Is someone called your out on your geekness, would you pass the test? Do you have enough geek cred to carry the title? Maximum PC came up with a list of 50 skills every geek should be able to do. Surprisingly, I can do about every item on the list. Somethings I haven’t tried, but I am sure I could do them anyhow. Check it out!
Full Article: Maximum PC
A 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook Los Angeles today but without any serious damage or injuries. The tremor serves as a warning to residents who haven’t experienced one in a long time that the big one is always lurking. However, a small earthquake such as this could have relieved some pressure building up delaying anything from happening soon.
Full Story: CNN
USGS Link: L.A Quake
ORLANDO, Fla. – Lou Pearlman, the man who created the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in federal prison for engineering a decades-long scam that bilked thousands of investors out of their life savings.
It was the maximum sentence the boy band mogul could receive for allegedly swindling some $300 million from investors and banks since the early 1980s.
He pleaded guilty in March to two counts of conspiracy and single counts of money laundering and presenting a false claim in bankruptcy court.
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Prosecutors allege Pearlman scammed individuals out of an estimated $200 million, and banks out of another $100 million.
Full Article: Yahoo!
There is justice after all for making the world endure these boy bands on the radio for many years. On a more serious note, it is quite sad how this many robbed many older people out of their savings especially since many of the victims were his relatives. The article did say he has returned around $100 million of the money stolen, but there is still a lot to be made up.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Software publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc on Wednesday said it sold some 6 million units of its criminal action game “Grand Theft Auto 4″ in its first week, with estimated retail sales exceeding $500 million.
The company, which is facing a takeover offer from rival Electronic Arts Inc, said it sold about 3.6 million units globally at its debut on April 29.
Retail chains such as GameStop Corp and Best Buy Co Inc took advance orders for weeks of the game, which has been lavished with near-universal accolades.
Source: Reuters
I find it amazing that GTA 4 has roughly half a billion dollars in sales in about a week of being out. The game industry is fairly larger than I expected it to be, but I have never looked into the sales figures in depth, so I am surprised. While I haven’t played the game yet, I would expect to because the game looks awesome and it has gotten great reviews from all around.
Nine Inch Nails is giving away their latest album, the slip, completely free! All you have to do is visit their site and put in your e-mail address and a link will be sent to you. The download is available in high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless and 24/96 WAVE along with the album artwork and credits in a PDF file. I’ve already signed up for my link and hope to be listening to this album throughout the day. Thanks again to Trent Reznor and NIN for changing up the music industry.
Download: NIN – the slip
NBC will officially name Jimmy Fallon as Conan O’Brien’s “Late Night” replacement within the next few weeks, if not sooner, Peacock insiders said Thursday.
Net had been planning to introduce Fallon to advertisers at its NBC Universal “experience,” the May 12 theme park-like presentation at 30 Rock in New York that’s taking the place of NBC’s traditional upfront. Net is also expected to reveal details of O’Brien’s transition from “Late Night” to host of “The Tonight Show.”
Timing of the announcement may now be in flux, however, in the wake of a Fox News Web report about the Peacock plan.
It’s not as if the report killed any major surprise. Fallon has been the only real candidate for the job since February 2007, when Broadcasting & Cable and the New York Times reported that the former “Saturday Night Live” star had quietly signed a holding deal envisioning just such a gig. Six months later, Peacock latenight chief Rick Ludwin confirmed that Fallon was in line for the job.
“I think he’d be terrific, and he is at the top of our short list,” Ludwin told B&C.
Then, just two months ago, the Times again reported that Fallon would replace O’Brien and said he would likely begin in February 2009. O’Brien is expected to take off six months or so in between his final “Late Night” and first “Tonight Show.”
Peacock has no doubt delayed making Fallon official in order to allow him as much time as possible to put his show together without a heavy media spotlight. NBC may have also wanted to keep its options open in case there were any changes in the latenight or comedy landscapes.
O’Brien, meanwhile, is still slated to replace Jay Leno has host of “The Tonight Show,” despite some media speculation that NBC may be having cold feet. ABC and Fox have made it clear that Leno is welcome to hop to their networks if he wants, while the Times said Sony has offered to give Leno his own syndie berth.
Source: Variety
If this is true, then Late Night is doomed. Fallon is horrible on SNL and all he is going to do is laugh at his own stupid jokes and totally ruin the show. I can understand why Leno may not want to leave, because he has become the face of the Tonight Show and it’s his project. I think O’Brien is a great choice as replacement. Maybe Leno could do Late Night instead!
In the sordid tradition of peddling raunchy video footage of celebrities a la Paris Hilton, a long-buried sex movie of Marilyn Monroe recently hit the market, a top collector told The Post.
An illicit copy of the steamy, still-FBI-classified reel – 15 minutes of 16mm film footage in which the original blond bombshell performs oral sex on an unidentified man – was just sold to a New York businessman for $1.5 million, said Keya Morgan, the well-known memorabilia collector who discovered the film and brokered its purchase.
The footage appears to have been shot in the 1950s. When it came to light in the mid-’60s, then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had his agents spend two weeks futilely trying to prove that Monroe’s sex partner was either John F. Kennedy or Robert F. Kennedy, according to declassified agency documents and interviews, Morgan said.
The silent black-and-white flick shows Monroe on her knees in front of a man whose face is just out of the shot.
He never moves into the shot, indicating that he knew the camera was there, but Monroe never looks at the lens, said Morgan, who saw the footage.
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“He said he’s just going to lock it up,” Morgan said.
“He said, ‘I’m not going to make a Paris Hilton out of her. I’m not going to sell it, out of respect.’ “
Full Article: NYPost
I wonder how long it will be before this is on the Internet somehow. I am sure if the price is right eventually it will be released. I don’t think people will view Marilyn Monroe in the same light as Paris Hilton, because she didn’t knowingly make the tape and it was done in private, whereas Paris is known whore. Either way, this has to be one of the most expensive porn videos in history!
There’s another side to Alicia Keys: conspiracy theorist.
The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter tells Blender magazine: “‘Gangsta rap’ was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. ‘Gangsta rap’ didn’t exist.”
Keys, 27, said she’s read several Black Panther autobiographies and wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck “to symbolize strength, power and killing ’em dead,” according to an interview in the magazine’s May issue, on newsstands Tuesday.
Another of her theories: That the bicoastal feud between slain rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. was fueled “by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing.”
Keys’ AK-47 jewelry came as a surprise to her mother, who is quoted as telling Blender: “She wears what? That doesn’t sound like Alicia.” Keys’ publicist, Theola Borden, said Keys was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
Though she’s known for her romantic tunes, she told Blender that she wants to write more political songs. If black leaders such as the late Black Panther Huey Newton “had the outlets our musicians have today, it’d be global. I have to figure out a way to do it myself,” she said.
The multiplatinum songstress behind the hits “Fallin”’ and “No One” most recently had success with her latest CD, “As I Am,” which sold millions.
Source: MSNBC
This is something I’ve never heard of about Alicia Keys before. I never thought she would associate herself as much with the Hip-Hop community because she is a very talented R&B singer. I suppose everyone is entitled to their opinions and ideas, but it is kind of surprising coming from her. Even her mother seems surprised by this. We’ll see if there are any more developments about this.
Hey everyone. I just wanted to spread the word that you can download this album for FREE or you can pay $5 for it. It’s a project run by Trent Reznor of NIN who is trying to rid the world of evil corporations like the RIAA. I invite you all to take a look at this album and support him if you like it, I did.
http://niggytardust.com/saulwilliams/menu
Here is his MySpace if you haven’t heard of him: