Both on screen and off, the shifting of time is essential in the telling the tale of “Fireflies In The Garden.”

The film, written and directed by Dennis Lee, saw its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008. While it later hit theaters in most parts of the world, financial difficulties shelved its US distribution for nearly three years, until it was announced last week that it will finally hit theaters in select cities on October 14th.

And so, American theatergoers will at last get to see the story in which Julia Roberts, in mostly flashback footage, plays mother to a boy that will become Ryan Reynolds, who appears in the film’s present-day shots. A sweet woman and caring mom, she’s plagued by her abusive husband, played by Willem Dafoe, who leaves the boy on the side of the road one rainy day.

Seventeen years later, now fully grown and portrayed by Reynolds, he is heading home for a family reunion when a car accident kills Roberts, who is aged up with heavy makeup (at 43-years old, to Reynolds’ 34, it’s a necessity). From there, the story is a test of blood and forgiveness, trust and anger, with three generations of one family doing their best to co-exist in the wake of so much damage.

Baby bumps, Britney tributes and Bruno bashing — oh my! The MTV Video Music Awards were filled with many buzz-worthy moments last night, but the style choices of several stars gave us just as much to talk about.

Lady Gaga started the two-hour show as her male alter ego, Jo Calderone, wearing Brooks Brothers pants, a men’s jacket, little makeup and a short black wig. She convincingly stayed in character (and costume) all night, even hitting on Britney Spears while presenting her with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj hit the black carpet in a jagged bodysuit accessorized with plush creatures, knee-highs and lots of colorful hair. “Tokyo inspired this outfit,” she told reporters during the show. “Harajuku is something I have been absorbing for a long time.”

Though Justin Bieber one-upped her in the shock-value department — he brought his pet snake, Johnson, along for the ride — his accessories were slightly more demure; namely, his glasses. “I was just going for something fun and youthful and not too put together,” he told reporters. “Something that would go good with the cheetah shoes.”

But Beyoncé‘s accessory was the best of all: she debuted her baby bump in a flowing orange Lanvin gown, later revealing it for the television crowds in a Dolce & Gabbana tux following her performance of “Love on Top.”



It was Katy Perry, though, who became the night’s quick-change artist, starting out in an Atelier Versace geisha-style mini-dress, complete with parasol. To introduce Adele, the big nominee slipped into a long, high-necked purple gown, a departure from her usually revealing wardrobe. She ended the night in Dior Couture, sporting a pink top paired with a black-and-white tulip-shaped skirt and yellow cube-shaped hat, but not before looking like a broken record — literally! — in a sparkly black dress accented with vinyl bearing her name.

“I just felt like being colorful and fun and with me, I am okay with self-deprecation,” Perry told reporters. “I am all right with being laughed at and laughed with and just laughing, so that was the inspiration of tonight: just to have a laugh.”

There was a lot to look at, but we want to know: which VMAs style moment was most shocking?

There is quite a bit of confusion regarding the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update for the Droid Incredible. Originally, when a Gingerbread ROM leaked for the Droid Incredible, it was taken for granted that the handset will get some Gingerbread love. However, as time passed by, some HTC reps started telling Incredible users that the handset won’t be getting the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update, after all.

Things however again took a U-turn when one HTC rep confirmed that the Incredible would be getting the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update. Some documents from Verizon also leaked online, which stated that the Incredible would get the Gingerbread update. Now, a new Gingerbread ROM for the Droid Incredible has leaked online. From the look and feel of the ROM, it seems like this is the final version of the Gingerbread ROM for the Droid Incredible, which would be released to the public.

Visually, there are not many changes, except for a toggle menu and a task manager integrated into the notification bar. The Gingerbread update also brings some performance enhancements, and bug fixes. The usual Gingerbread goodies like an enhanced copy and paste functionality, and a Download Manager app is also on-board.



HTC Droid Incredible users who are interested in flashing this leaked ROM on their handset, should head over to this link for more information.

Standup comedy is perhaps the most raw form of entertainment available on a mass scale, with just a small stage separating an audience — often inebriated — from the performer. By nature, comedians are often edgy and push boundaries, sometimes rubbing up against the sensibilities of certain viewers — and occasionally bursting way past even the more liberally drawn line of moral decency.

