Monday, December 21, 2009

Rihanna Performs in Cropped Corset in Snowstorm


What's a little snow?

Rihanna wasn't going to let a blizzard stop her from sporting her signature style at New York City's Rockefeller Center on Saturday night.

Much to the crowd's delight, the singer took the stage with Jay-Z in an outdoor concert that was being filmed for Carson Daly's New Year's Eve special.

And instead of bundling up in a parka (as Jay-Z did), the fashion-forward performer donned a belly-baring, cropped lace corset. Brrrrr!

If the scantily-clad style has you shivering for more, RiRi did throw some sensible winter wear into the mix -- she "covered" up in a furry white jacket (albeit, tiny and worn open), gray pleated trousers, snow-ready combat boots, long black gloves and a whimsical top hat with attached veil.

Looks like Rihanna's love of corsets is translating into big bucks at the cash register. Corset sales are up thanks in part to the pop star.

Tizzle Wizzle Show

James chooses career ideas from random.

Each Christmas tree has a story.

The Situation & Snooki pt.1 & 2

The stars of MTV's Jersey Shore talk about nicknames!


Snooki describes her perfect man, and Conan becomes even more obsessed with The Situation!

Jersey Shore cast joins Jay for Jaywalk All-Stars

Jaywalk w/Jersey Shore's Mike The Situation, Snooki & DJ Pauly

Jersey Shore's Snookie stops by the Update desk.

Russia's bans on Jehovah's Witnesses

By Joel Engardio
writer, filmmaker
The Washington Post

If Secretary of State Hillary Clinton draws inspiration from Eleanor Roosevelt the same way she famously did as First Lady, maybe Clinton will speak out against the blow to the freedoms of press, speech and religion dealt by the Russian Supreme Court this week. Russia's highest court upheld a regional ruling that outlaws Jehovah's Witnesses from gathering to worship and sharing their beliefs with others. Dozens of the religion's publications were banned as "extremist" - including its Watchtower magazine and a children's book of Bible stories.

Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States were losing their First Amendment freedoms in the 1940s, when Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady. Witnesses were jailed when they preached, fired from jobs and their children expelled from public schools. But Roosevelt publicly defended the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses despite their widely unpopular views. She urged calm when Witnesses were attacked by mobs in more than 40 states. What Eleanor Roosevelt understood is the canary-in-a-coal-mine effect: Jehovah's Witnesses were the canary and the First Amendment was at stake. If one group's speech is snuffed out on the whims of whoever has the most power or popularity, then a toxic environment is left behind that can quickly suffocate any unpopular group that follows.

In 1940, the U.S. Supreme Court acted no differently than today's Russian court when it ruled against Jehovah's Witnesses. Then, the Witnesses were considered a dangerous and subversive element to the state. They didn't want to salute the flag, saying that kind of allegiance is only for God, and God was not American (German Witnesses were refusing the Nazi salute at the same time, for the same reason, and were put in concentration camps for it). The U.S. Supreme Court's response in Minersville v. Gobitis was a shocking decision that said a free society could force its citizens to engage in patriotic ritual.

Jehovah's Witnesses disobeyed the ruling and mob violence ensued. That's when Eleanor Roosevelt spoke out. By 1943, at the height of World War II, the Supreme Court acknowledged it had made a mistake when it said nationalism could be coerced by the state. In West Virginia v. Barnette, the justices reversed their previous decision, issuing it on Flag Day.

The Supreme Court came to know Jehovah's Witnesses very well. The Witnesses have won a record 50 cases that expanded freedom for everyone -- even groups they disagree with. The precedents set by Jehovah's Witnesses in the 1940s helped pioneer the modern civil rights movement for other unpopular groups who sought Constitutional equality: women, people of color, gays and lesbians. Had Eleanor Roosevelt not spoken out in defense of Jehovah's Witnesses and had the Witnesses been smothered in the First Amendment coal mine early on, how much free speech would have existed for the unpopular groups that followed?

