last night of its new web browser.
As the first internet users tried out the free Chrome browser, analysts predicted a new front line in the battle to dominate the way in which users access and interact with the web.
Google has been working on the browser project for some years, but decided that, with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser hoarding three quarters of the market, there was no more time to lose. Consumers in 100 countries began to download the software last night after its existence was leaked a day early, when Google prematurely sent out by post a comic designed to explain its features.
Related Links
Review: intuitive system that guards against crashes
'Kangaroo' plans leap into new era for web TV
Microsoft browser could hit Google
Chrome is designed to run on Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Versions for other systems, including Apple’s Mac, are in the pipeline.
Microsoft unveiled a test version of its latest browser update Internet Explorer 8 last week. Updates included more tools for surfers to hide their online preferences, which could cut into the profits from targeted advertisements produced by Google.
Microsoft dismissed the threat posed by Chrome. Dean Hachamovitch, Internet Explorer’s manager, said: “The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips . . . and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online.”
Chrome promises to load pages more quickly and securely and includes a new engine for loading interactive JavaScript code, dubbed V8, designed to run the next generation of not-yet-invented web applications.
Google is pitching its browser as the new tool for the modern internet, with all its rich content, such as video and music. Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management, said: “Google Chrome was built for today’s web and for the applications of tomorrow. We think of the browser as the window to the web — it’s a tool for users to interact with the websites and applications they care about, and it’s important that we don’t get in the way of that experience.”
That desire to become a kind of operating system for the emerging “cloud computing” world will set alarm bells ringing at Microsoft. Essentially, Google wants to tap into a growing trend for computing functions to take place not on individual desktops but on the internet itself (“the cloud”). Chrome could become part of a strategy to accelerate that process and make Microsoft’s software less useful.
Eric Tholomé, a Google product management director, said last night that browsers had become the pinch point through which frustrated Google engineers had to work, so they had decided to reinvent the product.
Although Google has a lucrative lead in internet searches, with about two thirds of the global market, it has been trying to extend its reach with a bundle of computer programs, including word-processing and spreadsheet applications, such as Google Docs. This is in direct competition with one of Microsoft’s biggest money-makers, its Office products suite, which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Google has offered its products free over internet connections instead of requiring users to pay a licensing fee to install them on individual computers, as Microsoft typically does.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has tried to thwart Google by investing billions of dollars in the development of its own search engine. Microsoft’s doomed attempt to buy Yahoo! would have also boosted its ability to take on Google.
The last big browser war was won by Microsoft when it gained dominance in the 1990s against Netscape Navigator.
Until now, Google had been trying to undermine Internet Explorer by supporting Firefox, a web browser developed by the open-source Mozilla Foundation. According to estimates by Net Applications, the research firm, Internet Explorer is used by 74 per cent of computer users worldwide, against 18 per cent for Firefox. Google has recently extended its advertising alliance with Firefox to 2011.
Although not everything that Google touches turns to gold, analysts predicted that Chrome would be a formidable rival to Internet Explorer. Henry Blodget, of Silicon Alley Insider, said: “If you’re thinking about Chrome as just another web browser, you’re missing the larger point.
“In a couple of years, you won’t be downloading Google’s ‘browser’.
You’ll be downloading Google’s software — or, rather, you’ll be clicking on a series of Google icons that come pre-installed. Specifically, you’ll be working within a Google software environment that works sort of like Windows.”
Google says that “this is just the beginning” for Chrome. However, it will live or die on its merits. Millions are expected to download the software from www.google.com/chrome in the next few days, but it will take something pretty special to beat the inertia of all those users who have Internet Explorer already on their computers. The real test for Google began last night in the massive public test of Chrome: does it work? Is it fast and functional?
As the first internet users tried out the free Chrome browser, analysts predicted a new front line in the battle to dominate the way in which users access and interact with the web.
Google has been working on the browser project for some years, but decided that, with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser hoarding three quarters of the market, there was no more time to lose. Consumers in 100 countries began to download the software last night after its existence was leaked a day early, when Google prematurely sent out by post a comic designed to explain its features.
Related Links
Review: intuitive system that guards against crashes
'Kangaroo' plans leap into new era for web TV
Microsoft browser could hit Google
Chrome is designed to run on Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Versions for other systems, including Apple’s Mac, are in the pipeline.
Microsoft unveiled a test version of its latest browser update Internet Explorer 8 last week. Updates included more tools for surfers to hide their online preferences, which could cut into the profits from targeted advertisements produced by Google.
Microsoft dismissed the threat posed by Chrome. Dean Hachamovitch, Internet Explorer’s manager, said: “The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips . . . and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online.”
Chrome promises to load pages more quickly and securely and includes a new engine for loading interactive JavaScript code, dubbed V8, designed to run the next generation of not-yet-invented web applications.
Google is pitching its browser as the new tool for the modern internet, with all its rich content, such as video and music. Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management, said: “Google Chrome was built for today’s web and for the applications of tomorrow. We think of the browser as the window to the web — it’s a tool for users to interact with the websites and applications they care about, and it’s important that we don’t get in the way of that experience.”
That desire to become a kind of operating system for the emerging “cloud computing” world will set alarm bells ringing at Microsoft. Essentially, Google wants to tap into a growing trend for computing functions to take place not on individual desktops but on the internet itself (“the cloud”). Chrome could become part of a strategy to accelerate that process and make Microsoft’s software less useful.
Eric Tholomé, a Google product management director, said last night that browsers had become the pinch point through which frustrated Google engineers had to work, so they had decided to reinvent the product.
Although Google has a lucrative lead in internet searches, with about two thirds of the global market, it has been trying to extend its reach with a bundle of computer programs, including word-processing and spreadsheet applications, such as Google Docs. This is in direct competition with one of Microsoft’s biggest money-makers, its Office products suite, which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Google has offered its products free over internet connections instead of requiring users to pay a licensing fee to install them on individual computers, as Microsoft typically does.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has tried to thwart Google by investing billions of dollars in the development of its own search engine. Microsoft’s doomed attempt to buy Yahoo! would have also boosted its ability to take on Google.
The last big browser war was won by Microsoft when it gained dominance in the 1990s against Netscape Navigator.
Until now, Google had been trying to undermine Internet Explorer by supporting Firefox, a web browser developed by the open-source Mozilla Foundation. According to estimates by Net Applications, the research firm, Internet Explorer is used by 74 per cent of computer users worldwide, against 18 per cent for Firefox. Google has recently extended its advertising alliance with Firefox to 2011.
Although not everything that Google touches turns to gold, analysts predicted that Chrome would be a formidable rival to Internet Explorer. Henry Blodget, of Silicon Alley Insider, said: “If you’re thinking about Chrome as just another web browser, you’re missing the larger point.
“In a couple of years, you won’t be downloading Google’s ‘browser’.
You’ll be downloading Google’s software — or, rather, you’ll be clicking on a series of Google icons that come pre-installed. Specifically, you’ll be working within a Google software environment that works sort of like Windows.”
Google says that “this is just the beginning” for Chrome. However, it will live or die on its merits. Millions are expected to download the software from www.google.com/chrome in the next few days, but it will take something pretty special to beat the inertia of all those users who have Internet Explorer already on their computers. The real test for Google began last night in the massive public test of Chrome: does it work? Is it fast and functional?
Bush backs McCain for president
President George W Bush has praised John McCain's service and leadership in a speech to the Republican convention.
Speaking via video-link from the White House, he told delegates in St Paul, Minnesota, that Senator McCain was "a great American and the next president".
Mr McCain is due to be nominated on Thursday as the party's presidential candidate for the 4 November election.
Senator Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2000, said Mr McCain was the man to unite the US.
In his eight-minute address, Mr Bush described Mr McCain as a president ready to make the tough decisions needed "in a dangerous world".
John McCain's life is a story of service above self
President George W Bush
Speech in full: George W Bush
Wife's role in the show
Republican Convention diary
Convention in pictures
"John McCain's life has prepared him to make those choices. He is ready to lead this nation," Mr Bush said.
He also spoke of Mr McCain's life as "a story of service above self" and emphasised the "independence and character" he showed in backing the administration's "surge" strategy of pouring more forces into Iraq.
President Bush cancelled his planned opening night speech amid concerns that overt political campaigning would play badly with voters when the US Gulf Coast was suffering the effects of Hurricane Gustav.
But many Republicans would have been glad he was not there in person, as the convention aims to define Mr McCain as very different to his unpopular predecessor, says the BBC's Adam Brookes in St Paul.
Bipartisan politics
Giving the night's keynote speech, Mr Lieberman spoke of Mr McCain as "the best choice to bring our country together and lead our country forward".
Mr Lieberman - a former Democrat who was Al Gore's running mate in 2000 - told those who wondered what he was doing at a Republican convention: "I'm here to support John McCain because country matters more than party."
Senator Lieberman on why he backs John McCain
He praised Mr McCain for his independence, commitment to bipartisan politics and determination to root out corruption and fight special interests in Washington.
"Only one leader has shown the courage and the capability to rise above the smallness of our politics and get big things done for our country and our people," Mr Lieberman said.
Mr Lieberman described the Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, as a "gifted and eloquent young man", but added: "Eloquence is no substitute for a record, not in these tough times."
Former Senator Fred Thompson, who ran against Mr McCain in the party's primaries, delivered fierce criticism of the Democrats.
Mr Obama, he said, was "the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for president".
Mr Thompson praised Mr McCain's military service, his courage while a prisoner of war in Vietnam and his commitment to reform in Washington.
He also rounded on the media for their scrutiny of Mr McCain's vice presidential choice, Sarah Palin, and her family.
Speaking via video-link from the White House, he told delegates in St Paul, Minnesota, that Senator McCain was "a great American and the next president".
Mr McCain is due to be nominated on Thursday as the party's presidential candidate for the 4 November election.
Senator Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2000, said Mr McCain was the man to unite the US.
In his eight-minute address, Mr Bush described Mr McCain as a president ready to make the tough decisions needed "in a dangerous world".
John McCain's life is a story of service above self
President George W Bush
Speech in full: George W Bush
Wife's role in the show
Republican Convention diary
Convention in pictures
"John McCain's life has prepared him to make those choices. He is ready to lead this nation," Mr Bush said.
He also spoke of Mr McCain's life as "a story of service above self" and emphasised the "independence and character" he showed in backing the administration's "surge" strategy of pouring more forces into Iraq.
President Bush cancelled his planned opening night speech amid concerns that overt political campaigning would play badly with voters when the US Gulf Coast was suffering the effects of Hurricane Gustav.
But many Republicans would have been glad he was not there in person, as the convention aims to define Mr McCain as very different to his unpopular predecessor, says the BBC's Adam Brookes in St Paul.
Bipartisan politics
Giving the night's keynote speech, Mr Lieberman spoke of Mr McCain as "the best choice to bring our country together and lead our country forward".
Mr Lieberman - a former Democrat who was Al Gore's running mate in 2000 - told those who wondered what he was doing at a Republican convention: "I'm here to support John McCain because country matters more than party."
Senator Lieberman on why he backs John McCain
He praised Mr McCain for his independence, commitment to bipartisan politics and determination to root out corruption and fight special interests in Washington.
"Only one leader has shown the courage and the capability to rise above the smallness of our politics and get big things done for our country and our people," Mr Lieberman said.
Mr Lieberman described the Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, as a "gifted and eloquent young man", but added: "Eloquence is no substitute for a record, not in these tough times."
Former Senator Fred Thompson, who ran against Mr McCain in the party's primaries, delivered fierce criticism of the Democrats.
Mr Obama, he said, was "the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for president".
Mr Thompson praised Mr McCain's military service, his courage while a prisoner of war in Vietnam and his commitment to reform in Washington.
He also rounded on the media for their scrutiny of Mr McCain's vice presidential choice, Sarah Palin, and her family.
Facebook's Live Feed challenges FriendFeed, Twitter
Facebook has recently launched a new feature that takes aim at life-streaming sites FriendFeed and Twitter. Facebook's Live Feed is an evolved version of its hugely popular News Feed feature.
Found via a tab on the Facebook homepage, Live Feed loads up all of the stories from your friends and updates the list in real-time. The feed is available in Log Mode (seen above) or the more traditional Full Stories. When one of your friends does something, Live Feed slides everything down, making room for the new story, which fades in. The stream is very cool to watch roll down the screen and makes good use of the classic Web 2.0 AJAXy feel.
It's no secret that Facebook has been pushing its microblogging and life-streaming features to the forefront of the site recently. Facebook's "What are you doing right now?" feature is extremely similar to Twitter and its commenting system for news items is very reminiscent of FriendFeed. Facebook's implementation of Live Feed makes it a lot easier to watch what all of your friends are doing.
FriendFeed and Twitter are both very good at what they do, but have yet to gain the mainstream appeal that Facebook enjoys. Facebook is adding another feature that FriendFeed has long had and that has very similar functionality to Summize (nowTwitter Search), so maybe it's time for them to start getting worried. By exposing its large user base to these features that FriendFeed and Twitter have perfected, Facebook poses a real threat.
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