Thor Marvel.

Thor!!
Marvel/Paramount

The Hangover 2 spotted filming, plot details revealed

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L.A. Dispensaries

WeedMaps

Senko no Night Raid

Plot Summary: The story is set in Shanghai in 1931, when the Imperial Japanese Army has been dispatched to mainland China due to the relatively recent First Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War, and World War I. In this cosmopolitan city of intrigue, there is a special military spy organization called “Sakurai Kikan” that has since been buried in history.
Episodes

Cowboys & Aliens

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Russian Billionaire Imprisoned

Khodorkovsky was once Russia's richest oil tycoon who fell out with Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin when he backed opposition politicians.

He has been in jail for tax evasion since 2003 and has now been found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the United States is "troubled by the allegations of serious due process violations and what appears to be an abusive use of the legal system for improper ends".

"The apparent selective application of the law to these individuals undermines Russia's reputation as a country committed to deepening the rule of law," Mr Gibbs said.

Earlier, secretary of state Hillary Clinton said the verdict "raises serious questions about selective prosecution and about the rule of law being overshadowed by political considerations".

There were shouts of "freedom" as the fallen billionaire, who has already spent seven years behind bars, was led into court.

Supporters of Khodorkovsky were bundled away, while cameras were kept out of the court room.

The guilty verdict was widely expected among observers and during the trial Khodorkovsky said he was prepared to die in prison.

Mr Putin seemed to predict the outcome of the trial when asked about Khodorkovsky in a call-in show earlier this month.

"A thief must be in jail," he said.

"According to a court ruling, Khodorkovsky is considered guilty of theft, quite a substantial one."

Oil wealth made Khodorkovsky the richest person in Russia but he was convicted of fraud and his assets were stripped after he split with the Kremlin.
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Amazing Spider Man!

Amazing Spider-Man #652
REVENGE OF THE SPIDER-SLAYER Part 1 of 3 “Army of Insects” THE SCORPION was just the beginning! Alistair Smythe, THE SPIDER-SLAYER, has returned, and Mac Gargan isn’t the only subject he’s upgraded. The Spider-Slayer is about to unleash an entire INSECT ARMY on Spider-Man’s world! And as part of his ultimate revenge, Smythe is out turn one of Spidey’s first ever victories into one of his biggest losses. Everyone is at risk. Big changes are coming! Don’t you dare miss an issue! All this, plus an all-new story showing a hidden side of Mac Gargan’s past!

Friday night lights

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Facebook makes profiles more personal

Facebook began rolling out a redesign of its users' profiles Sunday, a move Facebook says is intended to better define and display who each user is.

The redesign will reach all 500-million-plus users by early next year, the social networking site said.

The makeover, which makes personal data more visible and visual, was revealed during a "60 Minutes" interview with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg slated to air Sunday night. And an introduction to the new profile page layout is on Facebook's blog.
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N.Korea touts nuclear prowess as China urges talks

SEOUL — North Korea boasted Tuesday to running "thousands" of nuclear centrifuges, a week after launching a deadly artillery attack on South Korea, as China pressed for six-nation crisis talks.
State media in the North, which has already tested two atomic bombs made from plutonium, said "many thousands of centrifuges" are operating to enrich uranium at a new plant which it claims is for peaceful energy purposes.
The country first disclosed the new plant to US experts less than two weeks before its artillery assault, which killed two civilians and two marines on a South Korean island near the disputed Yellow Sea border.
Experts and senior US officials fear the plant could easily be configured to make weapons-grade uranium.
Analysts say the nuclear revelation and artillery attack appeared coordinated to pressure Washington and Seoul into resuming dialogue and aid, and possibly to bolster the credentials of the North's leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-Un.
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As South Korean death toll rises, U.S. scrambles to limit hostilities

The South Korean government announces that two civilians were killed when North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong island. Washington and allies begin trying to round up support for a U.N. Security Council statement that would condemn North Korea for the attack, which also killed two soldiers. The U.S. hopes to enlist China's aid.
 
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Wiz Khalifa Arrested After Alleged Seizure Of 60 Grams Of Marijuana

In a scenario that has ensnared everyone from country icon Willie Nelson to fellow rapper Lil Wayne, "Black and Yellow" MC Wiz Khalifa was arrested on Monday night in Greenville, North Carolina, on drug charges after authorities allegedly smelled marijuana smoke coming from his tour bus.

According to John Durham, a spokesperson for East Carolina University, where Khalifa performed earlier in the evening, the 22-year-old rapper played a sold-out show at the university's Wright Auditorium without a hitch. He had been paid $10,000 for the standing-room-only appearance in front of nearly 1,500 students who started a Facebook petition this summer to convince him to play their campus.
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Fundraiser

X-Men: To Serve And Protect # 1

We’re knee-deep in the Heroic Age and the X-Men are smack-dab in the center of the Marvel Universe! CHRIS YOST returns to the X-Books to tell a story that pits two fan-favorite X-Men up against a major Spider-Man villain in a four-part story that will run through each issue of this multi-story extravaganza! Who are these X-Men and why are they wearing disguises? Also in this issue, Fantomex and Batroc fight over a stolen diamond, and more!

Rosario Dawson nuff said!

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Streaking and book tossing are the new events at presidential rally's

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Beware of free public wifi

"Zombie Network"

Karl prepares to hit Mexico Bermuda awaits Igor

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Android usage to surpass BlackBerry, iOS by year end

Android is on its way to taking the silver medal in mobile market share worldwide, and gold in North America—as long as the platform maintains its currently strong growth numbers. According to market research firm Gartner, the mobile world will be dominated by Symbian and Android devices by 2014, with RIM's BlackBerry and Apple's iOS projected to come in third and fourth place, respectively.

Symbian will maintain its market dominance thanks to Nokia's sheer sales volume, while Android will outpace the rest of the competition because of the impending launch of "many new budget Android devices" by the end of 2010 that will help the OS get into the mass market. "Other players, such as Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola, will follow a similar strategy. This trend should help Android become the top OS in North America by the end of 2010," wrote Gartner.

Gartner's predictions are based on Android's current growth trajectory, which has been explosive as of late. This year has already been filled with reports from other firms, such as AdMob and comScore, about Android's rise to the top at the expense of RIM and Apple, and there are undoubtedly more tales to come as Android phones continue to flood the marketplace.

Gartner's numbers have Android's share of the mobile market at 17.7 percent (up from just 3.9 percent in 2009), projected to grow to 29.6 percent by 2014. Comparatively, Symbian is expected to drop from 40.1 percent in 2010 to 30.2 percent in 2014—just enough to keep it on top, but probably not for long after that.

