January 31, 2012

by Claudine Zap

News flash: Mitt Romney is way richer than you. How rich? A very cool — if incredibly maddening tool — can tell you exactly how long it takes for Richie Romney to make your salary (hint: not very long). Based on the presidential candidate’s 2010 tax return, the Slate calculator tells us: “Mitt Romney made $40,000 in 16 hours 10 minutes and 34 seconds.”

After facing growing criticism by his Republican competitors, and taking a drubbing in the South Carolina primary, the Republican candidate finally released his 2010 and 2011 tax returns. Voters were again reminded of the great divide between wealth and regular working stiffs: Romney earned about $21.6 million in 2010 and estimates about the same for 2011.

Mitt proved after releasing his tax information that his rate is, as he had estimated, “probably closer to the fifteen percent rate than anything.”

How is that possible? Easy: The very legal and very low capital gains tax. Romney, a former head of Bain Capital, has been living off investment profits, which unlike wages from a paycheck, are taxed at the lower 15 percent rate — instead of the 35 percent that wealthy Americans pay on earned income.
Mitt’s riches gave searches on the term “capital gains tax” a one-day jump of 50 percent, along with lookups on “what is capital gains tax,” “capital gains tax rate” and “history of capital gains tax.”

John Cassidy in the New Yorker points out that it was Bill Clinton who first cut the capital gains tax from 28 percent to 20 percent. George W. Bush slashed it down to 15 percent — where it remains today.

Maybe it’s not surprising that Romney was reluctant to release his tax statements. The New York Times reports that the Republican is the wealthiest candidate to ever run for president, with an estimated family fortune of $190 million to $250 million.

Forbes called Romney’s admission of his super-low tax rate a “teachable moment,” adding that keeping the investment income tax low allows for a “ginormous loophole” — tax shelters to convert fully taxed income into capital gains. “If you can transform $10 million of wages into gains, you can save over $2 million.”

However, as NPR reporter Tamara Keith pointed out in an analysis of the Newt Gingrich proposed tax plan, Romney would pay zero percent on taxes: The former House Speaker calls for a 15 percent flat tax that everyone could choose on earned income, and no tax on capital gains.

Much of Romney’s income comes from Bain, made through private equity deals, and is taxed at the lower capital gains rate. And even at the current rate of 15 percent, that sweet deal could be hard for ordinary taxpayers to swallow.

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It must be reduction year in Hollywood, because just days after Heidi Montag announced her intentions to get her boobs reduced, now Lisa Rinna has gotten a decrease as well. But Lisa Rinna did not get a boob reduction (thank goodness!), but a lip one. The model, actress and writer was on The Morning Show [...]

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Landing 27 January

Phones 4u has announced it will be unleashing the LG Prada 3.0 onto the UK public on 27 January.

The third Prada and LG combo phone to be released packs a customised Android 2.3 UI designed by Prada itself, that features simple black and white icons.

Like a Prada model the emphasis is on thinness, it’s only 8.5mm thick, but still boasts a fully-loaded dose of tech on the inside. The phone measures 127.5 x 69 x 8.5mm.

Although not being quite up there with the Android top dogs, the Prada phone is actually quite surprising in the power department, with 1GHz of dual-core goodness and 1GB of RAM to play with. Expandable microSD storage and an 8-megapixel camera complete the hardware package quite nicely.

Its screen is a 4.3 inch, 800×480, one and it boasts a high brightness 800-nit NOVA display. You’ll get 1080p video capture and playback too. The only thing that looks a little suspect is the 1540mAh battery, which is perhaps a little on the small side.

The LG Prada 3.0 will be available from Phones 4u stores and online for nada on a ?31 a month contract, on a choice of networks, from Friday 27 January.

If you take out a contract on the?Prada phone by LG 3.0, to give it its official (ridiculous) moniker, at Phones 4u before the end of February, you’ll also get?12 months unlimited 4u Wi-Fi, a new partnership powered by The Cloud.