At a standup performance in Phoenix on Saturday, comedian Katt Williams arguably crossed that line when he got into an argument with a heckler. Once he found out that the offending audience member was of Mexican descent, he went off on a wild tangent, most of which is transcribed here.

In June, Williams was arrested for a stand off with a tractor driver, and later that month, had a meltdown on stage that included “incoherent babbling,” ripping off his shirt and doing pushups, Laughspin.com reports.

Watch the video below, and underneath that, find the rough transcription.

“Since y’all like it over here a lot. and I’m saying, if I’m speaking out of line, let me know. But I’m saying it appears to me, y’all like it over here a lot. And let me tell you why I’m making that assumption, because I have no right to make that assumption. But understand this, this what gives me the right, and don’t you get it twisted… If y’all had California and you loved it, then you shouldn’t have given that mothaf*cka up. You should have fought for California, goddamnit, since you love it..

Because you think I’m dissing Mexico and I’m defending America. Are you Mexican? Do you know where Mexico is? No this ain’t Mexico, it used to be Mexico, motherf*cker, and now it’s Phoenix, goddammit. USA! USA!



F*ck you back, n*gga. i bet you dont even go to mexico, motha f*cka… no n*gga, do you know where you at? USA! USA! I dont give a f*ck. no n*gga, this is my hood… [security comes] F*ck him! Mothaf*ckas think they can live in this country and pledge allegience to another country… do you remember when white people used to say go back to Africa? And we’d have to tell them we dont want to? So if you love Mexico, bitch, get the f*ck over there! [breaks into the National Anthem]..

We were slaves bitch, you just all work like that at the landscapers… It’s not even racial — you’re a bitch! I don’t give a f*ck what race that is, that’s a p*ssy.”

LG has finally started rolling out the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update for one of their most successful Android handsets – the Optimus One (P500). Even though the Korean company missed its promised deadline, it still is better than nothing.

The Android 2.3 Gingerbread for the Optimus One brings an improved copy-and-paste mechanism, a Download manager and an overall improvement in performance and stability of the phone. Sadly, not all is rosy with the update. Most Optimus One owners over at XDA forums are reporting major problems with the update. Majority of the owners complained that the phone felt sluggish after the update. They also encountered lots of bugs with the Gingerbread firmware.

The list of bugs is also pretty long, and contains some serious issues like the microphone of the phone not working for the first 2-3 seconds of a call or Apps2SD not working properly. The growing list of bugs can be found on this thread on XDA forums.



LG would soon start rolling out the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update for the world’s first dual-core powered phone, the Optimus 2X and the Optimus Black. Hopefully, unlike the Optimus One Gingerbread update, the quality of the final firmware of the Gingerbread build of these two handsets would be much better and less buggy.

If you’re wondering whether or not Adam Levine feels intimidated by Simon Cowell’s emerging fall juggernaut “The X Factor,” the answer is “absolutely not.”

The Huffington Post recently sat down with the Maroon 5 frontman to talk “The Voice,” the new NBC show that he’s producing and his newest endeavor–professional tea-taster.

The 32-year-old Maroon 5 frontman, along with his bandmates Jesse Carmichael, James Valentine, Michael Madden, and Matt Flynn, created a Snapple drink, Tea Will Be Loved (conveniently named after their famous song “She Will Be Loved”), to benefit Feeding America. As part of the partnership, Snapple and Maroon 5 will donate $250,000 to the Feeding America, an organization close to the frontman’s heart.

“It’s so great to be in a position where you can help,” says Levine, “It seems like to not help out would be strange.”

And Levine and his bandmates were involved in every step of the tediously tasty process.

“We worked on the flavor, extensively, for hours in the lab–we really did,” says Levine. “We got really into it. We were so drunk off Snapple by the end of the day. I remember when Snapple got popular back in high school. It was huge. And then there was Fruitopia–R.I.P. Fruitopia.” Recently, in a cover story for Out Magazine, the winning “Voice” coach Levine ripped the reigning champ of reality television, “American Idol,” calling them out for their alleged policy on gay contestants.

