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The ongoing question about what will ultimately happen to Michael Jackson's three children remains unresolved, and now there is a new twist: Janet has reportedly stepped forward as a potential guardian for Prince Michael, Paris and Prince Michael II. When the custody hearing — rescheduled for next month — finally occurs, it will resolve the divide between Debbie Rowe (who mothered the two oldest children) and Janet, Katherine and Rebbie Jackson. Michael's will states that Katherine (his mother) should get custody of the three kids, with a provision that if she was unable to or not alive, Diana Ross could do the job as well. But there is concern over Katherine's ability to raise her grandchildren, especially considering the upbringing that her own children received and her age.

Janet has no children of her own but clearly has a relationship with Michael's kids — just observe how she comforted Paris after her emotional speech at Michael's memorial service. It's unclear whether or not she would even be allowed to take the kids, but we hit the streets and asked: Would Janet Jackson make a good mother to Michael's children?

Yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Forty years ago mission commander Neil A. Armstrong and lunar module pilot Edwin Eugene ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, Jr. walked on the moon while command module pilot Michael Collins orbited above. Today however, marks the40th anniversary of the day people really reacted to what just happened. As with all major events in time, there is always a day of reflection. I’d like to honor that day of reflection with my top 10 thoughts about the Apollo 11 moon landing.

It was a comeback victory in the space race against the Soviets

I’d even say, we made the Soviets look like chumps. We won the space race by putting a man on the moon. Sure, the Soviets were there first, having bounced their Luna 2 spacecraft off the moon 10 years earlier, but we left our footprints there. The Cold War may have lasted another 15 years or so after that, but it gave us the confidence to make movies like Red Dawn. It also showed the world what could be achieved by democracy over communism. From my father, who was in the Navy at the time:

I was at sea when the landing occurred; I didn’t even know about it until we hit our next port of call, which was Barcelona. I can tell you that the Spanish people were very excited about the landing; they mostly thought it was a wonderful occurrence and congratulated us sailors for the event. They also thought we must be very proud to have beaten the Russians to the moon. At the time, Spain was under the control of the fascist dictatorship government of Francisco Franco.

Gave the conspiracy theorists something to talk about for the next century

Even though anyone with a high-powered telescope and laser system (don’t you have one?) can see the reflections off the equipment left on the moon, the conspiracy theorists still think the whole thing was staged, on the basis that we haven’t gone back. If we should have faked anything in the late ’60s, it should have been Vietnam. GeekDad has more on debunking the conspiracy theories.

It felt great to be an American

The ’60s were a tumultuous time in American history. Civil rights, Vietnam, Kennedy and the Cold War — all made for a stressful time and American values were put to the test. But when we landed on the moon, everyone in America put all that aside, if only for a couple days. As stated by my cousin KV:

I was at a Little League party, watching the moon landing after our last game of the season. There was a 7 Eleven across the street, so the mom got all of us Coke slurpees, which had just been invented recently. I sat there watching Neil Armstrong take the first steps on the moon while I took a taste of my first Coke slurpee. I remember thinking how great it is to be American.

Made Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin legends in their own time

That’s hard to achieve these day, with nothing happening as spectacular as walking on the moon. When you think space you think of Armstrong and Aldrin. When you look up at the moon you think about those images, no matter how old or young you are. Those images of them walking on the moon are an iconic piece of American history that every child will remember until the day when we’re all enslaved in the Matrix.

Proved that the moon was not made of cheese

There were a lot of excited scientists when we landed on the moon — they knew that it would lead to research projects and glorious spoonfuls of moon rocks. Since then, experiments in space and on objects from space — especially moon items, have been at the forefront of our exploration. After beating the Soviets (since that was the driving force for going there in the first place) the science has taken over and a lot has been discovered about our moon, science that is still relevant today.<

Kennedy was right

He was shot and killed while in office, and there is no greater legacy attributed to John F. Kennedy than his promise to put a man on the moon. Less than six years after his death, we did just that. And we brought them back safely, just like Kennedy promised.

First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him back safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.

It turned science fiction into reality

For years, many great science fiction novels and the pages of Analog magazine theorized about what it was like on the moon. Adventures took place there, colonies were built and the moon was a place of fantasy. Not anymore. The day after we landed on the moon, science fiction writers around the globe not only celebrated the fact, but started looking for more far-fetched places for alien detective stories — like Mars. If we hadn’t landed on the moon, Total Recall may have never been as cool as it was.

Gave our kids something to aspire to

The Cold War was a bummer. The kids growing up in the 1960s were tired of hiding under their desks for nuclear bomb drills and were feeling depressed by society. Being told they could grow up to be president didn’t sound that great anymore after Kennedy’s assassination. Growing up to be Mickey Mantle was the next best option, but that only brought thoughts of liver damage. Then we set foot on the moon, and now you could grow up to be an astronaut. How fantastic is that? Can you imagine the wonder on a child’s face sitting in front of the television as Armstrong bounded along the moon’s surface?

It validated NASA’s existence

NASA was under a lot of pressure from the government and from the American public to do something spectacular. When Kennedy promised a moon landing, the scrutiny was even harsher. NASA had no choice but to land us on the moon as quickly as possible. When it did, it achieved at least 40 years of grants and funding; only now is it coming under scrutiny again.

We actually sent a spacecraft to the moon and landed on it

The Apollo 11 mission astronauts trained hard for countless hours for this mission. NASA spent millions of dollars on building a spacecraft with the specifications needed to land on the moon. They didn’t have a moon to test it on first — this was the test. Sure, they could simulate the landing, but nothing is better than the real thing. The science, the engineering, the planning and training that went into this project was the first of its kind. We landed men on the moon. Think of how amazing that actually is and the hundreds of people it took to do it. Forty years ago today, every single one of those people watched the moon landing again on the evening news and reflected on the part that they played in putting a man on the moon. This is a virtual toast to every single one of them. Let’s not have it be another 40 years before we are back there, building a mini-mall.

And so it continues. Geohot has returned with some help from hacking buddies chronic, posixninja, and pod2g with news that the same "24kpwn" exploit used to cracked open the iPod touch 2G will work on the iPhone 3GS. That means a jailbreak and unlock can be launched just as soon as the existing tools are updated for the iPhone 3GS (which won't be long). As George Hotz laments,

On a personal note, I'm sad. Apple, it took me a week to break through your new defenses. And to let us reuse an exploit like that; 24kpwn was so 5 months ago. Although I imagine it must have been painful watching the devices roll by on the assembly line, knowing they all had a hole in them and you couldn't fix it.

Tomorrow is today which makes it time to get your Windows 7 pre-order in. Amazon issued a big 'ol press release telling us that it's now offering the Home Premium Upgrade and Professional Upgrade packages for $49.99 and $99.99 though July 11th, while supplies last -- nothing special there as it's the standard pricing you'll find at all your favorite on-line retailers. Amazon does promise, however , that you'll "receive the product" when released to shops on October 22nd. Note a 3 per customer limit so don't get greedy, ok? It's not like Microsoft can just press the OS onto another disc or something.