Tags: LG Phones LG Prada 3 Prada Phones4U

Designer LG Prada 3.0 hits the high-street at Phones 4u originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:12:30 +0000

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iOS-like

Apple has updated its AirPort Utility app on Mac OS X Lion. The new version brings with it an interface more in keeping with the AirPort Utility it rolled out on iOS recently, and dispenses with the usual-looking desktop software you might expect.?

The new app, which also comes with new firmware updates for your connected Apple AirPort base stations, will let you manage your network hub or hubs around your house or office in an easier, more graphical way.

“Use AirPort Utility to set up and manage your Wi-Fi network and AirPort base stations, including AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and Time Capsule. See a graphical overview of your Wi-Fi network and devices. Change base station and network settings, or manage advanced features such as security modes, wireless channels, and more.” Says Apple in the automatic download notes.

The AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6.1 promises to fix an issue with wireless performance and provides support for remote access to an AirPort disk or a Time Capsule hard drive with an iCloud account. The firmware update is for all 802.11n AirPort Express, 802.11n AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models.

You can download the new AirPort Utility app via the Apple website or via the Software Update feature in Mac OS X Lion, and then the Firmware updates if you need it via the new software.

Tags: Apple Mac software Networking

Apple updates Lion AirPort Utility, now more friendly originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:45:00 +0000

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by Claudine Zap

Groundhog Day is almost upon us, when marmot meteorologists take over the weather report to answer the pressing question: Is spring almost here, or are we subject to six more weeks of winter — and maybe more important, are rodents ever right?

Searches on Yahoo! have forecasted a storm of interest, including “what is groundhog day,” “when is groundhog day,” and “history of groundhog day.”

The story goes that on February 2, if the groundhog (also known as a woodchuck) emerges from its burrow and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. No shadow means an early spring.

The history of this now American tradition stems from pagan and Christian holidays brought over from Europe that looked to hibernating animals to signal the end of winter.
The Germans used hedgehogs as their weather guides. In Pennsylvania, early American settlers found groundhogs, not hedgehogs, and the forecasting began in the new country with a new rodent.

Thanks to the movie “Groundhog Day,” the marmot Punxsutawney Phil has reached celebrity status. The supposedly 125-year-old rodent, who gained fame in the comedy starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, boasts a Facebook page along with media hype.

So how accurate is the forecast from Punxsutawney Phil? According to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, Phil’s reading is 100% accurate, natch. But the National Climatic Data Center disagrees, noting that its research shows “no predictive skill for the groundhog during the most recent years of this analysis.” The Stormfax Almanac concurs, judging the Pennsylvania prognosticator to be correct a not-very-impressive 39% of the time.

But perhaps that’s not all that surprising: As the Christian Science Monitor points out, no weather forecaster would dare deliver predictions further than a few days out. And they’ve got high-tech gadgets at their fingertips.

But in this case, tradition rules, and across the country, reasonable people turn to rodents for their weather report — and the results can be unpleasant.
The most infamous groundhog has to be Staten Island Chuck, who gained notoriety for biting New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg a few years back. Other groundhogs emerge on the day to make their own, possibly contradictory, predictions: The Huffington Post tracked down lesser-known furry mammals who forecast.

Groundhog or no, the first day of spring is officially March 20, and it can’t come soon enough.

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by Mike Krumboltz

George Clooney is a respected actor, director, and activist. But he’s also a born prankster. The star of “The Descendants” recently visited “Inside the Actors Studio,” where he dished about his plans for pulling one over on his good friend and rival Brad Pitt.

In the clip, an audience member asks Clooney about some of his favorite pranks that he’s pulled. Clooney says, “I’m a big believer in making (movie) sets fun … I have done some horrible things to people. Truly, truly horrible. I’m working on one now for Brad Pitt. It might end his career.” Clooney then added, “I owe him, so I’m getting him.”

What did Pitt do to inspire such a revenge? We’re not sure if this is the reason, but according to Matt Damon, while on the set of “Ocean’s Twelve,” Pitt constructed a fake memo and gave it to the Italian crew. The memo instructed the crew not to look Clooney in the eye and only call him “Danny” or “Mr. Ocean.” Clooney was apparently none too pleased.

