Author: Serkadis

Tina Fey will receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Fey, at the age of 40, will be the youngest and the third female recipient of the award. Mark Krantz, co-executive producer of the Twain salute, states “It does change the paradigm a bit. A lot of people felt it was a lifetime achievement award for an old person. It never has been. It is a prize, really, about somebody’s depth and talent.” Fey’s response to the award was, “I assume Betty White was disqualified for steroid use.”

Tina Fey graduated in the University of Virginia and further improved her skills with the Second City improv troupe in Chicago. She had been a part of the “Saturday Night Live” skit laboratory and became the first female head writer for the show. She had been the executive producer and cast member of “30 Rock” which brought her five Emmys, two Golden Globes and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. She had also in the movies “Mean Girls”, “Baby Mama” and “Date Night”. Her popularity soared in 2008 when she made her impersonations of the Republican vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin.

“Like Mark Twain, Tina Fey offers her brilliance unconditionally,” said David M. Rubenstein, chairman of Kennedy Center. “Throughout her career, she’s earned legions of fans for her quick, unapologetic wit and social commentary.” Fey will receive the award on November 9.

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1. Mark Twain’s Autobiography to be Out in Bookstores by November
2. ‘Date Night’ Really Clashed With ‘Clash Of The Titans’ To Top Box Office
3. Sandra Bullock Is Adopting A Baby

It was reported last week that Megan Fox, has been dropped from Transformers 3. While it was widely reported that Fox was being dropped in order to take Sam Witwicky’s character into a new direction, Fox’s reps said that it was her decision to leave.

Either way, sources now say that Fox’s replacement will be Victoria’s Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

We’re not complaining at all.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: LA Times

As Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. get ready to begin their latest paywall experiments with the Times of London and the Sunday Times, the company has revealed a few more details, and it looks like this particular paywall will be fairly complete. Unlike the WSJ, this won’t be a “leaky” paywall. The content will be opted out of Google, and there will be no way to get to it, unless you subscribe at the rather hefty price of £1 per day. What’s amazing is that the folks behind this experiment still think it’s going to be a huge success — even as nearly all of the papers’ competitors are remaining steadfastly free.

In looking over the details, it seems pretty clear that it was set up by people with a very old school “print” mindset, even though they’re trying to add some digital elements to it. Basically, they set it up to look just like a print newspaper. It’s very much about “here’s the news, now take it.” There’s little effort to allow the community to actually be a part of things. They do allow comments, but on a limited basis, and then there will be “video and slide shows.” This is all about delivering information. It’s not about engaging or discussing things. It’s entirely “we’re the experts, take the news as we see it.” I’m sure there are some people who still want that kind of thing, but much of the world seems to be moving towards a much more participatory, community-based model.

Amusingly, the “comment editor” for the Times insists that he’ll still Twitter links to stories — it’s just that no one will be able to read them. That seems pretty obnoxious. I know that even when I point to stories here on Techdirt that have a registration or paywall (even if there are easy ways around them, the readers complain). Pointing people to stories they can’t read isn’t particularly nice. On top of that, the comment editor, Danny Finkelstein, seems to have a bit of hubris about this whole paywall thing. He claims that his competitors, who will offer similar news stories for free “won’t go viral, they will go out of business.” I guess we’ll find out.

Finkelstein, by the way, also seems a bit confused about the business of newspapers:

“We are unashamed about this,” said Mr Finkelstein. “We are trying to make people pay for the journalism…. I want my employer to be paid for the intellectual property they are paying me for.”

Except, in almost every case, that’s never been the case. For pretty much all of the modern history of newspapers, the newspapers were not paid for their “intellectual property.” Subscriber fees paid for less than printing and delivery costs. The money was made from selling ads, and the ads were sold because (at the time) the newspapers were the only ones who could bring together a community of local eyeballs that advertisers wanted to buy. But, by blocking that off (in the face of free competition) and limiting how useful the content is (by making it a lot less shareable or worth discussing), basically takes away that value, gives fewer reasons for people to gather, and fewer reasons for advertisers to pay. Perhaps I’m missing something about this plan, but it seems designed to destroy all the reasons why a news publication makes money in the first place, on the confused and wrong belief that newspapers have supported themselves via “journalism” at any time in the past. The journalism brought in the people, and the people brought in the ads. Skipping over those details seems like a pretty big risk.

