SXSW crowd swarms for iPad 2 launch

The new iPads have landed -- and the throngs turned out to greet them.

Apple maintained an air of mystery about its South by Southwest (SXSW) pop-up shop until the very last minute, waiting until barely an hour before launch time to unveil its logo and transform an anonymous, empty corner store in downtown Austin into the epicenter of iPad 2 mania. By then, the line of waiting shoppers stretched for blocks, tipped off by an article in a local newspaper late Wednesday that revealed Apple's plans.
Shopper No. 1, Austin local Sweet John Muehlbauer, turned out at 6:30 a.m. to secure his spot at the head of the line. Right behind was a contingent that traveled much further: Four South Africans, who capped off a 35-hour plane trip to SXSW with a nine-hour wait in the iPad line. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to queue up, but the group made the most of its wait.
"I'm going to get two for myself," declared Graham Bradford, founder of Cape Town-based Web development firm Graydot. "One as a backup. Or I might give one to my future girlfriend. I don't know who that is yet, but having an iPad 2 should help, right?"

Fifteen minutes before launch time, a squad of Apple employees emerged from the shop -- still covered with opaque paper concealing the view inside -- and began writing out purchase tickets. Most of those waiting rattled off their requests like a fast-food order: "Two 32 gig white Wi-Fis, one 16 gig Verizon 3G in black ..."

But a few customers wanted to drill down into the specs. Tim Street, in from Los Angeles, spent 10 minutes grilling an Apple staffer about prices, data plan options and storage capacity before making his decision: a black 64 GB Wi-Fi iPad and an AT&T 3G 64 GB model, also in black.

The decision took longer than the purchase. At 5:08 p.m., Street emerged from the shop, victoriously waving his iPads aloft. He plans to keep one and share the other around the office at MDialog, a mobile video software developer.

Apple didn't take pre-orders for the iPad 2, forcing those who wanted to get one right away to hop on line. At the company's New York City flagship, hundreds turned out. The first half-dozen lined up 24 hours in advance, braving a drizzle and chilly temperatures.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says his team counted 1,190 people in line at the shop at 5 p.m. That outnumbered the 730 people in line at launch time for the first iPad in April 2010.

In Austin -- where the SXSW Interactive show opened Friday morning, drawing more than 10,000 people to the city -- the weather was balmy and the line atmosphere party-like. Many of those waiting already had the first version of the iPad, released less than a year ago, but were eager to trade up to the faster and thinner new model.

But a few were crossing enemy lines. One of the earliest spots in line was held by a
shopper wearing an Android t-shirt. Aaron -- "I'm not going to give you my last name," he said -- had no interest in Apple's latest gizmo. "I run Android businesses. No way I'm using one," he said.

His plan: Resell the iPads for a $200 markup. He already had one buyer lined up.Others had no intention of letting their new prize out of their hands. Surrounded by cheering crowds, a media swarm, and a line stretching for blocks, the iPad 2 launch had the air of a historic -- or religious -- occasion.

IPad D.J. Rana Sobhany lined up to snag two iPads that she plans to press into immediate service for musical sets Friday night."Apple has really been pushing the music capabilities of the iPad a lot," she said. This time around, Apple built a lot of native functionality for musical experimentation right into the device: "That really does change everything."

"The poor guys in there are shaking," Graham Bradford reported, emerging from the shop
clutching a pair of iPads. "I'm shaking. I'm the first South African to have an iPad!"

Jessica Biel: Devastated By Justin Timberlake Split?

One of the most private, talented and beautiful celebrity couples in the world, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, are officially over. Done. Kaput.

No, for real this time. Their reps have even confirmed it.

While the stars insist, via their reps, that the breakup was amicable, an E! source says Justin did the breaking up and Jessica Biel is "devastated."

A friend of Biel's denies this report, adamantly too.

"Jessica is not devastated," said a friend. "That's just crap. She's a very independent, proud woman with her own career, she's fine." Good to hear.

In any case, the two have been battling breakup reports - and rumors of him cheating with Olivia Munn, among others - for quite a long time now.

More likely, they simply grew apart. These things do happen with love, even if there's no huge scandal or third party. We wish them both the best.

P.S. Call us, Jessica. You know, if you need someone to talk to.

Hrithik’s guzaarish accepted

The star is happy with Supreme Court’s verdict on conditional euthanasia

Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict in favour of conditional passive euthanasia for terminally-ill patients, Hrithik Roshan, who played a paraplegic in director Sanjay Leela Bansali's ‘Guzaarish’, says that he can realize the pain of a patient who loses all mobility. Hrithik says it's a good beginning and with time it would become easier for the society to accept it. "Any act that ends consistent suffering in any form must be condoned. Euthanasia must be allowed in cases that merit it," he said. "This is a good beginning, in time as we evolve as a society, it will become easier to see reason in the concept of euthanasia as a boon for those who are suffering to a degree, which you and me cannot even imagine," Hrithik said.

The Supreme Court gave a sanction to passive euthanasia if the high court concerned approves it. The process involves withdrawal of life sustaining drugs and/or life support systems for patients who are brain dead or in a persistent vegetative state (PVS), after their relatives and doctors convey their approval to high court.

Aishwarya ignores Kareena at an event

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ignores Kareena Kapoor at an award event. Kareena was sitting in the first row and Aishwarya passed Bebo without giving her a glance. Ash greeted her friends sitting left and right to Bebo but did not bother to look at her or give a smile.

The reason of their rivalry is not hidden to anyone. It all started from the days when Abhishek Bachchan broke engagement with Karishma Kapoor.

Moreover, Aishwarya Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor are strong contenders for Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Heroine’.

Ashthon Jones on American Idol Exit: God Will Hook Me Up...

Yes, Ashthon Jones became the first season 10 finalist to be eliminated from American Idol. But don't feel sorry for this aspiring artist.

"I feel like it was all in God's timing, and He has something better for me," she tells E! News." I'm not saying American Idol was not [good], but something great is what I feel in my spirit right now, and I can't wait to see what is going to happen."

Jones did break down upon receiving news of her ousting, but assures fans: "I left those tears on the stage," concluding:

"That strength has nothing to do with me. That strength comes from God. I know a lot of people don't believe or don't understand what I'm saying, but that strength comes from up above."

Google, local platforms respond to Japan's 8.9 earthquake crisis

An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9 hit Japan today, resulting in tsunami warnings for 20 countries, as well as California and Hawaii. Crisis mappers wasted no time responding: In under 2.5 hours Google launched its person finder application, which was also used when New Zealand's 6.3 quake struck last month, and a local developer in Tokyo, Shu Sigashi, a member of the OpenStreetMap Foundation in Japan, quickly put up a localized Ushahidi crisis platform.

Crisis mapping's reach only goes as far as it is utilized, so the key now is getting the word out that online tools are available to help report the missing. Google's person finder app is already rapidly increasing in usage. Within a couple hours 2,000 reports had been logged.

If you type in the name, "Yoshi," in Google's app, results come up that indicate whether people with that name have been reported as alive or missing.
Hawaii's Pacific Disaster Center has updated tsunami warnings and an interactive map with information on the risks present on each island.

The UN satellite monitoring group that teamed up with Google and George Clooney in Sudan could also be activated at the request of the Japanese government at any moment.

"We're on standby basically," UNOSAT's Lars Bromley tells Fast Company. "The Japanese have a very good disaster satellite monitoring program run out of their space agency (JAXA). We'll assist if they request it."

Katrina wants marriage, Ranbir refuses

A new turn in Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif’s split-up. Earlier, it was reported that the duo split-up due to Ranbir’s proximity to his ‘Rockstar’ actress Nargis Fakiri but now the real reason of their break-up is said to be marriage issue. Katrina Kaif wants to settle down with her boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor but the actor refuses to get hitched at this period of time.

Ranbir reasoned Kat that he is still young to understand and take the responsibility of marriage. Kat who usually prefers to keep her personal life private is very serious about her relationship with Ranbir and even went public.

Katrina wants quick engagement followed by a wedding but the actor declined for such commitment at this moment.

Abhay Deol secretly exchanged rings with Preeti

Bollywood actor Abhay Deol secretly engaged to his girlfriend Preeti Desai. Abhay and model Preeti Desai, former Miss Great Britain was dating for quite sometime. It is believed that in the presence of close relatives and friends, Preeti and Abhay exchanged rings.

They met each other at the success bash of ‘Dev D’ in 2009. UK born Preeti Desai shifted her base to Mumbai to make a mark in Bollywood. Preeti and Abhay have been living together in Mumbai after Preeti shifted to Mumbai.

Recently, Preeti hit the headlines for shooting an intimate scene with her American- Indian co- star, Sendhil Ramamurthy for her debut venture, ‘Shor In The City’ to be produced by Balaji production house.

It is assumed that the duo is reluctant to make their engagement public as Preeti has just now kick started her acting career.  They feel that the news of their engagement can have a negative effect on their career.

Who got cheeky with Preity?