Update: Reduce priced pre-orders for the UK won't begin until July 15th with prices set at £49 for Windows 7 Home Premium E and £99 for Professional E, both will ship without Internet Explorer.

Update 2: For those wondering about the upgrade prices for Europe... there aren't any. In the UK, the Home Premium "upgrade" is actually a full-version of the OS and will cost £80 (about $131), Professional "upgrade" will cost £190 (about $312), and Ultimate will cost £200 (about $328) until the end of the year -- they'll cost £150 ($246), £220 ($361), and £230 ($377), respectively, starting January 1, 2010. According to the BBC, Microsoft claims that it can't offer the lower upgrade pricing ($120, $200, or $220 for Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate in the US) in order to comply with European competition regulations, a claim that EU regulators dismiss. As such, going from Vista to Windows 7 will require a clean install in the EU in order to remove Internet Explorer -- no in-place upgrades will be possible according to Microsoft. Look EU, if you're going to fine Microsoft billions for anti-competitive behavior then you have to expect this kind of tail-between-the-legs retribution, honest or not. You certainly can't say that Microsoft is using its market dominance to push out the competition when Apple's Snow Leopard is coming in September for a mere $29. Happy now?

As police make plans to conduct a second interview with Michael Jackson's doctor, the autopsy on the singer began Friday morning to determine the cause of his mysterious death, with Los Angeles County's top medical examiner conducting the procedure himself.

Jackson, 50, was declared dead at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Thursday afternoon after suffering a cardiac arrest in his home. His body was airlifted across town to the offices of the Los Angeles coroner for the autopsy that began fewer than 24 hours later.

Police already interviewed the physician who was present with Jackson at the time he was stricken, and contrary to reports the doctor "is not a missing person," says LAPD spokeswoman Officer Karen Rayner. The doctor "needs to be interviewed further," but the interview "just has not happened yet," she said. The doctor's car was impounded because "it contains potential information, medications or other evidence," she added.

At the coroner's office, Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, who has handled the high-profile O.J. Simpson and Phil Specter murder cases, was conducting the autopsy, which should take several hours, according to Ed Winter, chief of investigations for the coroner's office.

Given allegations of possible prescription drug abuse by the entertainer, a final determination of the cause of death will likely have to await toxicology tests, which can take days or weeks.

Michael Jackson was pronounced dead this afternoon, the Los Angeles Times reported. The pop star arrived at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told the Times.

Jackson was rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles after he suffered a heart attack. Paramedics administered CPR in the ambulance, according to TMZ.

TMZ reported that the call to 9-1-1 came in about 12:21 p.m. P.S.T. (3:21 p.m. Eastern) from Jackson's home in Los Angeles.

Capt. Steve Ruda of the Los Angeles Fire Department said Jackson was not breathing when paramedics arrived, the Los Angeles Times reported. The singer was taken to UCLA Medical Center.

The singer's 50-show residency at London's O2 Arena is supposed to kick off July 13.

Introducing the new Audi Q5: Performance, luxury and functionality meet unmistakable design. With features like piercing LED lighting, a distinctive front grille and quattro® all-wheel drive, you no longer have to compromise when it comes to crossovers

Too many Americans with HIV are diagnosed late in the course of their disease and miss out on the optimal benefit of effective treatments, U.S. health officials reported Thursday.

As many as 1 million Americans are infected with HIV, but up to a third don't know they have the disease because they haven't been tested for it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's why the agency recommends that HIV testing be a routine part of any medical examination.

"People are learning about their HIV infection several years after being infected," explained lead researcher Dr. R. Luke Shouse, from the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention.

"This means that they may have unknowingly transmitted HIV," Shouse said. "It also means that there is a time when they had HIV when they were not under appropriate medical care, so there are missed opportunities for prevention and care."

The new report on HIV testing appears in the June 26 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, to coincide with National HIV Testing Day on June 27. The day promotes testing as an important strategy to prevent and control transmission of HIV in the United States, according to the CDC.

According to the report, which collected data on people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 34 states from 1996 to 2005, 38.3 percent of those diagnosed with HIV were diagnosed with AIDS within a year, and 6.7 percent were diagnosed with AIDS over the next two years.

Since progression from HIV to AIDS typically takes about 10 years without treatment, these findings highlight the importance of testing for HIV early, when antiretroviral treatments can deliver maximum benefit, Shouse said.

Minorities were more likely to be diagnosed late, compared with whites, and more minorities than whites progressed to AIDS within three years, the researchers found.

In addition, people whose initial HIV diagnosis occurred when they were older were more likely to progress to AIDS within three years. Men diagnosed with HIV were also more likely to develop AIDS within three years, the researchers noted.

"It's important to be tested for HIV -- routine screening for folks 13 years and above with regular medical visits, and at-risk populations should be screened annually," Shouse said.

Another report in the same issue of the CDC journal showed that too few high school students have been tested for HIV. In fact, only 12.9 percent of all students, and 22.3 percent of students who have had sex, have been tested, researchers found.

"When you look at the younger age groups, we estimate, a little under half of people 13-to-24 who are HIV-positive know they are infected," said lead researcher Andrew C. Voetsch, also from CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.

That's about 50,000 people, Voetsch noted.

Voetsch said that to get more people tested, the message has to be reinforced with health-care providers, so public health agencies must educate health-care providers on the importance of testing. Also, people need to be educated about identifying HIV early, to get them into treatment and make them aware of how to protect their partners, he said.

A. David Paltiel, professor and acting division head of the Division of Health Policy and Administration at Yale University School of Medicine, said late testing is a problem that has been around for a long time.

"All of those people who are tested late have been unable to access drugs that would prolong their life," Paltiel said. "They are at much higher risk of the complications that actually kill people. This means a lot of mortality that could have been prevented."

Paltiel agreed that HIV testing should be a routine screening procedure. "There should be routine HIV testing for all sexually active adults and teenagers in all health-care settings," he said.

Routine HIV testing has been opposed because it stigmatizes people, Paltiel said.

"But now we've got these magnificent drugs that really do save lives, that really can reduce the transmission," he said. "So to the extent you make HIV screening routine, without singling people out, you may not only help save lives [and] reduce transmission, but you may destigmatize HIV testing."

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said it would slash prices on the main consumer version of Windows 7, the new version of its operating system, and will defer up to $300 million of revenue this quarter due to a program designed to help consumers upgrade.

The world's largest software company is under pressure to encourage customers to move rapidly to Windows 7, following a poor critical reception to its predecessor, Windows Vista, at a time of a challenging economy. Windows generates about 30% of the company's $60 billion in annual revenues.

Using a similar approach to one adopted in the run-up to Windows Vista's arrival, consumers and small businesses that buy new computers with Windows between Friday and Windows 7's Oct. 22 release will get a free copy of the new operating system when it becomes available.