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BlueHost is considered to be one of the best affordable web host provider among others. Let’s find out how BlueHost is rated as one of the top web hosting providers. Also, don’t miss the best deals and promos that BlueHost have for you:

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But wait, there’s more! BlueHost normal rate is $6.95 a month which already is a good deal. Come and use the BlueHost coupon to get all same features only for about half of its rate… $3.95 a month! Check BlueHost site for more details!

HostMonster Review: HostMonster has a service that exceeds the average web hosting menu. HostMonster like BlueHost is regarded also to be one of the best web hosts available. One of the features of their service is unlimited domain names under one account. In HostMonster you can have as many websites as you want with as much space as you want. HostMonster is providing some of the best web development solutions available in the software market, like PHP4/PHP5 development environment, PHP Nuke, Pearl 5 support, Database by PostgreSQL, CGI Library, CGI Bin, Zen Cart, OS Commerce, MySQL databases, SSL secure server, Frontpage extensions and many more.

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According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Toyota vehicles involved in unintended acceleration accidents may be linked to up to 89 deaths since 2000, up from the previously reported figure of 52.

NHTSA said that the deaths occurred in 71 crashes caused by the unintended acceleration defect. More than 43 were reported in March. The department has received 6,200 complaints from drivers that reported unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles from 2,000 to mid-May.

NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said that regulators haven’t been able to find any new defects after speaking to 100 car owners who complained about sudden acceleration following repairs that Toyota dealers made to their vehicles.

At a second House hearing on May 20, Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, said that the company is confident that faulty electronics are not to blame for the recent unintended acceleration in its vehicles.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Bloomberg

The City of New York was chosen today by the owners of the teams Americao National Football League (NFL) game to host the 2014 Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl XLVIII will be held at the Meadowlands Stadium, the new home of Giants and Jets in New York, located in the community of East Rutherford, New Jersey, a suburb of New York, whose cost was one thousand six hundred million dollars.

The announcement of the venue was made on Tuesday by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell during the spring meeting of the 32 owners of teams in the league.

A slight majority of team owners bowed to New York, after considering other locations like Tampa, Florida.

This is the first time the NFL gives the seat of the “big game” to a stadium without a roof in a cold climate region, which could be an exception to the rule that should be played at not less than 10 degrees Celsius.

The organizers expect the 2014 Super Bowl to generate about 550 million dollars in revenue to the economy of the host city.

The sites identified for the next four “Super Sunday” are now: the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for the year 2010, the Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2011, the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2013, and the Meadowlands Stadium in New York in 2014.

Related posts:

1. Superbowl 2014 in New York: Meadowlands Stadium ready for the 2014 Super Bowl!
2. The Champions League 2010 final will bring to Madrid 50 million Euro
3. Watch UEFA Champions League Final Online

Ford has issued a recall on certain 2010 Ranger pickups built form June 8, 2009 through February, 2, 2010 equipped with a manual transmission. The recall concerns an issue with the parking brake cable that can become disconnected from the right rear actuator during cold weather.

“This may occur when the parking brake is released if wet parking brake shoes have frozen in the applied position,” NHTSA said in a statement. “If the right rear parking brake cable becomes disconnected, the pedal will have extended travel and may not fully apply the brake.”

To fix the issue, dealers will install a revised right rear parking brake actuator to prevent cable disconnection. Owners can contact Ford at 1-866-436-7332 for more info.

– By: Kap Shah

Subscribe to Podcast | | | | Listen on Phone

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 5.25.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 May 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Superbowl 2014 has now its home. NFL owners voted last Tuesday to have the 2014 Super Bowl in Meadowlands Stadium. This is the first time that the league chose a cold weather site that doesn’t have a dome. Meadowlands Stadium has a worth of $1.6 billion. Superbowl 2014 will have its season to become home to the New York Jets and Giants.

Superbowl 2014 made exclusion for the New York area, and New York only. It can be recalled that the league experimented with an outdoor game on New Year’s Day. Its success has led the teams to compete in hosting the league. This has also become an annual event.