Inside goss from her 'Guiness World Records - Ab India Todega' sets

Preity Zinta is known for being feisty, but even she can be caught off guard sometimes. That's what happened during the shoot of her TV debut, 'Guinness World Records - Ab India Todega'. "I wanted to encourage the contestants on the show because what all of them perform is very difficult. At the same time I tried to ensure that the entire spotlight is not on me and they get enough opportunity and limelight," Preity revealed. "But sometimes some people were really cheeky and asked me questions that I would not answer otherwise." Preity admits to being dumbfounded by the contestants' queries.

"Some people just asked anything they liked. I hope the production team has not gone to my close-ups during that time because there were times when I didn't know how to react. And there are so many people in the studio, so you can't do anything," she said.
When asked to reveal some uncomfortable questions thrown at her during the show, Preity said: "I can't tell you now. You need to see the show for that because I don't think they will edit that."
'Guinness World Records - Ab India Todega' will premiere March 18 on Colors. It will see Indians undertaking awe-inspiring, bizarre and unforgettable acts to break the world record.

The show, which has had earlier versions in other countries and has now come to India, will also have adjudicators Elizabeth Smith and Kristian Teufel, who will explain the rules to participants, validate their achievements and recognise the new world records.

The show will be co-hosted by Shabbir Ahluwalia.

Preity, who co-owns Indian Premier League's Mohali team Kings XI Punjab, is facing the camera after two years and says the offer for the show came at the right time.

"For two years I was not doing anything to do with entertainment. I was focusing on cricket. It was a new business; so I did not want to take any movies or TV show that time. I did get offers from TV even then, but I didn't want to judge a dance show because I'm not the number one dancer on the planet and just to sit there and judge people wasn't something that inspired me a lot," she said.

"End of last year I decided that I have spent two years out of movies; so 2011 was going to be my year of getting back to films and entertainment. So this show came at the right time and I loved the format," she added.

She said yes to the TV show because of its involvement with common people and its adventure factor.

"The fact that Indians are going to break records worldwide and the fact that this was just not any other show was why I did it. It was on a global platform and it was going to put me face to face with real people from India as opposed to people who want to be stars and who already come with a preconceived condition.

"Also, I love adventure - I've done it all from bungee jumping to scuba diving to sky diving and this show has a good dose of that too. So I think this show suited me more."

However, being a part of the small screen was not a cakewalk for the star.

"It's a totally different medium. The first thing that hit me about TV was the exhaustion. On a film set, you keep waiting for your shots but on TV there is so much work that you feel like asking, 'Can I breathe now'? You are constantly standing on your feet and specially on this kind of thing where you have a live audience," she said.

Off Target: Lady Gaga Ends Partnership With Chain Over Donations to Anti-Gay Group

You don't mess with Lady Gaga. Especially when it comes to gay issues.

The singer reportedly dissolved a deal with Target over its political donations to MN Forward, a political action group that supported an anti-gay candidate.

When Target didn't cut ties with that organization, Gaga pulled the plug.




If there's one thing that will set Lady Gaga off ...

Tom Emmer, who campaigned for governor of Minnesota in 2010 (he lost), supported a Christian rock organization that advocated violence against gays and supported a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

The deal, which included an exclusive expanded edition of her forthcoming album Born This Way, was contingent upon Target supporting LGBT charities.

Sources close to Gaga say she was not thrilled with the deal from the get-go, but had hoped to use her leverage in the agreement to push the company to redeem itself for having supported MN Forward and other anti-gay groups.

The details of the broken deal have not yet been made public, but it looks like it's over and done with. What do you think? Did Gaga make the right call?

Chris Brown Clarifies Rihanna "Mishap" Remark

Chris Brown raised eyebrows - shocker there, we know - with a recent interview in which he said he was done apologizing for attacking Rihanna.

While the point was that he can't just keep saying sorry every minute of every day for life, it was the word "mishap" that the media seized upon.

He put himself in this position with his own actions, but this was somewhat unfair to Brown, who was trying to make a broader point about fame.




In the full interview, it's clear that Chris Brown was trying to express the frustrations and pitfalls of fame in the context of his new album F.A.M.E.

The album title stands for Forgiving All My Enemies and also Fans Are My Everything. The "mishap" he was referring to was no specific event.

Of people who turned their backs on him, or on any person after a negative event in their life, Brown actually sympathized, saying the following:
“You can’t blame people for how they want to be portrayed or if they don’t want to be associated with somebody who had a particular mishap.”

Rather than his beating of Rihanna, Brown was talking in general about how people protect their reputations even at the cost of losing friends.

While you can see why Chris doesn't get the benefit of the doubt, in this case it seems clear that he wasn't trying to downplay what he did.

It seems like daily, there's some rumor, some leaked Chris Brown nude pic or some comment he makes that people fly off the handle over.

We've been critical of Brown in the past, to be sure, but at some point, the guy deserves SOME break in terms of such vitriolic responses.

At least in terms of interpreting his comments, we can all do a little better as far as not twisting them to assume the most negative view.

Shahid floored by 'Black Swan'

Here's what he loved about the 'stunning' movie

Shahid Kapoor, a trained dancer himself, is in awe of the critically acclaimed film 'Black Swan', which stars Oscar winning actress Natalie Portman as a New York-based ballerina. The actor recently saw the Fox Star Studios' movie, and posted on his Twitter page: "BLACK SWAN...Stunningly poetic...What a violent interpretation of the serene swan lake...Bravo!!!!!!! In awe...Total respect." 'Black Swan' was released in India Feb 25 and has been attracting even more audiences ever since Portman's performance won her the best actress Oscar award this year.

Why South by Southwest matters

Every March, thousands of young, jeans-wearing techies, filmmakers and musicians descend upon Austin, Texas, harboring dreams of getting noticed and hitting it big.

They come not just for the balmy weather or the Tex-Mex food but for South by Southwest, a collection of conferences and festivals that's considered one of the most influential happenings on the annual cultural calendar.

Abbreviated as SXSW -- and nicknamed "South by" by festival veterans -- the 24-year-old conference kicks off Friday and runs through March 20. The three-headed event encompasses separate festivals for film, music and interactive technology and has helped launch everything from Twitter to Broken Social Scene.

It's where hipster culture meets geek culture, and where internet entrepreneurs are treated like rock stars.

SXSW first kicked off in 1987 as the place where relatively unknown bands played gigs with hopes of attracting the attention of critics, talent scouts or big-time musicians seeking an opening act for their tours. Conference organizers integrated film and technology segments in 1994 as a "multimedia" event, and a year later, the separate South by Southwest Interactive was formed.
The event's film portion now takes up nine days -- almost as many as the interactive and music sections combined. Past SXSWs have witnessed the premieres of "Kick-Ass," "Knocked Up," and countless documentaries. This year's lineup features such high-profile premieres as a Conan O'Brien documentary about his recent comedy tour (O'Brien's show, like CNN, is a Time Warner property), the Jake Gyllenhaal thriller "Source Code" and "The Beaver," directed by Jodie Foster and starring Mel Gibson.

Yes, geeks like to party

Within this swirling hotbed of culture are dozens of fledgling internet startups hoping to capture some of the Texas voodoo that helped catapult Twitter and Foursquare early on.

Daytime hours feature hundreds of Interactive panels on everything from "Social TV" to "Has Facebook jumped the shark?" At night, geeks swarm to startup-pitch contests or crowded parties hosted by such names as Bing, StumbleUpon, Hipmunk, Zynga and I Can Has Cheezburger (with pictures of LOLcats on the digital invitations).

Tech-savvy attendees coordinate meeting points with friends on Foursquare or Gowalla, or by using hashtags like "#sxsw" on Twitter.

These nightly events, while expensive to organize, are among the most popular promotional vehicles for young Web companies, which are often happy to dip into their funds to buy out a downtown bar for a few hours. Some hosts, like Gowalla, say SXSW parties are a planned annual expense.

"We did (a party) last year, so we're kind of rehashing that this year -- but bigger and better," said Josh Williams, CEO of Austin's homegrown Gowalla, the location-based, social-networking service that's throwing a 1,200-person bash on Monday. "This is the year I think 'South by' kind of blows up to the point that we're all kind of left with our heads spinning."

Not only do parties help add a new name to people's vocabulary (hey, who's going to Tweet House on Friday?), but organizers also can use them to plant the seed for a product while patrons are lubricated. At a party last year, Drew Olanoff said he talked a lot about an emerging concept called "group messaging" to get audiences familiar with the idea.

"People were like, 'Oh, what's that?' 'Well, it's like reply-all in e-mail,' " said Olanoff, who works for a company called GOGII that develops a group-texting app, textPlus. "Last year was education. This year, we're putting it into action."

Group messaging is expected to be the hot category in social networking this year, according to several industry observers.

GOGII will have staff on the streets near the convention center giving out "respect" stickers. They're hoping to create buzz by getting people to paste stickers on their friends -- a social currency similar to "likes" or "retweets." An advertisement for textPlus is also printed on the stickers.

These guerrilla marketing techniques will be out in full force in Austin. Among TextPlus' many competitors is one called GroupMe, which will be giving away grilled-cheese sandwiches.

