Author: Serkadis

Two young movie stars were the highest paid actors in 2009, according to Hollywood Top 40 list — featured in the March issue of Vanity Fair.

Emma Watson is only 19, but thanks to her promising acting career and lucrative modeling gigs, the college freshmen was the highest-earning actress of 2009. Emma raked in $30 million after starring in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and II last year.

She was placed No. 14 on the Top 40, behind a number of film producers and directors, and fellow actresses like Cameron Diaz, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Angelina Jolie.

Emma’s Harry Potter co-star Daniel Radcliffe is even richer than she is. The spectacled star scored $41 million last year, which made him the highest-earning male actor of 2009 – beating out older actors like Tom Hanks and Ben Stiller — not bad for a 20-year-old!

How much do you think they’re paying the third Potter Kid, Rupert Grint?

Things have been put in motion by Toyota and dealers all over the US have received parts, information and training in order to be able to fix the accelerator pedals. Repairs have begun, with each affected car needing about 30 minutes of work.

Toyota also started mailing letters to the owners of the cars affected by the recall. Once the owner got the letter, he will have to call a local Toyota dealer and schedule an appointment to get his vehicle fixed.

Nothing is more important to us tha… (read more)

It seems like the Fast and Furious franchise still has some gas in its tank. According to IGN Movies, Universal has confirmed a fifth installment of the series with the title being “Fast Five.”

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker will be back for part five along with director Justin Lin and producer Neal Moritz. Variety is reporting the writer Chris Morgan will also come back to write for the film.

The plot will consist of “Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) as fugitives being pursued by relentless lawmen.

Part four, “Fast & Furious.” was the highest-grossing movie in the series bringing in $350 million worldwide.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: IGN

Valentino Rossi looks set to conquer another world title in the MotoGP series and, if are to look at his new bike’s performances during this week’s test at the Sepang International Circuit, he won’t have a too tougher time to achieve it.

The Italian rider again topped the time scoring charts in Malaysia during the second day of testing on Friday, ending another session almost half of second ahead of his nearest rival Casey Stoner. The order in the overall Top 3 did not remain unchanged as com… (read more)

Renault recently presented the new Megane Coupe-Cabriolet (CC) that will be showcased to the general public at the forthcoming Geneva Motor Show in March. The car is manufactured together with the Scenic and Grand Scenic at Renault’s Douai plant in France and will go on sale this spring.

As you can see for yourselves in the adjacent photos, the car boasts the same front fascia as the new-generation Megane, with the rear side completely reworked as compared to the predecessor. However, the mai… (read more)

	NHTSA opens investigation into Prius brake issue The world’s most popular hybrid hasn’t been recalled – yet – but there might be real problems there.		AFS Trinity looking at Delaware to build “150 mpge” vehicles there Turns out, the Fast Energy SUV isn’t dead yet.
	Audi gets Cheap Trick to re-record Dream Green Police for Super Bowl ad, download it now for free They’re coming to arrest me, oh no.	Other news: Honda tries out “Live Every Litre” campaign for CR-Z hybrid Toyota adds Prius to list of vehicles with brake problems; not recalled (yet) EPA finalizes biofuel rules, says corn ethanol beats gasoline in GHG emissions

AutoblogGreen for 02.05.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kiefer Sutherland is getting a cattle call from the animal rights activists of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The PETA zealots are pleading with the short-fused 24 actor not to replace cattle he recently lost in an alleged scam.

The actor — a former rodeo rider — allegedly handed over more than $1 million to help fund pal Michael Wayne Carr’s plans to provide him with steers from Mexico. Carr never bought the steers and is also accused of selling steers that didn’t belong to him. He’s been charged with 12 felonies, including grand theft, forgery and embezzlement, and is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 8.

And PETA bosses have reached out to Kiefer with a letter describing the slaughter of cows in bid to prevent him from seeking more Mexican cattle.