“We believe the owners have the faith in us that 3 1/2 years from now we’ll put on a remarkable event,” Giants co-owner Jonathan Tisch stated on the NFL Network. “The greatest game in the world will be played on the greatest stage in the world.”

Are you ready for the Superbowl 2014! See you in Meadowlands Stadium!

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2. Texas Stadium Implosion: A Child pressed the button…BOOM!
3. Watch UEFA Champions League Final Online

Ok guys, it’s time once again for your weekly dose of PlayStation Store goodness. This week’s lineup is headlined by the Green Day: Rock Band and PixelJunk Shooter demo, a Monster Hunter exclusive skin for Lost Planet

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Hyundai, Racing

The folks at HRE Performance Wheels dropped by the Rhys Millen Racing shop to check out the progress on the new PM580 Pikes Peak hill-climb car. Millen and his crew are in the process of building an Unlimited Class racer to crack the all-time record on the Colorado mountain. Millen will attempt to both recapture the record that his father held for 13 years and record the first ever sub-10-minute time.

The PM580 is powered by a Hyundai Genesis V8 engine mounted in the middle of a steel tube-frame chassis. Aside from the engine, the rest of the chassis looks rather conventional, until you see the carbon-fiber bodywork that looks more like something destined to hurtle down the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans rather than up the side of a mountain.

Unlike your mobile data plan, at Pikes Peak Unlimited means exactly that: anything goes, including active aerodynamics. The angle of the upper plane on the rear wing is automatically managed based on a yaw rate sensor and lateral accelerometer. When the car is on the straights it flattens out to a 10-degree angle, but as the car turns in, it tips up to 50 degrees to press the rear end down. It’s fascinating stuff and you can check it out in the video after the jump.

[Source: Youtube]

Continue reading Video: Rhys Millen previews the PM580 Hyundai Pikes Peak challenger

Video: Rhys Millen previews the PM580 Hyundai Pikes Peak challenger originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 May 2010 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As a bunch of folks have been sending in, it appears that the valedictorian of Columbia University’s General Studies program, Brian Corman, thought that no one would notice if he copied — verbatim — a joke from popular comedian Patton Oswalt. First, here’s Oswalt’s joke in two parts:

Then, there’s the clip of the part of Corman’s graduation speech, which, you’ll note is covered by a giant message from a dean at Columbia apologizing for the mess:



The dean’s apology reads:

It has come to our attention that a portion of our Valedictorian’s remarks at this year’s School of General Studies Class Day was taken from a comedy routine by Patton Oswalt. As an institution of higher learning that places a core value on respect for the works of others, we were surprised and disappointed to have learned of this matter today. Columbia University and the School of General Studies do not condone or permit the use of someone else’s work without proper citation. The student speaker has appropriately issued an apology to his classmates and to Mr. Oswalt for failing to provide such attribution.

Oswalt, for his part, wrote on his own site that while the kid apologized, he wonders about what sort of valedictorian would copy in such a manner:

Brian Corman apologized to me. Flat-out admitted his thievery, his stupidity. Owned it all. Good man. Still makes me wonder what he might have done to become valedictorian — I mean, if he’s willing to steal material for something as inconsequential as a speech, how rubbery did his boundaries become when his GPA and future career were on the line? Oh well.

Quite a story all around, and it raises a bunch of different points that we’ll hit in bullet form:

• Joke copying: This is a popular topic that we’ve discussed a few times in the past. While it certainly does piss off comedians, they seem to ignore the fact that it’s not just quite common among comedians, but, historically, it was considered quite normal. That’s because people realized that there is no monopoly on being funny — and that it’s usually the timing and the delivery that matter much more than the joke itself (which can be seen in the clips above — where Oswalt’s version comes off much funnier than Corman’s copy).
• Social mores: But, more importantly, it’s the social cost to copying that keeps this from getting too far out of line. In the comic world, comedians who have a reputation as big time joke copiers tend to get shunned. That’s not to say that many haven’t been successful still, but there is an effort within the community to self police, without any sort of legal regime needed.
• Reputation: Related to that, what this really comes down to is a reputational issue. While Oswalt is wrong to call Corman’s actions “stealing,” he’s right to question the kid’s decision, and raise questions about his reputation. For a long time, now, Corman will be tagged as the guy who didn’t have the good sense to (a) know that it’s inappropriate to copy someone else’s work in a valedictiorian speech (b) realize that people would notice and (c) to realize that it would get a lot of attention, including a condemnation from the original comedian in the first place.