SXSW is also where popular app makers launch drastically new versions or websites. Foursquare, Plancast, PicPlz, Ustream and others all plan to release apps with new features this week to coincide with the happenings in Austin.

From CD-ROMs to mobile 'check-ins'

The conference has come a long way since its early years, when it struggled more to get noticed. And its technology has, too.

"In 1994, we were talking about CD-ROMs," said Hugh Forrest, director of the Interactive conference. "At that point, the gulf between the multimedia people and the music people who were attending South by Southwest were like oceans.

"I think that gulf has gotten smaller and smaller as the years go on," he added. "It's still present to some extent. If you're here on Tuesday and Wednesday, the jeans become a lot skinnier, and the tattoos go from sleeves to full-body."

They may not dress the same, but techies seem to have learned some of the musicians' tricks when it comes to promotion and optimism at SXSW. Part of that enthusiasm comes from how integral SXSW was in the histories of two key social networks.

After opening to the public in late 2006, a quirky short-messaging network called Twitter languished in obscurity. But when the small group of employees noticed many of their members were planning trips to SXSW in 2007, they saw an opportunity, said Evan Williams, the company's co-founder and former CEO.

The company paid $11,000 to install monitors in the hallways of Austin's convention center that displayed relevant Twitter messages from attendees, Williams said.

"This was about the only money Twitter's *ever* spent on marketing," he wrote on Quora in January. "And something clicked."

There, Twitter won over a cutting-edge, influential crowd whose increased participation started to weigh on the site's servers, creating an overflow problem that plagued the service for a few years while maintenance played catchup. The excitement carried over to SXSW in 2008, where Twitter again had a major presence.

Then came 2009, when a smartphone-centric service called Foursquare, built around a game of "checking in" at places and competing for the honorary title of mayor, had launched a few days before that year's SXSW. Twitter was by then a ubiquitous tool at the festival, but Foursquare was getting all the hype.

"We went from 50 to 5,000 users," said Foursquare CEO and co-founder Dennis Crowley. "I had no idea that it would blow up."

Foursquare had chosen SXSW as the deadline for launching its service and had taken note of Twitter's successes there. In 2010, Foursquare's chief SXSW marketing gimmick involved pickup matches of foursquare, the real-life playground game, outside the convention center.

This year, the company will host a big party and organize more playground games, but SXSW organizers say they've outgrown their location in front of the conference center, Crowley said. Foursquare now has more than 7 million users.

"This year, I don't know what it's going to be," he said. "It should be the year that Foursquare fades into the background. You know, everyone uses Foursquare. What's next?"

Life after Austin

After a startup gets its wings at SXSW and the hype starts to fade, it can start to see its presence there as nonessential. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was interviewed for a 2008 keynote presentation that wasn't well received, and his company has only attended in a small capacity since.

Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Williams, who was a keynote speaker at SXSW last year, aren't planning to attend the conference, a company spokesman said.

Perhaps as an indication that it has outgrown its role at SXSW, Twitter won't be hosting a party in Austin this year after throwing one last year.

Instead, the company, now with some 200 million users, is organizing a decidedly less debaucherous Twitter Retreat during daytime hours on Monday. "Escape the madness for some R&R," says an event description.

"At some point, the company gets too big, and it just doesn't work," explained Foursquare's Crowley. "This happened to Twitter. I was like, 'Why aren't you guys going?' You just get too big (that) you can't."

For budding tech entrepreneurs at SXSW this week, that would be a good problem to ha

Deepika's 'Dum Maro Dum' problem

Why she can't perform at her sizzling item number's launch

The sizzling title track of 'Dum Maaro Dum' will be launched during the crucial India-South Africa match in Nagpur on Saturday, March 12, but Deepika Padukone, who heats up the song, will not perform at the event. More than 45,000 people are expected to attend the match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, so the director Rohan Sippy had requested Deepika to perform live. But the star can't make it, as she is busy shooting for 'Aarakshan' in Bhopal. "Unfortunately, Deepika is shooting for 'Aarakshan' in Bhopal and doesn't have time to rehearse as she would land in Nagpur on the same day. She expressed her regret as it would be very difficult for her to perform in front of a 45,000 plus crowd without any rehearsals. The song is extremely dance oriented and needs to be well orchestrated with a troupe of dancers," a source revealed.

So finally, the "Dum Maaro Dum" team will launch the song in the mid break after the first innings.
Rohan Sippy said: "Well it would have been extremely exciting if she had had time to rehearse and perform live in front of the audience. It would have given the song new energy. But we understand the situation and have decided to showcase the song during half time in the match. It's one of the most important matches we have."

Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Rana Daggubati, Bipasha Basu and Prateik Babbar, 'Dum Maaro Dum' has Deepika making a special appearance in the item song.

'Dum Maaro Dum' releases April 22, and revolves around six Indians who meet in Goa and how their lives change after getting involved with the drug mafia.

Salman is a 'Dheela Character'

All about the new song that has him laughing

Salman Khan is a 'Dheela character', if you go by the funnily titled song in his next film 'Ready'. And the number, which was shot in Bangkok, even has Sallu amused. 'Dheela character' is aimed at describing Salman's character in the comedy, which is being directed by Anees Bazmee. Complete with amusing lyrics and Salman's typical dance moves, the song was shot with 100 dancers who were especially flown from Mumbai to Bangkok, said a source. "Shot a song called Mein karoon toh saala character dhila hai. Hehehe," Salman posted on his Twitter page after shooting the song last week. Two choreographers - Raju Khan and Mudassar Khan - have worked together on the song to give it a truly Bollywood feel. We're waiting to check this song out now, can't wait for Salman's moves after 'Dabangg'!

Miley Cyrus: Flirting with Jared Followill?

On the most recent edition of Saturday Night Live, Miley Cyrus played the roles of Fergie, Lindsay Lohan and Justin Bieber.

But insiders tell Hollywood Life there's another new role Miley has been perfecting: flirt. The singer has reportedly been sending text messages to Kings of Leon bassist Jared Followill ever since the Europe Music Awards in November.
“Miley wants to keep Jared interested,” a source says. “She often sends him coy text messages. So far, he is a big fan of what she has been sending.”

This mole claims Followill, who hails from Cyrus' hometown of Nashville, is 24 years old and was connected to Julianne Hough in 2009, thinks Miley is "very pretty."

Might we need to prepare ourselves for... Cyrowill? We'll keep readers apprised.

Britney Spears Goes All OUT: A Scintillating Q&A

Britney Spears covers the new issue of Out. She looks great.
That's the good news. The Britney Spears pictures are hot. As for the star's responses to some of the mag's rapid fire questions, she could step it up a little.
Don't get us wrong. Less is often more, and it's hard to fault her for staying short and sweet. But c'mon girl! Open up a little and give us some insight!

Here's Britney's Q&A with the publication...

When was the first time you saw a Britney Spears drag queen?
In New Orleans singing "Slave 4 U." I almost died!
Are there any of your songs that you wish you hadn’t recorded?
No. All of my songs are f–ing amazing.

How would you feel if one of your sons turned out to be gay?
I love my boys no matter what.

What is the most ridiculous rumor printed about you?
That I was an alien.

What is the rumor that hurt the most?
That I had died in a car accident.

Who is your favorite Golden Girl?
Betty White, because she’s so sweet and innocent.

Kissing Madonna was…
Cool.

You’ve been married twice - once for only 55 hours. How do you feel about gay marriage?
I think everyone should be treated equally.

Lady Gaga is…
Unique.

Christina Aguilera is…
Truly talented.

Britney Spears is…
ME!!!

The race to make the world's strongest magnet

George Hadjipanayis' assistant came to him with perplexing news: Some incredibly strong magnetic field had caused their lab instruments to go haywire.

"You're out of your mind," Hadjipanayis recalls telling him in the early 1980s. "You have something wrong; go back" and try the experiment again.

Nothing was wrong, though, and Hadjipanayis soon realized that his team accidentally had created what was then, and continues to be, the world's strongest magnet -- made of a strange and little understood "rare earth" element called neodymium. That magnet would help revolutionize technology, powering wind turbine motors and giving juice to electric cars.

But the luck wouldn't last.
Accessible supplies of neodymium and 16 other rare earth elements -- which occupy those two orphaned rows at the bottom of the periodic table -- are running short. China, which controls supplies of 97% of these materials, doesn't like sharing them with the West. And the only U.S. mine for rare earth elements went out of production after a radioactive waste accident in the 1990s.

Throw in the fact that rare earth elements are important to all kinds of technologies -- they're the reason smartphones vibrate, why TVs have vivid reds and greens, and how computer hard drives are able to etch data -- and you've got a recipe that scares many technologists and researchers.

What would happen to our technological landscape without these rare earths?

Hadjipanayis, chairman of physics at the University of Delaware, and researchers from two other institutions, the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory in Iowa and GE Global Research in upstate New York, are preparing for that day.

They're in a race to make an even stronger magnet than before -- an essential component in green technologies, which use magnets to transfer electrical energy into motion. And they're trying to do it by using as little neodymium as possible, since that element is getting harder to come by.