The program doesn't include European countries where, due to antitrust challenges, Microsoft has decided to decouple its Internet Explorer browser from its operating system.

Accounting rules require such a transaction to result in some revenue being deferred during the program, which will end Jan. 31. 2010.

The deferred revenue projections Microsoft provided probably aren't a reliable indicator of Windows 7 demand, as they account for a small portion of total expected sales.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft said during an investor conference call Thursday that it is required to recognize sales under the upgrade program as two distinct products; a sale of Vista and a sale of Windows 7. Revenue recognition of products shipped to original equipment manufacturers: PC builders who bundle Windows with their products, can occur when the product is shipped to them. Revenue recognition for sales to consumers can't occur until consumers take delivery.

Microsoft expects most of the revenue deferred in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, which ends June 30., 2009, to be recognized by the second quarter of fiscal 2010.

Microsoft also said it's cutting the retail cost of its most popular Windows product, the Home Premium upgrade version, by around 10% in the U.S, though most other versions of the product are priced comparably with the most recent retail prices for Windows Vista.

When full copies of Windows 7 go on sale in October, Microsoft plans to charge $119 for Home Premium, $199 for Professional and $219 for Ultimate.

From Friday, Microsoft will also allow customers in the U.S., Canada and Japan to buy upgrade copies of Windows 7 Home Premium for a discounted price.

Credit Suisse analysts said in a research report last week they expect Microsoft to defer nearly $1.5 billion of revenue from the first quarter of fiscal 2010, starting July 1, to the one that begins Oct. 1. Thomas Weisel Partners, in a research note Thursday, said it believed the impact in the quarter would be "upwards of $1 billion.

It's difficult to extrapolate what the deferred revenue figures suggest about overall demand for Windows 7. Deferred revenue projections provided by the company largely reflect retail sales, a relatively small portion of total Windows sales. Microsoft doesn't disclose what percentage of Windows revenue comes from retail, but analysts say sales through original equipment manufacturers are the overwhelming majority.

One analyst said getting Windows 7 into the hands of consumers as smoothly as possible through retail would help fuel demand in the OEM channel.

Microsoft shares were recently up 27 cents, or 1.2%, at $23.75.

Oscar organizers on Wednesday unveiled plans to expand their list of best film nominees to 10 from five, broadening the group of contenders for the world's top film honors. The Beverly Hills-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which gives out the Oscars, or Academy Awards, annually honors the best movies, actors, actresses, directors and other filmmakers in a gala ceremony that is watched by tens of millions of people around the world.

Sexy? Yes. Megan Fox says it's part of "Transformers"

LOS ANGELES - Two years ago few people knew her face, much less her name. But now Megan Fox of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," is among Hollywood's hottest actresses whose sex appeal has won millions of fans. While many of the 23-year-old's peers might want to avoid the label "sex symbol" for fear it would obscure their acting talent, Fox, whose new "Transformers" sequel debuts in theaters on Wednesday, is just the opposite.
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Paisley considers "Then" and now on new album

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - In a scene that evokes visions of a backwoods Brill Building, several of Nashville's top songwriters have retreated to a rural outpost to write what they hope will be country radio hits. Their ringleader is Brad Paisley, who, with his co-writers, worked on songs for his new album, "American Saturday Night," in the guest house on his farm outside Nashville. Paisley has horses, cows and a couple of ponds on the property, where Grand Ole Opry star and Paisley's friend Little Jimmy Dickens comes over to fish. "It's a great place to get away," Paisley says. "You're nowhere near Music Row. We called it 'the dream factory' there for a while."

Daniel Craig eyes psychological thriller

NEW YORK - Daniel Craig can shake, but can he stir? The latest James Bond has proved a critical and commercial success in his two turns in the iconic role, for "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace." But he has been deliberate in choosing his next live-action role.

"Friends" stars reunite online

LOS ANGELES - A "Friends" reunion of sorts is coming to the Internet courtesy of Lexus. The carmaker is launching a second season of "Web Therapy," an online comedy series starring Lisa Kudrow for its branded-entertainment network, L Studio. Returning June 23, "Therapy" will feature Kudrow's fellow "Friends" alum Courteney Cox as a guest star. Don Roos directs.

Sarah Jessica Parker has twins via surrogate

NEW YORK - "Sex and the City" actress Sarah Jessica Parker and her actor husband Matthew Broderick had twin daughters via a surrogate mother, the couple's publicists said on Tuesday. Parker, 44, and Broderick, 47, who already have a six-year-old son said their daughters -- named Marion Loretta Elwell and Tabitha Hodge -- were born on Monday in Ohio.

"Jon & Kate" breakup wins large TV audience

LOS ANGELES - If misery loves company, then reality TV couple Jon and Kate Gosselin had plenty of both Monday night when millions of viewers watched on television as the parents of eight announced they were breaking up. Cable channel TLC, which airs reality show "Jon & Kate Plus 8," on Tuesday said that the previous night's episode attracted its biggest prime-time audience ever at 10.6 million total viewers with 6.5 million of those in the key 18-49 age group, a demographic sought by advertisers.

Heather Graham, Johnny Knoxville join Spacey film

LOS ANGELES - Kevin Spacey will star in and produce "Father of Invention," an ensemble comedy whose cast includes Heather Graham as a lesbian who sleeps with his character. The story follows a humble inventor-turned-egomaniacal billionaire (Spacey) who spends eight years in prison when one of his inventions goes awry. Upon release, he is seeks to rebuild his reputation and fortune but finds that easier than salvaging his relationship with his family.

Beastie Boys pouring "Hot Sauce" on September 15

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The Beastie Boys have confirmed that their eighth studio album, "Hot Sauce Committee Part 1," will be released September 15 by Capitol. The set will include 17 tracks, including "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" featuring Santigold and "Too Many Rappers" featuring Nas, which the artists performed together at the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tenn. on June 12. The album will be available in multiple configurations, including a 5.1 surround mix.

Ed McMahon dies at 86

LOS ANGELES - Ed McMahon, a fixture on U.S. late-night television for 30 years as the full-throated announcer and sidekick for Johnny Carson on NBC's "The Tonight Show," died on Tuesday at 86 after battling a series of illnesses in recent months. The veteran TV personality best known for his nightly introduction of Carson in a deep, booming voice with the drawn-out line, "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" died at a Los Angeles-area hospital, and was immediately hailed by friends and former colleagues as an icon of American popular culture.

In controlled JavaScript Web site renders, the iPhone 3GS is nearly three times as fast as the iPhone 3G and Palm Pre, and 5.5 times faster than the T-Mobile G1, according to a new study, which also reveals that the iPhone 3.0 software alone has a dramatic impact on the speed in which an iPhone 3G renders websites.