“While financial woes are never pleasant, what’s worse are the abuses that cows suffer at the hands of the meat industry,” PETA boss Michelle Cho wrote in an open letter to Kiefer on Thursday, “We implore you not to replace the cattle you were purchasing. Cattle on factory farms spend the majority of their lives in dark, cramped metal sheds surrounded by their own faeces, and they are branded with hot irons, castrated, and dehorned without painkillers,” Michelle continued. “They are fed an unnatural diet consisting of high-bulk grains and other fillers and are pumped full of drugs in order to make them grow faster and keep them alive in these miserable conditions. At slaughter, cattle are often hoisted upside down by their hind legs and are skinned and dismembered while they are still conscious. According to one slaughterhouse worker, who was interviewed by The Washington Post, they die piece by piece.”

If you’re in the market for an extremely rare classic Ferrari, this might be the right time to take out your check book, as a Ferrari 250 GTO will be up for auction at RM Auctions. Only 36 examples were ever produced between 1962 and 1963. Each of them is still in existence and can easily be sold for an eight figure price tag.

The auction is very important because it is public. Usually, when 250 GTOs change hands, the transactions are made behind closed doors and never disclosed to the public… (read more)

With the release date scheduled for this year, the Bentley Mulsanne reveals some of its manufacturing secrets thanks to the manufacturer’s latest publicity stunt. Bentley released a few details regarding the production process of the Mulsanne, complete with a video to go along with it.

According to the carmaker’s data, it takes 125 man-hours to create the body of a pre-production Mulsanne. Production takes place at the company’s Crewe factory, a plant in which humans work right beside robot… (read more)

It’s been a long week. The boss has been on your ass nonstop. What’s a self-respecting guy supposed to do? Go nuts, that’s what. Stand on your desk and start throwing stuff like a mad man.

Take a page from our Japanese friend here who goes at it for a good minute and a half before being subdued. Hat’s off to you crazy Japanese worker dude.

Related posts:

1. Being a TV Reporter is Not Easy
2. Drunken Table Dancing Not A Good Idea
3. The Best 2009 News Bloopers

Fortunately depression can now be cured, especially when diagnosed early, depressed individuals can actually be treated through therapy and depression medication, although it may be a bit costly, a person’s good mental health is something that shouldn’t be scrimped on. Cognitive behavioral talk or interpersonal talk are incredibly healthy depression treatments that are just some of the available psychosocial depression treatments that cognitive behavior therapists can offer to their patients, both actually prove to be able to produce fruitful and positive results even for just short-term sessions, around ten to twenty weeks are almost always, already enough to get a depression patient slowly begin their recovery towards a sound mental health.

Before getting started with depression medication, the depression patient must first get him or herself to a reputable doctor, get a diagnosis of which type of depression the patient is actually suffering from, may it be clinical depression, manic depression or what-have-you. It’s best that you’re sure what you’re actually dealing with since there are various depression medications that are available in the market, you should make sure that you get the most appropriate one, the one that’ll actually cure your depression illness.

There’s actually a wide variety of anti-depressant depression medications available to help treat those who are suffering from depressive disorders. The more popular ones are those that are of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs variant then there are the tricyclics while the other popular variant is the monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MAOIs. These depression medications (the SSRIs variant as well as the other newer depression medication available in the market) actually to be a much safer alternative than the tricyclics, since they have fewer side-effects as opposed to the tricyclics depression medication variant.
Sometimes, doctors actually find it more effective to mix up these depression medications, depending on the needs of the individual, the doctor might actually prescribed a variety of depression medication to help cure one’s depression illness. Also the dosages of depression medication can actually be increased or lowered depending on what the doctor finds to be the most effective. However, when it comes to taking these depression medications, patients are highly advised to never mix up depression medications as well as pick out which dosages to take without consulting their doctors first.
Anti-anxiety or sedatives however, should never be mistaken as depression medication. Even though these anti-anxiety drugs are often prescribed along with depression medication, they don’t actually help cure one’s depression illness. Their mere purpose is to help calm one’s nerves which is why depression medications are still needed to be taken by the depression patient.