For Hadjipanayis, this is a professional as well as personal struggle. He's trying to recreate the accidental success he had with magnets in the 1980s.

"I have pressure," he said. "Look, this is not easy. I mean, you need also a little bit of luck. We have the concept here, but there are many, many obstacles that we need to resolve before we succeed."

Rare earth mysteries

Rare earth elements possess strange magnetic and conductive properties aren't found anywhere else in our cabinet of elements.

Understanding precisely why this is the case would require graduate degrees in both chemistry and physics, but the for-dummies version goes something like this, according to Frank Johnson, a materials scientist at GE Global Research:

"In a magnetic material, the magnetic ions are connected by springs."

To keep that metaphor going, a typical rare earth element is full of super-powerful springs, but they're all jumbled up, facing various directions as if they'd been thrown onto the floor of a closet.

Something magical happens when a rare earth element like neodymium is combined with specific other elements: They form crystals. And if the shape of those crystals is just right, all of the super-powerful springs align, and -- bam! -- the springs amplify each other, and you have the very powerful magnet.

"They are very unique elements, and the science of them is fascinating," Johnson said.

Metallic recipes

Hadjipanayis didn't know that boron was the missing ingredient when he asked his lab assistant to add that gas to the metallic mixture they were working with.

All he knew was that the experiments were going wrong because the metal kept crumbling and falling apart. He thought boron might do for this metallic solution what eggs and milk do for cake batter. It would smooth things over.

The unexpected result: He discovered the neodymium-iron-boron magnet, which was far stronger than anything that preceded it.

"For me, that was kind of a very exciting experience," Hadjipanayis said.

He keeps several of these nickel-sized magnets on his desks to show visitors.

Scientists measure the strength of magnets with a unit called the "maximum energy product." A typical refrigerator magnet has a rating of 3 or 4.

Current neodymium magnets register 57 to 60.

Several years ago, Hadjipanayis recalls going to an airport with a neodymium magnet tucked away in his coat pocket.

He walked past a metal object near security, he said, and got temporarily stuck.

Hadjipanayis was able to free himself from that situation. But if two neodymium magnets get stuck together, "you have to slice it into two parts."

"If you're an ordinary person, you can't separate them" by pulling, he said.

Now, Hadjipanayis and researchers at GE and the Ames Laboratory in Iowa are trying to create magnets that are nearly twice that strong.

A world without rare earths

In addition to trying to invent magnets that don't depend as heavily on rare earth elements, mining companies are trying to harvest new supplies.

This carries environmental risks, however.

China has become the world leader in rare earth mining and production in part because it's more willing to put up with these risks than the United States, which faced them head-on in the 1990s. A rare earth mine now owned by Molycorp Minerals was fined in 1998 for leaking hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater containing low levels of radioactive material.

Molycorp's mine in the California desert, near the Nevada border, is set to reopen this year. A U.S. Department of Energy report from December says the country needs to ramp up its rare earth production in order to ensure that technology companies here maintain a supply of these vital elements.

A spokesman for Molycorp, Jim Sims, said the reopened mine and upgraded processing center will put the U.S. back in the rare earth business -- and will do so safely.

"America will have the most environmentally progressive and technologically advanced rare earth processing capability," Sims said.

Starting a rare earth element mine is an expensive, long and arduous task, however. The elements aren't especially rare in nature, but they're usually found in relatively small quantities, mixed in with other materials, which makes them both difficult and somewhat uneconomical to mine and process.

Consequently, the Department of Energy also says we should look for alternatives. And that's where the magnet researchers come in.

A wing of the Energy Department called the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E, has put $6.6 million into grants for programs to develop a magnet that is stronger than any that exist on earth today -- and uses much less neodymium.

That's important because a world without rare earth magnets -- or some unknown substitute -- would mean big changes in technology, said Karl Gschneidner, a senior metallurgist at the Ames Laboratory, which is in this race. For example, without rare earth magnets, laptops would be three to four times as heavy as they are now.

"There's no other substitutes for them," he said.

And could we create one, as magnet researchers essentially are trying to do?

"The odds are less than 50-50."

Remixing nature's magic

Topping the natural magic of rare earth elements is no easy task.

Hadjipanayis and the other researchers are using nanotechnology to essentially remix the recipe for today's strongest magnets.

For now, the best they can do is break the three ingredients of a neodymium magnet into small chunks that include only a couple thousand atoms and measure 20 nanometers across. About 2,500 of these tiny "composites," as Hadjipanayis calls them, would fit in the width of a human hair.

Then the lab uses bizarre techniques, from chemical treatments to shaking the elements vigorously, to try to fuse these pieces back together.

Hadjipanayis said he feels like he's trying to cram 100 years' worth of work into the three years that make up his Energy Department contract. He visits the lab daily to check on the progress. He worries about the high risk involved.

But he sees this grant as a way for him and other researchers to ensure the U.S. has a future in green technology.

"If it happens, then you revolutionize everything," he said.

Katrina's not part of any IPL team

She finally responds to the rumours

Shooting down rumours that she will join Kochi Indian Premier League (IPL) or Pune Warriors as its brand ambassador, Katrina Kaif's spokesperson revealed that she is not connected to IPL in any way this year. After the 26-year-old stepped down as the brand ambassador of IPL Royal Challengers Bangalore team, it was rumoured that she might join the Kochi IPL team or the Pune Warriors. "These reports are untrue and Katrina is not part of any Indian Premier League (IPL) team this year," said Katrina's official spokesperson in a statement. "She is not a part of this 2011 IPL season nor were there any talks on her being Brand Ambassador for any team. The reports doing the rounds are absolutely baseless and untrue. She will be shooting for Yash Raj Film's 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan', which is why she opted out of the Bangalore team (Bangalore Royal Challengers)," added the spokesperson.

Jackyy-Puja romance revealed

All about the 'F.A.L.T.U' co-stars' real-life love story

Jackky Bhagnani has a soft corner for his 'F.A.L.T.U' co-star Puja Gupta and says it is not a publicity gimmick to promote their forthcoming film, but refuses to talk about their future plans.

"Let's just say Pooja and I are very close friends. Beyond that I leave it you to draw your own conclusions," said the young actor who debuted in 2009 with 'Kal Kissne Dekha'.

When probed further, he said: "At first Puja and I didn't get along. She thought I had an attitude because I was the producer's spoilt son. I thought she had an attitude because she was Miss India and all that. As shooting progressed in Mauritius we came close… We partied really hard together. We realised we were not the people we thought each other to be."

Releasing April 1, 'F.A.L.T.U' is choreographer Remo D'Souza's first Hindi directorial movie. Jackky's father Vashu Bhagnani has produced it.
When asked if his friendship with the former Miss India is a gimmick to promote their new film, Jackky replied: "Not at all. I don't even want to discuss Puja. When have you last seen a film do well just because the lead pair is linked together?"

Asked about the future of their relationship, he said: "We are both young and starting out in our careers. Who can predict what will happen tomorrow?"

A friend of Jackky said that the two are definitely seeing one another. "It started as a hate-hate relationship, like in those corny movies and then grew into a very tender relationship when they were shooting in Mauritius. Initially, all the four youngsters who were shooting in Mauritus were a wild group. Then it came to a stage where the two of them would steal away from the group to be together."

The friend added that there was a sequence where the four youngsters had to jump off this massive waterfall in Mauritius and Jackky put his foot down. "He wouldn't let Puja do that steep plunge. He even had a heated argument with his director Remo Fernandez about the scene. It was the only time they ever argued. That's when we got to know for sure that Jackky and Pooja are a twosome," said the friend.

'F.A.L.T.U' is about a group of friends who are considered a total waste. However, a turn in their life leads them to such a situation where the fate of many more like them comes in their hands.

Talking about the waterfall scene, Jackky said: "About the waterfall scene, it's one of the steepest waterfalls in the world. Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan and others have jumped down from it, but with a harness. We boys decided to take the plunge without harnesses. How could Puja do that?"

Google's code change shifts billions from losers to winners

Google's recent change to its search algorithm has dramatically shaken up the businesses of websites that moved up or down its search rankings. Sites whose rankings rose to the top found that their traffic and revenue soared -- but the adjustment had an equally devastating effect on those that were dropped.
the Online Publishers Association, a group of content producers comprising many of the Internet's largest properties, estimates that the algorithm change shifted $1 billion in annual revenue.

Some of the losers felt the hit immediately. Mahalo.com laid off 10% of its workforce last week thanks to what CEO Jason Calacanis called "a significant dip in our traffic and revenue."

The stakes are high in the Google-placement game. The top spot on a search page typically attracts 20% to 30% of the page's clicks, according to Adam Bunn, SEO director of Greenlight. After that comes an enormous tail-off: Positions 2 to 3 generate 5% to 10% of the clicks, and links below the fold receive less than 1% of users' attention. Fall off to the second page and your search-engine-driven clicks will be negligible.
With control of two-thirds of the U.S. search market, Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) steers a tremendous amount of traffic to websites. Many of them rely exclusively on advertising dollars to make money.

That means that positioning in Google's search results can be a life-or-death issue for a business.