“I’m not a fan of singing competitions,” admits Levine. “I never have been. But there was something that rang true with ‘The Voice.’ It’s just a very sincere, honest show where we were allowed to speak our minds and be ourselves and help people along–in a real way. No one is being teased; no one is being mocked. It’s all about positive reinforcement. We’re dealing with a bunch of people who are all really talented to begin with.”

And when it comes to those rumors regarding the cast’s off-screen relationships, Levine assures fans that there’s absolutely no drama between him and co-star Christina Aguilera.

“I love everyone I work with, and I think that really shows,” says Levine. “All the drama is kind of beneath us. We’re not trying to create stupid tension on the show. Any tension that we produced was all fabricated. We all liked each other. The media just played it up. Christina [Aguilera] kicks ass. She’s super talented.”

And no one knows that better than Levine, who recently collaborated with Aguilera on Maroon 5′s new single, “Moves Like Jagger.”

“We have our own path,” says Levine, referring to “The Voice’s” fall competition–Cowell’s “The X Factor”–”We’re fine.”

Yet, even though Levine isn’t a big fan of reality singing competitions, it turns out that the frontman has a soft spot for television musicals. Who knew Levine was such a Gleek? He’s going to take a step out of the big red chair and into the executive producing chair for a single-camera comedy project, with Jake Kasdan attached to executive produce and direct, that can only be described as “Cheers” meets “Glee.”

As much as $60 billion in U.S. funds has been lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade through lax oversight of contractors, poor planning and payoffs to warlords and insurgents, an independent panel investigating U.S. wartime spending estimates.

In its final report to Congress, the Commission on Wartime Contracting said the figure could grow as U.S. support for reconstruction projects and programs wanes, leaving both countries to bear the long-term costs of sustaining the schools, medical clinics, barracks, roads and power plants already built with American tax dollars.

Much of the waste and fraud could have been avoided with better planning and more aggressive oversight, the commission said. To avoid repeating the mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan, government agencies should overhaul the way they award and manage contracts in war zones, the commission recommended.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the commission’s 240-page report in advance of its scheduled public release on Wednesday.

Created by Congress in 2008, the eight-member commission held more than two dozen hearings, interviewed hundreds of military and civilian officials and traveled multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan. The panel’s final report is the most comprehensive examination so far of the U.S. dependence on contractors and the government’s ability to manage them in combat areas.

The commission said calculating the exact amount lost through waste and fraud is difficult because there is no commonly accepted methodology for doing so. But using information it has gathered over the past three years, the commission said at least $31 billion has been lost and the total could be as high as $60 billion. The commission called the estimate “conservative.”

Overall, the commission said spending on contracts and grants to support U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to exceed $206 billion by the end of the 2011 budget year. Based on its investigation, the commission said contracting waste in Afghanistan ranged from 10 percent to 20 percent of the $206 billion total. Fraud during the same period ran between 5 percent and 9 percent of the total, the report said.

Styled after the Truman Committee, which examined World War II spending six decades ago, the commission was vested with broad authority to examine military support contracts, reconstruction projects and private security companies. But the law creating the commission also dictated that it would cease operating at the end of September 2011, even as the U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to be heavily supported by contractors.

The commission cited numerous examples of waste, including a $360 million U.S.-financed agricultural development program in Afghanistan. The effort began as a $60 million project in 2009 to distribute vouchers for wheat seed and fertilizer in drought-stricken areas of northern Afghanistan. The program expanded into the south and east. Soon the U.S. was spending a $1 million a day on the program, creating an environment ripe for waste and abuse, the commission said.

He many only be 17, but Justin Bieber is already talking marriage — and kids!

During an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, the teenage hearthrob revealed some surprising plans for his future.

“Well, by 25 or 26, I want to see myself, like, married or start looking for a family,” he said when asked where he sees himself in five years. “I want to be a young dad. I want to be able to have done what I wanted to do — to be successful, to do a movie or whatever. But if the time is right, I definitely want to be married by 25.”

But before all of his young fans start proposing, Bieber added a key statement.

“One thing — I’m not looking to get married now,” he said.

However, it looks like Bieber is already getting some hands-on training when it comes to taking care of kids. The singer and his entourage were spotted in Atlanta this week walking with a small child, and Bieber even carried the tyke into a local restaurant.

