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  • First Windows Phone HTC To Launch China’s

    Samsung Offers You Top Quality Touchphones At Afforadble Price.

    In the race to bring the first Windows Phone device to China, it looks like we have a winner: Engadget reports that HTC has just began accepting pre-orders for the Triumph, which is essentially the HTC Titan that we have come to know and love re-branded.

    Running Windows Phone 7.5 Tango, the 4.7″ behemoth will be priced sans-contract at ¥4,399, which is roughly $700 US. That’s quite expensive, and we can only hope that subsidized, contract pricing options as we have in the West are available to allow more people to purchase the device. So, how is the Triumph different from its Western counterpart? It isn’t, for the most part; one thing to note is that local social services Sina Weibo and Tencent Weixin will replace the Facebook and Twitter integration of Tango. SkyDrive is available, but it will be forced to conform to the regulations of the Great Firewall of China.

    Nokia, LG, and ZTE — interestingly enough, Samsung isn’t joining the party just yet — are all poised to release handsets in China sometime this month as well. Throughout the rest of this year onwards, we’ll definitely have to keep an eye out on Windows Phone competition and traction in the Chinese market.

    Baby Angel Babcock's Grandmother Mourns Loss of Entire Family in Tornado

    The death toll from dozens of tornadoes that ravaged parts of the Midwest and South last week has reached 39 with the death of Baby Angel, the toddler found next to the bodies of her family members in a field near their Indiana home.

    She died Sunday from traumatic brain injury after her family removed her from life support.

    Fifteen-month-old Angel Babcock was taken by helicopter to Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, Ky., Saturday and placed in critical condition. Angel died at 4:10 p.m. Sunday afternoon after her grandmother, Kathy Babcock, made the decision with other family members to take her off life support.

    "I had my arm around her when she took her last breath," Babcock said in an exclusive interview with ABC News. "I sang to her itsy-bitsy spider."

    Angel's mother, Moriah Babcock, 20, father Joseph Babcock, 21, and two siblings Jayden and Kendall were found dead in the same field as the toddler Friday afternoon. Angel's grandmother told ABC News that when she let her granddaughter go Sunday afternoon, she knew the baby girl was going in the arms of her father.

    "We were all around the bed, I had my hand on the side of her, and I reached for her hand, and was holding her hand," Babcock said. "I don't know what made me let go but she put her arms straight up, she was daddy's little girl. So daddy picked her up and took her. The whole room seen that. He was just like, standing in front of her. She wanted to go with daddy."

    Now the family and friends of the Babcocks are faced with the task of burying five of their loved ones.

    "They need to have a proper burial," family friend Sherry Young said. "That's my dream, that's my prayer. I've been praying and praying that this can happen for them."

    The Babcock family has turned to their community for help in burying their loved ones. Bank of America has set up a Babcock Family Fund to help pay for the family's funeral expenses.

    "I know it's tragic we lost all five of them and it's hard that we did," Young said. "The one thing I can say, they're all together and that is comforting. Knowing they are together because they were together day in and day out and they'll always be together."

    Michael Jackson Hacked, $250M Worth Of Songs Stolen

    It's a collection worth over $250 million dollars -- the amount Sony executives paid for the rights to the 50,000 or so song files in 2010. According to the report, unreleased collaborations with the likes of Freddie Mercury and will.I.am are among the stolen tracks.

    The hacking took place in April of last year, and though Sony has been aware of the breach in their system since then, the company is only now publicly acknowledging it.

    It's unclear what hackers can do with the songs, as they obviously can't line them up for any sort of commercial release without attracting litigation. The AOL Music blog quipped that the hackers could "slowly roll the songs out over a period of years, making obsessive fans shell out big bucks for each new CD," hinting that they should look to the recording industry itself for their "business model."

    Sony had entered into an agreement with Jackson's estate that allowed them to release ten new albums.

    The first posthumous Jackson album, Michael, debuted in 2010 to mixed reviews and some controversy. TMZ reported that Paris Jackson, the late singer's daughter, had told friends some vocals on the album were faked by another singer. Paris later denied the reports and slammed TMZ for rumor mongering.

    It's been a rough stretch for Sony. In April of last year, the company suffered a massive security breach that exposed the information of 77 million PlayStation customers

    The Intersection of Boobylicious And Christianity

    As soapy shows go, "GCB" is very much in the vein of "Desperate Housewives" or "Dallas," only perhaps with an even meaner streak. It's a story of tables turning, as former high school mean girl Amanda Vaughn (Leslie Bibb) moves back to Dallas after her marriage comes to a very scandalous and tragic end. Once home, she finds that the girls she ruthlessly taunted back in high school have risen to society leadership positions, much of it centered around the church and Carlene Cockburn (Kristin Chenoweth).

    In fact, it's pretty clearly established in the premiere that this will be a series about the battle between Amanda and Carlene, who refuses to accept the possibility that her former tormentor has changed. For now, Carlene clearly has the upper hand and influence. She manages to keep Amanda from landing a real job by calling in favors with her friends, forcing Amanda to take a job at a bar called Boobylicious.

    When a photo of Amanda on the job and in uniform begins to make the rounds, she taunts her former rival relentlessly, calling it sinful and un-Christian. But when Amanda finds out that Boobylicious is ultimately owned by Carlene and her husband's corporation, Amanda lets Carlene have it in the sweetest way possible. She thanks her publicly in prayer at church for her job, outing Carlene as the owner of Boobylicious in the process. It's open season!

    While HuffPost TV Critic Maureen Ryan thought the show's general premise of a former mean girl trying to rebuild her life surrounded by the very girls she'd tormented was a great breeding ground for comedy and drama, she was disappointed to find little more than "screechy Texas stereotypes" in a "cartoonish, silly soap."

    Limbaugh Advertisers: We Still Won't Sponsor Rush Anymore

    As the controversy grew over Rush Limbaugh's latest incendiary comments -- he called law student and birth control advocate Sandra Fluke a "slut" on Wednesday -- his show's advertisers began to flee in droves. The Associated Press reported on Sunday that seven companies have backed away from the show.

    Mortgage lender Quicken Loans, mattress retailers Sleep Train and Sleep Number, online data backup service provider Carbonite, software maker Citrix Systems Inc., online legal document services company LegalZoom and flower company ProFlowers all pulled ads in reaction to Limbaugh's comments.

    On Saturday, Limbaugh apologized for his words directed toward Fluke. But for at least one CEO, that wasn't good enough.

    David Friend, who runs Carbonite, issued a statement on his company's website that evening, saying that Carbonite would no longer advertise with Limbaugh despite the host's rare admission of regret. From the website:

    “No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show. We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse.”

    Ochocinco was urinated on by a lion and lived to tweet the tale

    Chad Ochocinco was trying to have a normal Saturday night. He went out to a party with his reality star wife and Darrelle Revis, dressed in a custom suit and Louboutins just in case he had to go straight to a 7 a.m. church service and then -- bam! -- he gets micturated on by a lion.

    The New England Patriots receiver was at a charity event in Miami on Saturday night when he ran into the caged animal. According to Ochocinco's Twitter account, the king of the jungle proceeded to become the urine sprayer at the party.