Google's change appears to have most harmed so-called "content farms" like Mahalo, which critics say amass content for the sole purpose of luring in search-engine traffic. Sites like Mahalo.com, Wisegeek.com, Ezinearticles.com and Yahoo's (YHOO, Fortune 500) Associated Content were among the biggest losers in the algorithm tweak. Google-generated traffic to each dropped more than 75%, according to software firm Sistrix.

Interestingly, Demand Media (DMD) -- one of the most oft-criticized content farms --appears to have gotten off relatively scot-free. Its most prominent site, eHow.com, even grew its traffic after the algorithm change, though some others like AnswerBag.com and Trails.com dropped off.

The biggest beneficiaries seem to be originators of what Google calls "high-quality" content, which the company defines as "information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on." Traffic to sites that belong to the Online Publishers Association grew between 5% and 50% the day after Google's tweak, according to Pam Horan, president of the OPA.

"This change was connected with who is driving the best experiences for the end user," Horan said. "This is good for the consumer, good for the Internet, and good for publishers of higher-quality content."
Impact on 'mom and pop' sites

Not everyone feels that Google got the change right.

Max Spankie, who operates customer review website My3cents.com, said his site lost a significant portion of its traffic and revenues overnight following Google's algorithm change.

That came as quite a surprise to Spankie, since My3cents.com was recently recognized as the top consumer complaint site by the non-profit Consumer Federation of America. Unlike some of the sites that now top My3cents.com in Google's rankings, all complaints on Spankie's site are moderated. Hundreds of companies use the site to interact with customers.

"I thought they flipped the switch wrong," Spankie said. "We work hard to be a quality site, and I definitely think the sites that are now winning in our niche aren't about quality."

Morris Rosenthal, a publisher of laptop repair how-to books and owner of the site FonerBooks.com, said that he too found Google's new results curious.

For instance, a search for his book Laptop Repair Workbook now puts the book's Amazon page as its first result (no problem there) -- and a site that allows you to illegally download his book as its second result (big problem).

He also noticed that a search for "laptop inverter test" -- a diagnostic test he wrote an instructional article on -- now features two sites that link to his article ahead of his own site. His site used to be the top result.
Righting a wrong

For those who feel that Google made a mistake by lowering their sites in its rankings, the company says there's an option: Webmasters can post in its discussion forum about the topic. Though no manual changes can be made, Google will often tweak its algorithm in response to legitimate challenges.

"Like many of the changes we make, we tested this update extensively and have found that the algorithm is extremely accurate at detecting site quality," a Google spokesman said. "That said, search is a constant evolution and we will continue to listen to feedback from publishers and the community as we further refine our algorithms."

Google said it is "very pleased" with the changes.

But that's cold comfort to those who have seen their traffic and revenue tumble with little explanation why.

"It's a system of guilty until proven innocent, and I've read about a lot of mom-n-pop sites reworking their sites and examining their souls, trying to figure out if they offended Google in some way," said Rosenthal, who said traffic to his site tumbled 30%. "With Google it's just, 'Talk to the hand.' They have no genuine two-way communication."

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the Online Publishers Association expected $1 billion in advertising revenue to shift to its members following Google's algorithm change. The group says its actual estimate is that $1 billion will be redistributed across the online publishing industry.

Kate Winslet Goes Blonde, Short: Hairdo or Don't?

Kate Winslet is featured in the latest issue of British Vogue, covering the publication and speaking on her recent split from Louis Dowler.

"Experiencing those moments of being alone... is a very, very weird flooring and exposing position to be in when you're just not used to it. But I've never been lonely," she says and...

... who cares?!? Winslet has chopped off her hair and dyed it a light shade of yellow! Check out the new look below.

Michelle Obama: The "Hottest" U.S. Political Figure

The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, was just named the "hottest" political figure in Quinnipiac University’s “national thermometer poll.”

The poll gauged voters’ feelings toward 23 national political figures.

Michelle Obama registered 60.1 degrees. Husband Barack Obama, came in fourth behind former President Bill Clinton and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The poll measures popularity in degrees on a thermometer, with 100 the highest score. While we have no problem with Michelle, this is funny for two reasons:

1. That Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton are even on it, as they don't actually have to govern anything and anger people ... that helps the popularity.
2. The temperature scale seems even more arbitrary than our +/- Jersey Shore recap system. Is 60.1 degrees high? Low? Who knows!

Among the Republicans considering a White House run in 2012, Mike Huckabee scored best with 51.8 degrees, Natalie Portman bashing and all.

For whatever it's worth, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi finished last in this latest poll, with a temperature of 32.9 degrees.

Justin Bieber in Britain: Concert Photo and Video

While Miley Cyrus was impersonating him in New York City this weekend, Justin Bieber was performing for fans in Great Britain.


The 17-year old icon crossed the Atlantic last week and kicked off the UK leg of his tour at National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, showing off his new haircut and all-around talent, dancing, singing and pumping up the packed crowd.
Among the classics to which he rocked out? The song that has inspired millions, "Never Say Never."

Big B says 'Bbuddah - Hoga Terra Baap'

That's the name and tag line of his next movie!

He wasn't 'Paa' in 'Paa' but now Amitabh Bachchan is ready to play Big Daddy and how! Big has started shooting for his next home production, which has been finally titled 'Bbuddah - Hoga Terra Baap', being directed by Puri Jagannath. "It's official now. The title of the next AB Corp production will be spelt 'BBUDDAH', with the tag line…'hoga terra baap!'," the superstar posted on his blog www.bigb.bigadda.com. The actor was busy shooting for Prakash Jha's 'Aarakshan' in Bhopal before he came to Mumbai for the first day shoot of his new film. At one point, it was believed the subject of the film was Buddhist saint Gautam Buddha, as it was earlier titled just 'Buddha'. So, the film has a special tagline now.

"Just making sure it does not mingle with Gautam Buddha, the saint... Will have more details on it once I join them… but a few thoughts in prayer and wish for the film would be most appreciated," Big B posted.
The funky title is already attracting attention. "'Bbuddah - Hoga Tera Baap!'! How cool is that title! 1st day of AB Corps new film... BBUDDAH - hoga Tera baap!!! Starring THE MAN @SrBachchan. He's back and he's angry!!!," Abhishek Bachchan posted on his Twitter page.

Shekhar Ravijani of the music composer duo Vishal-Shekhar tweeted: "One of the coolest titles ever. Bbuddah- hoga Tera baap starring @SrBachchan."

AB Corp's last Hindi film was 'Paa', which won many awards and critical acclaim for its unique theme and the performances by Big B as a progeria patient, Viday Balan as his mother and Abhishek as his politician father.

Salman-Kat's glam IPL connection

The Kochi team wants them on board as brand ambassadors

Salman Khan might be making his IPL debut, and Katrina Kaif might be part of a whole new team - that is if things go as per the new Kochi IPL team's plan. Sallu and Kat have been approached by the new Indian Premier League team Indi Commandos to be their brand ambassadors.    

Apparently Kochi IPL team co-owner Mukesh Patel has confirmed that the two have been asked to take on the job.

It's all about the glamour the Bollywood stars will add to the team. While Salman hasn't been associated with an IPL team before this, Katrina was a brand ambassador for the Royal Challengers Bangalore team, owned by Vijay Mallya. She is no longer a brand ambassador with RCB, and it is rumoured that Deepika Padukone's close friendship with Sidhartha Mallya, and Kat's reported relationship with DP's ex Ranbir might be the reason for the exit.

So will Salman be a part of the Kochi IPL team or will he perhaps get his own IPL team? Watch this space for updates!

Facebook commenting system is good and bad news

Facebook unleashed a new commenting system last week that promises to help online publications clean up their commenting cesspools, while simultaneously extending Facebook's tentacles further into the web outside its walls. Unfortunately for those with visions of a non-Facebook dominated web, this initiative has the potential to dramatically expand the ginormous social network's already imperial reach. The new system lets website owners replace their current commenting system with Facebook's simply by dropping in a few lines of Javascript.

Then, commenters have to sign in using either their Facebook or Yahoo IDs, an attempt to ensure a commenter is a real person. Commenters can opt to have their comment posted as an update, along with a link to the original story, which spreads the story link inside Facebook's walls.
This offers publishers a number of benefits. They get more links to their site from inside the net's most popular website. A lot of people are "registered" to comment on their sites. And, they have a system designed to discourage vitriol because it's easy for the site owner to ban a user and tough for a user to create a new identity.

For Facebook, the benefit is also clear. Users now have even more incentive to be constantly logged into Facebook (those who are already logged into Facebook don't have to do anything to comment on a website using its system).
Additionally, even more of Facebook's users' net activities flow through its site, since by default comments -- and replies to them -- post to a Facebook user's wall. That deepens users' ties to Facebook, adds more content to Facebook, and gives people more reason to check their Facebook newsfeed for the increased information flow.

It also builds on what's becoming Facebook's most important function: being the identity provider and validator for the wider net. The system opens the door for what's likely inevitable: having news sites rely on Facebook to identify its users and eventually to serve ads to its readers based on their individual Facebook pages.