Clooney’s love of pranks goes way back. As the New York Post explains, the Oscar winner placed plants in front of Julia Roberts’s trailer door on the set of “Ocean’s Eleven” so she couldn’t exit. He arranged for a tailor to secretly take in Matt Damon’s pants every day while Damon was trying to lose weight for a role. “He couldn’t understand how he seemed to be gaining weight while he was trying so hard to lose it,” Clooney explained.

He also once told his friend, actor Richard Kind, that he was studying art. Clooney found a horrible-looking painting in the trash and told Kind that he’d painted it. “And then for his 40th birthday I gave him this horrible painting. He had to hang it on his wall, [it was by] his best friend! And for years people would come over — everyone else knew it was out of the trash — and go, ‘That is a beautiful painting.’”

The episode of “Inside the Actors Studio” will air January 31.

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Smart in price alone

Can a telly that lacks Freeview HD, 3D and any semblance of a ‘smart’ platform really be considered suitable for modern living? That depends on what you’re after, but we’re sure Hannspree’s latest bargain basement edge LED-backlit LCD TV has enough to suit a lot of living rooms.

If you want the best online IPTV services around and an app-strewn user interface, it’s worth paying top dollar for sets from Sony or Samsung. The rest make a slight hash of it all in any case, so Hannspree – primarily known to us as the maker of budget-busting gadgets – is rather astute to completely swerve the whole ‘smart’ idea.

If a few quid has been knocked from the price already, another couple of tenners are saved through the lack of 3D compatibility, though plenty of homes are being perfectly well entertained without gimmicky children’s movies to get distracted by, so we’ll forgive that one, too.

Even the lack of a Freeview HD tuner makes sense at this price. We could go on forever about how we expect all new TVs to have a DVB-T2 tuner, but despite it being such a hit in 2010 that it’s now become a social faux pas to leave it out, the fact remains that homes with a Sky or Virgin Media set-top box – that’s about 15 million of us – just don’t need it. So why pay for it? Cable and satellite subscribers are often on the hunt for a back-to-basics telly capable of displaying hi-def signals with skill. Hanspree’s SE40LMNB could be that screen.

USB and digital file support

Despite coming armed with Edge LED backlighting, a panel depth of a mere 50mm and a Full HD resolution, the SE40LMNB does lack a lot of features considered normal on modern TVs. But, in an effort to distract us are some USB-fuelled features, which include digital file playback, pause and rewind live TV features (timeshifiting), and even TV recording.

In practical use all of these features are thoroughly disappointing. For starters, that USB slot is disarmed by some sloppy software that deals with the likes of JPG, MP3 and AVI (DivX) files, but fails with MKV – a very common video format.

Timshifting

ItsTimeshift features, too, are lacklustre – and even nudges being unusable. Although it can be used with a (minimum) 2GB USB thumbdrive, it’s too complicated. Pausing live TV takes three button presses and the navigation of two different menus. As if we’re going to do that when the guy with the lukewarm pizza turns up. Timeshift is supposed to be about convenience, but here Hannspree made us work far too hard to get some relatively simple tasks accomplished. It’s not even possible to set recordings from the EPG.

Was timeshifting added as an afterthought? Possibly – the remote control certainly isn’t equipped to handle such ‘advanced’ functionality.

Connections

A healthy dose of inputs and outputs give this budget TV a more mature look; three HDMIs meet component video, a PC and an RGB Scart (using an adaptor), while audio enters via phonos or a minijack, and exits through digital optical audio or a headphone socket.

Oddly, that optical slot is towards the top of a side-panel, which at a stroke makes it less enticing for owners of separate AV amplifiers and home cinema systems, though those with set-top boxes won’t need to use it.

Graphical user interface

A nicely designed GUI is unexpected and welcome. A subtle design that builds-in a functional Freeview guide complete with thumbnail of the live channel (with audio), and programme information is given for just six channels over two hours, though it’s quick to operate using the so-so remote control.