    The initial tweet:

    "Swear to lil 10 pound bearded baby Jesus* I just got peed on by a real "Lion" I'm not lying either. And y'all wonder why I don't go out!!!!!"

    * No, that's not an actual saying. I checked.

    Responding to skepticism about his claim: CLICK HERE

    George Takei And Donald Trump Will Meet For Lunch Summit On Marriage Equality In April

    Vocal same-sex marriage advocate (and Celebrity Apprentice contestant) George Takei is taking his campaign to change one mind at a time on gay rights to his former reality TV boss Donald Trump. After inviting Trump to lunch at New York restaurant Jean Georges over a conference call, he got a positive response and the two have now set a date.

    akei tweeted this morning: “Donald Trump has accepted my lunch invitation to hear me out on same-sex marriage. Hope I can change his mind! #OneStateOnePersonAtaTime.” The story had already made headlines, however, when the challenge to sit and chat occurred yesterday. According to the New York Daily News, the invitation came on Thursday, and it was only a matter of setting a date:

    Takei, 74, said Thursday the two have a tentative lunch date set for April after they agreed to discuss the hot-button issue over hot plates in a top Manhattan restaurant.

    “Next time I’m in New York, Mr. Trump, I might take you to Jean Georges for lunch, and maybe we can discuss marriage equality,” Takei proposed during an “Apprentice” conference call with reporters this week.

    “You would be the perfect guy to teach me,” Trump responded. “You have a deal.”

    Trump, 65, said he adamantly opposed gay marriage when he was courting conservative voters for a 2012 presidential run that never materialized.

    Takei told the paper that he “really was serious” and considered Trump “a decent, fair-minded guy,” so he thinks he has a good chance of convincing him by “speaking to his specific concerns.” While we will have to wait a month to see whether Takei succeeds on this challenge, the Star Trek star is accepting challenges from Trump weekly on Celebrity Apprentice.

    Lamar Odom: Returning to the Mavs Tonight

    The Dallas Mavericks star - who had volunteered to play a game in the D League in order to get back into shape after missing a week of action for personal reasons - will suit up tonight for a game against the Utah Jazz.

    Lamar Odom at Work

    And he has a lot to prove to Coach Rick Carlisle.

    "Our fans want to know that Lamar's in," Carlisle told ESPN Dallas 103.3. "Our players want to know that Lamar's in. It's not about how many points he's scoring or rebounds; those things are a factor. Our fans, our players want to see the guy playing like his pants are on fire and we haven't seen that so far and that's got to change.

    Kirk Cameron Tells Piers Morgan Homosexuality Is 'Unnatural,' 'Ultimately Destructive'

    '80s sitcom star turned religious activist Kirk Cameron is not a fan of homosexuality and he isn't shy about sharing his feelings on the subject.

    During a new interview with Piers Morgan the "Growing Pains" heartthrob who transitioned from a "teen-idol-atheist in Hollywood and became a devoted follower of Jesus Christ in the middle of [his] career" explained that he believes homosexuality is "unnatural... I think that it's detrimental, and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization."

    On the issue of marriage equality Cameron remarked, "Marriage was defined by God a long time ago. Marriage is almost as old as dirt, and it was defined in the garden between Adam and Eve -- one man, one woman for life till death do you part. So I would never attempt to try to redefine marriage. And I don't think anyone else should either. So do I support the idea of gay marriage? No, I don't."

    When asked what he would do if one of his six kids told him, "Dad, bad news, I'm gay," Cameron responded, "I'd sit down and I'd have a heart to heart with them, just like you'd do with your kids."

    Morgan shot back, "I'd say, 'That's great, son! As long as you're happy.' What would you say?"

    Cameron offered, "I wouldn't say 'That's great, son, as long as you're happy.' There are all sorts of issues we need to wrestle through in our life... Just because you feel one way doesn't mean we should act on everything we feel."

    Allen West Should Be Considered For Vice Presidency In 2012

    Sarah Palin said Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) should be considered for the vice presidency in 2012.

    After being asked if she'd consider the VP position during an interview with Fox News, Palin stumped for West, counting his military experience as valuable.

    "You know who I'd like to see considered for the VP slot is Colonel Allen West," Palin said. "In this very tumultuous time across our world, someone who has served in our military or at least has intimate knowledge of the way the military works and should work, perhaps by having a close family member serve, someone like that."

    "Colonel Allen West, who's been to the school of hard knocks, he should be the one who should be considered seriously for VP," Palin said.

    Palin refused to say whether she would consider a second vice presidential run.

    "It's not a no," Palin said. "What I'm saying is, if I were in a GOP presidential candidate's shoes, I would first look to Colonel Allen West."

    Palin also brushed off the suggestion that she may be asked to step up for a presidential run in the case of a brokered convention.

    "I'm not going to be asked," Palin said. "If it results in a brokered convention, that is nothing to fear.

    Sandra Fluke Receives Call From Obama After Rush Limbaugh 'Slut' Comments

    The call came a day after conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh demanded that Fluke release tapes of her having sex in exchange for the contraception that she argued should be covered by employers. Fluke was set to go on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports when the president rang her on her phone. She took the call while waiting in the green room.

    "He encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of American women," she told Mitchell, who received permission from the White House to discuss the exchange between Fluke and Obama. "What was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud. And that meant a lot because Rush Limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. So I just appreciated that very much."

    Fluke appeared to be choking up a bit while recalling the conversation. But she composed herself and went to discuss how surreal her experience has been. After being declined the opportunity to speak on a congressional panel to debate the president's contraception rule, she was subsequently invited to address Democrats on the topic. For that, she was vilified by Limbaugh, who also compared her to a prostitute. On Friday, several leading Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), condemned the remarks. The call from the president put a capstone on the week.

    "He did express his concern for me and wanted to make sure that I was OK, which I am," she said. "I'm OK."

    UPDATE: 1:29 p.m. -- At the White House press briefing shortly after the news broke, Press Secretary Jay Carney outlined the reasoning behind the president's decision to call Fluke.

    Obama, said Carney, felt that, "the kinds of personal attacks that have been directed her way have been inappropriate."

    Indiana Tornado Outbreak 2012: More Than 30 People Killed As Violent Storms Hit Indiana, Kentucky

    Across the South and Midwest, survivors emerged Saturday to find blue sky and splinters where homes once stood, cars flung into buildings and communications crippled after dozens of tornadoes chainsawed through a region of millions, leveling small towns along the way.
    At least 38 people were killed in five states, but a 2-year-old girl was somehow found alive and alone in a field near her Indiana home. Her family did not survive. A couple that fled their home for the safety of a restaurant basement made it, even after the storms threw a school bus into their makeshift shelter.
    Saturday was a day filled with such stories, told as emergency officials trudged with search dogs past knocked-down cellphone towers and ruined homes looking for survivors in rural Kentucky and Indiana, marking searched roads and homes with orange paint. President Barack Obama offered federal assistance, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich declared an emergency Saturday.
    The worst damage appeared centered in the small towns of southern Indiana and eastern Kentucky's Appalachian foothills. No building was untouched and few were recognizable in West Liberty, Ky., about 90 miles from Lexington, where two white police cruisers were picked up and tossed into City Hall.
    "We stood in the parking lot and watched it coming," said David Ison, who raced into a bank vault with nine others to seek safety. "By the time it hit, it was like a whiteout."
    In East Bernstadt, two hours to the southwest, Carol Rhodes clutched four VHS tapes she'd found in debris of her former home as she sobbed under a bright sun Saturday.
    "It was like whoo, that was it," said Rhodes, 63, who took refuge with four family members in a basement bedroom that she had just refinished for a grandchild.
    "Honey, I felt the wind and I said, `Oh my God,' and then it (the house) was gone. I looked up and I could see the sky."
    The spate of storms was the second in little more than 48 hours, after an earlier round killed 13 people in the Midwest and South, and the latest in a string of severe-weather episodes that have ravaged the American heartland in the past year.
    Friday's violent storms touched down in at least a dozen states from Georgia to Illinois, killing 19 people in Kentucky, 14 in Indiana, three in Ohio, and one each in Alabama and Georgia.

