simblr.com

B uzz has been building about Apple Inc.’s expected new and faster iPhone that’s rumored to be unveiled tomorrow, and Jim Kato is among those eagerly awaiting its arrival.
“I’m definitely excited, but I’m a Web designer so I’m kind of a geek about it,” Kato said Friday outside Boston’s newly opened Apple store. “But I heard it was going to drain batteries, and everybody said don’t get the first generation.”
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs is giving the keynote address at tomorrow’s Apple developers conference in San Francisco, and industry analysts expect him to reveal a new iPhone that works with faster, so-called third-generation, or 3G, wireless networks.
The higher speed, combined with software due this month that links the iPhone to corporate e-mail systems, may make the new iPhone a bigger threat to Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and help Jobs reach his goal of selling 10 million phones this year. The lack of 3G capability also has limited the iPhone’s appeal among overseas users accustomed to fast data feeds.
Kato, who owns one of the first iPhone models, agrees they’re not fast enough for surfing the Web.
“It’s like dial-up or slower, or it feels like it,” he said.
Nick Babikian, who was browsing the Apple store during a visit from Maine, received an iPhone as a college graduation present.
“As soon as I got it, my friends were saying, ‘Ahhh, a new one is coming out,’ ” he said. “It basically was making fun of me, like I’m a step behind. I’m spoiled as it is right now, but faster would be cooler.”
Meantime, Oracle Corp. executive Marcelo Sampaio doesn’t care so much about the new iPhone’s supposed improved speed as he does its business applications.
“My great expectation is for the software - 2.0,” Sampaio said as he headed into the Apple store with his iPhone in hand. “For business, it will really be better. This one is good for fun, but not business.”

bostonherald.com

Parkersburg, IA–A temporary shelter is set up in Parkersburg at the elementary school for storm victims.
The American Red Cross Hawkeye Chapter is also assisting residents of Parkersburg, Dunkerton, Hazelton and New Hartford due to Sunday’s tornados.
The American Red Cross has set up shelters in the following areas:
Aplington Middle School
Dunkerton Community School
Hazelton First Presbyterian Church
The Red Cross is also asking for time, money, and blood donations. For more information and to learn how you can donate, contact the Hawkeye Chapter at 319-234-6831 or visit www.hawkeyechapter.org.
The American Red Cross is also urging people in disaster areas to register as "safe and well" on their web site. That means family members from outside the affected areas can find out if you’re okay and where you’re staying.
Register as "Safe and Well" with American Red Cross by going to www.RedCross.org.

kimt.com

THERE have been rumours of feuds, battles with breast cancer, marital bust-ups and sexual revelations – not to mention somewhat lacklustre performances on the career front – but now Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis have climbed back into their Manolos for one of the most hotly anticipated films of the year.
It has been four years since Sex and the City disappeared from our TV screens and, despite the promises, no other show has quite managed to take its place. Perhaps it was the magical combination of cocktails, comedy and killer heels that so captured our imaginations. But just as important to the show’s success was its fifth star – New York City itself, backdrop to all the girls’ romantic adventures, brunch confabs and shopping trips.
It’s no wonder so many Scots have high-tailed it to Manhattan – week after week, it started to feel like a second home. Even Charlotte (played by Kristin Davis) had a Scottish-themed wedding to Park Avenue heart surgeon Trey MacDougal (Kyle MacLachlan), when he and his groomsmen all wore kilts. (That union ended in disaster, though, so the less said about that the better.)
But Scots were making that journey across the Atlantic long before Candace Bushnell – the real-life journalist who was the inspiration for Carrie Bradshaw – started penning her lovelorn columns for the New York Observer. James Gordon Bennett, for example, who founded the New York Herald newspaper in 1835, came from Newmill, Moray. And even before that, in 1776, three signatories of the Declaration of Independence were members of the Saint Andrew’s Society of the State of New York.
The Dunfermline-born businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was based in New York City for much of his life (his Carnegie Hall in midtown Manhattan being just one of his memorials), while baseball legend Bobby Thomson, born in Glasgow, played for the New York Giants and hit his famous home run – the ’shot heard round the world’ – against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951.

scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com

Mid-May in TV land is a good time to crawl under that nice cool rock you’ve had your eye on. Starting today, networks announce their fall lineups, though “announce” doesn’t do this process justice: Hype. Scream. Yell. And spin spin spin (with all their ever-lovin’ might.) Ah, that’s more like it.
But there’s something different about this week, and a pervasively dour network pragmatism isn’t the only reason. Post-strike ratings are soft. There’s the specter of an actors’ strike. And scrambling to get shows back on the air in February, the networks barely had a chance to think about what they needed for fall.
So here comes a (relatively) muted week for a change. “What [new shows] will the networks show us this week?” asks Shari Anne Brill, programming chief for ad giant Carat USA. “I don’t know. Maybe we’ll see [them do] shadow puppets.”
But new shows are a-coming, and here are the 10-most-buzzed-about newbies for 2008-09, in ascending order.
One small caveat: There’s a chance some of these won’t make the fall cut, but could arrive midseason or even beyond:
1. “Fringe” (Fox) - From J.J. Abrams (”Lost,” “Alias”), a two-hour pilot was shot after the strike for a reported $10 million - big dollars, even by TV standards. An FBI team explores some paranormal activities and opens with a plane crash, just like “Lost!” Cast includes Joshua Jackson (Pacey on “Dawson’s Creek”) Lance Reddick (Lt. Daniels on “The Wire,” who also popped up again on “Lost” last week), Mark Valley (”Boston Legal”); Blair Brown and Charlotte Rampling
2. “Dollhouse” (Fox) - From Joss Whedon (”Buffy, the Vampire Slayer”), stars Eliza Dushku (”Faith,” a Slayer in “Buffy” and Tru in “Tru Calling”) as Echo, whose brain is “mind-wiped” to be preprogrammed with any number of characteristics so she can perform various missions. She and others live in the “Dollhouse.” Think “Bourne Identity” here - she starts to get a mind of her own.

newsday.com

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The San Antonio Spurs marched into the second round of the Western Conference playoffs with a 92-87 home win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Tony Parker scored 31 points and Tim Duncan added 29 points and 17 rebounds as the NBA champions wrapped up the first round series 4-1 to set up a showdown against the New Orleans Hornets, who eliminated the Dallas Mavericks.
Raptors will not free Garbajosa for Beijing Games
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Raptors said they would not free Spain’s Jorge Garbajosa for the Olympics, with the NBA club and the Spanish federation still locked in a legal dispute over an earlier injury to the forward. “I think it’s a safe assumption that he will not be playing in the Olympics as long as he is under contract with us,” Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo told reporters after the Raptors were eliminated by the NBA playoffs by the Orlando Magic.
Nadal makes smooth start to Barcelona defense
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal made a smooth start to his bid for a fourth consecutive Barcelona Open title as he powered to a 6-4 6-2 win over Italy’s Potito Starace in the second round on Wednesday. The top seed and three-times French Open champion continued his winning run following his triumph in Monte Carlo last week and eased to victory in 78 minutes.

washingtonpost.com

Earlier this year, we told you that there were rumors abound that the New Kids on the Block were going to reunite. Now it’s official.
NKOTB will make their first appearance on NBC’s Today show. All five original New Kids on the Block members – Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood and brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight – will appear together in the morning show’s courtyard on April 4, a source tells People magazine.
The original boy banders are evidently getting back together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of their mega-hit album Hangin’ Tough.
I even heard the song playing on a Top 40 station in New York City last week. NKOTB is back!