The Russians may find the practices of Jehovah's Witnesses as annoying as Americans do. But a little door-knocking is a necessary annoyance to live in a free society. Without that freedom, what happens when Russian citizens want to circulate a neighborhood petition against government malfeasance, or say something critical of Vladimir Putin?

Some argue Jehovah's Witnesses do not deserve fair treatment since they don't embrace total free speech or equality within their own membership: gay marriage is forbidden, women are not allowed to be religious leaders or teach congregants, members who insist on breaking the moral code or changing doctrine are subject to expulsion and shunning. Yet a number of major world religions follow the same policies. What if a free and democratic nation, as Russia claims to be, banned the Catholic Church?

A true democracy allows for freedom of all religions, even if a religion appears oppressive by the standard of outsiders. In a free society, people get to choose how or whether they want to worship. A religion will thrive or wither based on popular demand. In the United States, there are 1.1 million people who accept the theology of Jehovah's Witnesses (0.3 percent of the population). In Russia, 160,000 have chosen to join the faith. The market will determine a religion's membership. It's not up to the government to say which religion is good or bad.

The same goes for speech. Unpopular words in Alabama ("gay pride") require the same Constitutional protection as what's unpopular in San Francisco ("homosexuality is sin"). In the end, the truth will prevail. It always does. But getting to the truth can be fraught with peril when a government decides to suffocate ideas before they can get a fair hearing. This is why it would be good for Hillary Clinton to channel a bit of Eleanor Roosevelt when it comes to Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

Joel Engardio directed the award-winning PBS documentary KNOCKING about Jehovah's Witnesses. He is a writer, filmmaker and civil liberties advocate. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today and on NPR and PBS. Engardio currently helps the American Civil Liberties Union communicate its message and issues through online video.

No.1 'Avatar' brings in $73 million


After months of breathless buzz, speculation, and doubt, James Cameron's "Avatar" finally arrived in movie theaters nationwide, and its box office prognosis definitely isn't blue.

The 3-D sci-fi epic landed at number one with an estimated $73 million, according to Hollywood.com Box Office.
The number is certainly on the lower end of expectations for the long-anticipated film, but considering that much of the east coast was buried under record snowfall for most of the weekend, it remains an unambiguously solid opening -- the best 3-D debut ever and the second-best December debut behind "I Am Legend."

Also unambiguous: The film's rock-solid "A" CinemaScore rating, which, along with the raves currently streaming across Twitter and inundating message boards, suggests it will grow long legs at the box office well into the new year. (It's no wonder that IMAX screenings of the film reportedly sold-out every single seat.) Worldwide, the picture's already banked an estimated $232.2 million.

The crappy weather appears to have suppressed all box-office totals, too. "The Princess and the Frog" hopped to second place with $12.2 million, a 50 percent drop from its wide debut last weekend, for $44.8 million total.

"The Blind Side" caught $10.0 million for third place. With $164.7 million total, it officially surpasses "The Proposal" as the highest grossing film for star Sandra Bullock.

Her old "Two Weeks Notice" co-star Hugh Grant, however, isn't sharing the same box-office fate; "Did You Hear About The Morgans?," his romcom with Sarah Jessica Parker, debuted at fourth place with a weak $7 million.

"Up in the Air" continued its stellar limited run, accruing $3.1 million for 8th place on just 175 screens, a 29 percent jump from last week for $8.1 million total. It opens wide on December 23.

Other Oscar-bait films opened in very limited release to strong returns. Movie musical "Nine" high-stepped to a $61,750 per location average in four theaters; biopic "The Young Victoria" earned $7,400 per theater in 20 locations; and music-inflected drama "Crazy Heart" strummed up $21,050 per theater in four locations.

Overall, despite the blizzard, box office was up a whopping 58 percent from last year, when the Jim Carrey comedy "Yes Man" was tops.

Coroner: Murphy appears to have died of natural causes

Brittany Murphy, the bubbly, free-spirited actress who appeared in such films as "Clueless" and "8 Mile," died apparently of natural causes, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said.