In releasing its new speed-centric update to the iPhone, Apple has boasted that the 3GS is twice as fast as its predecessor, but the company has remained mum on the handset’s actual specifications. Thanks to T-Mobile of the Netherlands, though, we know with certainty that the 3GS sports a 600MHz processor and 256MB of RAM – this compared to the 400MHz processor and 128MB of RAM on the iPhone 3G.

Based on the report released Wednesday from Medialets, a smartphone-based advertising and analytics platform, the iPhone 3GS spec bump far exceeds Apple’s “twice as fast” sales pitch in real-world tests.

Medialets’s test aimed for a fair way to compare each of the major smartphone platforms. Because they all run very different operating systems, to compare their ability to run applications would be a misnomer. However, all three platforms run browsers based on the open source WebKit standard. A MacBook running Safari was used in the test for a baseline comparison.

WebKit’s SunSpider JavaScript benchmark test was used to compare six different implementations of the WebKit browser. The test systems were:

1. Safari 4.0.1 on a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo White MacBook.
2. Mobile Safari on the iPhone 3G with iPhone OS v2.2.1
3. Mobile Safari on the iPhone 3G with iPhone OS v3.0
4. Mobile Safari on the iPhone 3GS with iPhone OS v3.0
5. The “Browser” app on the T-Mobile G1 with Android OS v1.5 (Cupcake)
6. The “Web” app on the Palm Pre with Web OS v1.0.2


Of the mobile platforms, the iPhone 3GS came away the clear winner, besting the times of the iPhone 3G and Palm Pre by clear margins. The 3GS took an average of 16.5 seconds to render the page, while the Pre took 48.6 seconds, and the 3G running iPhone OS 3.0 took 48.7 seconds. The T-Mobile G1 took 91.1 seconds.

Another interesting outcome of the study: The iPhone 3.0 firmware has a drastic effect on the ability of the iPhone 3G to render JavaScript. The iPhone 3G running OS 2.2.1 took a whopping 132.3 seconds in the SunSpider test run by Medialets, losing clearly to even the T-Mobile G1.

A report released last week by Anandtech also showed the iPhone 3GS as the clear speed winner among all major smartphone platforms – though the end results didn’t show as drastic of an advantage for Apple’s new phone as Medialets’s study. In loading a series of popular Web sites, the Anandtech test showed the iPhone 3GS to be an average of 11 percent faster than its new WebKit-based competitor, the Palm Pre.

Of course, Web browsing only makes up one facet of the mobile phone platform. As 1up.com’s Jeremy Parish demonstrated in his game-centric 3GS review, the new iPhone’s performance boost made a huge difference in the playability of Namco Bandai's “i Love Katamari,” a game originally written for and released on the iPhone 3G. With the instant success of the iPhone 3GS in terms of sales, it is only inevitable that new games that take advantage of the speed of the new platform will begin to crop up.

Google plans to unveil AdSense for Mobile Applications Wednesday. The tool allows companies that develop applications that run on Apple's iPhone and Google's operating system Android to earn revenue by displaying text and image ads along with their apps.

Developers insert a small snippet of code into their application. This allows the phones to display the ads. This code plugs the application into Google's network of partners and publishers. The code gives developers control of where the ad appears on the screen. The ad targeting is contextual, similar to targeting that exists for AdSense partners.

"We are also experimenting with ways to allow advertisers to bid for ad placement on specific applications," says a Google spokesperson. Google works with application developers to determine the proper signals that help AdSense for Mobile determine the relevance of an ad. The system then matches the signals to relevant advertiser keywords who bid for placement on Google's Content Network through the AdWords interface.

Now, iPhone and Android application developers can connect their applications with Google's network. From there, ads appear within the applications and developers earn revenue, similar to regular Web sites displaying Google-brokered ads.

Tina Teng, senior analyst at research firm iSuppli, estimates 10.7 million phones worldwide will run Android in 2010, compared with 22.3 million iPhones in the market. Those numbers will rise from 4.5 million units and 18.7 million units, respectively, this year.

Tests have been underway for a few months with companies, such as game publisher Sega, music search engine Shazam and restaurant recommendation site Urbanspoon. Now, Google is ready to open up the project to more developers who meet specific criteria.

Well known for the mobile application that serves up recommendations for restaurants on the iPhone with manual search or shake of the phone, Urbanspoon began testing AdSense for Mobile a few months ago. The application lets Urbanspoon insert ads to target consumers through keyword and geography, which makes the ads relevant to the location of the user and the content of the application. So, Urbanspoon inserted the necessary snippets into the source code of their application to allow Google-brokered advertisements to appear within their application. When those ads get clicked-on, taking the user to the site being advertised, Urbanspoon collects ad revenue.

As mobile phones continue to get more sophisticated, so will ads. Adobe Systems and handset maker HTC also reported Wednesday the new HTC Hero will support Flash Platform technology to enhance Web browsing and provide access to a variety of Flash technology based content available on the Web today. Verizon and T-Mobile USA plan to offer Motorola smart phones running Google's Android OS by the end of this year.

A handful of Apple Inc. (AAPL) executives has emerged as the company's new crop of leaders as expectations grow that Chief Executive Steve Jobs will take a less active role when he returns from medical leave later this month.

Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, who has assumed Jobs' day-to-day responsibilities since the Apple co-founder went on leave in January, and senior vice president for marketing Phil Schiller, who has stood in for Jobs at several important company functions, are the most visible stars on Apple's deep bench. Others include Scott Forstall, who runs Apple's iPhone software operations, and Jonathan Ive, who heads the team that designs Apple's sleek products.

These and other members of Apple's management team took on new importance over the weekend after The Wall Street Journal reported that Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, had gotten a liver transplant. Jobs is credited with being the visionary behind products like the iPod music player and the iPhone smart phone, both of which helped resurrect a once-pioneering computer company that had fallen on hard times.

Analysts say that giving some of these executives responsibilities that used to be Jobs' won't disrupt the company. That's because the executives have worked with Jobs for years and learned from him.

"All of Apple's top management uses the 'What would Steve do?' mantra," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies Inc., who has tracked Apple for decades. "That would continue to be the case even if Steve was not there to guide them in person."

An Apple spokesman had no immediate comment for this story.

Jobs also sits on the board of Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and became its largest shareholder in early 2006 when it agreed to acquire Pixar Animation Studios, where Jobs served as chairman and chief executive.

Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger has said he frequently consults Jobs on business decisions, and Jobs helps oversee the company's animation businesses with a seat on a special six-man steering committee. So the new revelations about his health situation could lead to more questions about Jobs' ability to perform his duties at the media giant.

Disney didn't respond to an inquiry for this story, but its chairman, John Pepper, was questioned about the issue at Disney's annual shareholders meeting in March after Jobs was a no-show.

"We have not thought at all of the contingency of Steve not being on this board," Pepper said. "Our only thoughts are with him and his rapid recovery."