Even though he’s only 17, perhaps Bieber’s comments about wanting to be a young dad stem from his own experience growing up with teen parents. Bieber’s mom was just 18 when she had him.

His family plans may still be a few years off, but we can’t help wondering what Bieber’s girlfriend, Selena Gomez, has to say about all of this.

Chaz Bono may be spending most of his time brushing up on his ballroom dancing skills, but he took time out to walk the red carpet with his longtime partner, Jennifer Elia, at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards Saturday night.

Bono is currently rehearsing for the upcoming season of “Dancing With The Stars,” where he will partner with pro Lacey Schwimmer when the show premieres Sept. 19.

“At first Chaz said yes to doing the show to have some fun but now he’s in it to win it. Not just for himself but for anyone else who has felt like they didn’t fit in,” a friend of Bono told The Huffington Post last week.

Bono himself talked about why he decided to join the show with ABC News.

“You know, it just kind of shows why for me it’s important to be on the show, because so little still is known about what it means to be transgender,” Bono said. “And there’s so many just completely inaccurate stereotypes and thoughts that people have.”

If this nifty little bugger looks familiar, that’s because it should. NEC’s LaVie Touch sports the same design and specs as the VersaPro model we spotted back in May. The difference here is, it comes packed with a bevy of accessories, including a keyboard, mouse and a dock that happens to hold a DVD drive. Underneath the 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800, IPS touchscreen is a 1.5GHz Oak Trail CPU, 2GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD. Sure the pair of full USB ports, HDMI jack, WiFi, Bluetooth and SD reader are welcome, but it’s that optical drive packing stand that really makes this a unique package. The NEC LaVie Touch should be landing in Japan next month for around $1,200 with the accessories. Sadly, here’s no word of whether or not it’ll ever find its way stateside. Pocket-Lint, TechCrunch NEC (translated) 24 Leave A Comment

NEC (translated)

I am in awe at the originality and creativity of Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale’s new tattoos. (I know that tone is sometimes difficult to interpret with text so please read the previous statement—and most of the following statements—with extremely heavy sarcasm and several eye rolls). People.com reports that the former costars of the teeny bopper hit, High School Musical, and apparent BFFs, Hudgens and Tisdale hit up a East Side Ink in New York City last week to be marked for eternity (or until older versions of themselves finally give in and spring for laser removal) with some pretty lame looking ink.

Tisdale, in a moment of mad genius, had the French phrase “jamais seule,” which means “never alone,” branded along her foot. I’m sure you guys are already forming theories about what that’s about. I just hope it’s not some Britney-Spear’s-Piece-of-Me-esque complaint about stardom or whatever. Honestly that would just be embarrassing as Tisdale is not exactly dogged by the media to find out who she’s eye banging at after-after-parties or what type of socks she wears. Show me some BritBrit-shaving-her-head level paparazzi problems and we’ll talk, Tisdale.

As for Hudgens, (who you may no longer care about since she stopped smooching Zac Efron BUT may now care about since she is allegedly smooching Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson) she went for the classic ‘Om’ symbol, which I assume is extremely personal to her. Beyond being pretty weak content-wise, what I really find silly about this choice is the location. Hudgens had the symbol inked in two halves along the edges of her hands. For an actress this is an odd and potentially career affecting choice as it is not quite as easy to conceal as Tisdale’s canny foot-tattoo. I know this is a thing actresses are doing now (see Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox) but I just cannot understand the logic behind it. Part of the job description is to be able to transform yourself into another person. What if someone wanted to offer her the role of a girl who was smart enough not to get an ‘Om’ symbol tattooed on her hands? (Not likely but possible). Then covering the tattoo immediately becomes a factor—dealing with body makeup on her hands or paying for expensive CGI removal or writing in a character quirk where she always wears opera gloves—what a pain. And since she has nothing like the star power of a Jolie or even a Fox, producers might just skip the headache go for one of the other billion non-tattoo-having starlets out there.