    'The Lorax', 'GCB', 'Glee' And More: The Week In Ouch

    It's Saturday, and we spent all week sifting through reviews and collecting the snarkiest critiques of blunders and missteps in the latest movies and ...

    'Am I Pretty' YouTube Phenomenon Raises Red Flags

    The young girl shows off her big, comfy koala hat and forms playful hearts with her fingers as she drops the question on YouTube: "Am I pretty or ugly?"

    "A lot of people call me ugly, and I think I am ugly. I think I'm ugly, and fat," she confesses in a tiny voice as she invites the world to decide.

    And the world did.

    The video, posted Dec. 17, 2010, has more than 4 million views and more than 107,000 anonymous, often hateful responses in a troubling phenomenon that has girls as young as 10 – and some boys – asking the same question on YouTube with similar results.

    Some experts in child psychology and online safety wonder whether the videos, with anywhere from 300 to 1,000 posted, represent a new wave of distress rather than simple self-questioning or pleas for affirmation or attention.

    How could the creators not anticipate the nasty responses, even the tender tweens uploading videos in violation of YouTube's 13-and-over age policy? Their directness, playful but steadfast, grips even those accustomed to life's open Internet channel, where revolutions and executions play out alongside the ramblings of anybody with digital access.

    Commenters on YouTube curse and declare the young video creators "attention whores," ask for sex and to see them naked. They wonder where their parents are and call them "fugly" and worse.

    "Y do you live, and kids in africa die?" one responder tells the girl in the koala hat who uses the name Kendal and lists her age as 15 in her YouTube profile, though her demeanor suggests she was far younger at the time.

    Another commenter posts: "You need a hug.. around your neck.. with a rope.."

    Some offer support and beg Kendal and the other young faces to take down their "Am I Pretty?" and "Am I Ugly?" videos and feel good about themselves instead.

    Much has been made of cyberbullying and pedophiles who cruise the Internet, and of low self-esteem among pre-adolescents and adolescents, especially girls, as their brains continue to develop.

    Apple Talks iPad Competition, Honeycomb vs iPad

    Every since Apple and Google started to comment aggressively about each others business and products, each earnings call or product launch is filled with some punches going around. So here is what Tim Cook (Apple COO) had to say about the iPad competitors at the Q1 earnings call which saw record profits/revenues for Apple.

    Apple sold more than 7.3 million iPads last quarter and thats a huge margin over the 1 million Galaxy Tabs sold by Samsung. Android sure has failed to dent the tablets market.

    Replying to a question on iPad competitors, Tim was prompt to point out that the Windows alternatives are big, bulky and work with a stylus or keyboard which does little to pelase the customers. But a bulk of his comments then moved to Android, starting with the fact that Google itself says that the OS is not ready for tablets. Pointing out the 7″ tablets as an oversized smartphone, which is far from the ‘real tablet experience’. “If you do a side-by-side with an iPad, you’ll pick an iPad.”

    Tim also took shots at Honeycomb, calling it the ‘next generation, which we saw at CES’. He pointed out that Honeycomb isn’t shipping yet, nor are there any dates announced. He actually called it ‘vapor’, also citing lack of performance specs. He ended his iPad competition reply with ‘very confident entering into a fight with anyone’.

    Samsung intros connected TV’s, Refrigerators, Washing Machines and Tablets

    Samsung took covers off a plethora of new products at its launch event organized at this year’s CES. The same occasion had last year seen the birth of the Samsung Galaxy Tab which after the debut of the iPad 2 in March underwent a design change and was eventually launched amidst legal wrangles between Apple and Samsung.


    Anyway while the last years’ event was mostly tablets centric, that isn’t the case this year. In fact Samsung started off proceedings with the announcement of its new HDTV lineup with the ES 8000 series. These TV’s are smarter versions of Samsung’s existing lineup of Smart TV’s and features a much faster processor and other hardware inside. Available in screen sizes that range from 46 inches to 65 inches these also some with an integrated webcams and support for voice and gesture controls.

    These TV’s might also be the first ones on the planet to come with Angry Birds preloaded. This is of course apart from the numerous web apps that you can download for it.

    Samsung To Delay Galaxy Tab 10.1 Launch In Australia

    The much awaited launch of Samsung’s top of the line tablet and rival to the Apple iPad; the Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been delayed until the last week of September. This move from Samsung comes at a time when an Australian court is hearing the case filed against Samsung by Apple.

    As you might be already aware, Apple and Samsung have been fighting it out on courts in various countries across the globe. Apple seems to currently have the upper hand with it managing to pass injunctions against the sale of the Galaxy Tab in a few European countries.

    The first of the lawsuits were filed back in April when Apple had blamed Samsung for “slavishly” copying various design and UI facets from a host of Apple products. There were also reports a few weeks ago of Apple reportedly faking comparative images that were used to “fool” regulators in to believing that Samsung products looked “more” similar to Apple products than they actually were.

    While the Australian curt hasn’t passed any ruling yet, it seems Samsung wants to play safe here and doesn’t want to b in an embarrassing position wherein they launch a product and it is eventually banned by the courts.MORE DETIAL

    Nokia 808 PureView Runs Symbian; Has a 41 megapixel sensor!

    No, that’s not a typo. I did not mean to type 14 megapixels in that headline there. It indeed is 41 (forty one) megapixels. Anyway, let me inform you all what this is all about. At the on going Mobile World Congress at Barcelona, Spain, Nokia has made one of the most outrageous announcements ever seen in the mobile industry. Perhaps this might turn out to be the most significant advancement in mobile imaging technology since 2002 when the first of the cameraphones started rolling out.

    Lest I go on talking gibberish about this, let me talk about the new launch in detail. We are talking about the Nokia 808 PureView – a quite unassuming looking smartphone that runs the “dead” Symbian OS – albeit the renamed, sexed up version of the same called Belle.