Already, Apple has demonstrated that it can function smoothly without Jobs' presence. Its latest iPhone, introduced last week, is outpacing sales expectations and has gotten rave reviews. Meanwhile, the company has delivered two quarters of Wall Street-pleasing results. And even without Jobs, Apple shares have surged 75% from a 52-week low hit in late January. On Monday, Apple shares fell 1.5% to $137.37.

Cook is the most visible of Apple's stars, establishing himself as the CEO-in-waiting since taking over for Jobs.

Cook joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president of operations, and four years later was promoted to executive vice president of worldwide sales and operations. He was promoted to senior vice president of operations in 2002. In 2004, his responsibilities were expanded to include Apple's Macintosh division. He was named COO in October 2005.

Cook and Jobs are the tech industry's odd couple. Cook is known for being easygoing, and Jobs' edginess is legendary. While Jobs is Apple's brilliant idea man, Cook is an operations wizard who turns those visions into reality.

Cook's ability to make Apple's sprawling operations move on time has many observers betting he'll be appointed CEO when and if Jobs takes a diminished role upon his return. The Wall Street Journal has also reported he may be appointed to Apple's board as well.

"He's as intense as Steve is, but with a different style," said Michael Janes, who worked at Apple for five years under Cook and Jobs, and now runs online ticket bazaar FansSnap.com

Schiller, who went to work for Apple in 1997, is now responsible for Apple's product marketing, developer relations and business marketing programs.

Forstall is arguably in charge of the company's most important product: the software that runs the iPhone. He joined Apple about 11 years ago and was one of the original architects of Apple's Mac OS X operating system software and, most recently, worked on Mac OS X Leopard.

Ive, a Londoner, has also been making lots of appearances at Apple events. His team is responsible for designing the look and feel of Apple products, which are widely considered to be among the most aesthetically pleasing in the tech space.

Comedy, whether it's romantic or raunchy, innocent or goofy, is on a roll at the the box office and helped end a three-week mini-slump for the industry.

Thanks to the surprising strength of Disney's "The Proposal" and the solid opening of Sony's "Year One," this weekend's box office was up almost 3% over the same weekend a year ago. That ended three weekends of negative results in comparison to last June. And with "Transformers" and the latest "Harry Potter" on the way, box-office watchers can put away the Advil for now.

It wasn't just the new comedies driving attendance this weekend. "The Hangover" is still packing a punch for Warner Bros. three weeks after it opened, taking in $26.9 million, according to Hollywood.com. Disney/Pixar's "Up" raked in another $21.3 million, and with $224.1 million total box office, it already has passed "Wall-E" in U.S. box office in just four weeks.

"Comedy is on an extreme roll," said Chuck Viane, president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios. Unless, of course, you used to work on "Saturday Night Live." Eddie Murphy's "Imagine That" took in only $3.1 million for Paramount in its second weekend while Will Ferrell's "Land of the Lost" pulled in just $4 million for Universal Pictures in its third week of release.

Viane said the $34.1 million that "The Proposal" earned was, to put it mildly, a surprise. "We never expected to double the best Sandra Bullock movie ever ["Premonition"]. Most industry estimates for the movie, which also may move Bullock's costar Ryan Reynolds into leading-man status, had it opening in the mid-$20-million range.

As expected, the audience for "The Proposal" was mostly female. But Viane said he expected that to change in the weeks ahead. "More and more guys are hearing how funny it is and are going along for the ride."

The other big comedy premiere, Sony's "Year One," starring Jack Black and Michael Cera as odd-couple cavemen, did a respectable $20.2 million, which was in line with industry projections. Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony Pictures Entertainment, said he was surprised that 53% of the audience for "Year One" was over 21. "We thought it would play much younger than it did," he said, adding that $20.2 million is "a good start for us and in the range we were expecting."

Here are the top 10 films at the domestic box office this weekend, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com:

1. "The Proposal" (Disney): Opened to $34.1 million.

2. "The Hangover" (Warner Bros./Legendary): $26.9 million, down only 18%. Domestic total: $152.9 million.

3. "Up" (Disney/Pixar): $21.3, off just 31%. Domestic total: $224.1 million

4. "Year One" (Sony/Columbia Pictures): Opened to $20.2 million

5."Taking of Pelham 123" (Sony/Columbia Pictures): $11.3 million, a 52% drop from its opening weekend. Domestic total: $43.3 million.

6. "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (Fox): $7.3 million, down 24%. Domestic total: $156 million.

7. "Star Trek" (Paramount/Spyglass): $4.7 million, down 14%. Domestic total: $239.4 million.

8. "Land of the Lost" (Universal): $4 million, down 56%. Domestic total: $43.7 million.

9. "Imagine That" (Paramount): $3.1 million, down 44%. Domestic total: $11.3 million.

10. "Terminator: Salvation" (Warner Bros./Halcyon): $3.1 million, down 36%. Domestic total: $119.5 million

Five and a half months ago, word that Steve Jobs would only work part-time as he recovered from a liver transplant would have sent investors into a selling frenzy, so closely linked was Apple's charismatic co-founder and CEO to the company's success.
But now, with Jobs' return to Apple just days away that prospect is a lot less daunting.

Wall Street has grappled with the implications of Jobs' illness since August 2004, when investors learned the CEO had kept a cancer diagnosis secret until after he underwent surgery. Investors feared a half-year absence would leave one of the oldest computer makers adrift, because Jobs had become the essence of the company he co-founded in 1976. But in the last few months, the company released must-have gadgets and software improvements with nary a public hiccup. Its shares have almost doubled, raising the question of how central Jobs is to Apple today?

The company's past silence on matters of Jobs' health made shareholders jittery when Jobs appeared increasingly, even alarmingly, thin last year. Easily spooked, investors sent the stock tumbling 5 percent to its lowest point in a year on a rumor last October that Jobs had suffered a heart attack.

Then shares slipped 2 percent in December when Apple said that Jobs would not speak as usual the next month at the annual Macworld conference, then bounced up 4 percent on Jan. 5 when Jobs explained his weight loss as a treatable hormone imbalance. They sank 7 percent a week later after Apple said he would be taking six months off because his medical problems were more complex than he initially thought.

Since then, Wall Street's whiplash has had time to heal, especially because Apple's stock has weathered the recession better than those of most of its competitors. Shares have improved 76 percent since the dark day in January when Jobs announced his leave, closing Friday at $139.48.

It is not yet clear how investors will take the latest word, that Jobs had a liver transplant two months ago in Tennessee, according to The Wall Street Journal, and that he will likely work part-time, at least at first.

Apple has not confirmed the report, and has said only that Jobs is looking forward to returning to Apple at the end of the month. Spokesman Steve Dowling had no further comment Sunday.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple put its chief operating officer at the helm during Jobs' absence. Tim Cook had been tested in the role during Jobs' first bout with cancer and shared the stage with the CEO during key product announcements last fall. He brimmed with confidence in the early days of Jobs' medical leave, assuring analysts that the show would go on even without its frontman.