The first celeb we saw at Cynthia Rowley’s show Friday night — though by no means the last — was America’s Next Top Model‘s resident dreamboat Nigel Barker, and the gravitational pull of his hotness pulled us down to the front row to ask him about the most important development that’s occurred since we saw him in February: his once-again shaved head. And thank God. Nigel Barker with hair was like Tom Selleck without a mustache. Nigel explained that the shaved head is just cooler for summer, and that he’d only grown out his hair in the first place because he wanted to prove to his little girls that he was capable of growing hair at all. “I was astounded by the press I received,” he said. “Miss J was rather pissed off that I was stealing his moment.” Speaking of Top Model, we also couldn’t resist wondering whether or not Nigel has read Miss Tyra’s forthcoming young-adult magnum opus, Modelland, coming out Tuesday. “I haven’t read the entire thing,” Nigel hedged, “but we’ve been working on it since the last season of Top Model, so I am very familiar with all aspects of it.” We speculated that this meant they were prepping some Modelland-themed shoots for this upcoming All Stars season. Nigel just smiled. “What are my eyes saying?” he asked. “My mouth is saying nothing, and my eyes are saying something else. I’m smizing an answer to you. Read into it.” Trust me, kind sir, we will read the hell out of it. Possibly several times.

Cynthia Rowley - Front Row - Spring 2012 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

We were still toasting in the glow of Nigel’s hotness when, right before the lights went down, a platinum-and-orange waif in tiny trousers, massive shades, and hypnotically puffy lips burst forth from backstage, hustling to a front-row seat with ruthless efficiency (and several security guards). For one glorious, confusing moment, we — and, we later learned, everyone in the rows around us — thought this walking creamsicle had to be Donatella Versace. Then, the entire room full of journalists sat ramrod straight and let out excited, disbelieving, four-letter expletives as we all realized this was actually Lindsay Freaking Lohan. We then simultaneously commenced trying to figure out if she was wearing pants. (They were shorts. Small ones. Very, very small ones.) The take-home here for Lindsay should be that we all initially mistook her for somebody much crispier who is thirty years her senior, but we suspect instead she will mentally gloss over that part and focus only on how fast the crowd of blasé, already-burned-out fashionistas whipped out their smartphones and overloaded AT&T service. One photographer even went so far as to walk down onto the runway — which we’d been expressly forbidden to do, given that it was mirrored — and get in her face to take a photo, prompting event organizers to confiscate both his camera (which looked more expensive than her extensions) and his credentials, which they ripped from his neck with soap-operatic verve. The room applauded, led by Lindsay herself, as she settled into her seat between a shell-shocked-seeming Leigh Lezark — we feel you, Leigh — and Lindsay’s companion, who is either a Johnny Depp superfan or an actual pirate. Seriously, he had the long hair and the scruff and the vest flapping over a mostly-open shirt… all he was missing was a parrot and an eye-patch, although we’d bet Lindsay has a couple of those floating around her hotel room somewhere.

Sam Stosur told her parents she wasn’t leaving for school until Patrick Rafter won the U.S. Open.

Growing up in Australia, Stosur was glued to the TV when her countryman captured titles in 1997 and ’98. Now she wonders if kids back home will do the same when she plays Serena Williams for the Open championship Sunday.

The 27-year-old Stosur reached her second major final Saturday, her experience showing in a three-set victory over 92nd-ranked Angelique Kerber.

The ninth-seeded Aussie won 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in a semifinal that would have seemed overshadowed by the Williams-Caroline Wozniacki tilt even if it weren’t relegated to the Grandstand.

The 2010 French Open runner-up, Stosur had two record-setting three-set wins earlier in the tournament, so this 1-hour, 46-minute match seemed like a breeze in comparison. She went up 5-0 in the final set, then was broken when she first tried to serve out the match.

The second time, Stosur had to save four break points before finally clinching victory with an emphatic backhand volley.

Stosur lost a tight 6-4, 7-6 (2) final to Francesca Schiavone at Roland Garros last year, wasting a break point in the second set.

“It had never happened up until that point, so you never know if it is going to happen again,” she said. “Multiple people came up to me and said, ‘You’re gonna get another chance. You can come back and make it again.’ Of course you want to believe that, but until it happens, you never know if that’s the case.”



Kerber had never been past the third round of a Grand Slam before this tournament. The German still hasn’t beaten a top-10 opponent – she hadn’t faced any player ranked better than No. 13 in her run at the Open.