Murphy, 32, was pronounced dead at 10:04 a.m. PT (1:04 p.m. ET) Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, hospital spokeswoman Sally Stewart said.

An autopsy had not been scheduled as of Sunday night, but Capt. John Kades, a spokesman for the coroner's office, said there was no sign of foul play or trauma.



"Naturally occurring diseases could be found in any person that could lead to death," Kades said.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the leading cause of death for American women in Murphy's age range is unintentional injury. Malignant tumors are second, followed by heart disease and suicide.

The coroner's office is looking into Murphy's medical history. A final report could take up to eight weeks.

Earlier, robbery and homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department were on the scene to investigate the death, police spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said.

"The sudden loss of our beloved Brittany is a terrible tragedy," her family said in a statement issued by her publicist. "She was our daughter, our wife, our love and a shining star. We ask you to respect our privacy at this time."
Funeral arrangements are pending, the family said.

Murphy starred in several movies, including, "Just Married," "Don't Say a Word" and "Riding in Cars With Boys," and also voiced the character of Luanne Platter on the animated series "King of the Hill."

She is survived by her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, whom she married in 2007.

Fans took to Murphy's official Facebook page Sunday to give their condolences.

"She was a great actress and was going to go far in her career! She will be greatly missed!" read one post.
Former boyfriend -- and "Just Married" co-star -- Ashton Kutcher was one of many celebrities to post his reaction to the news via Twitter.

"2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany's family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon," Kutcher tweeted. "see you on the other side kid," he added later.

Singer-actress Jessica Simpson tweeted: "Brittany Murphy was an incredible ray of Light to so many people. Her smile was contagious. My prayers are with her family and loved ones."

Actress Alyssa Milano, who did a USO tour with Murphy in 2003, wrote: "She was a sweet soul, with a lot of talent and heart."
Murphy was best known for her work in a string of romantic comedies, including playing lead roles in "Uptown Girls" alongside fellow Georgia native Dakota Fanning, and "Little Black Book" with Holly Hunter and Kathy Bates, but her movie roles had declined in recent years.

Last month, Murphy reportedly was fired from "The Caller," a movie she was working on in Puerto Rico. Her representative issued a statement to news outlets disputing the report, saying, "She was not nor has she ever been fired from any job big or small. ... [Due] to creative differences Ms. Murphy and the production mutually parted ways," according to People magazine.
In addition to her "King of the Hill" role, she lent her voice to a number of animated works, including the TV series "Futurama" and the 2006 movie "Happy Feet."

Her portrayal of troubled teenagers in "Don't Say a Word" and "Girl, Interrupted" also gained her critical acclaim.
Murphy was the subject of tabloid gossip after she transformed from a pudgy brunette in 1995's "Clueless" to a petite, lithe blonde who graced the cover of such magazines as Cosmopolitan in 2005. She frequently denied rumors of an eating disorder and plastic surgery.

Her love life also was fodder for gossip sites as she broke two engagements in 2004 and 2006, then married Monjack after four months of dating.

"All these ridiculous people came out and said all this nonsense when we got married, [but] thank God we had the substance and the history within that to [say], 'Yeah, whatever!'" Monjack told People in 2008. "We still don't understand what happened. It's made us laugh, it's made us cry, but it's made us stronger."

Cyber Challenge tests nation's top hackers


With the coolness of a card shark at the final table of the World Series of Poker, Matt Bergin pulls the hood of his brown sweatshirt over his head and concentrates on the task at hand.

The task: hacking into as many target computers as he can and then defending those computers from attacks by other skilled hackers.

Other skilled hackers like Michael Coppola, 17, a high school senior who, at this very moment, is hunched over a keyboard in his Connecticut home.

Or like Chris Benedict, 21, from the tiny town of Nauvoo, Illinois. Chris is sitting silently nearby, one of 15 "All Star" hackers who have taken over this spacious hotel conference room.