The Facebook system competes most directly with Disqus (a system Wired.com has just starting using), which also creates a single, central profile used to comment on any site that uses the system. Facebook offers its plug-in for free, while Disqus commenting requires premium accounts for the features a large site needs to have.

The immediate drawbacks of Facebook's commenting system match the larger issues of the social networking site. There's no way to export the comments if a publication decides to drop the system -- just as Facebook jealously holds onto the e-mail addresses of the people you are connected to on Facebook so you can't re-establish your network on some other site.

Facebook will likely create some sort of export system, if only to assuage potential publications, though given Facebook's history with exporting, it will likely be bare bones and not particularly useful in practice.

Facebook's entry into this arena presents sites with three choices -- none particularly ideal.

The first is to gamble that your site is important enough to your readers that you can get away with requiring them to have a specific login for your site, and that you have the technical resources to build that out. But even if you don't use Facebook Connect, the movement seems to be away from a collection of site profiles and passwords and toward a single one that gives you entry to your collection, be it from Google, Yahoo, OpenID or others.

The second option is to go with a service like Disqus and pay that company annually to uphold the belief that there should be multiple identity providers on the net and hope they have enough staying power and stickiness to appeal to your readers.

Or, you can go with Facebook, tacitly acknowledging that the world's largest social network has won the identity wars and getting in on the spoils without paying an annual fee and agreeing to be an occupied outpost in Facebook's empire.

Online publications are desperate for a commenting system that encourages civility, and too many, including Disqus, veer closer to the land of YouTube comments than to the ideal of comments on sites like MetaFilter and Hacker News.

Sites that can afford to do so will likely continue to have their own login systems, if only so that they can collect e-mail addresses, which are still considered incredibly important for marketing and for "owning" a customer.

But doing so leaves a site open to the bad PR of being hacked (like Gawker Media) and without work by either the site or the software maker they use to publish, they will fall behind on the benefits of a social web.

Facebook is clearly gaining more of a presence around the web with its ubiquitous Like buttons and its easy-to-use login system for sites, including its often-creepy automated login system on sites like Yelp and Pandora. And with its comment system, it gains even more ground.

It's yet one more promising avenue for Facebook to encourage users to be constantly logged into Facebook, and lays more track for Facebook to become not only the net's identity provider, but also its largest referrer of traffic and its biggest provider of ads.

Is it any wonder then that investors keep pushing Facebook's valuation higher and higher? How much would you pay for an empire that encompasses nearly the entire web?

Help on the way for air traffic jams

Tom Stuker jokes that his home is "in Row One in a nice, big plane."

The 57-year-old car dealership consultant is a mega-frequent flier who has racked up 9.7 million miles during 5,000 flights over the past three decades -- and he's got the stories to prove it.

"I've experienced aborted takeoffs, aborted landings, near misses and passenger deaths on three different flights."

Sure, his status as frequent-flier king earns him royal treatment. But the U.S. commercial airline system often leaves him stranded like millions of other travelers.

To deal with potential gridlock from the 1 billion U.S. air passengers expected to crowd the skies by 2021, the FAA is overhauling its traffic system, which has remained largely unchanged for 30 years.
The overhaul is called NextGen and components of the air traffic program are already in use or being tested at airports in several U.S. cities including Philadelphia, Houston, Seattle and Louisville, Kentucky.

That's none too soon if you ask Stuker, who like many travelers believes the current traffic infrastructure is showing signs of stress.

Stuker, who lives in Illinois and New Jersey, usually flies out of Chicago's O'Hare and Newark's Liberty airports bound for Los Angeles or Australia. He's spent countless hours on airport tarmacs waiting to take off -- only to return to the gate when the flight is canceled.

"When I'm sitting in first class, I can't complain," he said. But what really frustrates Stuker are flights that fail to arrive on time.

"It's the missing of connections which is so screwed up," said Stuker. "The airline on-time ratings are so low -- even since 9/11 when air traffic went down." In fact, from 1990 to 2008, the national average for all delayed flights increased from 41 minutes to an hour, according to the Brookings Institution.

Millions of consumers are so frustrated with the airline experience that they're avoiding it, and delays are part of the problem. Some 41 million potential fliers chose not to travel by air from May 2007 to May 2008, according to Geoff Freeman of the U.S. Travel Association. That translates into $26.5 billion in lost spending that could have boosted a recession-dogged economy.

"The result is less travel, less spending, fewer American jobs," he said. But as the nation emerges from recession, air passenger traffic will explode, say experts.

The NextGen overhaul is so complicated and massive that it's often compared to the space race of the 1960s. It will take until at least 2025 to complete and will have an estimated total price of $22 billion. However, long delays and additional costs are threatening to add hundreds of millions of dollars to the project, according to the Department of Transportation.

When it's done, technology and communication improvements in aircraft and at airports promise to save consumers time, money and headaches.

A major pillar of NextGen involves tracking aircraft. Currently, aircraft are tracked by radar, a technology that dates to before World War II.

NextGen aims to switch its tracking system to a technology that millions of travelers have had in their pockets for years: global satellite positioning, or GPS.

Tracking aircraft by satellite is more accurate than radar. Currently, planes must fly zig-zag routes to stay close to ground-based radar tracking stations. With GPS technology called ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast), planes can be tracked while flying in straight-line routes. These routes are shorter. They save thousands of hours of travel time, millions of gallons of fuel and millions of dollars.

"There are some estimates that flights could be 10% to 20% shorter in the short distances and a few percent better in the long distances," said air industry consultant Michael Miller of Miller Air Group. Shorter routes use less fuel, which could cut airline costs. "It could eventually bring down airfares, but not until the entire system is upgraded," Miller said.

Southwest Airlines has been using the technology about a year and expects to save $60 million in annual fuel costs by 2020, when ADS-B is mandated for use nationwide.

Alaska Airlines has been using ADS-B since the mid-'90s to enable planes to fly safely through mountainous terrain in low visibility weather. The procedure, called Required Navigation Performance, allowed Alaska Airlines to avoid canceling low-visibility flights, saving it $15.8 million last year.

On the ground, NextGen calls for new cooperative systems between airports, traffic controllers and airlines. Airlines sharing precise information about where their flights are on the tarmac and exactly when aircraft are expected to depart their gates can save up to 4½ minutes per flight in delays, said Mike Romanowski, the FAA's top NextGen official.

Travelers may have more flights to choose from on certain routes because of NextGen. More accurate tracking with GPS technology ultimately would allow more aircraft to follow each other safely at closer range.

"But we're not just going to throw capacity where it doesn't make sense," warns the Air Transport Association's Tom Hendricks. "We will be much more able to respond to that consumer demand."

This all sounds like good news to a frequent flier like Stuker, but he knows dealing with congestion won't solve the whole problem.

"Whether a person travels once a year or 300 times a year, it will make their ongoing travel more seamless," Stuker speculated. "But you've still got the problems on the ground. You've still got the actual boarding of the plane and getting in line -- I mean, that's where the frustration comes from, you know?"

Stuker admitted he doesn't spend much time waiting in line these days, thanks to his mega-frequent flier status. When facing a tricky connection, he's greeted at the terminal by helpful golf-cart drivers who whisk him to his next flight. If the connection is really tight, the airline will actually escort Stuker directly from the plane to the tarmac where a vehicle will drive him to his next gate.

"They treat me like I own the airport," he said. But Stuker is quick to remind himself that he's not too disconnected from his coach-class traveler days.

Increased capacity and demand could affect even him.

Airports say they're watching developments carefully. Officials at the nation's busiest airport, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, don't know when the FAA plans to unveil NextGen there. But they don't expect to see it reduce aircraft delays for many years.

The clock is ticking. Takeoffs and landings at U.S. airports are expected to top 69 million in 20 years.

Stuker said he expects to cross the 10-million-mile mark sometime in August. When NextGen takes hold, he'll still be dreaming of his favorite destination in the entire world: "home."

If NextGen goes as planned, he'll get there quicker and arrive on time.

The Dark Knight Rises Spoilers, Storylines Revealed?

Who will Batman take on in The Dark Knight Rises, the wildly-anticipated third movie in this franchise to be directed by Christopher Nolan?

New spoilers leaked online claim to reveal the main storyline for this July 2012 blockbuster. Consider yourself warned: stop reading now if you wish to be surprised in the theater...
The Dark Knight Rises Poster

The plot will reportedly focus on the League of Shadows, a vigilante group led by the daughter of Ra al Ghul, Talia (Marion Cotillard).

As Bane, Tom Hardy will star as Talia's muscle and possible love interest, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt portrays another villain connected to the organization. Then there's Anne Hathaway's Catwoman.

Look for this iconic character to join forces with the Caped Crusader and battle the aforementioned enemies.

What do you think, fans? Are you more excited now for The Dark Knight Rises?

Madhuri doesn’t want to be a mommy yet!

