Paris Hilton Brings In The New Year in Las Vegas

       Las Vegas - After the release of her first music album "Paris," in 2006,  sources close to Paris say, Paris will release a dance album soon.  Paris Hilton recently released, or 'dropped',  a track (song) with Lil Wayne called "Good Time," and she appeared in a Rich Gang music video.  As Paris Hilton finishes her second album, she is keeping her music skills up by being a disc jockey (dj).  Paris has disc jockeyed in some of the planets most exclusive clubs, ranging from Hong Kong to Dubai.  Paris will dj a party at the Hotel Bellagio's Hyde Club on New Years Eve.  See also, www.bellagio.com.

Unprogrammed Bruce Springsteen Album Preview

        Rumson, New Jersey - The title track, "High Hopes" has been available on Amazon.com since November 25, 2013.  Fans got a preview on December 28, 2013, when a programming problem allowed individual songs from the album to appear, in MP3 form, on the download section of Amazon.com.  The entire album, totaling 56-minutes of music is due out January 14, 2014 on Amazon.com.  See full story, www.nytimes.com. 

Motion Pictures Come In Ahead of 2012

      Hollywood - The major studios in Hollywood slightly increased their profit over 2012, however it was enough to put them in the record books as 2013 being the highest grossing year of all time.  "Iron Man 3" (Disney's Marvel division) was the top-grossing film of the year, coming in ahead of  "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" (Lionsgate) and "Despicable Me 2" (Lionsgate).  Higher ticket prices are attributable to this increase in revenue as are Imax and 3D theatres.  See also, www.hollywoodreporter.com.    

Madonna No Virgin To Profitability For Her Purse

       Hollywood - Known as the Queen of merchandising, some of Madonna's products that are currently on store shelves are her Truth or Dare perfume, a Smirnoff Vodka, her clothing line (called Material Girl), television and dvd rights, and investments that stars at her level are able to make.  Madonna also helped herself to a successful world tour for her most recent album-release, entitled "MDNA."  These endeavours helped push the original material girl's earnings to $125 million for the most recent year.  See also, www.concert.livenation.com.

24 Hour Music Video

      Hollywood - "24 Hours of Happiness" is an upbeat, rollicking, venture through Los Angeles.  The projects directors, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, are a French duo that call themselves, We Are From L.A.  They say they didn't expect audiences to watch the whole thing consecutively, "Even us, we didn't watch the 24 hours in a row," although some people have done it.  The video was shot guerilla style, with no streets blocked off and spectators sometimes wandered through a scene, or just stood and watched.  If you don't want to watch the whole video at one time you can scroll around a 24 hour clock to speed things up.  See full story, www.nytimes.com.   

K-Pop Trys Elaborate Musicals

      Seoul - The popularity of Korean Pop Music (K-Pop) is prompting the production of musical theatre in Seoul, Korea.  Productions like "Grease," "Bonnie and Clyde," "Guys and Dolls," among others, are currently in running in Seoul.  K-Pop music has become one of Korea's most profitable exports, propelling the so-called Korean Wave of culture through the Orient, thanks largely to the viral video "Gangnam Style," by the singer Psy.  The ultimate goal is to take tours to China and Japan.  See full story, www.nytimes.com.

Britney Spears Opens at Planet Hollywood

         Las Vegas - Friday, December 27, 2013, Britney Spears opened her two-year Las Vegas stay at Planet Hollywood.  The show includes 24 songs, an elaborate and huge stage set, 14 dancers, and two choreographers.  The 7,000 seat theatre, called Axis, is located within Planet Hollywood and is the largest indoor theatre in North America.  See also, www.planethollywoodresort.com.

Score One For The NSA Being Able To Listen To Threatening Telephone Calls

            Washington, D.C. - Friday, December 27, 2013, United States District Judge William Pauley found no evidence the government had used bulk telephone data (that collects information about telephone calls) for any reason other than to investigate and disrupt terrorist attacks.  According to a news wire,  U.S. District Judge William Pauley ruled 11 days after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, in Washington, D.C., said the futuristic program that collects data from telephone calls, amounted to an "indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion."  Stephen Vladeck, an American University law professor who specializes in national security, said if federal appeals courts in New York or Washington, D.C. accept District Judge Leon's analysis, "then it seems likely, if not certain, that this case, will get to the Supreme Court by the end of the year."  While acknowledging the program "vacuums up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States",  Judge Pauley said, it's constitutionality "is ultimately a question of reasonableness."  Pauley said the public interest tilted "firmly" toward the government, for which combatting terrorism "is an urgent objective of the highest order."  See also, www.popularmechanics.com.