Stosur needed 3 hours, 16 minutes to win in the third round against Nadia Petrova 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5 – the longest women’s match at the Open since the advent of the tiebreaker in 1970. Two days later, Stosur was part of the longest tiebreaker in a women’s Grand Slam, beating Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-7 (15), 6-3.

This semifinal wasn’t on the center court of Arthur Ashe Stadium because rain delays meant there were four singles matches Saturday instead of the normal three. It had to be played in Flushing Meadows’ third-largest venue because of water on the court at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Stosur and Kerber pleaded with tournament officials that their match belonged on Ashe, to no avail.

Lately we’ve seen some celebs give new meaning to the term “fast fashion.”

Beyoncé, along with mom Tina Knowles, dropped $14,000 in 90 minutes on a London shopping trip in July (and who can blame them — we lose all self-discipline every time we enter Topshop, too).

But Angelina Jolie may have just set the bar for quickie spending sprees. The actress, tykes in tow, hit the French Connection store on King’s Road in west London, where she evidently saw a lot that she liked in a short time.

Jolie combed the racks for stylish fall staples like a mustard cami, a white blouse and a basic black mid-length skirt, the Daily Mail reports.

During her 15-minute visit to the shop, she also managed to pick up a dozen or so items for her brood (daughters Shiloh, 5, and Zahara, 6, were by her side). The total tab for her finds? £1,300 (equivalent to about $2,103).

Personally, we like to take more time to ponder our purchases — especially when dropping a large sum of cash. But hey, at least we now know that retail therapy has its health benefits.

It appears that the fantasies of many libidinous male soccer fans (and many non fans, presumably) have been answered as the fetching goalkeeper of the U.S. Women’s National Team, Hope Solo, hinted on her twitter account on Tuesday that she will pose naked in the famed “Body Issue” of ESPN The Magazine.

“The Body Issue” features male and female professional athletes posing naked in a tasteful fashion. Last year’s issue had photos of Serena Williams, Dwight Howard and Adrian Peterson in the buck, among many others.

As she recently told The Huffington Post’s Jordan Schultz, Solo has been very busy in recent weeks following the conclusion of the Women’s World Cup, in which her U.S. team was defeated in the final by Japan.

“I flew to LA when most people went home, and I did the media circuit there,” she told The Huffington Post. “I think that’s our responsibility; I need to keep the awareness of the game out there, but I also need to thank our fans.”

Despite the tremendous outpouring of support the team received during the World Cup and the tireless efforts of Solo and her teammates since returning home, the Women’s Professional Soccer League continues to struggle, seemingly unable to carry the World Cup interest over to the domestic league.

BY www.huffingtonpost.com

Verizon Wireless has released the system software upgrades it promised for two of its Windows phones, the HTC Touch Pro2 and HTC Ozone.

HTC Touch Pro2 for VerizonThese devices were released last year with Windows Mobile 6.1, but they can now be upgraded to the latest version of Microsoft’s Mobile operating system.

The HTC Touch Pro2 — a high-end model with a slide-and-tilt WVGA touchscreen and large keyboard — can be upgraded to Mobile 6.5 Professional.

The HTC Ozone — an inexpensive messaging-oriented model with a QVGA display and small keyboard — can be upgraded to to Mobile 6.5 Standard.

More about Windows Mobile 6.5

The latest version of Microsoft’s operating system for high-end phones isn’t a major upgrade. The most significant changes are included in the Professional edition.

This version of Windows Mobile 6.5 is more fingertip friendly, with many on-screen elements enlarged so users can select them without a stylus. Windows Mobile 6.5 also has more of a focus on consumers, as the Today Screen has been modified to include items like a music player and photo viewer.

Both the Standard and the Pro editions come with a new version of Internet Explorer, and have access to Microsoft’s new on-device software store.

An overview of the changes can be found in this article: Windows Mobile 6.5 Review.

Upgrade Now

These system software upgrades are available from the website of Verizon’s partner, PCD:

HTC Touch Pro2

HTC Ozone

Both are free to download and use.

Installing either of these ROM updates will erase everything that’s on the smartphone, so it’s important to back up any files before installation. This doesn’t apply to files that are on a removable memory card.