"The values of our company are extremely well entrenched," Cook said in the company's fiscal first-quarter earnings call in January. "We believe that we're on the face of the Earth to make great products, and that's not changing."

Indeed, Apple has produced in the last six months: updated laptops with lower entry-level prices, updated Mac software and a faster iPhone with many requested features. Apple's cult-like followers remain avid, some camping overnight at Apple stores last week to be one of the first to snatch up the new iPhone 3G S, despite a pre-order option offered for the first time by Apple and wireless carriers.

Tim Bajarin, an analyst for Creative Strategies who has been following Apple for more than 25 years, said things ran smoothly in Jobs' absence because he had already relinquished much of his control over the company.

"Jobs hasn't been running day to day operations for almost two years, well before he got sick," Bajarin said. Cook was de facto in charge, and the people in charge of each of Apple's gadgets and programs were, for the most part, working without a net.

"They only went to Jobs on big issues and questions and making sure their programs where in line with Jobs' overall vision," he said, which the CEO scopes out in 10-year increments.

While Jobs has taken much of the credit for Apple's turnaround in the last decade, Cook has played an import role behind the scenes, says Roger Kay, an industry analyst and president of Endpoint Technologies Associates.

"If you want to look at Apple's history and see where they made execution errors and when those ceased, you can time it almost exactly to the arrival of Tim Cook," Kay said, pointing to several product launches around the late 1990s where Apple would create demand for a new product, and then have problems delivering enough of it. "He, as the operations guy, has really made the trains run on time."

While Jobs has reportedly recovered well from his transplant and Apple has said repeatedly that the CEO will be back at the end of June, the company will eventually have to confront the fact of its leader's mortality. And no matter how many accolades Cook and the Apple product teams garner, it will be near-impossible to find someone like Jobs to replace him.

Kay is skeptical Apple will be able to continue its success simply by asking itself, "What would Steve do?" After all, the message that Apple's bench is deep and capable is coming from Apple itself.

"You can always do product extensions, it doesn't take a genius," Kay said. "Who's going to come up with a new product category that's going to do what the iPhone and the iPod have done?"

Jobs' health problems could push him to groom a successor, a task Kay said the CEO has not likely undertaken.

"You don't have a little Steve somewhere waiting in the wings," Kay said. "An autocrat like Steve would not allow somebody like Steve anywhere near himself."

Following the recent jury decision against alleged file sharer Jammie Thomas, in which the woman was fined $80,000 USD for each of the 24 songs she shared via P2P, the popular artist Moby has written a blog entry claiming the RIAA "should be disbanded" for using the wrong techniques against people who are just trying to listen to music.

His full post:

"The riaa have sued Jammie Thomas-Rasset of minnesota for $2,000,000 for illegally downloading music.

argh. what utter nonsense. this is how the record companies want to protect themselves? suing suburban moms for listening to music? charging $80,000 per song?

punishing people for listening to music is exactly the wrong way to protect the music business. maybe the record companies have adopted the 'it's better to be feared than respected' approach to dealing with music fans. i don't know, but 'it's better to be feared than respected' doesn't seem like such a sustainable business model when it comes to consumer choice. how about a new model of 'it's better to be loved for helping artists make good records and giving consumers great records at reasonable prices'?

i'm so sorry that any music fan anywhere is ever made to feel bad for making the effort to listen to music.

the riaa needs to be disbanded."

Sandra Bullock took the crown at the weekend box office in North America for the first time in 10 years with her latest romantic comedy, according to preliminary sales data issued Saturday.

"The Proposal" sold $12.4 million worth of tickets across the United States and Canada Friday, said Walt Disney Co.'s Touchstone Pictures.

The film ended the two-week reign of the bachelor-party comedy "The Hangover," which earned $8.5 million Friday, according to Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros. Pictures.

Also reporting $8.5 million was the new Jack Black prehistoric comedy "Year One," which was released by Sony Corp's Columbia Pictures.

A clearer picture will emerge Sunday when the studios issue three-day estimates.

Bullock, 44, stars in "The Proposal" as a book executive who fakes an engagement to her lowly assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to avoid deportation to her native Canada. Inevitable hilarity ensues when she meets his parents. Reviews were mixed at best.

She last went to No. 1 in 1999 with "Forces of Nature," which co-starred Ben Affleck. Her most recent wide releases, 2007's "Premonition" and 2006's "The Lake House," ended their runs with about $50 million each. She generally does better with romantic comedies such as "Miss Congeniality" ($107 million) and "Two Weeks Notice" ($93 million).

This week's top Apple news was highlighted by our review of iPhone OS 3.0 and news of the iPhone 3G S, but that wasn't all. Tidbits about Snow Leopard's fonts and other goodies made the list, as well as news about Safari and developer frustrations from WWDC.



One would think that this week, leading up to the launch of the iPhone 3G S, would be entirely taken over by iPhone news. As a pleasant surprise, that turned out not to be the case. Although our review of iPhone OS 3.0 topped the list and there were tidbits about early iPhone 3G S pricing and MMSes through AT&T, there was also news about upcoming changes in Snow Leopard, the Psystar lawsuit, and Safari 4. Read on to catch up:

Hands on review: iPhone OS 3.0 chock full of changes: iPhone OS 3.0 is out and it runs on all generations of iPhone and iPod touch. Ars reviews the OS and takes a look at what's in store. If you're not planning to buy a shiny new iPhone 3G S, you may find yourself quite satisfied with your 3G iPhone running the new OS.

Font changes coming to Mac OS X Snow Leopard: One Mac developer has discovered a few interesting changes to fonts that are coming to the next version of Mac OS X. Apple is planning to say goodbye to a long-time monospaced friend of Mac developers.

Good news and bad news regarding the new MacBook Pro: The good news: the new MacBook Pro's battery life is amazing. The bad news: the internal SATA seems limited to 1.5Gbps. Given that the battery life runs more than eight hours, though, that's bad news we can live with.

AT&T eases upgrade pricing for some early iPhone 3G adopters: If you waited in line all day for an iPhone 3G last July and have one of the pricier calling plans, AT&T will throw you a bone and offer you a full subsidy for an iPhone 3G S. If not, well, then nothing has changed.

More of those Snow Leopard "enhancements and refinements": If you've heard enough already about the new iPhone 3G S or the new iPhone OS 3.0 and remember a time when the Mac was the main focus of Apple, then we have some news for you about some more refinements coming in Snow Leopard.

Safari 4 downloaded 11 million times in 3 days since release: The final release of Safari 4 has been downloaded more than 11 million times, according to Apple. With a big chunk of that being Windows users, it seems as if the browser's adoption rates have gotten off to a good start.

Psystar owes Apple $75,000 while Apple moves to lift stay: The Apple v Psystar saga continues as Psystar admits to owing Apple $75,000 due to "litigation." Meanwhile, Apple has filed a motion to lift the automatic stay on its case against Psystar.