Mobile Game Developers Battle For Christmas Dollars

       Silicon Valley - Spending on delivering mobile games to as many Christmas gift devices as possible, peaks globally during the holidays.  The emergence of a handful of dominant players has driven up costs per install (CPI), the cost the developer pays to let the gamer download the game.  Those companies with deeper pockets are focusing on brand building, making their product known.  Some companies like, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Tap Lab, focus on holiday-themed content.  While, still others, such as Glu Mobile, are turning to new platforms.  A platform runs under the computers operating system and allows application (app) programs to run.  The costs of getting games in front of players is outpacing the ability of the mobile gaming market to keep them affordable for consumers, and profitable for the companies that develop these products.  The costs to acquire users will likely surpass any revenue earned over the holiday season.  This year, during the Christmas season, the CPI "will be about 4 bucks on average and that's twice of what the games will actually make", says Misha Lyalin CEO of mobile game company Zepto Lab.  Costs for the developers should stabilize after the Christmas holidays.  Sell also, www.onlinegaming.com.

New News Corporation Acquires Storyful

     Dublin - On Friday, December 20, 2013, News Corporation acquired social news tool, Storyful, for $25 million.  This is the first acquisition by News Corp since it separated from its cable, TV, and movie companies, now known as 21st Century Fox.  Social media tools monitor keywords, giving you a list of anybody who mentions a topic.  Social media tools also, monitor how often web surfers visit a given website.  Founded in 2008 and based in Dublin, Ireland, Storyful verifies and manages the rights of holders of news and videos on social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, and Storyful does it in real-time.  News Corporation says, it can extend  Storyful's tool to advertisers and marketers so they can verify social chatter around a brand campaign.  See also, www.newscorp.com. 

Britney Spears - Billie Jean (Demo Full song) - new album

Britney Spears Quits Music

        Las Vegas - Britney Spears said, in a recent interview with the British Broadcasting Company, that after her new album "Billie Jean" is released she will take a break from music.  That is, after she does a two year stay at Planet Hollywood that begins December 27, 2013. Britney will earn $15 million dollars per year.  See also, www.planethollywoodresort.com.

Reality TV Star Khloe Kardashian Files For Divorce

       Hollywood - In recent episodes of  "Keeping Up With the Kardashians,"  Lamar Odom hasn't been featured on the show.  The two were married in 2009 following a brief engagement.  Since leaving the Dallas Mavericks and being featured on a short-lived reality TV series called, "Khloe and Lamar," Lamar Odom has led somewhat of a rock-star lifestyle.  Odom, who has previously won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, plead no contest on Monday December 9th, to misdemeanor drunk driving.  Khloe Kardashian is best known for starring with her sisters Kim Kardashian (married to Kanye West) and Kourtney Kardashian, along with their mother, Kris Jenner on the long-running TV series "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."  See also, www.vanityfair.com.

One Small Step For China

      Beijing - China's military-backed space program has made steady, slow progress. The Communist Chinese space program still lags far behind the United States and Communist Russia, in technology and experience. Chang'e 3, named after a mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, blasted off from southwest China on December 2nd, and landed on the moon on, December 14th. The event, which was partially shown on state-run China Central television, was the world's first soft-landing of a space probe on the moon in nearly four decades. Because the moon has no atmosphere you can't use parachutes. Landing on the moon requires rockets for the descent, and you have to go down at the right angle and rate of descent. See also, www.aviationweek.com.        

WE OWN IT - Wiz Khalifa ft 2 Chainz (Fast & Furious Mashup) | 2013 Offic...

Fast & Furious 6 soundtrack 2 Chainz - We Own It ft. Wiz Khalifa

Universal Pictures Official Tribute to Paul Walker (HD)

Huaming Township Little Better Than Villages

     Huaming, China - A township in China is larger than a village but below a county in size.  Huaming Township was chosen to be a demonstration for successful, planned urbanization.  A combination of what were previously 12 villages, most of Huaming's residents, are only qualified to be farmers.  Video games are a popular past time for young people, many of whom are not employed.  The quality of materials is poor and new homes have cracked walls, leaking windows, and elevators with rusted floors.   See ful story, www.nytimes.com. 

Maria Bartiromo Leaving CNBC

     New York - Two time Emmy Award winner, and author, Maria Bartiromo could soon be seen on Fox.  CNBC President and Chief Executive Mark Hoffman announced Bartiromo's departure in a memo to employees.  The CNBC President said the network will use various anchors, on an interim basis, before it finds permanent replacements.  Bartiromo joined CNBC in 1993 and became the first journalist to report daily from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.  Bartiromo was the anchor of CNBC's "Closing Bell," which aired for two hours during the week, according to a news wire.  Maria Bartiromo also hosted a half-hour show  on Sunday, called "On The Money."  See also, www.businessweek.com.