    Video features of the Nokia 808
    The Nokia 808 PureView smartphone not only captures stunning still-pictures, it also includes Full HD 1080p video recording at 30fps with 4X lossless zoom. When recording 720p HD videos, you can use up to 6x lossless zoom. In addition, video autofocus was an area that needed to be dramatically improved. Because of the much larger image sensor of the Nokia 808 PureView, the optics give you a relatively shallow depth of field. What’s more, oversampling techniques in video are used to achieve a holy grail of low visual noise with extremely high levels of detail. As a result, the autofocus system for the Nokia 808 is more precise and sensitive. 
    Now if you are wondering how Nokia managed to do this seemingly impossible task, well, let us tell you that in reality, the phone makes use of some very smart (like really smart) “over-sampling” techniques that runs a magic wand on the pixels – grouping seven of them together which go on to become a super-pixel. The phone also gets the ability to film full HD videos with 4x zoom and that too, lossless. If you choose to record in 720p, you can zoom without any loss up to 6x! In the still image mode, you can zoom 3x times! The 808 also becomes the first Nokia handset to feature high-definition audio recording which the company claims can produce CD quality sounds. If that was not all, it features Dolby Digital Plus too.

    The Dark Horse Nokia Lumia 710

    “Nokia has given more than 4000 ad spots to the Lumia 800 on TV” – complained the promoter of a rival brand. “If only our products were equally promoted ….”While the jury is out, I am certain that the Lumia 800 is breaking no sales records and is far from turning the tide for Nokia. Microsoft getting Nokia to adopt WP was a mutually beneficial move, one which would see Windows phone finally get some traction with a dedicated hardware manufacturer who has equal skin in the game. Nokia so far has not disappointed by launching two handsets in a span of just six months.

    The Lumia 800 is best priced at Rs 28,300 (in Mumbai) and that’s competing with the likes of HTC Sensation, Samsung Galaxy SII and a plethora of lower priced Android phones. At a time when dollar rates are surging, it would be unfair to expect price cuts on a top end smartphone from Nokia and I won’t even ask for that (hint: it may still happen). Hence the Lumia 710 has been my bet since long because of the price advantage it has over the rest which also opens up a bigger segment for the device. The QUESTION: Would Nokia promote its dark horse?

    I got a glimpse of the 710 during the Lumia 800 launch last year and that’s the last I saw of the 710. And so far there have been no seed units for media, no aggressive in store promotions, no painted Jets, no sky parties, no flash mobs, no TV slots. In my opinion, the 710 actually has the potential to sell way more than the Lumia 800, now if only Nokia pushed this device a little more.A sub Rs. 20,000 smartphone with a beautiful and refreshing OS like WP Mango is indeed a lucrative prospect. And the 710 has a Nokia brand name to back it up. That’s not all, the 710 has the same processing power as the 800 and developers can deliver equally well.

    Another way to look at it is Microsoft’s interest. At this point Microsoft cares less about beating the top end iPhone or Android on the market. The biggest criticism of Windows Phone is lack of great apps and MS needs millions of users to entice developers. What Nokia is doing, is at best creating a feel good factor (Yes, the Amazing every day and all). But for the Windows platform & Nokia to be Amazing a year later the requirement is simple: lots of users and a whole lot of quality app which comes from developers making money from the platform.

    Samsung Galaxy S III Gearing up for April Launch

    We have been hearing about the possible impending launch of Samsung’s mighty successor to the (still) highly capablE Galaxy S II for the past few days now. There had been plenty of speculations about the possibility of Samsung coming up with the S III at the recently conclude Mobile World Congress at Barcelona – which as you now already, didn’t turn out to be true.

    There have been a few image leaks as well – which have been dismissed as photoshopped imaginations of some creative genius.

    Anyway, continuing with the ongoing slew of speculations about the Galaxy S III, folks from over at ZDNet Korea is reporting that Samsung would be finally announcing the Galaxy S III this very month (probably by the end of the month) and would follow it up with a launch sometime in April.

    The source for ZDNet are Korean marketing companies who have been contacted by Samsung to make preparations for an event that the electronics major plans to hold later this month. It is highly likely that Samsung would announce the Galaxy S III at this proposed event. Read More

    '16 and Pregnant' star Arrested over stolen Pregnancy test is not Pregnant

    The "16 and Pregnant" star arrested after she stole a pregnancy test from a Georgia Walmart has announced she is not pregnant, TMZ reported Saturday.

    Whitney Purvis was taken into custody Thursday after concealing the test in her hooded jacket and trying to leave the store in Rome, Ga., without paying, the Rome News-Tribune reported, citing a police report.

    The 20 year old, who was charged with misdemeanor theft by shoplifting before being released, admitted to TMZ that she did take the test off the shelf.

    Purvis was quoted as saying that she had planned to use it in the store's restroom -- but lost her nerve at the last moment and threw it away.

    "My boyfriend was with me and he had money, but I didn't want to freak him out. I was just being stupid with my decisions. I wish I would have handled the situation better," she told the website.

    Purvis later found out she was not pregnant naturally. "I was excited because I didn't want another kid -- I already have one," she said, adding that she "never will go back to jail or steal again."

    Last year Purvis' mom, April, was arrested in Rome, Ga., and charged with felony possession of methamphetamines and misdemeanor possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

    She was driving with a male passenger when police pulled her car over at a road checkpoint and an officer smelled marijuana in the vehicle.

    Georgia lawmaker tries to shield officers from 'sovereign citizen' harassment

    Tim Shaw, a police chief in Temple, Ga., remembers well his run-in with a "sovereign citizen."

    The individual, part of a movement that claims the laws of the land do not apply to them, started harassing him about a year ago, following a traffic stop by one of his officers.

    The individual began sending a string of bizarre legal documents demanding more than $800,000. Shaw then received a set of driving directions -- from his harasser's house to his house, and to his parent's house in Florida.

    "He was trying to extort over $800,000 out of me," Shaw said.

    Thankfully for the chief, the suspect was foolish enough to threaten him. Shaw obtained a protective order, and the matter was resolved.

    But the "sovereign citizens" movement has started to hassle other officials in the state and beyond. And one Georgia lawmaker is trying to change the law to address the problem.

    State Rep. B.J. Pak is pushing a bill aimed directly at a favorite tactic of sovereign citizens -- filing false liens, similar to what happened to Shaw.

    Pak's bill, which has passed out of committee, would call for up to 10 years imprisonment for filing such a false lien.

    The FBI considers sovereign citizens to be "extremists," with their offenses ranging from the minor to the severe -- like the 2010 killing of two police officers in Arkansas during a routine traffic stop. The FBI has listed movement efforts in California Missouri, Nevada, Michigan and New Hamsphire, among others.

    The movement preaches an off-the-grid lifestyle, though not necessarily a violent one. The Sovereign Citizenship Network website describes the movement as the "non-violent solution to the government problem."

    The group urges Americans to "unsubscribe from the system" and "sever yourself from the government" in order to become "the king of your own private domains" -- offering tips on how to deal with pesky infringements by the state like traffic court.

    Read more

    Meera Jasmine hot Photo Gallery

    Slim & Trim: A Healthy Way To Lose Weight

    Ang Slim & Trim ay isa pa sa produkto ng AIM Global manufactured by Nature’s Way. Sa pangalan pa lang, obvious na kung para saan ito. Pampaslim. Pampapayat.