Source: HTC

Remember Google’s Chrome “Bug Bounty” program? Well, when Google released Google Chrome 12, it announced on its blog that it rewarded developers/researchers who found vulnerabilities (bugs) in its code. Earlier in August 2010, it was reported that Google gave away a total estimate of $10k of rewards. Mozilla too has the bug bounty program which pays $3,000 in hard cash plus a free Mozilla T-shirt for finding bugs!

Facebook has joined Google and Mozilla, and is following the “Bug Bounty” program, by rewarding its security researchers. However, the reward offered is way too less. For security related bugs – cross site scripting flaws, for example – the company will pay a base rate of $500, but if they’re highly significant flaws, Facebook has promised to pay more. However, the company executives haven’t revealed the bonus reward.

“To show our appreciation for our security researchers, we offer a monetary bounty for certain qualifying security bugs,” Facebook stated on its portal.

Facebook launched a new Whitehat hacking portal where researchers can sign up for the program and report bugs. They have also published a list of about 42 researchers who have made “responsible disclosures” in the past.

With over 750 million active users, looks like Facebook is highly concerned about its security issues. Facebook hired a computer hacker who was recently sued by Sony for hacking the online gaming system PlayStation 3, last month

If a bug has been discovered, the researchers are asked to provide as much information as possible. In order to receive the award, a detailed explanation of steps is required and all legitimate reports will be investigated.

Here’s the company’s policy -

“If you give us a reasonable time to respond to your report before making any information public and make a good faith effort to avoid privacy violations, destruction of data and interruption or degradation of our service during your research, we will not bring any lawsuit against you or ask law enforcement to investigate you.”

In addition to that, the researcher who reports a bug first is only rewarded. For instance, if two researchers find the same bug individually, the first one who reports it will be eligible to claim the reward.

Facebook’s Bug Bounty Eligibility Rules

In order to be eligible for the reward, researchers must follow to Facebook’s Responsible Disclosure Policy.

Shelby Supercars has revealed the name of the car it hopes will become the fastest production car in the world: the SSC Tuatara.

The Tuatara is the second hypercar from the American manufacturer, and marks a revolutionary advancement over the SSC Ultimate Aero TT.

The 792kW/1357Nm Ultimate Aero TT set the record for the fastest production car in September 2007. Its speed of 412km/h (256mph) eclipsed the previous record, which was held by the Bugatti Veyron.

The French manufacturer returned fire in June last year with the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, which shattered the SSC at a blistering 431km/h (268mph).

Reports suggest Shelby Supercars is aiming to reach 275mph (443km/h) with the 993kW 7.0-litre twin-turbo V8-powered Tuatara.

Shelby Supercars is yet to announce when the Tuatara will hit the road, although some have suggested it could be planning a record-breaking run before the end of the year.

The Tuatara name is inspired by a reptile from New Zealand, which is a direct descendent of the dinosaurs. Translated directly from Maori it means ‘peaks on the back’ – fitting given the aerodynamic winglets at the rear.

The Tuatara also has the fastest evolving DNA in the world, a trait that SSC founder Jerod Shelby believes his company shares.

“Most manufacturers essentially use the same basic model and body shape for up to 10 years, while only making small refinements to it each year,” Mr Shelby said.

“After only three years in production with the Ultimate Aero, SSC’s Tuatara is about to monumentally evolve in the areas of sophistication, design, aerodynamics and shear all‐around performance. We felt that the fastest evolving DNA was a perfect definition of SSC’s latest project.”

Expect more details of the SSC Tuatara to be revealed in the coming months.

Until then, let us know what you think of the name and the design.

Good news if you’re a fan of the Texas League’s Arkansas Travelers, the Double-A affiliate of the Anaheim Angels. According to Minor League Baseball’s official “Promo Preview”, Little Rock’s minor league baseball team is back with its “triumvirate” of promos that bring “back-to-back-to-back onslaught of intrigue and hilarity.” The best of the bunch? Pre-Game midget wrestling, of course! In fact, this Friday, August 12, the team is hosting a “decidedly un-PC bout between Bobby Dean and Lil Kato” for World Midget Wrestling Heavyweight Championship belt (“custom designed for the petite waist!”). Check out a few pics from the The Travs’ 2006 pre-game midget wrestling match

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