This isn't to say the other players won't be doing their share to boost smartphone sales in the years ahead. The firm says that the introduction of iOS 4.x, as well as the impending release of BlackBerry OS 6, Symbian 3 and Symbian 4, and Windows Phone 7 will all make positive contributions to smartphone growth.

Still, single-source platforms (iOS and RIM's OS) will only increase in unit terms and not share, and despite the widely anticipated release of Windows Phone 7, the firm projects it to only hold 3.9 percent of the mobile market in 2014. "By 2014, open-source platforms will continue to dominate more than 60 percent of the market for smartphones," Gartner said.

Saints 1-0

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=9e4a2db6-ddd8-402f-b3f4-5a83116b878d&from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_articles" target="_new" title="Saints open with win">Video: Saints open with win</a>

Are the tax cut going to befitting the middle class

New health care reform shifts coast to employees

The premiums that employees pay for employer-sponsored family coverage rose an average of 13.7 percent this year, while the amount that employers contribute fell by 0.9 percent, the survey found.

For family coverage, workers are paying an average of $3,997, up $482 from last year, while employers are paying an average of $9,773, down $87, according to the survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust.

With so many people out of work, employees have little power to demand a better deal, the organizations said.

Overall, premiums for employer-sponsored coverage - the amounts paid by employer and employee combined - rose an average of 3 percent for family coverage and 5 percent for single coverage, the survey found. That was modest by historical standards. But the costs fell disproportionately on employees.

Workers with health benefits are paying an average of 30 percent of the premium for family coverage and 19 percent of the premium for single coverage this year, the highest in 12 years of surveys by the two organizations. Last year, workers were paying an average of 27 percent of the premium for family coverage and 17 percent for single coverage.

Premiums for single coverage rose an average of $225, and employees bore more than half of the increase.

"Many employers looked into their recession survival kit and seem to have concluded that one way to make it through the recession and hang on to as many employees as possible was to pass on their health premium increases to their employees this year," Kaiser Family Foundation President Drew Altman said by e-mail.

How much, if at all, the federal health-care overhaul enacted in March will restrain cost increases over the long run remains to be seen. While experts debate its likely impact, the legislation is "the only thing we have coming on line as a country to control costs other than what now seems like the primary default strategy in the private sector - shifting costs to people," Altman said.

Since 2005, employees' premium payments have gone up 47 percent while overall premiums have risen 27 percent. Over the same period, wages have increased 18 percent and the consumer price index, a measure of inflation, has risen 12 percent, the foundation and trust said in a news release.

Thirty percent of employers offering health benefits reported that this year, as a result of the economic downturn, they reduced the scope of benefits or increased cost-sharing - the amounts employees pay for medical services in co-payments, deductibles and the like.

Increasingly, employers are offering insurance plans with high deductibles. Twenty-seven percent of employees with health benefits now face annual deductibles of at least $1,000, up from 22 percent last year, the organizations said.

The Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with the Kaiser Permanente health plan, conducts research on health issues. The Health Research & Educational Trust is an affiliate of the American Hospital Association.

The survey, which covered public and private employers with three or more workers, was conducted by phone from January through May.

By David S. Hilzenrath

New apple rumors

Wednesday's much-hyped Apple event has come and gone. We got a revamped iPod lineup, a smaller and cheaper Apple TV with Netflix streaming and 99-cent TV show rentals, and Ping, a social network within iTunes 10. Before Steve Jobs took the stage, however, all we had were rumors and predictions. Which ones came true and which ones were pipe dreams? Let's take a look.

RUMORS
Report: Revamped Apple TV Will Include Netflix Streaming
Reality: Correct. Late Tuesday night, Bloomberg cited "three people with knowledge of the plans" and reported that Jobs would announce a revamped Apple TV capable of streaming content from Netflix's Watch Instantly library. A week after Netflix added streaming support to the iPhone and iPod touch, Jobs announced that that capability will also extend to the new Apple TV when it launches later this month.

Report: Apple Working on 99-Cent TV Show Rental Service
Reality: Correct. A week before the press event, Bloomberg also reported that Apple would introduce a 99-cent TV show rental service. Jobs announced Wednesday that users will indeed be allowed to rent TV shows on the new, streaming-only Apple TV for 99 cents. Bloomberg said Apple was in talks with News Corp.'s Fox, CBS, and Walt Disney to add the companies' content. On Wednesday, Jobs said Apple was only able to secure deals with Fox and ABC, but hoped to add more networks soon.

Report: Apple iTV, Running iOS, Coming in September for $99
Reality: Partially Correct. In late August, Digg founder Kevin Rose said in a blog post that he'd heard rumors about a revamped Apple TV, renamed iTV, which would be sold for $99 in September and run iOS. While Apple did indeed introduce a new Apple TV that will be available later this month, it was not renamed iTV. As for iOS, Apple did not specify which OS Apple TV will run. Engadget first reported the revamped Apple TV rumors (sans the iTV moniker) in May, and was correct when it said the new Apple TV would emphasize streaming over local storage.

Report: Revamped Apple 'iTV' Won't Have True HD
Reality: Correct. That Engadget piece also reported that the new Apple TV would be capable of full 1080p HD. In August, however, the blog reported that Apple TV would actually stick with the 720p format. According to the Apple TV tech specs, that is correct. Apple TV includes "H.264 video up to 720p," they said.

Report: Apple Will Extend iTunes Song Preview Length
Reality: Incorrect. On Tuesday, CNet reported that Jobs might announce an extended music preview length in iTunes. Instead of hearing a 30-second snippet, Apple would provide a 90-second preview of a given song. Jobs, however, made no mention of such a feature in his presentation.
Report: Apple Presentation Will Not Include Cloud-Based iTunes
Reality: Correct. In the same story, CNet reported that Apple would probably not introduce a cloud-based music service because it has not yet obtained the licenses required for such an undertaking. While Apple TV switched from a download model to a streaming-only model, Jobs did not take iTunes to the cloud in his Wednesday presentation. Apple purchased and subsequently killed cloud-based music service Lala last year, prompting some to speculate about Apple's plans for the cloud, but no such service has been announced.

Report: Apple Will Unveil a 7-Inch 'Mini' iPad
Reality: Not a chance. In August, DigiTimes's in-house analyst team predicted that Apple will release an iPad with a 7-inch screen, down from the current 9.7-inch display. This prompted speculation that the announcement would happen during Apple's fall event, but Apple September events have traditionally been music-centric, so it's not a huge surprise that Wednesday's event did not include any hardware upgrades for the iPad.