There are actually some common side-effects from depression medication, usually coming from the tricyclic variety. Some people tend to not mind these side-effects from depression medication, however if it does become to much of a bother and may end up ruining one’s ability to function properly, it’s best to go immediately to your doctor and report the side-effects. Quite common side-effects from depression medication are the following:

Dry mouth: always having the irritating feeling of being hydrated, it’s best to always have some (clean, drinking) water nearby so as to have something to drink whenever dry mouth occurs, chewing sugar free gum as well as brushing your teeth after every meal is also a good idea.
Constipation: cure such discomfort by eating and taking in a lot of fiber to help aid your digestion.

FriendFinder Networks Inc. (“FFN”) announced today that based on market conditions, it has chosen not to proceed with its planned initial public offering at this time until market conditions improve.

With this short statement, FriendFinder Networks has canceled its IPO.

Florida-based FFN (formerly Penthouse Media Group) houses sites like Penthouse and Adult FriendFinder, filed a registration statement with the SEC in December 2008, hoping to raise $460 million in the initial public offering.

Penthouse acquired Adult FriendFinder in December 2007 for approximately $400 million.

(News is breaking, more coming)

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Yes, it’s perfectly possible to watch Hulu from outside the United States if you know how to hide your location, but there are millions of people who don’t who would love to get access to the streaming service. For them, there’s now TVGorge, a recently launched Flash streaming site that’s still in ‘infant stages’ but has a lot to offer already.

Million dollar question is: is it legal?

According to its website, TVGorge using searching and indexing techniques to detect and gather content from third-party TV streaming websites around the world. The company says that its proprietary script is capable of detecting the best source for TV shows and automatically compile the information for its database. Each video is said to be manually screened to make sure it is of high quality and functioning properly.

TVGorge adds that it does not effectively store video files on its own servers and only links to or embeds existing videos from a ‘variety of sources’. Listed at the bottom of the homepage are partners such as CBS’ TV.com, Hulu, TVGuide.com and TVDuck.

The amount – and quality – of the content on TVGorge is nothing short of impressive: all episodes from all eight seasons of 24 are on there, for instance, in addition to dozens of episodes of shows like Californication, 30 Rock, Heroes, Lost, CSI, Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy, The Simpsons, and so on. I counted 128 TV shows on the site.

In its Terms and Conditions, TVGorge claims to fully respect the intellectual property rights of third parties, but somehow I doubt the company effectively has agreements with Hulu, CBS and others regarding the international distribution of its copyrighted video content in place.

Something tells me this one won’t be around for long.

(Via Twitter and Download Squad)

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Sony isn’t the only electronics powerhouse reporting good news from the financial front these days. Today Panasonic, which, as you will remember, recently acquired Sanyo for $4.4 billion, announced it returned to profit in its fiscal third quarter (October to December 2009), too. The company’s profit nearly quadrupled to $1.1 billion, while revenue almost stayed the same at $20.1 billion in that quarter (on a year-on-year basis).

Panasonic says they managed to cope with the decline in prices for TVs and other electric appliances by cutting costs across the whole company and seeing robust TV sales. In Japan, the government indirectly helped the company (and others) by introducing a stimulus program that included rewarding buyers of eco-friendly TVs and other appliances (currently, Panasonic is the world’s fourth-largest flat TV maker – following Samsung, LG and Sony).

For the full fiscal year (that ends March 31), Panasonic still expects a net loss of $1.6 billion but raised its operating profit outlook to $1.7 billion from the October forecast of $1.3 billion. Sanyo’s numbers aren’t included in these financials yet.

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The famous British betting house of Skybet today released the latest odds for the upcoming 2010 season of the Formula One Championship. Quite logical, the odds suffered some dramatic changes following the first test of the winter in Valencia, during which Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso easily dominated the entire 3 days of running.

Consequently, the 2-time world champion from Ferrari has now gone up in the standings, benefiting from an 11/4 odd to become king of the Formula One ac… (read more)

It’s The Cheetah Girls Reloaded: Nick Cannon is making his directorial debut a star-studded event – he’s snagged Pete Wentz, Rev. Run, Soulja Boy, Kristinia DeBarge, Angie Stone and Justin Bieber for cameo appearances in the new made-for-TV movie, School Gyrls.