Notice, of course, that all of this is happening without the need to get the law involved, and the situation gets resolved quite nicely. Oswalt, deservedly, gets more attention for his act and his jokes. The kid gets a public shaming and his reputation (and job prospects?) take a hit. And, Columbia also gets a bit of a reputational hit as well for having a valedictorian who made these sorts of mistakes.

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Convertible, BMW

BMW has had a remarkably steady flow of new product hitting the market in the last couple of years, and now that the latest 5 Series is starting to hit the streets and the X3 is coming this fall, one of the next models in line for a rework is the 6 Series.

The new coupe and convertible will be the last of the “Bangle Butt” models to go under the knife, and none too soon. The redesigned convertibles have been running everywhere from Arvidsjaur, Sweden to the Nurburgring since last winter, but always with the top up. The latest batch of images from our intrepid spy shooters show a test driver enjoying a bit Munich sunshine in the spring.

When the new 6 debuts publicly either later this year or early next we’re expecting it to feature much of the same design language we’ve seen on the latest 5, 7 and Z4, with tight side sculpting, stretched headlamps and an overall look that is both cleaner and more muscular than before.

Spy Shots: Next-gen BMW 6 Series caught topless without shame originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 May 2010 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On Friday, the Internet browser celebrated 30 years of Pac-Man putting on their home page their version of the game. The idea, according to a study, was irresistible to workers throughout the world.

The legendary Japanese video game Pac-Man was irresistible to workers around the world, according to a study, Google PacMan devoted five million work hours.

Last Friday, the Internet browser decided to pay homage to Pac-Man’s 30th birthday. Nostalgia gripped the workers around the globe and made them to stay tree times more on the page than normally.

That translated into productivity losses is accounted for $ 120 million, according to the study of RescueTime company specializing in software for monitoring how and where workers navigate. The company developed this study from a sample of 11,000 users.

According to the study, that day the 11 seconds on average which usually take to do a search, lengthened to more than triple: 36 seconds.

On average, estimated that the in the working hours employees usually do about 22 searches on Google. If you multiply that number by the amount of extra seconds of each visit, he concludes that workers spent 4.8 million hours on the web (the equivalent of around 550 million years).

And the economic data translation, considering an average salary of $ 25 an hour, was that the Pac-Man caused a loss to the productivity of companies around the world U.S. $ 120 million.

“Fortunately,” the authors of the study say, that “75% of users did not realize that you could play by pressing the ‘Insert Coin’.”

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Filed under: China, Chrysler, Fiat

As recently as two years ago Chrysler and Chery were more than cozy and working on Chinese-market products that would eventually make their way this way. Nothing ultimately came of it, but Chrysler hasn’t given up on the Chinese dream. Or more accurately, Fiat hasn’t given up on the Chinese dream on behalf of Chrysler.

Fiat, which has had its own setbacks in trying to find the right joint venture required to do business in China, is now working with Guangzhou Auto. It isn’t clear how or even if Chrysler would immediately try again, since The Pentastar’s “models were as popular as Chen Shui Bian towards the end of their tenure.”

Another route would be for the Chrysler Group to let Jeep lead the charge, since the Jeep brand and small SUVs are a more welcome option for Chinese buyers. It is inevitable that Chrysler will keep trying to crack the world’s largest auto market, and if we were presumptuous enough to suggest a way to do it, we’d only need two words: Dodge Hornet.

[Source: China Car Times]

Fiat taking Chrysler production back to China within four years originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 May 2010 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said yesterday that while seat belt use has increased to a record high 84 percent nationwide, 45 million Americans are still not buckling up. LaHood said that the Department of Transportation is now kicking off its Click It or Ticket program, a national enforcement mobilization that encourages all motorists to wear their seat belts. Those caught not wearing their seat belt will be ticketed.

“We’ve made great strides to get Americans to buckle up, but we must not rest on our laurels,” said LaHood. “Not wearing your seat belt is a serious, life-threatening practice. If you are one of the 45 million Americans who won’t buckle up, our Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization will be looking for you.”