3 Billion Allocated For Jobless Homeowners

Washington…The Obama administration announced Wednesday that as part of an ongoing effort to stabilize housing markets it will send a $3 billion lifeline to jobless homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments. Tapping into resources from the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, the Treasury Department will add $2 billion to its existing "Hardest Hit Fund," assisting the 17 states that have unemployment rates higher than the national average, along with Washington D.C.

A new $1 billion program led by the Department of Housing and Urban Development will give homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure due to involuntary unemployment, underemployment, or a medical condition interest-free loans for as much as $50,000 for up to two years.

The two programs "will ultimately impact a broad group of struggling borrowers across the country and in doing so further contribute to the administration's efforts to stabilize housing markets and communities across the country," Bill Apgar, HUD Senior Advisor for Mortgage Finance, said in a statement.

Officials said they will not have an estimate of how many people will benefit from the programs until next month.

Fed keeps key interest rate low

Tom Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, remained the sole dissenting voice on the Federal Open Market Committee as it once again voted to keep short-term interest rates low.
The FOMC is the policy-making committee of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. It announced on Tuesday its decision to keep short-term interest rates between zero and 0.25 percent in an effort to stimulate the economy.
That’s because the committee expects the pace of economic recovery to be slower than previously anticipated.
The FOMC said household spending is increasing gradually, but it’s being curbed by high unemployment , modest income growth, lower housing wealth and tight credit. Business spending on equipment and software is rising, but employers still aren’t eager to hire.
The federal funds rate, the overnight interest rate banks can charge to lend money to other banks through the Federal Reserve, is the main tool the Fed uses to control the economy. With the decision not to change the rate, it remains at its lowest level in 65 years.
In addition to keeping interest rates low, the committee decided to maintain current levels of long-term securities in its portfolio by rolling them over into new securities as they mature.


Read more: Fed keeps key interest rate low; Hoenig is lone dissenter again - Kansas City Business Journal

Obama gets tough on jobless benefits

Gulf oil well cap appears successful

Engineers battling the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are confident that the cap over the rogue well is strong enough that they may be able to plug it by pumping mud inside, bringing the three-month disaster closer to an end, BP and the Coast Guard said Monday.
The cap is holding tight at pressures slightly below what engineers had expected, said BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells. That means it may be possible to once again try using the dense liquid to help permanently seal the well, he said.

An earlier attempt at a "top kill" failed because the oil was gushing too violently, but it may be easier for the mud to plug the well when oil isn't flowing, Wells said.

The capping strategy hit a snag over the weekend when oil was discovered seeping into the nearby sea bed. But that oil doesn't appear to have come from the well, said retired Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen. He said pollution from the well doesn't seem to be spilling and pressures are acceptable.

"There is no indication at this time that this is any indication of a significant problem in the well bore," Allen said. "But we are running every one of these anomalies down."

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Edc Death

​A 15-year-old girl who attended an Exposition Park mega-rave died of a suspected drug overdose Tuesday, on a day when headlines were dedicated to mayoral and police concerns about the more than 200 medical emergencies and reported 65 arrests related to two-day event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The death was reported at 4:55 p.m. at California Hospital Medical Center and hospital officials contacted the county coroner's office about an hour later, said corner's Lt. Larry Dietz.

Fox 11 News reported that the girl's family today decided to remove her from life support, apparently after she hadn't shown signs of life for some time. The family told CBS2 News that her organs would be donated.

The website for the 14th annual Electric Daisy Carnival stated entrants had to be 16 and up, although many such events are listed as "all ages." California law is a little vague in that area, establishing a nighttime curfew for those under 18 but allowing many exceptions, including arts and school events.

The Coliseum's commission was called to to a special meeting to review whether promoters of such events have undertaken proper heath and safety precautions.

"On behalf of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, I express our dismay and deep sadness on the death of the young woman who attended the Electric Daisy Carnival,'' Barry A. Sanders, president of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission said. "We send our sincere condolences to her family."

Although drugs were suspected in the girl's death, the exact cause of death won't be known until coroner's investigators complete an autopsy.

"It will be a couple of days before the doctors get the case,'' Dietz said. "The big question is what kind of drugs are involved because drugs are pretty much free flowing at a rave party.''

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa this week questioned whether such public venues were the right places for kids to party.

"We're going to have to assess whether or not these events will occur in the future,'' he said.

The event, featuring Will.i.am, Moby and Deadmau5, claimed to have drawn 185,000 people over Friday and Saturday.

New book Colorblind

Tim Wise is one of the most prominent anti-racist activists in the U.S. One of several people featured in the book White Men Challenging Racism, he's trained teachers, physicians, government, entertainment, military and law enforcement personnel on the how-to's of dismantling racism in their industries/institutions and journalists on eliminating racial bias in reporting. He also co-taught a master's class on racism in the U.S. A Nashville, TN native, Wise earned his undergrad degree from Tulane. His books include White Like Me and Colorblind.

watch clip here

Hulu starts paid subscription TV service

* $9.99 a month for full TV season

* Access on iPad, PlayStation, and Samsung TVs (Adds byline, details on service

NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - Hulu introduced a new paid subscription service for watching TV shows and movies on mobile devices, game consoles, television sets and computers, and joined other media companies trying to strike a balance between paid and ad supported models.

Until now, Hulu has been free over the web supported by advertisements, but offered only selected TV shows and movies. That service will continue to exist after the launch of Hulu Plus.

Hulu's subscription service, called Hulu Plus, gives users access to more than 45 full programs of everything from "Glee" to "The Office" for $9.99 a month.

Like all media companies, Hulu has its work cut out in trying to get people to pay for programming they are used to watching for free from the broadcast networks.

Hulu Plus is hoping to lure consumers to pay a monthly fee for the convenience of watching shows whenever they want.

Hulu has the backing of some of the most powerful media brands, with Fox owner News Corp (NWSA.O), General Electric Co's (GE.N) NBC Universal, ABC owner Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) holding equiy stakes in the company. Providence Equity Partners also is a stakeholder.

Hulu said it is making its service available on Apple Inc's(AAPL.O) iPhone, iPad and iTouch, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's(005930.KS) television sets and Blu-ray players. Soon, Hulu Plus will be available on Sony Corp's (6758.T) PlayStation 3.

Next year, the service will be available on Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Xbox 360, Hulu said in its announcement on Tuesday.

Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) already runs a subscription service, while Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) and Time Warner Inc (TWX.N) are developing "TV Everywhere," which will allow people to watch shows on demand for free and on any device provided they are already paying customers.

In another case, Time Warner's HBO service Go lets subscribers download episodes of "True Blood" or "Big Love" as a free ad-on.