She prefers TV over playing a mother in films

Even though we have been seeing a lot of Madhuri Dixit Nene on TV, she isn’t ready to do films in which she will have to play a mother to the current actresses. Although, roles are coming her way and details are being worked out, she has refused her co-star Anil Kapoor (in the 80s they were the most sought after onscreen couple) when he offered the role of Sonam's mother in the remake of ‘Freaky Friday’? The official reason which came out from her side was that she is not not inclined to play a mother right now. But, on the other hand, she is getting great offers from TV. And production houses are ready to go to any lengths to get her on board. The ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’ team chased her for two years. This year they went to Los Angeles, and invited MD to see the original American show – ‘Dancing With The Stars’ – which she apparently liked and said yes to the show. And there is more good news for all Madhuri fans, the rumour is that she might be judging the next season of the show too!

Who is Aamir’s Guru?

Here's why he wants acting tips from Hrithik for 'Dhoom 3'

He is a force to reckon with in Bollywood and some people call him an institution in himself, but this time round Aamir Khan wants Hrithik Roshan to give him some acting tips.  Surprising as it may sound, Aamir has found himself a new guru. Blame it on his penchant for perfection, he leaves no stone unturned to get his act right. He was recently spotted at the launch of Sussanne Roshan's new store and when asked about his preparations for ‘Dhoom 3’. He reportedly promptly said that he wanted to take tips from Hrithik as he was a great actor. For those who are missing the point, Aamir is going to take over as the baddie in ‘Dhoom 3’, which Hrithik made his own in ‘Dhoom 2’. So, of course there is no one better than the Roshan boy to train him in the perfect bad-boy act (even if a lip-lock is missing in this one). Well, knowing AK everyone’s assured that there will be some fantastic acting on display, what we are wondering is, how will he compete with Hrithik’s Greek God good looks. He can't match that one, can he?

SRK's Hollywood dream come true

Rumour is he'll work with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese

Shah Rukh Khan might be getting ready to make his Hollywood debut with a bang - rumour is that Leonardo DiCaprio and legendary director Martin Scorsese are on board for the B'wood badshah's film called 'Extreme City'. Apparently, SRK met Scorsese and DiCaprio in Berlin when he was there for the premiere of 'My Name Is Khan' and they were in the city for the premiere of 'Shutter Island'. It was then that Shah Rukh is thought to have decided that he wanted Scorsese to produce the film and DiCaprio to star as well. That's definitely going to be a project to look forward we think!

Hot new pairs in 'Housefull 2'

Akshay teams up with Asin, John with Jacqueline

Director Sajid Khan is all set to shoot part two of his successful comedy 'Housefull' and says he will not only present fresh pairs on screen, but also bring together the Kapoor brothers - Randhir and Rishi - on screen.

"I've paired Asin (Thottumkal) for the first time with Akshay, John Abraham for the first time with Jacqueline Fernandez. We're looking for a leading lady for Riteish Deshmukh," added the director who will shoot 'Housefull 2' in Chile, Argentina, Britain, Phuket and Hong Kong.

Sajid is also excited about bringing the two brothers Randhir and Rishi Kapoor together in 'Housefull 2'.

"I'm their huge fan. I had so much fun working with Dabooji in 'Housefull'. And Chintuji is arguably the most natural entertainer we've ever had in our films. And guess what? I'm naming them 'Daboo' and 'Chintu' in the film," said Sajid.

Sajid adds howvere that, in principal, he is against sequels. "I dropped plans of doing a sequel to my 'Heyy Babyy'. But 'Housefull' is a franchise. My producer Sajid Nadiadwala and I want to carry it forward. We've retained the name and the basic premise of a house crammed full with character, chaos and comedy. Everything else is completely different from the first 'Housefull'."

Sold! Justin Bieber's Hair Goes for How Much?!?

Justin Bieber may have flipped off a photographer this week, but we know he's a good guy.

A couple recent cases in point: for his 17th birthday, the singer asked fans to help provide clean drinking water to third world countries.

Prior to that act, he chopped off his trademark shaggy hair, but with a great cause in mind. Appearing on Ellen soon after the cut, Justin gave the host a signed box with his locks inside. She then put the gift on eBay, announcing that proceeds would go to The Gentle Barn Foundation, an animal rescue charity.

Days later? Bieber's hair sold for $40,668.

New Justin Bieber Haircut

The person who made the winning bid gets to keep the item, take pride in donating to a worthy charity and will also meet this icon the next time he appears on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show.

Not a bad haul, is it?

Why Apple can make a white iPad but not a white iPhone

How is it that a company that's been making electronics in white for at least a decade can't produce an iPhone 4 in that color?

Apple added another layer to that puzzle Wednesday, when it announced that the iPad 2 would come in both white and black models.

Sure enough, in a demonstration room after the announcement, attendees at Apple's event found a feast of test units in both colors. Flash back to June 2010, when Apple escorted reporters into a room, nary a block from here, filled with iPhone 4s fashioned in both black and white.

Needless to say, Apple has yet to sell the most recent iPhone model in a color that's not black. The older 3G and 3GS iPhones came in models with white backsides.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who unveiled both products, made a nod to the iPhone flub at Wednesday's event.

"We'll be shipping white from Day One," he said with emphasis, to laughs from the audience.

At least two key factors have prevented Apple from shipping a white version of the newest iPhone on Day One and even still on Day 251, Apple employees said.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak uses a white iPhone 4, which he says he assembled from parts made by a Chinese supplier and deemed to be defective by Apple. The device takes poor-quality photos when the camera's flash is used, and the white materials make the proximity sensor less reliable, he said.

"The early parts Apple made were defective. So Apple decided not to put them out," Wozniak said in an interview with Engadget. "I took a picture with flash and without; the one with flash was ... like I took it through cellophane."

These design obstacles affect the latest version of the iPhone. The iPad 2 has a camera on the back, but its backside is made of aluminum, not of the white casing used on the front, and doesn't have a flash.

The new tablet computer also lacks a proximity sensor. That mechanism in the iPhone is used to detect when, say, it's pressed against an object, usually your head, to tell the display to turn off during a call. (Previous iPhones weren't affected because every version had a black-colored front.)

Instead of a proximity detector, the iPad 2 uses magnets embedded within the hardware to determine when Apple's Smart Case has been applied to the screen, thus telling the screen when to turn on and off. Ambient light sensors, which are also in iPhones, tell the device to adjust the screen's brightness.

Apple first announced a delay for the white iPhone on the day before the product's launch in June, saying it would be available in the second half of July. Then in July, Apple said the elusive white phone was coming later that year. Then in October, Apple again pushed its release to spring 2011.

Despite its mythical nature, the white model has not only become a grail for geeks, like Wozniak, willing to void their warranties and screw in some foreign parts. It's also a sort of status symbol around Apple's Cupertino, California, campus.

Jony Ive, the company's principal hardware designer, was seen tapping away on his white iPhone 4 in the product demonstration room after Wednesday's iPad 2 unveiling.

Hrithik Roshan is TV's highest paid star

He's taking home a whopping Rs 2 crores per episode of 'Just Dance'

Just like his movie debut, Hrithik Roshan's TV debut has been rocking. HR recently agreed to be a judge on 'Just Dance', which will air on Star Plus', and the buzz is that he's got the biggest paycheque ever for a B'wood star on TV. The staggering amount he takes home is said to be Rs 2 crores per episode! Hrithik's recent movies haven't done well - both 'Kites' and 'Guzaarish' tanked at the box office - but looks like that hasn't affected his price at all. Rumour is that not even Salman Khan made as much on Colors' 'Bigg Boss' as Hrithik is being paid for 'Just Dance'. It seems Salman was paid Rs 2.5 crores for 2 episodes, both of which were shot over weekends. Well, Hrihik is considered the best dancer in B'wood, and the fact that he was going to judge a dance-based reality show definitely adds value to it. Looking forward to HR's moves on it!

Deepika outed as Sid Mallya's girlfriend

Cricketer Kevin Pietersen reveals their real relationship

Deepika Padukone and Sidhartha Mallya's secret affair (in the sense that they themselves still won't admit to it) is out in the open now! The couple who almost always attend parties together these days, and are even watching the current ICC World Cup matches together have been outed! And the man who has revealed that Deepi and Sid are in a relationship is English cricketer Kevin Pietersen.

Kevin, who plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL team owned by the Mallyas, posted on his Twitter page, "Just had a lovely lunch with Sidharth Mallya & his girlfriend Deepika Padukone.. Thanks for picking up the bill Deepika.. NOT!! Haha"

Deepika and Sidhartha did not comment on Kevin's post, but we hear that the lunch was at a posh restaurant in Bangalore. And DP was seen having a great time with Sidhartha and Kevin.

Serena Williams Hospitalized With Blood Clot

Tennis champion Serena Williams has been hospitalized in L.A. with a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in the lungs. She suffered the health scare Monday.

Williams looked stunning at Sunday's Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party just hours before the unexpected condition surfaced.

Serena had been spotted at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. several times over the past week regarding the conditioned, but it worsened this week.

"Serena Williams underwent emergency treatment at Cedars for a hematoma she suffered as a result of treatment for a more critical situation," her rep says.

"Last week, Serena suffered from a pulmonary embolism [a blood clot in the lungs] which was discovered upon her return to L.A.," the star's rep adds.