At days end, the moderator of this unusual computer challenge declares the best of the best: Benedict is the winner, king of the hacker hill, followed by Bergin and Coppola.

The trio -- a job seeker, a grape distributor for a vineyard and a student -- are precisely the type of people whom organizers of this event hoped to attract: young techies with perhaps little formal computer education who, nonetheless, could contribute to the defense of the nation's cybernetworks.

In many cases, organizers of the U.S. Cyber Challenge say, hackers' skills go unrecognized or unappreciated by those around them and sometimes even by themselves.

"I thought that I would get demolished," Benedict said. "I didn't think I would get anything at all."
Organizers say the competition is aimed at identifying young people with exceptional computer skills and inspiring them to join the country's woefully understaffed ranks of cybersecurity specialists needed to protect systems used by the military, industry and everyday people.

Hackers may see the U.S. Cyber Challenge as a game. But Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, an information security training institute, says it is really a national talent search.

And one that gives hackers an outlet not usually open to them.

"This is to capture kids that can be very good at this, whose only real option is to do illegal things with it because there's no place to do it in school; there's no place to do it legally," Paller said. "This creates an environment where they can show their skills and advance their skills and do it in the nation's interest rather than for other purposes."

A high-stakes game

Former Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell says the United States "will suffer a major catastrophic event" in the cyber arena if it doesn't boost its ability to protect its computer infrastructure.

A terrorist or extremist group could attack the financial system in New York, destroying data to cause the loss of confidence in banking transactions, McConnell said. They could follow up with an attack on the power grid during a snowstorm. They could cause trains to collide and could release contaminants in the New York subway.

"I believe that [scenario] would have, in order of magnitude, greater economic impact on the globe and the United States than the tragedy of 9/11. All through a cyber attack," McConnell said.

But "if we have the talent ... and we have the organization structure to address this issue, it can be stopped, it can be prevented," he said.

The nation has called upon the technical abilities of young people in the past, McConnell and Paller both note. During the Apollo 17 mission, for example, the average age in Mission Control was 26.

"The cyber vulnerabilities of the nation are of such a magnitude that we need a similar effort today," McConnell said.
Now, other countries are taking the lead on boosting the technical expertise of their citizens.

"In far east China, they've put a concerted effort into finding the best talent and developing the best talent," McConnell said.
The goal of the U.S. Cyber Challenge is to find and develop 10,000 cybersecurity specialists to help the U.S. regain the lead in cyberspace. But McConnell feels that even more is needed. He suggests legislation to create a National Security Act for cybereducation.

Let the contest begin

Like computers themselves, the Cyber Challenge is simple on the outside and complicated on the inside. The first round of the game began in June, and winners of the earlier games were brought to Washington to compete in NetWars.
In its simplest form, NetWars is an online version of Capture the Flag, with competitors vying to penetrate and take control of target computer systems and then protect them from other intruders.

The game begins when a player downloads an image and must find a hidden key within the image. They use that key to enter an online environment and use their knowledge of security vulnerabilities to exploit its system, leaving their name or "handle" in various areas.

A moderator threw a series of computer hurdles and roadblocks to further challenge the hackers and test their knowledge about computer vulnerabilities.

NetWars differs from other Capture the Flag competitions in that it also rewards hackers for defending computers, said Josh Gimer, 22, a graduate student at Colorado Tech. He likens it more to King of the Hill.

"In the beginning days, we were kind of nice to each other," he said. "These later rounds have been more cutthroat.
"But these people know how the attacks work. They know how to defend against them. So it's definitely more difficult than, say, a real-world scenario," Gimer said.

And therein lies the premise and the promise of the U.S. Cyber Challenge, supporters say. "Who best to stop that kind of attack?" McConnell asked.

He calls the Cyber Challenge a good news/bad news story.

"The good news is that [the participants] have that inherent skill. ... I've met many youngsters who are really, really gifted with computers," he said. "The bad news is that we're not developing that talent to the Ph.D. level in things like computer science or electrical engineering, the things that are the foundation of this wonderful technology."