    Ano naman ang kakaiba dito kumpara sa ibang pampapayat? Hindi po kasi ito fat burner. Hindi ka madedehydrate dahil sa magLBM ka after mo uminom nito. Hindi yan mangyayari sa iyo. Isa syang appetite suppresant. Kapag ininom mo ito 30 minutes bago kumain followed by 2 glasses of water, feeling busog ka na kaagad. Magfoform kasi sya na parang gel sa tyan mo, so konti na lang makakain mo.

    This is all-natural and safe. Ang ingredients po nito, Glucomannan, a water soluble polysaccharide that is considered a dietary fiber. Meron din syang Hoodia gordonii, a leafless spiny succulent plant with medicinal uses na makikita sa South Africa at Namibia. Umiinom ka lang ng food supplement, natutulungan ka pang pumayat.

    Kung ikaw ay naggygym pero hindi ka pa rin pumapayat dahil sa pagkatapos mong magwork-out, todo kain ka naman, ito na ang sagot sa problema mo. After mo maggym, ito inumin mo para hindi ka na magtodo kain. Sigurado, papayat ka na nyan.
    READ FULL STORY

    Shooting outside Nightclub in Tempe, Ariz. wounds 13

    An altercation outside a nightclub in suburban Phoenix erupted in a shooting, leaving 13 people wounded including two in serious condition, police said Saturday.

    Police are looking for two young men as possible suspects, who fled after the gunfire around midnight Friday in the parking lot of The Clubhouse Music Venue.

    Tempe Sgt. Steve Carbajal confirmed to msnbc.com that at least two of the injured were taken to local hospitals and were in serious condition, while the others were treated for wounds that appeared to be less severe.

    In an emailed statement, Carbajal said the incident occurred at 11:30 p.m. local time (2:30 a.m. ET).

    Police are hunting the pair, described as black men wearing dark clothing, who fled on foot from the club on East Broadway Road, located about 7 miles east of downtown Phoenix.

    Carbajal described the shooting as the result of "some sort of altercation" at the club, where a rap music concert was going on.

    He didn't have immediate details on the altercation, if both of the men are suspected of firing weapons, and on the type of guns used. It's unclear whether the shooting occurred inside or outside the club.

    He said some of the injured drove themselves to the various hospitals in the area so police aren't sure if there were other victims besides the 13. Their identities have not been released.

    Peter Davidson, Owner Of Australian Hunting Safari, Mauled By Lion

    Administrators at Crocodylus Park in Darwin, Australia, are reportedly baffled by an employee who stuck his arm into a lion's enclosure, causing him to be mauled by the animal, the Telegraph reports.

    The victim, 42-year-old Peter Davidson, is the owner of nearby Arnhemland Hunting Safaris and was working at the park as a contractor hired to spray weeds, the Australian Associated Press reports.

    He was working near the enclosure of Shebe the lioness when he decided to put his arm through the cage, prompting her to attack.

    Davidson's muscle was torn from the bone, and he was immediately rushed to the hospital and scheduled for surgery.

    A source close to Davidson told the Northern Territory News that he was trying to scratch the 10-year-old lioness behind the ear.

    Whatever his motivation, Davidson has left park administrators stunned by his actions.

    "I still can't come to grips with why someone would [do that]," Grahame Webb, the wildlife park's director, told ABC radio. "I wouldn't put my arm in with a lion if my life depended on it."

    Webb told the AAP that Shebe has never attacked anyone before this incident.

    The lioness was brought to Crocodylus from Darling Downs Zoo along with her mate, a lion named Leo, according to a profile by the Northern Territory News.

    President Obama To Aziz Ansari: 'Malia Is A Big 'Parks And Recreation' Fan

    We know that President Barack Obama is a huge fan of Showtime's breakout hit "Homeland," but it looks like his 13-year-old daughter Malia is huge fan of NBC's "Parks and Recreation."

    "Aziz Ansari... now this is big because Malia is a big 'Parks and Recreation' fan," the President said at a fundraiser Thursday night at ABC Kitchen in New York City. "So having Aziz here is like the only thing she thinks is worth me doing. I want to thank him for what he said earlier. I know he's backstage, but I just want to say that I have more Twitter followers than you, man."

    Malia may be able to watch Ansari bring the funny on "Parks and Rec," but there is one show that the President makes sure his daughters stay away from -- "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

    "Barack really thinks some of the Kardashians -- when they watch that stuff -- he doesn't like that as much," First Lady Michelle Obama said in an interview with iVillage.com last October. "But I sort of feel like if we're talking about it, and I'm more concerned with how they take it in - what did you learn when you watched that. And if they're learning the right lessons, like, that was crazy, then I'm like, okay."

    The President is a fan of quality TV: His other TV favorites include HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and ABC sitcom "Modern Family." His favorite show of all-time is David Simon's critically-acclaimed drama "The Wire," which told the story of poverty and the drug trade in Baltimore.

    Necessary Evil? Random House Triples Prices Of Library E-Books

    Random House, the world’s largest publisher of the kinds of books you and I read, has made some adjustments to the way it sells e-books to libraries. Notably, they have tripled the price of many titles. Librarians across the country are expressing their discontent.

    The changes were telegraphed by an announcement a month ago that suggested prices would be going up soon, and most expected significant increases — but across the board popular genres and titles have gone up as much as 300%. Nothing is offered below $25, and some common titles are going for above $100.

    As Kathy Petlewski, a librarian in Plymouth, puts it: “The first thing that popped into my mind was that Random House must really hate libraries.”

    But the dismay at the major increase in prices is tempered by a sort of desperate gratefulness that the publisher is willing to play ball with libraries at all. The other big publishers have been less than generous: HarperCollins’ e-books “expire” after 26 uses, Hachette and Macmillan only make part of their list available, and others like Penguin and Simon&Schuster don’t allow library lending at all. So Random House, in a way, is the gold standard right now. They even make the library books available on the day they first go on sale.

    (Incidentally, The Digital Shift has a great page describing publishers’ policies on this topic.)<<<<< READ MORE >>>>>

    'Parenthood' Finale Wedding Stays True To Real Life

    There's nothing like art that really imitates life, and Tuesday's season finale of NBC's "Parenthood" nailed it big-time with Crosby and Jasmine's wedding. The episode scored so many "just like in real life" moments that we think the producers must have been eavesdropping at a bridal convention. Here are the gems we spotted; any you think we missed?

    "Let's just do it, no big planning involved." A perennial favorite -- the quaint idea that a wedding is merely a ceremonial marker to the larger event of committing to spending the rest of your life with someone -- "keeping it simple" should be the mantra. Yeah, right. And then the families chime in. In the fictional Braverman clan, Jasmine and Crosby's proclamation triggered an emergency family wedding with Pappa Bear Zeek doling out assignments with the rigor and finesse of a Marine drill sergeant.

    "We'll do it in the backyard and keep it small."
    Your cherished moment should be borne witness to, right? Of course! But how many witnesses does it take to record a moment? The Braverman affair was small until Jasmine's mother invited the 17-member church choir, bringing the wedding guest list up to 57 from 40. But the choir sure sounded lovely as the bride came down the aisle.