Picture & sound quality

Without much to shout about so far, we’re left virtually speechless when Blu-ray graces the SE40LMNB’s LCD panel. Detailed, with nicely cinematic colours and a decent stab at producing jet black, consider this a perfectly good set for partnering with a Blu-ray player.

That, however, is where the good stuff comes to a halt; standard Freeview pictures – and there are no other, remember, are covered in picture noise, while motion blur suddenly seems to smear moving objects around the panel. Colours collapse amid a realisation that, yes, expensive TVs with pricey picture processing are indeed much more versatile.

Sound from its twin 8W speakers is nothing to shout about, either, though what flat TV can claim otherwise?

Verdict:

At under ?350 the Hannspree’s sterling performance with Blu-rays will make the 40-inch edge LED-backlit LCD TV an attractive proposition for some.

If the lack of Freeview HD, 3D and smart TV apps don’t put you off, Hannspree’s combination of a good user interface and decent hi-def pictures is initially pleasing, though the shine is taken off by some messy, USB-driven timeshift features and a poor treatment of standard definition TV; in many ways its Full HD resolution works against it in terms of all-round versatility.

Tags: Televisions Home Cinema LCD televisions LCD TVs LED televisions LED TVs

 

Hannspree SE40LMNB originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:19:47 +0000

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Action bar is the future

The menu button on Google’s Android is all but dead and is to be replaced permanently by the action bar. That’s the message from Scott Main, lead tech writer for developer.android.com, who has posted an article advising Android developers to change their ways.

“Honeycomb removed the reliance on physical buttons, and introduced the ActionBar class as the standard solution to make actions from the user options immediately visible and quick to invoke,” he wrote. “In order to provide the most intuitive and consistent user experience in your apps, you should migrate your designs away from using the Menu button and toward using the action bar.”

The menu button has already been ditched on some Android devices, such as the Ice Cream Sandwich packing Samsung Galaxy Nexus and, going forward, Google wants just three buttons on offer; back, home, and recent apps.

The action bar, that will now see more, er, action is a dedicated area that identifies the options available to the user on specific apps. It sits up top and will mean that Fandroids will need to get used to a new way of interacting with their favourite apps.

If the tasks in hand are too much for the action bar to take, users will see an overflow button on the bottom bar (three dots in a vertical row).

“This might seem like splitting hairs over terminology, but the name action overflow promotes a different way of thinking,” explained Main.

“Instead of thinking about a menu that serves as a catch-all for various user options, you should think more about which user options you want to display on the screen as actions. Those that don’t need to be on the screen can overflow off the screen.”

Read

Tags: Android Google Phones Tablets

Android kills the menu button, demands action originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:11:24 +0000

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TOY FAIR 2012: Collectable fun

Okay, so there’s no gadget-based wizardry involved and the closest they get to consumer electronics is that they share a name with a giant in the world of cables, but WowWee‘s Monster Marbles invoke the kind of reminiscence you don’t get from a Nespresso coffee maker, even if it does come in beige…

Monster Marbles offer essentially the same gameplay and fun as the glass orbs we all remember from our childhoods – except you can’t play Kerplunk with them. The marble part, you see, is housed within a collectable plastic fiend and the games you play are very similar to the old classics.

The Monster Marbles sets come with a piece of chalk and instructions, which help you set up one of four different games. Monster Bash is the most akin to games from the days of yore; you draw a circle with the chalk and have to shoot marbles out of the ring with your shooter Monster. Everything you shoot out, you keep.

Well, at least that’s the way it used to be played. At ?1.99 for each of the Monster Marbles, you won’t want your child to come home without their beloved toys.

WowWee is also going to release packs of Monster Marbles at different price points. A Monster Marbles Carrying Case with two marbles will cost ?9.99, one marble with the chalk will be the aforementioned ?1.99, two will cost ?2.99, and a three pack (plus chalk) weighs in at ?4.99.

Packs contain random characters and there are also very rare golden Monster Marbles hidden away amongst them. And, if successful, WowWee plans future series to expand the collection.