Man killed by metro gold line in pasadena

Metro officials and L.A. County sheriff’s detectives were investigating the death early Friday of a man who apparently walked in front of a southbound Gold Line train as it was leaving the Del Mar station.

All the warning lights and gates were working properly in the 5:34 a.m. incident, said Jose Ubaldo, a Metro spokesman.

Ubaldo said the man was walking on the north side of Del Mar Boulevard between Arroyo Parkway and Raymond Avenue.

About 40 passengers were evacuated from the train, he said. Service between the Del Mar and Allen stations was limited to one track because of the incident.

Trains along the entire Gold Line were running every 20 minutes, instead of the usual 7 to 8 minutes, he said.

Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood 62

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Gameplay

DC Universe

Gulf Oil Syndrome: America's Next Health Crisis?

More than 50 days after oil began spewing into the crystal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, I want to take a step back from all the finger pointing and political speculation, and talk about the innocent lives at stake because of the health hazard this disaster has created: Gulf Oil Syndrome.

With reports of oil spill workers falling ill, and in some cases, even being hospitalized with flu-like symptoms including nausea, headache, dizziness and even chest pains — presumably due to exposure to toxic chemicals being emitted from the 33-million gallon slick, it’s only a matter of time before people start coming down with Gulf Oil Syndrome.

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Porn star accused of murder falls to his death Fail

The good parts starts at 1:25

Whats up with this?

Guess this is why the sink hole is a perfect circle... or is it? =O

Gulf coast oil spill gets worst

GRAND ISLE, LA. -- In the Louisiana marsh, oil-coated pelicans flap their wings in a futile attempt to dry them. A shorebird repeatedly dunks its face in a puddle, unable to wash off. Lines of dead jellyfish float in the gulf, traces of oil visible in their clear "bells."

These scenes, scientists say, are confirmation of what they had feared for a month. Now that oil from the Gulf of Mexico's vast spill has come ashore -- in some places, as thick as soft fudge -- it is causing serious damage in one of the country's great natural nurseries.

In nature, oil is a versatile killer. It smothers the tiny animals that make up a coral reef. It suffocates blades of marsh grass, cutting them off from air and sunlight. It clumps up a bird's feathers, leaving it unable to fly. Then, trying to remove the oil, birds swallow it.

For now, scientists are seeing the worst effects only in one corner of the Louisiana coast.

But they're concerned about what they're not seeing -- and worried that the impact on animals and plants will only get worse.

"Now that the stuff is really sort of coming ashore, it really is living up to its potential. It's certainly breached the sort of outer defense system of Louisiana," said James H. Cowan Jr., a professor at Louisiana State University. "It's the very worst-case scenario, for things like birds and mammals."

On Wednesday, the oil company BP has plans to try a "top kill" of its leaking well, 5,000 feet below the surface and more than 40 miles off Louisiana. The company will shoot high-pressure mud into the well, hoping the pressure of mud coming in will eventually overcome the pressure of oil shooting out.

But, even if that works, it will do nothing to rein in the oil that has already escaped.

That oil began washing up in Louisiana last week, about a month after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank. It first appeared in the remote marshes near the Mississippi's mouth. Then, this week, it began washing into the vast complex of islands, lakes and bayous just west of the river.

These scenes, scientists say, are confirmation of what they had feared for a month. Now that oil from the Gulf of Mexico's vast spill has come ashore -- in some places, as thick as soft fudge -- it is causing serious damage in one of the country's great natural nurseries.

In nature, oil is a versatile killer. It smothers the tiny animals that make up a coral reef. It suffocates blades of marsh grass, cutting them off from air and sunlight. It clumps up a bird's feathers, leaving it unable to fly. Then, trying to remove the oil, birds swallow it.

For now, scientists are seeing the worst effects only in one corner of the Louisiana coast.

But they're concerned about what they're not seeing -- and worried that the impact on animals and plants will only get worse.

"Now that the stuff is really sort of coming ashore, it really is living up to its potential. It's certainly breached the sort of outer defense system of Louisiana," said James H. Cowan Jr., a professor at Louisiana State University. "It's the very worst-case scenario, for things like birds and mammals."

On Wednesday, the oil company BP has plans to try a "top kill" of its leaking well, 5,000 feet below the surface and more than 40 miles off Louisiana. The company will shoot high-pressure mud into the well, hoping the pressure of mud coming in will eventually overcome the pressure of oil shooting out.

But, even if that works, it will do nothing to rein in the oil that has already escaped.

That oil began washing up in Louisiana last week, about a month after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank. It first appeared in the remote marshes near the Mississippi's mouth. Then, this week, it began washing into the vast complex of islands, lakes and bayous just west of the river.

Jamaica's warfare

KINGSTON — Trucks laden with bodies rushed to hospitals in Jamaica's capital as the government vowed an all-out assault to nab a powerful alleged drug kingpin barricaded by his gang in the teeming slums.
Hospital sources said they saw more than 60 bodies, although police put the death toll at 27. But Prime Minister Bruce Golding warned the figures would likely rise, and police late Tuesday reported several murders.
Gun-toting troops and police circled the streets into the night as rain descended on Kingston, an impoverished Caribbean city ringed by mountains that is a world away from the sun-kissed beaches for which Jamaica is best known.
Supporters set up tree branches, old cars and even abandoned refrigerators to form makeshift barricades to seal off the stronghold of local don Christopher "Dudus" Coke, who is wanted by the United States on drug charges.
Coke has developed a loyal following among some slum-dwellers, who see him as a savior for offering jobs, education and security that are sorely lacking. He also had developed ties with the political establishment.
But after months of stalling, Golding on Sunday declared a state of emergency to arrest Coke, declaring a battle to rid this nation of its image as one of the world's murder capitals.
"The violence that has been unleashed on the society by armed, criminal elements must be repelled," Golding told a heated session of parliament, where opposition members accused him of creating the crisis by earlier inaction.
"The operations being carried out under emergency powers are an extraordinary response to an extraordinary challenge to the safety and security of our citizens," Golding said.
But he pledged to investigate any excesses in the assault, which is being carried out by police and troops backed by clattering helicopters.
"The government deeply regrets the loss of lives of members of the security forces, and those of innocent law-abiding citizens who were caught in the crossfire," Golding said.
With violence turning some of the city's slum areas into a war zone, three trucks loaded with bodies, including a baby, unloaded their grim cargo at a morgue in one of the main hospital complexes, witnesses said.
Gunfire rattled around the city, as plumes of smoke hung above Tivoli Gardens which Coke's supporters had barricaded last week to thwart his arrest.
Hospital officials told AFP that early Tuesday two trucks bearing "about 50" bodies had been unloaded at the morgue at the Kingston Public Hospital.
An AFP correspondent saw a third truck arrive full of bullet-riddled corpses, including a baby, later in the day. A nurse said there were 12 bodies inside, and they came from a different area to the east of the city called Mountain View.
Police also told AFP they have detained 211 people, including four women.