Contest sponsors say they do not fear that they are teaching skills that hackers can abuse.

"They already know how to do that," Paller said. "Our job is to catch them and give them a chance to work for the nation and for the good companies. That's the job of NetWars, to find the very best of them and get them great jobs so that they don't have to use their skills in ways that are unpleasant to the rest of us."

"I think we've done a great job on writing reports about security. Now it's time to get the kids who can actually do it and give them a chance to protect us," he said.

Electric Cars Are So Quiet, They Could Be A Safety Hazard

GM Works With The Blind To Develop Possible Solution

Electric cars might change the world, or at least drastically change how we fuel our vehicles.

Putting a charge into our "tank" instead of a few gallons of fossil fuel will not only shift our dependence on foreign oil, it will bring out unintended changes to our daily drivers that might end up creating additional challenges.

Since there aren't any "charge stations" like there are gas stations, most electric vehicle antogonists point to a problem with range. That is to say, where will we fuel them? It's difficult to consider how you'd get an electric car started if you were in the middle of nowhere with no charge (a spare tank of fuel is transportable, while they haven't yet invented an extension cord that stretches down the highway).

But one group that's speaking up makes us realize that we haven't fully considered the massive changes associated with moving from internal combustion engines to electric propulsion. Since electric motors are incredibly quiet, they're almost imperceptible on the road from an ambient noise perspective.

This lack of road noise ends up becoming a safety concern, especially for blind citizens who rely on sound as a primary sense when crossing roads and navigating streets.

If electric cars are too quiet, how will we know they're coming?

GM, soon to launch their Chevy Volt extended-range electric vehicle, is working to help with this issue. Earlier this year they invited members of the National Federation of the Blind into their engineering studios to come up with a solution to the Volt's soft-spoken motor.

"They are a group that relies on sound cues to travel," said Doug Moore, GM's vehicle performance engineer for the Volt. "And vehicles like the Volt have a drastically different sound cue, or nothing at all compared to traditional vehicles and they have a lot of good ideas about what we might do in the future."


GM invited several members of the federation to their Milford, Michigan proving ground to experience a sound the company is developing for use on the Volt, a vehicle that is extremely quiet at low speeds.

"We want it to be more of an 'excuse me' sound as opposed to a 'hey you!' sound," said Andrew Farah, the Volt's chief engineer. "And we also want something that is more automotive in nature. We don't want it to sound like birds; we want it to sound like a car."

The early version of this sound is similar to a short horn honk, almost like bit of Morse code played through an automobile horn.

The NFB is confident that in working with companies like GM they can develop a solution.

“We are confident electric vehicles can produce a safe and acceptable level of sound to alert blind pedestrians to their presence,” said John Paré, NFB executive director of strategic initiatives. “We look forward to working with Chevrolet and GM to identify an appropriate sound that will alert pedestrians in the most effective and least disruptive way possible.”

GM is doing the right thing by thinking about these issues early on and, as the NFB points out, the sound solution that comes out of this process will benefit everyone, not just members of the blind.

Facebook's New Privacy Settings Spark a Public Spat

It was only a matter of time until someone decided to challengeFacebook legally. Social media and privacy are constantly at odds, with service providers trying desperately to create boundaries and encourage users to blow past them. Bigger networks, more friends and boatloads of user-generated content translate to more traffic, eyeballs and cash in the bank.

Last week, Facebook announced new privacy settings that would allow users to protect their content from unwanted viewers more easily. But the new features were also accompanied by default settings that make information more easily seen. That means users would have to actively seek out and change their privacy settings. The defaults are there to encourage users to share more, which would enrich interaction . . . and enrich Facebook's investors and employee shareholders.

Yet, some feel the new measures go too far, and it looks like regulators will have a chance to weigh in. That's because the Electronic Privacy Information Center released a statement on Thursday announcing that it had filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, "charging that Facebook's recent changes to user privacy settings violate federal consumer protection law." Joined by nine other parties, EPIC is calling for an investigation into the matter, and it wants Facebook to be required to "restore privacy safeguards."