Series 1 of the rolling horrors will be released in the UK in the summer.

Tags: ToyFair2012 WowWee WowWee Monster Marbles Toys Dad

           

WowWee reinvents a classic with Monster Marbles originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:32:29 +0000

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‘You just hit my mom with your camera. Don’t you ever do that again,’ the teen star tells tells aggressive photographer.

By Jocelyn Vena

Miley Cyrus at the Clive Davis pre-grammy party

Photo: Getty Images

<P>Paparazzi are warned: Young Hollywood is on the defense. Just a week after <a href="/news/articles/1659098/justin-bieber-paparazzi-birthday.jhtml">Justin Bieber flipped off the paps</a> (and later apologized), Miley Cyrus is also taking a stand against the prying camera lenses of the celeb-obsessed.

As a <a href="http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00038923.html" target="_blank">video posted online</a> shows, the incident took place when a paparazzo ran up from behind Cyrus and her mom, Tish, as they were getting into their car after hitting up California Chicken Cafe in West Hollywood on Wednesday. Cyrus didn't seem to like how close the camera guy got to her mother, so she pushed his lens out of the way, confronting him for getting too invasive.

"You just hit my mom with your camera," she told the man, pointing her finger at him. "Don't you ever do that again. You just almost hurt my mom. Don't you ever even think about it, for real."

As the two women got into the car, the paparazzo still tried to get his photo, as he said, "I would never disrespect your mom like that."

Cyrus has been vocal in the past about her frustrations with photographers following her around, noting that they are an intrusive by-product of her life in the public eye.

"I just [want] people to know, I think in pictures I always look upset. It's because these cameras are following me. I just think it's really kind of unfair," <a href="http://justjaredjr.buzznet.com/2010/09/23/miley-cyrus-the-paparazzi-frustrate-me/" target="_blank">the teen star shared</a> in a September 2010 video blog. "I know there are some people that maybe like that attention, but I'm not one of them. I really just want to be able to go on walks and enjoy where I live … The paparazzi really frustrate me, and it makes me really upset that I'm being followed around by men that I don't know, and for anyone else, it would be considered stalking. I don't know who those guys are. I don't know if they're good guys or bad guys. I don't necessarily care; I don't want anyone following me."

<i>Do you think Miley's anger at the photographer was justifiable? Share your opinion in the comments.</i></p>

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‘You just hit my mom with your camera. Don’t you ever do that again,’ the teen star tells tells aggressive photographer.

By Jocelyn Vena

Miley Cyrus at the Clive Davis pre-grammy party

Photo: Getty Images

<P>Paparazzi are warned: Young Hollywood is on the defense. Just a week after <a href="/news/articles/1659098/justin-bieber-paparazzi-birthday.jhtml">Justin Bieber flipped off the paps</a> (and later apologized), Miley Cyrus is also taking a stand against the prying camera lenses of the celeb-obsessed.

As a <a href="http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00038923.html" target="_blank">video posted online</a> shows, the incident took place when a paparazzo ran up from behind Cyrus and her mom, Tish, as they were getting into their car after hitting up California Chicken Cafe in West Hollywood on Wednesday. Cyrus didn't seem to like how close the camera guy got to her mother, so she pushed his lens out of the way, confronting him for getting too invasive.

"You just hit my mom with your camera," she told the man, pointing her finger at him. "Don't you ever do that again. You just almost hurt my mom. Don't you ever even think about it, for real."

As the two women got into the car, the paparazzo still tried to get his photo, as he said, "I would never disrespect your mom like that."

Cyrus has been vocal in the past about her frustrations with photographers following her around, noting that they are an intrusive by-product of her life in the public eye.