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Whats Love

Art Show

Google Chrome Web Store to Create a Marketplace for Web Apps

Google has just announced the Chrome Web Store, an open marketplace for web applications, at Google I/O. It’s like the Android App Market but for apps on the web.

Like the App Market, developers will be able to sell their apps through the store via Google’s secure payment system. Google is effectively bringing the mobile app store model right onto the web, which could be huge news for app developers, publishers and others who have been looking to this model to generate revenue in addition to the traditional method of advertising support.

The Chrome Web Store will reportedly be supported on all major platforms, including Windows, Mac and Linux as well as, of course, Chrome OS. Both free and paid apps will be available, as well as support for 40 languages in 70 countries. Google also notes that thanks to the standards support baked in to the store, apps written for the Chrome Web Store should additionally work on other modern web browsers.

The Chrome Web Store will be available to end users later this year, with developer support ramping up now in order to ensure a well-stocked store at launch. Google has published preliminary documentation for developers to give them a sense of what will be required to prepare a web app for the store. The company promises further technical details as well as guided discussion sessions in the Chrome developer group are coming soon.

Facebook on Time mag.

Time Magazine’s May 31 issue will hit newsstands with a cover and feature story dedicated to the “scary” side of Facebook.

The cover art pays homage to the Facebook generation with a mosaic of 1,295 Facebook profile photos, accompanied by a blurb from the feature article: “Facebook …and how it’s redefining privacy. With nearly 500 million users, Facebook is connecting us in new (and scary) ways.”

The feature article by Dan Fletcher delves inside Facebook and its methodologies for hooking new users and explores the historical events leading up to present-day privacy concerns around Open Graph and instant personalization.

At first glance, the feature story appears less critical than the cover makes it out to be. But Fletcher lends a sharp eye to Facebook’s grand vision and enormous growth, and eventually concludes that Facebook is on the path to become “the Web’s sketchy Big Brother, sucking up our identities into a massive Borg brain to slice, dice and categorize for advertisers.”

Although Time Magazine no longer has the same distribution it once did, the print piece — with its online duplicate — is bound to get traction from a very mainstream audience. Unfortunately for Facebook, it looks like the controversy around its approach to user privacy isn’t going away anytime soon.

Mashable

iPhone 4G to Come in White?

Chinese website Apple.pro has posted pictures of a purported next-generation iPhone, this time in white! While we’ve seen the black variant of the iPhone 4G in the wild on numerous occasions, the images of the white model are a nice change of pace.

While the authenticity of the photographs haven’t been verified, the photos do show what appears to be a complete white faceplate sitting atop the standard iPhone 4G body. The phone itself looks likely to one of the same pre-production models (hence the seams) with the white faceplate not completely snapped on.

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Call of duty black ops!!

We've heard scant details on the upcoming Treyarch title Call of Duty: Black Ops, but a new magazine feature is letting loose with much more information than we had before. The latest Official Xbox Magazine (via WePlayCOD) breaks down the new additions. As expected, players will spend at least some of the time fighting the North Vietnamese, but the lead character has a secret agenda as well. In the trek through Vietnam, the player will enter water engagements with a trusty knife, provide intel from an SR-71 Blackbird, and even take control of a helicopter.

The spread also shares more details on the multiplayer aspect. The co-op mode will feature separate levels, built specifically for it. Treyarch strongly hinted at a beta, and said they'll be improving this game's multiplayer based on player feedback from World at War. The developer also promises improved matchmaking, along with an enhanced Create-a-Class for added character customization.

"We're all-in on this," said Treyarch head Mark Lamia, committing all of his over 200 staff to working on Black Ops. "We've taken some creative risks. We want to do something different than we've done before. It's time." He also reportedly remarked that they "want the game to speak for itself."

It's good to hear that Treyarch is taking risks, and basing a game on what is arguably the most unpopular war in American history is a bold choice, to say the least. These kinds of risks might be necessary to help the game rise above the noise of the Infinity Ward drama and, as Lamia hopes, help the game find its own identity.

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Bleach!!

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Nato convoy bombing

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a U.S. convoy Tuesday, killing 18 people, including six troops — five Americans and a Canadian — in the deadliest attack on NATO in the Afghan capital in eight months.
The Canadian, Col. Geoff Parker, 42, was the highest-ranking member of the Canadian Forces to die in Afghanistan since the Canadian mission began in 2002, the country's military said.
Twelve Afghan civilians also died — many of them on a public bus in rush-hour traffic along a major thoroughfare that runs by the ruins of a one-time royal palace and government ministries. At least 47 people were wounded, the Interior Ministry said.
The blast was the first major attack in the Afghan capital since February and followed a Taliban announcement of a spring offensive even as the U.S. gears up for a major push to restore order in the turbulent south.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the blast, telling The Associated Press in a telephone call that the bomber was a man from Kabul and that the vehicle was packed with 1,650 pounds (750 kilograms) of explosives.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai joined the U.S. and NATO in condemning the attack, which he said killed women and children.
The explosion, which thundered across the capital, happened about 8 a.m. as streets were packed with cars, buses and trucks. The bomb ripped apart vehicles and hurled body parts along the street. U.S. and Afghan forces blocked off the area as emergency workers loaded the wounded into ambulances.
"I saw one person lying on the ground with no head," said Mirza Mohammad, who was on his way to work when the blast took place. Police officer Wahidullah, who goes by one name, said he saw the body of a woman in a pale blue burqa smashed up against the window of the bus.
"Dead bodies were everywhere," Wahidullah said.
U.S. forces spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks said five American service members were killed in the Kabul blast. NATO said two other international service members were killed Tuesday in separate attacks in the south, one of whom the U.S. command said was an American. That brought the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since the war began in 2001 to at least 993, according to an Associated Press count.