Millions of Interested Participants

According to Marc Rotenberg, executive director of EPIC, "This is the most significant case now before the Federal Trade Commission," made crucial by the fact that Facebook has 100 million U.S.-based subscribers. "The company should not be allowed to turn down the privacy dial on so many American consumers," Rotenberg continued. Worldwide, Facebook has more than 350 million users, a threshold it crossed last week.

In response, Facebook said in a statement: "We've had productive discussions with dozens of organizations around the world about the recent changes, and we're disappointed that EPIC has chosen to share their concerns with the FTC while refusing to talk to us about them." Company spokesman Andrew Noyes also said several regulators were consulted before the change to privacy settings, with the FTC among them.

For Facebook, the need to increase user interaction is salient. The company has taken steps that suggest an initial public offering is on the horizon, including creating a "super-share" structure that will keep control in the hands of early employees, investors and company founders. A company's entry into the public markets is much easier if it can show a larger base of revenue (among other factors), especially one that is clearly growing.

Primping for IPOs

The changes to Facebook's privacy settings come amid a flurry of activity in social mediacompanies, as these services seek to increase usability -- and actual use -- to bolster their revenue in preparation for share offerings. Twitter is cagey about its IPO ambitions for the coming year. LinkedIn has been a bit more open, though it hasn't provided a time frame. Both Twitter and LinkedIn announced new features this week designed to stimulate end-user interaction.

The organizations joining EPIC in the complaint are the American Library Association, the Center for Digital Democracy, the Consumer Federation of America, FoolProof Financial Education, Patient Privacy Rights, Privacy Activism, the Privacy Rights Now Coalition, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and the U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation.

The Pentagon Launches Plan to Master Lightning

In Greek mythology, it was a weapon of war. Now the U.S. military is looking to tame lightning, which remains one of nature's most confounding -- and feared -- phenomena.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the R&D arm of the Pentagon, has embarked on a project called NIMBUS, which seeks to understand the underlying mechanisms of lightning. "Although significant progress has been made in recent years in our understanding of the lightning discharge and related phenomena, fundamental questions remain unanswered," the agency said in an announcement released today.

Lightning has long perplexed scientists. Not only are atmospheric scientists unsure of exactly what initiates lightning, but they also don't understand precisely how and why it is able to propagate over great distances, and where it will strike. That makes it, in DARPA's view, "one of the major unsolved mysteries in the atmospheric sciences."
lightning
Gene Blevins, AP
The fanciful-sounding NIMBUS project has a serious goal: curbing the $5 billion in damage that lightning strikes cause each year.

Lightning is not only little understood, it is dangerous and destructive -- strikes cause more than $5 billion in damages annually,according to the Lightning Safety Institute. NIMBUS will look at ways to protect against that destruction, including attempting to direct where lightning strikes. The initiative also includes plans to try to trigger lightning using rockets, which could be used to model and study the discharges.

This by no means is the military's first foray into lightning research. Pentagon officials have in the past expressed interest in other enigmatic phenomena associated with lightning, such as so-calledball lightning. Though its existence is disputed, ball lightning is purported to manifest itself asluminous, energetic spheres during storms.

The Pentagon has even funded modest efforts looking at whether ball lightning could be used as a weapon.

Another, somewhat more straightforward application of lightning, not mentioned as part of the DARPA project, is the possibility of creating a "lightning gun" -- a weapon that shoots bolts of electricity. In fact, the Defense Department has funded work in this area. A Tuscon, Ariz., company called Applied Energetics (formerly Ionatron) has received a number of multimillion-dollar contracts from the Army and Navy to develop a lightning weapon that uses ultra-short laser pulses to channel electrostatic discharges. Another company, Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems, in Anderson, Ind., has built a prototype of a lightning gun, named StunStrike.

But don't look to NIMBUS to yield a deployable death ray. DARPA says the project has a more benign goal: the protection of people and assets.