“On any given day about 38 people who are not buckled-up are killed in motor vehicle crashes, according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),” DOT said in a statement. “In 2008 alone, nearly 14,000 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants lost their lives on U.S. roadways. Nearly half of them could have been saved if they had been belted. Click here to view map.”

The “Click It or Ticket” campaign is set to run from May 24 through June 6, 2010.

– By: Omar Rana

Filed under: Podcasts, Hybrid, Etc., Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, Buick, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Toyota, Tesla, Electric

We solicited your questions for Episode #179 of the Autoblog Podcast, and then Chris, Sam, Dan, and Chris Paukert proceeded to answer them. News topics we cover are the Buick Regal GS, Toyota and Tesla getting together, Ford’s next-generation Explorer Police SUV, and the push for increased fuel economy standards by 2025.

Autoblog Podcast #179: We answer your queries

In the Autoblog Garage:

Ford Taurus SHO
Dodge Dakota
GMC Terrain

News:

• Toyota and Tesla to partner on EV production in California
• Officially Official: Buick Regal GS is a go
• Ford said to be preparing Explorer-based pursuit-rated SUV for police duty
• Obama kicks off drive to enact tough fuel economy standards through 2025

Hosts:
Chris Shunk, Chris Paukert, Dan Roth, Sam Abuelsamid

Runtime: 1:18:02

---

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly

Feedback:
Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com
Voicemail: 734-288-8POD (734-288-8763)

Review the show in iTunes and take our survey

Autoblog Podcast #179 – We answer your queries originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 May 2010 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dubai, the land where you see some of the best supercars and outrageously prices license plates, is also the place where you’ll see skillful stunt driving. However, strict authorities aren’t the type to let unlawful driving slide.

Authorities have seized a Nissan Patrol SUV and a Toyota pickup after the drivers of the two vehicles were seen pulling doughnuts and riding on two wheels in the middle of traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road, the 347 mile highway that connects Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah.

The two men, reportedly form the UAE and in their 20s, could be fined and sentence up to three years in jail if convicted.

Want to see exactly what these two were up to? Check out the video after the jump.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Arabian Business (via WCF)

Why is it that politicians keep using music in commercials without getting permission first? No matter what you think of the copyright issue (and we’ll get to that), it’s amazing to me that any politician doesn’t recognize that if he or she uses a song without permission, and the musician doesn’t happen to like that politician or that politicians party or policies, that a whole news cycle will be devoted to that musician being able to bash that politician. The latest is Florida Governor, and now Senate candidate, Charlie Crist, who is being sued by former Talking Heads front-man David Byrne for one million dollars. This is similar to Jackson Browne’s lawsuit against the McCain campaign (though, in that case, the commercial wasn’t actually by the campaign, but a local party group).

Byrne keys in on the copyright issue, but seems to jump back and forth between the moral issue and the copyright issue without realizing they’re not quite the same thing:

The suit, he adds, “is not about politics…It’s about copyright and about the fact that it does imply that I would have licensed it and endorsed him and whatever he stands for.”

But, of course, in the US, we don’t have moral rights on songs like this. While it’s true that the campaign might need to license it for a commercial, Crist could easily have used it at campaign rallies (assuming the venue paid performance rights licenses) and Byrne could do nothing to stop him, no matter how upset he was that some might think he endorsed Crist’s positions.

That said, you could potentially make a pretty strong fair use case in such a commercial. It would be for political, not commercial, purposes, and it’s only a snippet of the song. Also, it’s not like the commercial is going to replace the market for the actual song, so the effect on the market should be minimal (or even potentially positive, if it reminds people of that song and gets them to go out and buy it). That said, I would imagine Byrne’s response is that it could potentially harm the market in a few ways, including the negative association of the song with a campaign, and (more convincingly) that it could potentially harm the market for Byrne to license the song to other commercial advertisements. I can see the argument either way, though I (not surprisingly) would lean towards this being fair use.

Even so, though, whether it’s fair use or not, you would think that after so many examples of this sort of thing backfiring on politicians, that they would learn to check with musicians to make sure they support the politician before using the song, just to avoid the easy headlines of “big famous musician suing politician x.”

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