"She had been in New York for ongoing issues with her foot. Doctors continue to monitor her situation closely to avoid additional complications."

Here's wishing Serena a fast, speedy recovery.

Matthew Rutler Mug Shot, Christina Aguilera Arrest Details: Released!

New details have emerged on Christina Aguilera's recent arrest, and they don't make the singer or boyfriend Matthew Rutler look very good.

Sources tell  that Christina and her man dined in a private room at posh Los Angeles restaurant Osteria Mozza until well past midnight. Deep into a couple bottles of wine, a fellow patron reportedly recognized Aguilera, asked the waiter to send her a drink and was told: "She's already drinking a bottle of wine... or two."

Hilarious.

Matthew Rutler Mug Shot

Meanwhile, both Rutler and Aguilera have been released from jail. They are allegedly holing up in her Beverly Hills home.

Pulled over by police for swerving on the road, Rutler blew a .09 on the breathalyzer, according to Radar Online. The legal limit in California is .08. He doesn't look too broken up about it in the mug shove above, does he?

As for Christina, L.A. County Sheriff Office spokesperson Steve Whitmore says Aguilera was a complete mess when she and Rutler were pulled over: "When she got out of the car, she couldn't stand. We had to help her stand. She didn't know where she was and she didn't know her own address. We took her into custody for her own protection."

Study: Facebook helps your self-esteem

Feeling a little down on yourself? Just check Facebook.

A new study suggests that spending time with the online you -- the one with the hundreds of friends, the witty status updates and all the unflattering photos untagged -- might help your self-esteem.

Researchers at Cornell University, who conducted the study, say looking at Facebook, where we all tend to put our best digital foot forward, appears to provide a quick ego boost.

"Unlike a mirror, which reminds us of who we really are and may have a negative effect on self-esteem if that image does match with our ideal, Facebook can show a positive version of ourselves," said associate professor Jeffrey Hancock. "We're not saying that it's a deceptive version of self, but it's a positive one."
Hancock is the co-author of "Mirror, Mirror On My Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to Facebook on Self-Esteem." The report was published February 24 in the peer-reviewed journal "Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking."

In the study, 63 students were left alone in a university lab at a computer. The computers were either turned off or showing the student's Facebook page. Some of the computers that were turned off also had a mirror propped against the screen.

Those who were on Facebook were allowed to spend three minutes reviewing their page, then all of the students were given a questionnaire to measure their self-esteem.

The students who were on Facebook gave more positive feedback about themselves than the other two groups, according to the article. Those who had made a change to their profile gave themselves the highest marks.

"For many people, there's an automatic assumption that the internet is bad," Hancock said. "This is one of the first studies to show that there's a psychological benefit of Facebook."

Some, including some members of the psychology community, say that Facebook also can lead to troublesome behavior. Some therapists say they've seen clients who display addictive behavior toward the site.

Natalie Portman: Shocked and Disgusted by John Galliano, Anti-Semitic Rants

Natalie Portman has released a statement regarding the shockingly abrasive remarks made by designer John Galliano late last week.

The Dior Creative Designer was caught on camera over the weekend, blatantly saying he loves Hitler and telling a Jewish woman she would have "been gassed" if the former dictator was still in power.
Said Portman, who has worked with Galliano over the years: "I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video of John Galliano's comments that surfaced today. In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way.

"I hope at the very least, these terrible comments remind us to reflect and act upon combating these still-existing prejudices that are the opposite of all that is beautiful."

In light the aforementioned incident, Dior has fired Galliano. Said Chairman and CEO Sidney Toledano: "I unequivocally condemn the statements made by John Galliano, which are in total contradiction to the longstanding core values of Christian Dior."

Christina Aguilera and Matthew Rutler: Arrested for Public Intoxication, DUI

In what can be deemed as an incident any celebrity gossip follower could have easily seen coming, Christina Aguilera was arrested early this morning for public intoxication.

The singer was booked around 3 a.m. at the West Hollywood police station for the misdemeanor offense, while boyfriend Matt Rutler was also processed on charges of drunk driving. His bail was set at $30,000.

It's been a troubling few months for Aguilera, as friends have been concerned over her downward spiral since her divorce from Jordan Bratman.

Cops reportedly pulled Rutler over this morning after they noticed him driving erratically. Sources say Aguilera acted "extremely intoxicated" and was "unable to take care of herself.

Anushka-Ranveer's kiss-athon

All the goss from the party where they got up close and personal

Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh might kep denying that they are seeing each other, but their behaviour at parties is telling a whole other passionate story. The 'Band Baaja Baarat' stars were both invited to Shahid Kapoor's birthday bash recently, and they certainly showed off their closeness. The couple were dancing together all evening, and even went on to kiss quite openly. Of course, Ranveer and Anushka entered the party together in the same car. And the buzz is that they were inseparable later as well. Lots of grooving together and smooching was apparently observed by the other guests. After all this, it's obvious that no one believes the 'We're just good friends' line from the couple. So even though Ranveer did say on 'Koffee With Karan' that Anushka would make for a very demanding girlfriend and that being her boyfriend was a full-time job, it does look like he is up for the job.

Aamir's ready to romance Katrina

Hot new screen-couple alert!

Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif - now that would be a firecracker of a jodi! And you just might be seeing them on-screen really soon. Aamir has apparently always wanted to work with Kat, and had even said earlier that the only reason they hadn't worked together was that no one had offered them a role together. Well, that's changed now! Actually, the two stars had been approached for a movie together since Aamir said that. But he was apparently not too sure if he wanted to sign a movie opposite buddy Salman's girlfriend. Now that Salman and Katrina are no longer together, the project just might be revived. So do Aamir and Katrina make a good couple? Tell us what you think!

All for 'Pakistan Appeal'

Imran Khan joins the charity event in Dubai to raise funds for flood victims, you can too

“A father lifts his newborn son above his head as he submerges under water. His prayer is for someone to lend a helping hand. That helping hand is you.” The millions of flood victims who lost everything in the greatest natural disaster ever to hit Pakistan need the power of positive thought and action - that’s just what ‘Pakistan Appeal’ is all about. And you can be a part of the landmark UNICEF charity event! The event, organised by Quintessentially, takes place Friday, March 4, at the Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa. And it brings together several influential and high-profile participants. The opening address will be made by H H Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Imran Khan, former cricketer and international humanitarian, will also speak about his personal relief efforts, the acute need for funding and his own account of the tragedy on the ground.

In an interview with Masala!, Imran Khan revealed, “As I travelled through the villages washed away by the floods, I saw displaced families scattered in the makeshift shelters without food, adequate clothing and health services. I saw distressed families squatting together in the most unhygienic conditions. I could see the unfolding tragedy and knew that in order to cope with devastation of such a high magnitude and severity, we all needed to lend a helping hand.”
At the ‘Pakistan Appeal’ event, H E Engin Soysal, UN Special Envoy for Assistance to Pakistan will also explain the scale of the tragedy and the UN response as a whole. H E Shaukat Aziz will highlight the importance of continued efforts towards the recovery of flood affected areas in Pakistan. There will also be a presentation by UNICEF on the disaster and relief efforts. The evening will end with a live concert by the famed Mekaal Hasan Band.

You can show your charitable side for the flood victims by being a part of ‘Pakistan Appeal’. Premium Seat Invitations (limited availability) - Dhs2000; and General Seat Invitations (Dhs1000) are available, and at the event you can participate in a signature raffle draw featuring over $150,000 worth of prizes, a live auction for priceless items, and individual and corporate monetary/in-kind pledges throughout the evening. Go on, make a difference in the lives of people who really need it.
INFO
Date: March 4, 2011
Venue: Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa
Time: 7:30pm
For seat and table reservations, contact 04 437 6820 or email eventsdubai@quintessentially.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
For more details, visit www.pakistanappeal.com

Facebook Like button takes over Share button

Say goodbye to the Share button because the Like button is taking over.

After months of updates to its Like button, Facebook has released an update that fundamentally changes the button's functionality to that of a Share button. Now after hitting the Like button, a full story with a headline, blurb and thumbnail will be posted to your profile wall. You'll also be given an option to comment on the story link. Previously, only a link to the story would appear in the recent activity, often going unnoticed by users.

Though users may now think twice about hitting the button, given how prominently it will appear on their walls and in their networks' newsfeeds, it should ultimately increase traffic to publishers' websites.

Facebook has slowly been rolling out updates to its Like button and has stopped developing the Share Button. Facebook Spokeswoman Malorie Lucich told us that while the company will continue to support the Share button, Like is the "recommended solution moving forward."
However, Lucich today called it a test, saying "We're always testing new products that incorporate developer feedback as we work to improve the Platform experience, and have no details to share at this time." It's unlikely that the change is just a test, however. Typically such tests from Facebook only affect a small number of users, whereas this change affects all Like buttons.

Perhaps the change was necessary. Because it was never made clear to users that the Like button would function differently than the Share button, many never understood what it meant to click Like on a piece of content. Making the result the same as the Share button could build stronger user expectations, ultimately fashioning a better user experience.