School Gyrls, a new hour-long original musical comedy penned by Nick, premieres at 7 PM ET/PT Feb. 21 and ushers in the Nick network premiere of Cannon’s 2002 box office hit Drumline, airing at 8 PM ET/PT.

Synopsis: “School Gyrls follows the adventures of three freshmen at Summerdale Academy, an exclusive all-girls boarding school. Mandy Rain, Jacque and Monica love to sing and dance, but have very different individual personalities. Fate unites the girls at school and they join forces forming an unlikely and unexpected friendship. The trio enters the Teen Island stunt party, where they find themselves battling it out with the reigning champions and resident mean girls: the sophomore cheerleaders…..”

“School Gyrls introduces the multi-talented Mandy Rain, Jacque and Monica to the teen audience,” says Cannon, who is chairman of Nickelodeon’s TeenNick programming. “The girls are triple threats — each with their own amazing individual personalities – and Nickelodeon viewers will get an inside look at their road to fame in this movie.”

The premiere of School Gyrls will coincide with the release of a brand-new multimedia book series from Simon & Schuster Children’s Division as well as the release of a debut album and a musical tour by the pop trio.

Google has recently enabled any-file uploads in Google Docs. The company has had some form of online storage in several products, Gmail, Picasa, but it just now made the move towards an all-purpose ‘drive in the cloud’. This makes desktop integration software all the more important which is why Gladinet was qui… (read more)

Love your Kindle? How about your Sony Reader? Good then lean in close because your electrophoretic display (EPD) maker wants to have a word. Prime View International (PVI) chairman Scott Liu says that his company (the owners of E Ink) will be introducing a wide variety of new e-reader displays this year including color, flexible, and touchscreen EPDs. PVI also says that response times have been improved enough to allow for animation support on products in 2010. Of course, flip books provide animation as well but we wouldn’t want to use one for any considerable amount of time — but let’s wait and see what they have before coming to a conclusion.

Interestingly enough, PVI says that it’s developing pressure touch sensors that sit behind the display rather than using conventional touch-panels that can obscure the display’s brightness. Funny, that sounds a lot like the Touchco technology just purchased by Amazon two days ago. Kindle 3, we’re waiting… unfortunately for Amazon, the rest of the industry isn’t.

Kindle display maker PVI promises touchscreens, color and flexibility in 2010 models originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So we just had that post about how a TV station in Boston was abusing copyright law to take down slightly embarrassing video of a weatherman it employs. In the post, I noted that while this was just over a potentially off-color joke, there were important free speech implications to it. Law professor Peter Friedman quickly points us to a more serious case of a giant company stifling criticism through DMCA takedown. Apparently, food conglomerate, Archers Daniel Midland (famous, among other things, for getting caught in a massive blatant price-fixing scheme that made pretty much all of your food a lot more expensive than it needed to be), doesn’t believe criticism of its CEO should be allowed. Friedman had posted a link to a video that took a bland, boring video of ADM’s CEO droning on about “agriculture’s role in the growing economy,” and edited it to “make it appear as if she were speaking openly on behalf of an evil multinational bent on the gross and horrific exploitation of the world and especially of multinational food markets.” Honestly, the original video looks just like the ridiculous corporate video that is made in the movie Michael Clayton, about a company that is clearly supposed to be ADM.

Friedman points out how this is a clear abuse of copyright law and a violation of free speech:

This is outright copyright abuse. Criticism is fair use. When anyone asks whether in fact fair use is grounded in the Constitution’s guarantee of free speech, all you need is to think of a situation like this — one can appropriate copyrighted works to criticize and parody the copyright holder. And to use the copyright laws to silence that critique has nothing to do with protecting intellectual property and the rights of a creator to profit from his, her, or its creation: it’s unconstitutional censorship!

The courts have tried to reconcile the question of how copyright law can possibly survive a First Amendment challenge (after all, the First Amendment says Congress shall make no law that interferes with freedom of speech… and yet that’s exactly what copyright does) by saying that a robust fair use exception is the key to making it okay. But when fair use is trampled on repeatedly, it makes you wonder how anyone can still claim that copyright isn’t a massive abuse of the First Amendment.

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