    The drunken wedding party guy.
    We celebrate weddings with dance, drink and high spirits -- for the most part. Let's face it, like every other one of life's milestones -- birthdays, graduations, births, deaths -- someone may grow morose when forced to examine and measure their own life. The end result is that (it must be written somewhere) at every wedding, at least one guest will overindulge on self-reflection and generally winds up drunk and face down in the planter. In the "Parenthood" case, Billy the best man passed out before he delivered his wedding toast to the bride and groom and shortly after sister Sarah declines his slurry offer to "get out of here and make magic."

    Somebody gets lucky.
    Yep, it happens more often than you think. Weddings are the mile-high club of land-based parties. Sex is just in the air. At the Braverman wedding, teenage Drew and his girlfriend Amy shed their virginity while the party dances on outside the bedroom window.

    At the end of the day, the bride looks beautiful, everyone remembers having a good time, and the season finale gets great ratings.

    Ultimate List Of Windows 7 Tips and Tricks

    Windows 7 has just been released to the general public and there are several tips and tricks flying around on several blogs, just like our earlier ultimate lists where we collect and share some of the best tips and tricks for a product, here are some of the best tips and tricks for Windows 7.

    windows7
    Windows 7 Features Walkthrough

    Want to learn what is new in Windows 7? The How-To-Geek has put up a comprehensive screenshot tour, which walks you through the new features in Windows 7. Take a look at what you should expect from Windows 7 beta to learn more.

    10 Things You Should Know Before Installing Windows 7

    Windows 7 is in beta, and there are bound to be several things which will not work. The Windows 7 center has a list of 10 things you should know before you install Windows 7.
    Dual Boot Windows 7 With Windows XP and Vista

    Windows 7 is still in beta and it would be a tad bit early to get a brand new PC to just run Windows 7, so it makes more sense for users to stick to a current machine and dual boot Windows 7 with the current operating system. Adam Pash from Lifehacker has put up a nice tutorial using which you can dual boot Windows 7 with Windows XP and Vista. CLICK HERE MORE DETIAL

    Limbaugh Slur of Law Student Draws Obama Into Fray

    Ever eager to provoke, Rush Limbaugh has now succeeded into drawing the White House into a skirmish. The spark: Limbaugh telling his talk show fans that a law student was a "slut" for her testimony to Congress about the need for birth control coverage.

    On Friday, two days after Limbaugh's tirade, President Barack Obama called student Sandra Fluke to commend her willingness to speak out and share her dismay over the slur.

    The White House termed Limbaugh's remarks "reprehensible," and the criticism was echoed by Democratic members of Congress, women's groups, and the administration and faculty at Georgetown University, the Roman Catholic school in Washington that Fluke attends.

    Calls for Limbaugh's sponsors to pull their ads from his show rocketed through cyberspace, and several companies, including Quicken Loans, LegalZoom online legal document service, and bedding retailers Sleep Train and Sleep Number, bowed to the pressure.

    For Obama, it was an emphatic plunge into the latest flare-up on social issues. Democratic officeholders and liberal advocacy have accused Republicans of waging a "war on women" because of GOP stances on contraception and abortion rights, and Limbaugh's disparaging remarks were seen as an escalation. READ MORE

    Motorola Droid 2 Global Getting a Bug Fixing Software Update!

    Motorola and Verizon have started rolling out a new software update for the Droid 2 Global. The update does not bring Ice Cream Sandwich or any other major enhancements, which quite a few Droid 2 owners would have been hoping for. The update simply fixes some bugs and loopholes, and improves the memory management on the handset.
    Below is the full change-log of the update -:
    Device Features
    • Device is enabled with the Wireless Alerting System.
    • A Google Security Patch has been added to improve security level.
    • Fixed issue where the device may power ON without user interaction.
    • Adjusted camera settings will be saved, even after the device is powered down.
    • Resolved possible device resets while playing music.
    • Reduced Out of Memory errors.
    Email, Messaging, and Data
    • Improved ability to access and receive Gmail messages when the Mobile Hotspot is turned on.
    • Addressed error that replicated thumbnails in message threads.
    Applications & Widget
    • WAV files can be played from Visual Voice Mail.
    • Purchased ringtones are now able to be downloaded, saved and used where appropriate.
    As it is evident from the change-log above, the update barely brings anything new. However, it is definitely nice to see Motorola and Verizon taking the effort and indulging resources in fixing bugs and security loopholes in old and forgotten Android handsets, albeit quite a months late.

    Texas State Player gets Surprise Proposal

    exas State guard Kelsey Krupa was getting a little miffed.

    Her team had just pulled off a huge win, the seniors were about to be honored at midcourt, and she couldn't locate her boyfriend, Matt Breneman, in the stands.

    "He's about to miss my senior ceremony," Krupa said. "I was starting to get mad. ... Then I heard these gasps and I turned around and he was right there."

    Breneman presented his girlfriend of two years with a diamond ring and a question.

    Krupa was stunned, then her equally surprised teammates began screaming with excitement as Breneman got down on one knee and proposed.

    Krupa said "Yes" and the players mobbed the newly-engaged couple.

    "Everyone was crying," senior guard India Johnson said. "Everyone was just so happy for her. There were a lot of tears."

    The proposal had been in the works for a couple of weeks, but only Breneman, Texas State coach Zenarae Antoine and associate athletic director Tracy Shoemake were in on the plans.

    Breneman had made sure both his and Krupa's parents were there, but Krupa, her teammates and everyone else in the arena were taken by surprise.

    "We didn't tell anyone at all," Antoine said. "It made it all the sweeter for everyone."

    Everything went according to plan, starting with Texas State's 87-67 trouncing of rival UT-San Antonio, whom the Bobcats had never beaten in seven previous meetings. The win clinched Texas State's first winning season and first Southland Conference Tournament berth since 2008.

    Had Texas State lost and left Krupa fuming, Breneman had a backup plan to propose to her after she came out of the locker room to greet her family.

    The team did its part by winning, so Breneman left his usual spot in the stands during the final media timeout and circled to the other side of the arena.

    "I wanted to walk up from the back of the court so she couldn't see me coming," Breneman said. "I knew if she saw me coming, she would know what was going on."

    After the game ended, the team stood at midcourt while Antoine made an announcement over the public address system about a "special presentation." That's when Breneman walked to the center of the court.

    "I was definitely shaking," he said. "I spoke everything fine, but I was shaking like crazy trying to get the ring box out of my pocket."

    Rescuers use daylight to scour for survivors in string of killer storms

    As daylight emerged through the clouds Saturday, rescuers frantically searched for survivors after a string of vicious storms obliterated entire towns and killed dozens of people throughout the South and Midwest.

    The tornado outbreak, unusual for this time of year, killed at least 31 people. Saturday began with large swaths of the South still battered by heavy rain and under tornado watches -- and a real fear of the death toll rising.

    Of the 31 victims, 15 were in Indiana, 12 in Kentucky, three in Ohio and one in Alabama.

    Piles of debris littered land where well-built homes once stood. Tall trees bowed to the winds and lay horizontal with the land. Churches turned into shelters and thousands of people began a weekend unnerved bynature's fury.

    The storms pummeled Alabama Friday, gusting across the border into Tennessee all the way to Indiana.