Devs given no chance to ask Apple about App Store rejections: App Store rejections continue to confound iPhone developers and Apple did exactly nothing to address the problems during a WWDC '09 session geared towards the app publishing process. Though there is some evidence that Apple is working internally to fix the problems, Apple should do more to communicate the problems and potential solutions with its developer community.


AT&T: Pay for SMS package on iPhone? MMS won't cost extra: MMSes on the iPhone apparently won't come with extra charges from AT&T, the company acknowledged in a PDF posted to its website—as long as you pay for a text messaging package, that is. The question remains: will a single MMS equate to more than one SMS?

Apple's Snow Leopard Up-to-Date program is now live: Get Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard for (almost) free even if you have bought a Mac before Snow Leopard's release. With Apple's Up-to-Date program, you'll just have to pay for shipping if you have a qualifying Mac or Xserve.

Have a great weekend everyone, and enjoy your iPhone 3G Ses, if you have them!

Rev. Alberto Cutie, left, reads a statement as his girlfriend Ruhama Canellis, right, looks on during a May 28 news conference at the Trinity Cathedral Church in Miami. The telegenic Miami priest left the Catholic Church amid an uproar over published photos of him kissing his girlfriend on the beach.

A telegenic Miami priest known as "Father Oprah," who left the Catholic Church amid an uproar over tabloid photos of him kissing his girlfriend on the beach, has made the relationship official, marrying the woman he was involved with for about two years.

The Rev. Alberto Cutie and Ruhama Canellis were married Tuesday by a judge in Coral Gables, according to Miami-Dade County court records. No other details of the wedding were known.

It was the latest in the public spectacle that started when photos of Cutie embracing his longtime girlfriend surfaced last month.

News Corp.'s struggling social network MySpace said it would lay off nearly 30% of its staff -- or about 425 people -- as part of a plan to restructure the business.

“Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company,” said MySpace Chief Executive Officer Owen Van Natta. “I understand that these changes are painful for many. They are also necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace. Our intent is to return to an environment of innovation that is centered on our user and our product.”

When Rupert Murdoch struck a deal to buy MySpace for $580 million in 2005, he was hailed as a a new media visionary, the mogul who got the Internet. News Corp. had out maneuvered rival Viacom for the site, which so annoyed Sumner Redstone that he pushed out his CEO Tom Freston.

RUPERT Soon after the MySpace deal, Murdoch told Wired Magazine that the Internet "is media's golden age." That's yet to be proven but later in the interview he was a little more prescient. "God knows what we're going to do with MySpace," he said.

Now four years later that's what everyone else is wondering that as well. Facebook has surpassed MySpace as the top social network site in the United States. It has little buzz anymore and its advertising revenue has dropped over the last year. Its groundbreaking $900-million advertising deal with Google ends next year and that revenue will be hard to replace.

Inside News Corp., integrating MySpace into the rest of the spawling media company has proven a challenge. MySpace has never become the platform for News Corp. content that many thought it would be when it acquired the company. MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe often clashed with other executives and left the company last spring, succeeded by Van Natta, Facebook's former chief revenue officer.

Bringing MySpace back to the top may be a steep challenge for Van Natta and Jonathan Miller, News Corp.'s new chief digital officer. Unlike television where everyone is one hit away from returning glory, social network sites that start to fade tend to keep fading. Anyone remember Friendster?

Diamond jewels worth around 250,000 pounds ($410,000) have gone missing after a London photo shoot involving U.S. actress Lindsay Lohan, her U.S. spokeswoman and British police said Tuesday.

British media said the jewels were made by Dior and loaned to Elle magazine for the shoot in north London on June 6.

"Officers from Westminster police are investigating an allegation of theft of jewelry from studios in Brewery Road, Islington," the police said in a statement.

They did not name Lohan, but the statement was issued in response to a query about the 22-year-old actress.

"The theft was reported to a central London police station on 8 June 2009 after earrings and a necklace, believed to be diamond and estimated to be worth in the region of 250,000 pounds, were found to be missing approximately two days earlier."

The police said there had been no arrests, and that they would be interviewing several people in connection with their inquiry.

A spokeswoman for Lohan, who is trying to rebound from recent troubles that included a 2007 drink driving conviction, acknowledged the probe.

But she added that there were some 20 people at the photo shoot, Lohan was not being investigated personally and she had not yet been questioned by police.

"No one has contacted us" about it, said the spokeswoman.

Research In Motion is adding another smartphone to its BlackBerry lineup as it aims to win market share among both executives and mainstream consumers despite tough economic conditions.

The new model is known as the BlackBerry Tour and falls somewhere between the BlackBerry Curve, which has proved very popular with consumers, and the BlackBerry Bold, which RIM has aimed at high-end corporate users.

RIM co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie told Reuters in an interview that the new device will soon launch with Verizon and Sprint in the United States and Telus and BCE's Bell unit in Canada.

Even though the device isn't drastically different from many other BlackBerry handsets in appearance -- it has the familiar candy-bar shape with a full keyboard -- Balsillie said the Tour is a "big step forward".

It is what RIM calls a "world phone," which means it can easily access voice and data services on networks outside the user's home country. This has proven popular with business users in the past.

To appeal to the retail market, the Tour is loaded with multimedia features similar to those found in the BlackBerry Curve and Pearl, including a photo and video camera and media player.

Unveiling products that cross customer categories is proving increasingly important to Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM and it is continuing to make deeper inroads into the broader retail market.

However, the company is also being careful not to alienate the corporate users who have been its mainstay and who rely on its smartphones to send wireless e-mail securely.

At the same time, rivals such as Apple and Palm in North America and Nokia in Europe are launching new products and aggressively pricing their phones to lure users.

RIM shares were up C$3.15, or 3.5 percent, at C$94.05 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning.

($1=$1.13 Canadian)

The battle on the streets is fought also online as authorities attempt to block, jam and cut off communications.

Iran has slipped into a guerrilla-style Internet and Twitter game of strategies and slogans pecked out by protesters attempting to outflank a government that has shut down communication outlets, leaving the nation breathless on snippets of text and stealthily uploaded pictures.

It is a battle on the streets and across the airways affecting the rest of the Middle East as well, a realm where technology is both churning out and smothering polarizing messages and images. Iranian authorities have blocked opposition websites, jammed satellite TV channels and cut off text messaging. Still, word is trickling beyond the censors, linking, however sparsely, opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rule from the capital of Tehran to those in villages in the north.



The StopAhmadi twitter is both philosophical and terse:

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. Over n' out."

"Girl shot in Tehran."

The Persiankiwi twitter lists updates of police movements and arrests: "Our street is quiet now -- we cannot move tonight but must move asap when dawn starts."