"I just [want] people to know, I think in pictures I always look upset. It's because these cameras are following me. I just think it's really kind of unfair," <a href="http://justjaredjr.buzznet.com/2010/09/23/miley-cyrus-the-paparazzi-frustrate-me/" target="_blank">the teen star shared</a> in a September 2010 video blog. "I know there are some people that maybe like that attention, but I'm not one of them. I really just want to be able to go on walks and enjoy where I live … The paparazzi really frustrate me, and it makes me really upset that I'm being followed around by men that I don't know, and for anyone else, it would be considered stalking. I don't know who those guys are. I don't know if they're good guys or bad guys. I don't necessarily care; I don't want anyone following me."

<i>Do you think Miley's anger at the photographer was justifiable? Share your opinion in the comments.</i></p>

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• The Evolution Of: Miley Cyrus

Related Artists

• Miley Cyrus

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When I Look At You

• Artist: Miley Cyrus
• Label: Hollywood Records, Universal Music Spain, Vale Music
• Director: Marc Roussel

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Stay safe in custom-fit comfort

If the statement “one size fits all” has ever seemed a little ridiculous, you’d be right. It’s not true for hats, it’s not true for T-shirts, and when it comes to the humble condom it couldn’t be less true, or potentially more dangerous.

It’s impossible to know exactly how many unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted?infections?are due to condoms splitting, falling off, or being ripped off in the heat of the moment because they “just don’t feel right”.

All that’s a thing of the past now, with www.theyfit.com, a new site which sells custom fit condoms.

Don’t panic chaps, you won’t have to slap your old fella out for somebody to measure, you do everything in the privacy of your own home with the patented, printable FitKit. Simply print and cut out the template then follow the simple instructions to work out your size.

At ?6.99 for six, they’re good value and if you don’t get the size quite right first time, your next order is half price.

I wish I could tell you that mine wouldn’t fit through the letterbox, but they actually arrived in a very discreet package. Hey ho…

Stay safe people.

Tags: WebsiteOfTheDay Websites Software Online

WEBSITE OF THE DAY: They Fit originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

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by Claudine Zap

If you tried to look something up on Wikipedia today, you may have been surprised to learn not about whatever obscure fact you were hunting down, but that there’s a war being waged over what you can see on the Web. Two bills, Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act, are seeking to limit copyright infringement online, and the web is in revolt.

On Wednesday, Wikipedia (which blacked out its site) and Google, which visibly protested the legislation on its homepage, voiced their opposition (along with many other sites, including Yahoo!) to bills they argue would ruin the freewheeling world of the Internet. Media companies are in favor of the legislation, arguing that they need a way to stop illegal downloading and pirating of their material.

So what are these bills exactly?

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is the House bill; Protect IP Act (PIPA) is its Senate sister. Both focus on foreign websites that pirate movies, music, and other materials from the U.S. (sites that many Americans use — an industry study has noted that 17.5% of all bandwidth in the U.S. is taken up by illegal downloads.)

That may sound sensible, but many media companies operating online think the language is too vague in terms of defining what constitutes piracy; feel the bills don’t define who is responsible for making sure illegal material from foreign sites isn’t showing up on U.S. sites; and think the legislation imposes sanctions that are too heavy-handed.

Here’s why: If passed, the bills would allow the owner of the material to seek court orders that would block access to the alleged pirate site and require credit card companies and advertisers to stop payments to the site.

So how are law-breaking sites identified? SOPA defines a “foreign infringing site” as one that is “committing or infringing” on copyright. PIPA is more specific, describing sites that have “no significant use other than” copyright infringement. Websites would have 5 days to appeal.

Websites and media companies worry that they could be targeted for unknowingly hosting pirated material — think of user-generated video uploaded on Facebook, Wikipedia, or Twitter.

SOPA would also make it illegal to stream unauthorized content. This has been dubbed the “Free Bieber” provision, since the baby-faced pop icon Justin Bieber got his start on YouTube performing music from other singers.

The Senate bill is losing sponsors who think the legislation goes too far. Voting on PIPA will begin on January 24.

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Confirming rumors that first broke the previous night, Paula Abdul is a judge on “The X Factor” no more.

The 49-year-old released an official statement on the matter on Tuesday (January 31), as she told, ?Yes, it?s true; I won?t be returning to The X Factor next season. I?ve learned through my longevity in this industry that business decisions often times override personal considerations.?