    By early Saturday morning, the storms moved through northern Georgia; a tornado was believed to have struck north Georgia's Paulding County, damaging two elementary schools, a small local airport and an undetermined number of homes, said Ashley Henson, a sheriff's spokesman.

    National Weather Service meteorologist John Gordon described the weather as crazy.

    "It's just nuts right here," he said during the height of the storms.

    With power out, authorities relied on thermal radar imaging, and search and rescue dogs to try to find a 9-year-old boy missing after the tornado struck, said Maj. Chuck Adams, a sheriff's department spokesman.

    At St. Francis Xavier Church, which was serving as a meeting and reunion point for families in Henryville, dozens waited for news of loved ones as rescue crews combed through debris.

    Amid the mounting reports of death and destruction, there was some good news.

    A 2-year-old girl was found alive, alone and injured in a field in Salem, about 20 miles south of Henrysville, Adams said.

    The 8 Worst Things You Can Do As A Wedding Guest

    Yes, even before you arrive at the wedding ceremony, you can make mistakes that can drive an engaged couple crazy. Luckily, it's pretty easy to avoid committing these offenses.

    Send in your response card late -- or not at all.

    If you receive a wedding invitation with a response card, make note of the reply-by date. It's usually a few days to a few weeks before couples have to give their final head counts to venues and caterers. If you don't return the card, expect a call (or a text or an email) from the couple or a member of the wedding party. It may not seem like a huge deal for them to get in touch with you, but it's a pain because you're likely not the only guest who couldn't bear to write your name, check a box, and drop an already stamped envelope in a mailbox with four to six weeks' notice.

    See more: If you don't believe in marriage, is it okay to do this to married people?

    Change your response after the reply-by date.

    Brides get it -- things come up. But you should understand that your plate may already be paid for. It's not so egregious to alter your response before the RSVP date (just don't change again!).

    Forget to fill out your name on the response card.

    Most couples know to number the backs of their response cards and have each number correspond with a particular guest they've invited (on the off-chance that person neglects to write his or her name on the card). But not all couples do the numbering trick, and the process of elimination can't help if multiple guests return blank cards.

    Send a wedding gift without a card, or without signing the card.

    For the same reason, this is confusing. Registry items purchased online don't tend to list the gift-giver's return address. The couple probably would love to thank you for the thoughtful gift, but how can they if they don't know it was you who sent it?

    Send a wedding gift to an address the couple didn't select.

    My friend specified that wedding gifts should be sent to her and her fiance's shared home address. One guest thought she had a better idea: Send it to the bride's parents' home as was the norm in the past -- except the bride's parents moved. The gift almost didn't ever make it to the couple because of issues with setting up the forwarding address (it arrived eventually, worse for wear).

    Ask to bring a guest.

    If you're friendly with a soul other than the bride or groom at an upcoming wedding, don't ask for a plus-one. To stay within budget, the couple may have decided that unattached folks with other friends at the wedding don't get dates. If you won't be happy going solo, don't go to the wedding. The same rule applies to asking to bring children. If you can't or don't want to get a babysitter, decline the wedding invitation. If the couple absolutely wants you there, they may ask why you can't make it and offer to allow you to bring a date or your kids -- feel free to take them up on it if they do. But in most cases, it's better not to bring this up if they don't.

    Double Dating Benefits Marriage Greatly, According To New Research

    Double-dating could be one of the secrets to a long and happy marriage, according to a recent study.

    Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Social Work have found that maintaining healthy friendships with other couples can help to solidify a couple's sense of themselves as a unit and can even increase partners' attraction to one another.

    Researchers reviewed findings from a series of studies on couple friendships conducted between 2008 and 2010 and compiled the results in a new book, "Two Plus Two: Couples and Their Couple Friendships".

    The studies examined the overall impact of couple-to-couple friendships. Participants were asked questions such as, "How do you define couple friendships?," "How important are they to you as a couple?" and "How do these friendships work or operate?"

    HuffPost Weddings spoke to "Two Plus Two" editors Geoffrey L. Greif, a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland and Kathleen Holtz Deal, an associate professor at the school to learn more about how couple friendships can enrich a marriage.

    HP: How does having couple friends benefit your marriage?

    KHD: We found that there was a number of benefits to having couple friends. One of them is people actually use their couple friends as a model to emulate and a model to say, "Let's never do that." In both ways, they would have conversations a lot of times afterwards like, "I like the way they do that," or "It's great that they're so supportive like that," or "Let's never fight like that couple does." Modeling is important. Another benefit of having couple friends is that you get to see your partner at their best (hopefully) when you're with other people. Some aspects of our personalities may come out when we're working with more people or people we're not normally involved with. If you have the opportunity to see your partner being really thoughtful towards other people, that can make you feel warmer toward them and make you feel connected with them.

    Kathryn Bigelow's Osama Bin Laden Movie Running Into More Trouble

    Osama Bin Laden has run into more drama -- and major production hasn't even started.

    After congressional republicans voiced concerns that the White House was leaking classified information to Bigelow and her team (a suggestion the administration summarily dismissed) and Sony postponed the film's release until after the 2012 election, the "Hurt Locker" director may have thought she was in the clear.

    But new turmoil in India has further complicated filming as right-wing Hindu activists protested the production on Friday. AFP reports that members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or VHP, disrupted shooting in the north India city of Chandigarh and demanded that any representations of Pakistan on Indian soil be taken down.

    A production company claimed it was merely making "establishing" shots and that the Abbottabad home in which bin Laden was killed would be recreated in Jordan.

    The movie will star Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Edgar Ramirez and Mark Strong. Chris Pratt and Jason Clarke were also original members of the cast.

    In development for years and written by Mark Boal (who also won an Oscar for "The Hurt Locker") film had to retool after Bin Laden was killed by the Navy's SEAL Team 6 early in 2011.

    "The attempt to kill Bin laden in the Tora Bora mountains in 2001 was no longer as relevant a story as what had just happened," Edgerton told Indiewire last year, "But then what had just happened was so fresh and as we all know, history often needs time and perspective to kind of settle in everybody's minds, you can't just go and start shooting the movie in the next month and assume that you're going to get everything right and have all of the information. So the project was put on hold for a while while Mark and Kathryn kind of gathered information."

    The movie's working title, "Zero Dark Thirty," is military slang for an early starting time, as Deadline reported.

    Mariah Carey's Post-Pregnancy Performance

    Mariah Carey made her return to the stage since giving birth to twins in diva-like form: She changed her shoes after singing two songs and touched up her hair and makeup in a sleek, sleeveless black dress, all in front of an eager audience.
    Carey, who gave birth to fraternal twins via C-section in April, performed for a few hundred fans Thursday night at New York's Gotham Hall.
    Of her return she said: "I didn't realize this was a big deal."
    The Grammy winner sang a number of her hits during the short performance, from "Hero" to "We Belong Together" to the Jackson 5 cover "I'll Be There."
    The concert was one of four shows Thursday dubbed "Plot Your Escape: Four Concerts. Countless Celebrities. 1 Epic Night," by Caesars Entertainment. Diddy was Carey's opening act in New York, while Lil Wayne and Cee Lo performed in Los Angeles, Maroon 5 and Sara Bareilles in Chicago, and Mary J. Blige and Gavin DeGraw in New Orleans. The concerts were part of Caesars Entertainment's rewards program.
    The shows happened simultaneously and were streamed online.
    "We can't do anything without it being documented," Carey told the audience. "Doesn't it freak you out at all?"
    Carey said if her son Moroccan was onstage, he would probably beat-box, and that her daughter Monroe would be a diva.
    The multiplatinum performer thanked her fans for being there and joked: "Catch me at my real show next time."
    ____
    Online:
    http://www.mariahcarey.com

    Brandy on her new album, outlook and reunion with Monica

    The former teen star and mother of one is hard at work on her sixth album and recently wrapped the video for her first single, a duet with Monica called "It All Belongs To Me." This is first time the two have recorded together since their 1998 Grammy Award winning hit, "The Boy Is Mine."