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Time Square Bombing

(CNN) -- The suspect in the failed Times Square car bombing is a Pakistani who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in April 2009 and was on a national security no-fly list.
Faisal Shahzad, 30, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was arrested Monday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York as his flight to Dubai was about to take off, law enforcement officials said.
He was able to board the plane because he made his reservation on the way to the airport and it takes time to check flight manifests against no-fly lists, a law enforcement official said Tuesday.
Customs and Border Protection agents reacted quickly to the name match and made the arrest, FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said.
Shahzad had traveled to Dubai before. He took a flight there in June 2009 and stayed out of the United States until his return on Feb. 3, officials said.
A woman who said she had lived next door to Shahzad in Shelton, Connecticut, told CNN on Tuesday that the man she knew didn't say much and claimed to work on Wall Street in New York.
"He was quiet. He would wear all black and jog at night. He said he didn't like the sunlight," Brenda Thurman said.
She said Shahzad, his wife and two children and his wife's two sisters lived next to her for about three years, moving out in July 2009. People whom she believes were plainclothes law enforcement officers appeared to be staking out the house Monday, Thurman told CNN affiliate WTNH-TV.
The neighbor said she often saw Shahzad leaving the home in the morning and returning in the evening. She also saw him in his yard with his children, a boy and a girl, and the family usually wore traditional Muslim attire, she told WTNH-TV.
She said she never suspected he might be involved in a possible terror attack.
"I didn't think he was capable of doing something like that. ... I'm very shocked," she said.
Thurman said her daughter often played with Shahzad's daughter, but she herself didn't have much contact with the family.
Shahzad's wife spoke English, but was apparently so insecure about her language ability that she told people she did not, Thurman said.
"I never knew she spoke English until it was time for her to move," Thurman said.
Shahzad's wife told Thurman in July 2009 that the family was moving to Missouri. A few weeks after they left their home, the lender foreclosed on the property and changed the locks, the neighbor said.
Shahzad had made international calls in recent weeks, but said he acted alone in the attempted bombing, investigators said.
Cell phone calls conducted for the purchase of the vehicle used in Saturday's bombing attempt helped lead police to the suspect, law enforcement sources said.
Sources said investigators got cell phone information from the daughter of the Nissan Pathfinder owner. She sold the vehicle to Shahzad on behalf of her father.
She had been talking on the phone to Shahzad in arranging the purchase of the SUV, which was advertised for sale on Craigslist.
The Nissan Pathfinder was parked in Times Square containing propane tanks, fertilizer and gasoline on Saturday night. After police retrieved the vehicle identification number of the Pathfinder, they located the registered owner of the vehicle.
The sources said the owner's daughter had met with Shahzad at a Stratford, Connecticut, grocery store, for the sale. Shahzad took the car for a test drive in the parking lot and bought the vehicle for $1,800 in cash.
Bridgeport, where Shahzad resides, is a working class city of 130,000 on Long Island Sound, 66 miles northeast of New York City. Per capita income there is 26 percent below the national average, and 27 percent of its residents are foreign-born, more than twice the national average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Gulf Coast oil spill

Officials from the Obama administration and oil giant BP say it may take up to three months to to seal off a leaking oil well 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico that has created a massive environmental crisis that could affect much of the gulf coast.

BP chief executive Tony Heyward said Monday that "the worst-case scenario is that we would need to contain this for two to three months whilst a relief well is drilled."

Speaking on the "Today" show, Heyward said the company is also trying two other ways to deal with the spill: using robotic submarines to seal off the leaks, a process that so far has not succeeded and that he described as "like conducting heart surgery 5,000 feet beneath the sea"; or building containment domes -- akin to the hood over a stovetop -- that can be lowered onto three separate leaks and allow the oil to be captured and pumped to the surface. The 74-ton steel domes are currently being built and will be in the field within seven to eight days, officials said.

"We are absolutely responsible for the oil, for cleaning it up, and that's what we intend to do," Heyward said.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano are meeting with top BP officials in Washington Monday to discuss the crisis, and Napolitano told ABC's "Good Morning America" that she will press for assurance that the company has set up a clear process for individuals and communities impacted by the spill to file claims.

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Brett Favre/Vikings?

Brett Favre is considering surgery to heal an ankle injury that has lingered since the Vikings' NFC championship game loss to the Saints in January.

Favre told ESPN he has spoken to noted surgeon James Andrews to discuss why the ankle, which was purple after the loss to the Saints (see the photos), hasn't healed:

"To play again, I would need the surgery, as I suspected. This decision would be easy if not for my teammates and the fans and the entire Vikings staff. One year truly felt like 10 -- much like Green Bay for many years. That's what I was missing in my heart I suppose, a sense of belonging."

The Vikings have said they are willing to wait until training camp for Favre, 40, to decide on whether to play a 20th season.

Favre had surgery last offseason on a torn biceps in his right shoulder. That procedure was also done by Andrews.

Last week, former NFL coaches Tony Dungy and Steve Mariucci both said they had spoken with Favre recently and that the QB was dealing with lingering ailments before being able to commit to a new season. -- Sean Leahy

Putting the GOP in Peril? Crist Expected to Run as Independent, Sources Say

British ambassador in Yemen escapes assassination

NAIROBI -- The British ambassador to Yemen narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber on Monday, an assault that Yemeni officials said had the hallmarks of an attack by al-Qaeda.

A convoy carrying Ambassador Timothy Torlot was headed to Britain's embassy in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, on Monday morning when the assailant detonated his explosive-laden vest. The assailant died, but no one else was killed in the attack. Torlot was not harmed.

There was no claim of responsibility, but the involvement of al-Qaeda would indicate that the group has retained the ability to carry out high-impact assaults on Western targets, despite attempts by American and Yemeni counterterrorism officials to ratchet up pressure on extremists in Yemen.

Officials from the two countries have increased their cooperation since al-Qaeda's Yemen branch, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, claimed responsibility for the failed bombing attempt of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.

According to 26Sep.net, a Web site linked to Yemen's military and security service, the suicide bomber in Monday's attack was identified as Othman Ali al-Selwi, a 22-year-old student from the southern city of Taiz.

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Verizon’s next major Android phone, the Droid Incredible, coming April 29

Verizon users can stop waiting in vain for Google to bring its Nexus One smartphone over to the carrier, because there will soon be a new kid on the block that bests the Nexus One in many ways. Verizon announced today another entry in its popular “Droid” series of Android phones, the Droid Incredible by HTC.

The phone will be available on April 29 for $199.99 (after a $100 mail-in rebate) with a new two-year contract.

The Incredible is a much-needed addition to the Droid family. The Motorola Droid — which was released in November 2009, and is currently at the top-end of the family — appears somewhat dated today when compared to the better hardware specifications of the Nexus One.

The Incredible, on the other hand, features the same basic specifications of the Nexus One. It has a 1 gigahertz SnapDragon processor (nearly twice as fast the Motorola Droid’s 550Mhz processor), and also runs the latest version of the Android operating system, 2.1. The Incredible also has an 8 megapixel camera, compared to the Nexus One’s 5 megapixel shooter, and run’s HTC’s Sense UI — which gives the Android OS a bit of a facelift.