Miss Abdul continued, ?Simon and I, along with Fox and Fremantle, have been communicating about this for a while now, and I have absolute understanding of the situation. Simon is, and will remain a dear friend of mine and I?ve treasured my experience working this past season with my extended family at Fox and Fremantle.?

With the exit coming after just one season, Paula’s wished the show well going forward, as she added, ?I want nothing more than for The X Factor to exceed ALL of their wildest dreams. This truly has been a blessing and I am most grateful.”

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by Claudine Zap

They’re beautiful, fashionable, and always red-carpet-ready for their close-ups. But there’s one accessory these stars don’t have: a stylist. So they say.
Blake Lively, the “Gossip Girl” star, has become the poster child for going stylist-free.

What does this mean, exactly? The 24-year-old says fashion is her favorite hobby, so she prefers to go with her gut. “I just like whatever I’m feeling. Sometimes things are really beautiful, but they just don’t photograph well, and that’s that.” Yes, we all know that whenever an outfit doesn’t work, it’s the camera’s fault.

Still, the stylish TV show “Gossip Girl” seems to be doing for Lively’s fashion sense what “Sex and the City” did for Sarah Jessica Parker. Off set, Lively clearly loves to show up in designer duds, even if she doesn’t always hit the mark.

The blog Fashionista is doubtful of the Chanel spokesmodel’s claim, noting, “It doesn’t seem that Blake needs a stylist, because she has Eric Daman, ‘Gossip Girl’s’ costume designer, who clearly ‘helps her out’ for big events.”

Other stars who say they turn up at major events with a DIY look include January Jones, Diane Kruger, and the Olsen twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley.

Certainly, there’s no shame in hiring a stylist. In fact, a celebrity stylist told the New York Times that it can be a game changer. Nicole Chavez, who has dressed Katherine Heigl and Scarlett Johansson, insisted that a good dress is a great career move: “People — casting agents, studio executives — stop and take notice. They are suddenly interested in working with you.”

Whether or not Lively has a stylist, directors are apparently interested in working with the up-and-coming actress. Her career is on the rise, along with her fashionably short hem: She is said to be starring in the upcoming Oliver Stone movie “Savages.”

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MTV Buzzworthy Blog: Pop Stars At The Airport!

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Everybody relax … WWE diva Kharma did NOT wrestle pregnant Sunday night at Royal Rumble 2012 — TMZ has learned, she gave birth to her baby a few weeks ago … and she’s already back in ass-kicking shape.Kharma — real name Kia Stevens –…

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A.J. Lamas — a reality show staple and son of Lorenzo Lamas — has been accused by his ex-girlfriend of breaking into her home and holding her at bay in the bathroom.Jessie Schulman filed legal docs asking for a restraining order, claiming she…

Christina Applegate Christina Ricci Claire Forlani Claire Foy Claudia Schiffer Clive Owen

We are broadcasting live from the CNET stage at CES 2012. Today, we welcomed Charles Seiber, Roku’s marketing vice president, and picked his brain about the future of the tiny video-streaming box. With all the connected TVs showcased at CES, how will Roku fare in the future?

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EPISODE 1574

NEWS

-Microsoft at CES: Nothing to see here?

-Kinect coming to Windows

-Video: Justin Timberlake’s CES moment

-Panasonic flirts with irrelevance with MySpace TV partnership

-Toshiba to ship glasses-free TV to U.S. in early 2012

ROKU

-Roku’s Streaming Stick shrinks the Roku box into a dongle

-The $50 Roku LT doesn’t disappoint

-Press conferences: Samsung

-Sony: resolution in the spotlight

QUICK HITS

-Motorola Droid Maxx promises pumped-up battery life

-Motorola Droid 4: greatest Android keyboard slider yet

-Galaxy Nexus going to Sprint, switching to LTE

-LG getting into higher end smart phones, starting with LG Spectrum

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http://bol.cnet.com, 800-616-2638 (CNET), buzz@cnet.com

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