    "Monica and I have a bond as women and as mothers, working with her doesn't feel like work," Brandy says. "Chris Robinson directed the video and we're both in dysfunctional relationships. We're helping each other through both situations, it's sort of like a 'Thelma & Louise,' girl empowerment video."

    Recruiting producers like Rico Love, who wrote and produced "It All Belongs To Me," Jim Jonsin, Danja, Timbaland, Chris Brown and longtime collaborator Rodney Jerkins, Brandy's also seeing what two Canadians have to offer.

    "I heard the song that Drake did and I loved it," Brandy says of working with the Cash Money MC and his primary producer Noah "40" Shebib. "I haven't recorded it yet but I'm looking forward to it because it's such a great melody and the beat is nice. It's a vibe that I haven't dipped into and I think the fans would get a kick out of hearing my voice over a record like that. I'm not sure if Drake's going to be on it but I'm a huge fan of his. His melodies are beautiful, I like the way I sound in the shower singing his songs."

    Singer-songwriter Frank Ocean is also contributing to her new project, and according to Brandy, their relationship is more than just professional.

    28 dead as 'enormous outbreak' of tornadoes tears through U.S.

    A devastating storm system moved across the United States on Friday, spawning a slew of tornadoes that contributed to at least 28 fatalities in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

    National Weather Service meteorologist John Gordon reported Friday afternoon the agency had about "half a dozen reports of tornadoes on the ground," as well as reports of "significant damage" -- making his comments before some of the worst twisters were reported.

    "This is an enormous outbreak that's going on right now across Kentucky and the South," Gordon said. "It's crazy. It's just nuts right here."

    Southern Indiana was particularly hard hit, with Indiana Department of Homeland Security spokesman John Erickson saying three had died in Jefferson County as a result. Sgt. Rod Russell with the Indiana State Police said later that three people also were killed in Scott County.

    In addition, Emergency Management Director Leslie Cavanaugh of Clark County -- which has about 110,000 people -- reported one death. Sheriff's Department Maj. Chuck Adams added that a man was found dead in his car several miles outside Henryville.

    "We've got total devastation in the north-ceindntral part of the county (and) widespread damage from the west to the east," added Adams. "We are inundated with calls."

    At least 15 people were killed across Indiana, authorities said.

    Aerial footage from CNN affiliate WLKY showed structures torn to shreds and large swaths of trees knocked down in Henryville, about 20 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky.

    Other aerial images showed similar devastation in St. Paul, Indiana. Several officials -- including Jeffersonville, Indiana, Mayor Mike Moore, U.S. Sen. Dan Coats and Adams -- indicated that the town of Marysville suffered especially significant damage.

    Cavanaugh also said that the local high school, Henryville Junior-Senior High School, had been "demolished."

    According to Sara Reschar, an administrative assistant for the West Clark Community Schools, "students were already out of the school when the storm hit" -- having been dismissed about 15 minutes earlier. Adams said there were some "scrapes and scratches," but no serious injuries as a result.

    Authorities used thermal imaging equipment, search dogs and other means Friday night to look for a 9-year-old boy in Henryville whose whereabouts was unknown after the tornadoes came through, Adams said.

    The Singer Spent a lot of time on the bed just Looking Upset

    She has been teasing her fans over the past few days about a little surprise that she had made for them.

    Today, Avril Lavigne finally revealed her gift to some 4million followers on Twitter and showed a very different side to the skater girl they had all come to know.

    The 27-year-old unveiled a new music video as a thank you to all the people who had watched her perform on her world tour and the Girlfriend singer looked more grown up than ever.
    The good hearted Lavigne must have really been feeling the love because she asked her fans to show their support by donating money to the Avril Lavigne Foundation, which was set up to help sick and disabled children.

    The punk star showed off an elegant and sexy side in the artistic video which sees her enter a hotel room in the part black and white part colour video.

    Tulisa goes back to the '50s in a floral swimsuit as she shoots new video for debut solo single

    Over the past few weeks, Tulisa Contostavlos has been hitting the beaches and pools of Miami and Los Angeles in a series of tiny bikinis.

    But as she prepared to shoot the video for her debut solo single in Florida today, the N-Dubz singer, 23, decided to look to the '50s for inspiration.

    The X Factor judge showed off her curves in a floral Ted Baker 'Pictou' swimsuit, exaggerating her slim waist with a elasticated red belt.

    Tulisa is filming the promo for We Are You - the first release from her upcoming debut solo album, which she has been recording since last month in the U.S.

    After three weeks in California, Tulisa and her entourage arrived in Miami on February 21, where she has been hitting the recording studio and visiting Disneyworld.
    Last night, Tulisa appeared in high spirits as she joined Chipmunk, 21, for dinner, before going to the Liv nightclub at the Fontainebleau Hotel.

    Tulisa's single We Are You has been produced by ex-boyfriend and N-Dubz bandmate Richard 'Fazer' Rawson.

    Katy steals the Paris limelight in see-through green dress

    The sexy singer was a sheer delight at Paris Fashion Week in the transparent dress and matching underwear.

    And she finished the bizarre look with a co-ordinating waistcoat and bright coral handbag.

    The single star is in the City of Love to hang out with the fashionistas at the French event and was snapped outside her hotel as she headed to a show.

    Later in the day she turned heads with another hot fashion statement, dressing for dinner in a tight white and gold dress.

    She showed off her enviable curves and impressive cleavage in the mini-dress, which also revealed her tanned and toned legs, as she went for some posh nosh at La Maison du Caviar.

    JENNIFER Love Hewitt is a pro on the Publicity Circuit in just her Underwear

    The 33-year-old actress appears in sexy promo shots which mark the return of US drama The Client List.

    Jen drapes her gorgeous curves over the floor wearing just a bra and knickers.

    She stars as a mother-of-three who has to turn to prostitution to survive after being abandoned by her husband.

    But it's not long until she figures out that giving more than just facials and massages will line her pockets even more, so she teams up with the salon owner to provide extras.

    Although the new series hasn't been aired yet, it's already had complaints from legitimate massage therapy workers.
    I tried to make a joke on Twitter that I wondered why people were not writing to Dexter about killing people, or to Nurse Jackie about taking drugs on the job.

    "Those are big, big television characters audiences love and adore so if there can be a serial killer we all like, I feel like a happy-endings specialist is the least of our worries."

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