The faster processor is good news for Android developers who are aiming to create graphics heavy games, or other intensive apps but have been limited by the slower processors on most Android phones. The Incredible will be one of many Android phones coming out this year that features the 1Ghz Snapdragon processor.

It’s also yet another Android phone that will make Verizon users forget the fact that they can’t get an iPhone. With more Android phones of this caliber coming out (see also the HTC Evo 4G) across a variety of carriers, Apple should be worried. Even if the next iPhone is a better device than most other Android phones, Apple still needs to bring it to carriers other than AT&T. Otherwise, Android will eventually overtake its market share due to its more ubiquitous presence.

When Google announced the Nexus One in January on T-Mobile, it mentioned that the phone would hit Verizon sometime this spring. Verizon users have been waiting for more details on the Nexus One’s availability, but Google has been mum on the topic. Meanwhile, it began offering an AT&T 3G-capable version of the phone and announced that Sprint will be getting it at some point as well. With the release of the Incredible, Verizon users finally have an Android option that’s on par with the Nexus One.

GOP lawmakers seek to halt immigration reform push

Washington (CNN) -- Two key Republican lawmakers joined a growing GOP effort Sunday to halt the push for immigration reform, arguing the time is not right to take on the massive and complex issue.
"I'm not sure how you can really justify" trying to tackle immigration or energy reform this year, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia, told CNN's "State of the Union."
"We've got a lot of work left on our plate between now and the end of the summer. And we're starting on financial regulatory reform. ... I'm not sure where you find the time to deal with these other major issues," Chambliss said, adding that "until you secure the border, trying to really have an overall reform package on immigration just simply can't be done."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said last week he will make passing a comprehensive immigration bill a priority once the Senate completes its work on a Wall Street reform bill. He cited a controversial new law in Arizona, requiring police to determine whether a person is in the United States legally, as indicating the need for reform on a national level.
Reid's decision followed remarks by President Obama calling on both parties to pass immigration reform. The president has rejected the Arizona law, saying that "if we continue to fail to act at the federal level, we will continue to see misguided efforts opening up around the country."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, took to "FOX News Sunday" to reject the push for immigration reform.
"I just don't think this is the right time to take up this issue, with the border security problems, the drug wars going on across the border, 10 percent unemployment. It just strikes me that our time would be better spent at the federal level on other issues," he said.
One fellow Republican did not reject the possibility of an immigration battle in the Senate sometime soon.
When asked by NBC's "Meet the Press" whether comprehensive immigration reform might pass this year, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, replied "maybe." Asked if it would be a good idea, he replied, "I think we have to look at the details." He added, "First thing we'd better do is enforce our borders and know who is here and who comes and who leaves. That's No.1, and then go into the rest."
The remarks Sunday followed a stunning move by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, who declared Saturday that he was walking out of talks on climate change legislation because of Democratic efforts to bring up an immigration reform package.

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Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

It's only been a decade since we last saw a new Marvel vs. Capcom fighting game -- 2000's Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes for the Sega Dreamcast (followed by PlayStation 2 and Xbox two years later) -- but the online rumors about a new title proved true last week when Capcom revealed it was working on Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.

Game Hunters was on-hand to see the game in action with an extensive video trailer to show off the characters and graphics, primarily. "We're very excited we can finally share this information with you," begins Capcom producer Ryota Nitsuma, via his translator. "Let's start with a good trailer and then we will get into details."

The fast-paced and colorful trailer showed off the high-definition characters in the game, including classic fighters -- such as Hulk, Wolverine and Iron Man from Marvel and Ryu and Morrigan from Capcom's Street Fighter and Darkstalkers, respectively -- as well as new characters like Resident Evil's Chris Redfield.

"As you can see, this is the biggest engine a fighting game has ever had under the hood, when it comes to raw processing power," says Seth Killian, Capcom's "special advisor" on the game. "This is the MT Framework that's powering the game, the same technology that brought us Resident Evil 5 and Lost Planet 2."

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Aviation authorities have now extended restrictions on UK airspace

According to the UK's Met Office, the eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland is "weakening", but weather patterns, for the time being, continue to blow volcanic ash towards the UK.
"We will continue to offer advice to Nats (the UK's air traffic control authority) about the spread of any residual ash," the Met Office said on its website.
"Assuming the volcanic activity continues to weaken, we can expect ash clearance across the UK and we will be looking for the earliest opportunity that this might happen."
And according to current European regulations, no matter how low the concentration, aviation authorities will not reinstate normal control over airspace as long as the ash cloud remains.
A spokesperson from from Nats told BBC News that there was "no threshold" for concentrations at which volcanic ash was acceptable.
The dust is simply too dangerous for jet engines to risk commercial flights encountering it, said Nats. If volcanic ash particles are ingested into a jet engine, they accumulate and clog the engine with molten glass, which can cause the engine to shut down.



Because of this, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has recommended implementing a no-fly zone if volcanic ash is detectable in airspace. (ICAO operates the International Airways Volcano Watch system).
Whether to open or close airspace is a decision for national aviation authorities, but all European nations abide by these safety recommendations.
Aviation consultant, Chris Yates explained: "The ICAO regulation that has prompted this widespread grounding is from experience gained from over 80 incidents between 1980 and 2000 [as well as] computer modelling and best 'guestimate'."
But the current paralysis of UK and European air traffic is unprecedented, so the regulations may have to be changed in order to get things moving.
"The airline industry...are clearly making the argument that we are being over cautious in grounding all flights," said Mr Yates.
"Whilst it remains possible to find clear air up above us this doesn't necessarily mean that there are no pockets of high concentrations of ash at the various flight levels. I would suggest it's better to err on the side of caution."
But the European Commission has now intervened to organise a meeting on Friday between technical and safety experts to find out if there are other options, such as setting up a fly zone that would allow carriers to navigate around the plume.
But policy-makers have stressed that any decision must be based on a scientific assessment of where and when it is safe to fly.

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California's jobless rate hits high of 12.6% in March

California's unemployment rate reached a new high of 12.6% in March, bolstering fears that a weak labor market will remain a drag on the state's economy at least through the end of the year.

The unemployment rate in February was 12.5%.

Despite hints of an economic turnaround, some of the 2.3 million unemployed in the state found March the toughest month yet. That's because tens of thousands have been out of work so long that their unemployment checks will be cut off within the next few weeks. They're not helped by the $18-billion measure signed Thursday by President Obama that extends jobless benefits for many Americans through June 2.

The Employment Development Department estimates that about 100,000 Californians will have exhausted their benefits by this weekend.