Iranians are limited in what they see on television or hear on the radio regarding the extent of the outrage over Ahmadinejad's reelection in disputed balloting last week. They are navigating in a vacuum sealed by a security-force crackdown. But footage of burning cars, masked boys and bloodied protesters is playing across the Middle East, captivating Arab countries where repressive regimes have for years been arresting their own political bloggers and cyberspace dissidents.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Sunni nations have tense relations with Ahmadinejad and Shiite-led theocracy controlling Iran. But they don't want the protests in Iran to ignite similar democratic fervor in their countries, especially the merging of the Internet, texting and Facebook with a potent opposition leader.

So far, that has yet to happen. Egyptian activists, for example, have over the last year called for rallies and strikes on Facebook and Twitter, but they have no galvanizing personality and are not organized enough to pose a threat to a police state controlled by President Hosni Mubarak.

Iran is offering an intriguing glimpse into how years of disillusionment can suddenly leap from cafes and university campuses to a national revolt where dueling political voices and agendas square off amid banners, rhetoric and allegations of election fraud. It is a mix of political activism, democratic expression and shorthand typed in tight grids of letters and numbers onto screens large and small.

"I don't think similar events could even take place in Egypt or other Arab countries," said Ibrahim Issa. The editor of the Cairo independent Al Dustour, Issa has been arrested a number of times for criticizing the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "We hope and we always keep faith that what's happening in Iran could push Arabs to try and do the same against their oppressive regimes. But reality tells us that this is not applicable. We are comparing 30 years of what I can call Iranian democracy to 30 years of Egyptian tyranny."

The Iranian elections have "imposed themselves on everything. The masses of young men, the noticeable presence of young women -- especially female university students -- and the slogans of change, the intense competition that raged," Mohammad Hussein Yusifi wrote in the Kuwait daily Awan. "All these factors left us no possibility but to observe closely what is happening on the Iranian scene."

The characters in that tumult, appearing amid videos of tear gas and police swinging batons, have provided alluring narratives: presidential challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi, whose Facebook fan group has about 50,000 members, standing amid throngs of his supporters; Ahmadinejad proclaiming victory and calling for calm; and the hovering visage of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Each is mentioned on Twitter missives bristling with rumors and innuendo about what might happen next.

But sometimes things go blank. Today, one writer on Persiankiwi, which has nearly 19,000 followers, posted this: "I must log off now -- will log on when I have more info -- need phone line -- no mobile cover, no sms, no satellite, no radio."

Similar difficulties also are encountered by international media organizations. Teymoor Nabili, a reporter for Al Jazeera, wrote on the network's website: "Day-by-day our ability to access any information has been slowly whittled away. . . . I am no longer allowed to take a camera out into the streets. I'm not even sure I can walk out into the streets with a mobile phone without getting into trouble."

Activists and bloggers watching developments in Iran from afar say the protests show the promise and limits of technology in orchestrating the kind of social unrest seen in Tehran. There is also the sentiment that Iranian activists rising up against a hard-line, anti-Western regime enjoy more international support than their counterparts in Arab countries where anti-democratic governments are close U.S. allies.

"A cyber war and its bloggers [can't] carry out a revolution or overthrow a certain regime on its own. This will never happen, not in Iran, Egypt or anywhere else in the world. Bloggers never promised that they can change political systems," said Wael Abbas, a blogger and human rights activist in Egypt. "Full revolution has to come from the masses in the streets."

The massive street rallies and placards in Tehran make Issa, the Cairo editor, envious. "The current Egyptian system was built on fraud while the Iranian revolution was built by the people, and that is why they are fighting for such a system," he said. "The bottom line is that, unlike Iran, we are politically dead."

Some columnists in the Arab world believe -- like they view many issues in the region -- that the protests in Iran are influenced by American foreign policy. The thinking goes that Iran's Islamic leadership remains divided over how to respond to conciliatory gestures by the Obama administration. One side wants to open up to Washington to enhance Iran's stature and protect its regional interests.

"But another camp believes that the U.S. has not and will not abandon the aim of toppling the regime," wrote Sa'd Mehio in the United Arab Emirates' daily Al Khaleej. "If violence does not do it, as the Bush administration was planning to do, then diplomacy and temptations might do it, as the Obama administration is currently doing. In addition, some sectors of this camp are genuinely concerned about the negative repercussions of this dialogue on the Iranian Revolution's ideological coherence."

Iran's revolutionary spirit has been unbottled again. And for the Arab world, it is a lesson in resistance and a maturing democracy that may be controlled by clerics but is expressing its will in the streets and in blips of Twitters and tweets.

With more than 9,000 voters piping in, Adam Lambert has a substantial lead over Kris Allen (68% vs 32%) in our poll asking this question: Which "American Idol" contestant will win more showbiz awards?

"This article is ludicrous!" cried a reader in the comments section of one of our "American Idol"-Grammy pieces. "Mr. O'Neil, if your intent was to rile everyone up, then you succeeded," fumes another reader.

Those outcries are typical of many comments by posters furious — or baffled — by us daring to ask such a question. What's the problem? Isn't "American Idol" everyman's equivalent to the Grammys? The TV singing contest purports to tell us what average folk think of these performers. Why can't we compare them to the winners of the industry's Grammy?

On one hand, the pondering might reveal who'll win "Idol." Carrie Underwood is a fine example of someone who's won both contests. She's claimed four Grammys over all, including one of the top four prizes: best new artist. Maybe Kelly Clarkson too — she's won two Grammys in the pop categories.

However, success at one music contest doesn't necessarily mean payoff at the other. Among "Idol" losers, Jennifer Hudson has not only won a Grammy but an Oscar too. Chris Daughtry's self-titled band hasn't won a Grammy, but it has scored four nominations.

But that's not what has gotten Gold Derby readers so riled up. It's that we had the audacity to ask: Is it possible for Allen to win "Idol" but Lambert to have the most enduring music career as measured by showbiz awards? Scroll through the comments in response and you'll see such outcries as "This is the stupidest article!"

Our posters also popped their cyber-corks when we had the audacity to wonder: Will Adam Lambert turn out to be a loser after winning 'American Idol'? Scroll through the comments section and you'll see this doozy reply: "This is the most biased and ridiculous article I have read all day." Another poster harrumphs in a grammatically challenged way: "You sure got a lot of hate, didn't you?"

While we compare how America's Grammys have fared opposite the music biz's Grammys, it's relevant to explore how the "American Idol" TV show has fared when judged by the TV industry's highest honor: the Emmy.

Answer: not well. "American Idol" keeps winning TV's Nielsen contest. It's not only TV's top-rated reality show, it's the tube's most-watched show, period, but it's lost the Emmy for best reality competition show six times to "Amazing Race." It's also lost 32 other Emmy contests. Its only victories were in crafts categories and, since one of those (best technical direction, 2007) was for the "Idol Gives Back" TV special, that means that the actual weekly TV series has won only one Emmy (best picture editing, 2008).

If you haven't yet voted in at our poll, pipe in here.