"Jobs have not been quickly multiplying, so there's a lot of people who are still in need of assistance," said Loree Levy, a spokeswoman with the Employment Development Department.

California payrolls increased by 4,200 nonfarm jobs in March, primarily in the sectors of manufacturing, educational and health services, and leisure and hospitality. Still, the unemployment rate rose as many who had been discouraged by the job hunt resumed their search.

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A slowly spreading plume of volcanic ash from Iceland is covering parts of Europe, shutting down air travel and stranding tens of thousands of passengers around the world. The ash cloud forced Europe's two busiest airports, Heathrow in London and Charles de Gaulle in Paris, to cancel all non-emergency flights Thursday.
Officials at Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based air traffic agency, said about 20 percent of European Union flights were canceled Thursday. They warned problems could persist for another two days.A volcanic eruption in Iceland sent a plume of ash into the atmosphere. British airspace has been closed down for the first time since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York.
"What we are seeing in Iceland is that as the magma particles get towards the surface, they interact with the very cold water and they chill to form glassy fragments and these glassy fragments are small, they have sharp edges and when those get up in the air that is what is causing the risk to aviation," says Colin Macpherson, a professor of Earth sciences at Britain's Durham University.Aviation analysts say the sharp volcanic particles can damage a jet engine or cause it to shut down in mid air. Macpherson says the disruption is due to a combination of things.

"It is not just a case of understanding the activity at the volcano itself, what we are also seeing the effect of at the moment are the prevailing weather conditions because we are in a northerly air stream at the moment and that is bringing the volcanic dust from Iceland down over the U.K. and hence the caution on behalf of the aviation authorities," he said.

Macpherson says the ash cloud is not unusual nor is the eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajokull after 200 years of dormancy.
"Any substantial eruption of a volcano has a potential to do that over a short period of time. By geological standards, this is not what we would call a big eruption," he said.

Macpherson says there is also no way of knowing whether there could be another eruption that could cause a similar ash cloud.
"Because there are only a couple of previous records of eruption at this particular volcano, it is difficult to judge either how long the activity will go on there, or how long the volcano might then be dormant before it goes active again," he said.

Meteorologists and aviation authorities are monitoring wind direction and the ash cloud's movement from Iceland to determine where and when to shut down airspace in Europe. There has also been extensive flooding in the southeastern part of Iceland as parts of a glacier were melted by the volcano.

Gears of war 3

Gears of War 3, the latest installment in the top-selling Gears of War franchise, will hit store shelves in April of 2011. That's the news from creator Cliff Bleszinski, who introduced the Gears of War 3 trailer during a segment of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Gears of War fans, rejoice. Franchise creator Cliff Bleszinski was on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" Monday to officially unveil "Gears of War 3," the long-awaited follow-up to 2008's mature-rated blockbuster "Gears of War 2." Mr. Bleszinski said the game, which will be available in April of 2011, would pit COG forces against the Lambent, the monstrous, mutating species that figured so heavily into the plot of "Gears of War 2."

Bleszinski showed off a trailer called "Ashes to Ashes," which shows an array of COG soldiers – including at least a few familiar faces – barreling through a destroyed city. At one point, the soldiers exchange gunfire with a group of locusts and a giant crab-like creature with spiked limbs. "Graphics are the thing that pull people in," Bleszinski told Mr. Fallon. "But what ultimately matters is gameplay."

Bleszinski, who currently serves as the design director for Epic Games, discussed his storied history in the video games industry, which includes a record-shattering high score on the Nintendo classic Super Mario Brothers. "I made my first game when I was 11," Bleszinski said. "I made my first commercially available game when I was 17." Epic Games released the first "Gears of War" in 2006.

The first two Gears of War games sold a collective 12 million copies, USA Today reports, making the franchise one of the biggest hits on Microsoft's Xbox 360.

According to Bleszinski, "Gears of War 3" will be the first Gears game to include female soldiers – an announcement that drew loud cheers from Fallon's audience. Bleszinski joked that the existence of "Gears of War 3" was the "worst kept secret" in the video game industry, and said he hoped the long lag time between announcement and release would help drum up additional excitement for the game.

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Japanese watch company Seiko has been making a line of watches with e-ink displays — the same technology used in many e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle — for a few years now, but the latest revision truly ups the ante. And with a product name like “Future Now,” its low-power, crystal clear grayscale screen is sure to catch the eyes (and wallets) of more than a few tech geeks.

The technology that kicks this e-ink watch into overdrive is its active matrix display — the same type of screen technology behind your typical LCD panel. Using active matrix, all of the legibility and low-power consumption benefits of e-ink are combined with a much richer range of imagery and data display. Compared to earlier e-ink watches — whose displays could only render a few hundred individual segments in black or white only — the “Future Now” watch renders 80,000 pixels in four shades of gray, providing 300 dpi resolution for intensely sharp and clear images even within the restricted dimensions of a wristwatch screen.

Wanye Blogs from prison

Celebrities using social media to communicate with fans has become so commonplace it’s no longer newsworthy when a big celeb jumps on the bandwagon –- except when they do so from prison.

Lil Wayne is no stranger to social media –- he’s the second most popular artist on MySpace, has blogged about sports for ESPN and recently began tweeting. But last month, the rapper was sentenced to a year in prison on a weapons charge, an incident one would think might prevent him from utilizing social media channels.

However, Wayne has launched WeezyThanxYou.com, posting his first blog update on Friday. In it, he writes, “During my prison stint, I want my fans to know I love you. I want all of you to know that I appreciate all the mail I get, and this is my way of saying thank you.”

Wayne also says that his sports commentary will resume, writing, “Real soon, you can catch me blogging for ESPN again thank you espn for not letting my passion for sports perish.” He also responds to letters that have been sent to him in prison from fans. There are even “Free Weezy” T-Shirts available for $29.99 (perhaps this is why his label is called “Young Money”).

It appears that Lil Wayne’s new site isn’t a case of celebrities getting special treatment in jail, however. It was put together by Karen Civil, who works in online marketing at the rapper’s label. She told me in an email last night, “Wayne writes hand written letters giving updates on his time, and also answering questions from fans. The letter is re written to his blog.”

Civil says that we won’t see a return to Twitter or MySpace updates from jail — which would be a bit more challenging logistically — but that fans of the seemingly ubiquitous artist can expect to hear some new material during his prison stint. According to Civil, Lil Wayne is “featured on a few projects that will be released during his incarceration.”

Lil Wayne’s blog from jail serves as yet another example of how social media is changing the relationship between brands and their fan bases – even if a pen and paper needs to temporarily take the place of an @reply.