gaysocialites.com

The calendar keeps track of months and years. There is no record of calendars and the way people calculated dates in the pre-Achaemenian era. After the Achaemenids, however, two kinds of calendar were created.
The first calendar was found in Persepolis inscriptions. It consisted of twelve months, probably beginning in autumn. This calendar was a solar calendar, including leap years.
The second calendar was the Avesta calendar which was the origin of the current Iranian calendar.
In ancient Iran lunar months were used in a different way. The week, which was one of the bases of the Semitic calendar, did not exist. Instead, the month was divided into thirty days, each month having a specific name.
The year in the Avestaian calendar was comprised of 365 days which made up twelve 30-day months. The five remaining days were called “Panjeh”.
In the old Persia, the time of the king’s coronation was considered the beginning of the calendar and the years were named after the kings. For example, they said, ‘the fifth month of Ardeshir’s seventh year of rule’. In 247 B.C., beginning with the Parthian era, the origin of the calendar was changed. Beginning with the Sassanid dynasty, again the calendar was changed to that used in the Achaemenian era.
At the time of Yazdgerd, the last Sassanid king, the year 631 A.D. was chosen as a new beginning for the Iranian calendar. Since no king ascended the throne after him, that calendar remained in use as the Yazdgerdi calendar.
In the Sassanid era, collecting taxes by the government started at Nowruz (the first day of the new year). After the Arab invasion of Iran, when Persians were converted to Islam, the tradition of collecting taxes and many other Persian traditions were adopted by the Abbasid caliphs. However, since they did not take the leap year into account, each year the time of Nowruz changed. They then decided to take the leap year into account, as the Persians had nit he pre-Islamic era. Thus originated the Motavakkeli calendar and Mo’tazedi history.

nation.ittefaq.com

riving in New York intimidates first-timers. This can lead to mishaps and Cougar-style breakdowns (see Top Gun). Should one’s first attempt result in failure, post-war-style shell shock could ensue the next time an engine revs. On the other hand, going to the annual New York International Auto Show probably won’t do much psychiatric damage.
With representation from around the world, the New York Auto Show runs from March 21st to March 30th at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on 11th Avenue on the West Side. This year, a number of major car companies will unveil new designs of both production models and concept cars.
Companies involved in the fair run from the high-end, like Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lamborghini, and Porsche, to the affordable, such as Dodge, Toyota, Ford, GM, Honda, and everything in between. From the film world, Speed Racer’s ride (from the forthcoming film) and the Flintstone’s car will be on display. BMW will show its heavily discussed CS Concept Car. Furthermore, Milner Motos’ AirCar (finally, a flying car; take that, George Jetson) and the Army and Marines will have vehicles on hand.
In addition to new cars, the Auto Show has several ad hoc shops for car-related paraphernalia and accessories, as well as a number of demonstrations and some free swag. Tickets range from $4 for children to $14 for adults. Though not as talked-about as its Detroit brethren, the New York Auto Show is quite large and guarantees Auto-phile satiety (though, not in a JG Ballard way).

martiniboys.com

Someone will be picking up the tab for accommodations as well, even though it’s been touted that Simpson will be forgoing her standard hotel suite to spend the night living like the troops in a bunk. The source close to Simpson predicts that any time spent in a bunk will last no longer than the time it takes for a photo. (Reps for Simpson maintain she had accommodations as barracks and she didn’t fly privately, and she doesn’t have a hairstylist or makeup artist with her.)
“Jessica doesn’t sleep in tents or bunks the night before a concert. She needs to give a good performance — there’s no way Joe will want The Pussycat Dolls (who are also performing as part of the same show) to upstage his daughter. He’ll have her sleeping in a proper bed in the right environment.”
Other expenses include her stylist and makeup artist (who both charge approximately $6,000 per day), and Paves, whose day rate is a whopping $10,000, according to the Simpson source.
“This isn’t a charity show. The people around Jessica aren’t donating their time or cutting their rates as if this was Jess’s charity Operation Smile. Someone is picking up the tab, and it’s not going to be Jessica.”
When the concert is over, Simpson has about three hours for quality time with the troops before her plane takes off again. “Literally, she’s going to sing ‘These Boots Are Made for Walking,’ and she’s going to be walking herself right back onto that plane,” said the source.
“The decision for her to do this doesn’t make sense,” said the source. “Her album is not ready for promoting, she risks being upstaged by the Pussycat Dolls and there’s no way to come out of this without looking like a financial drain on the project.” (MySpace did not comment on who exactly is picking up the tab, but did say “Jessica was not paid for her appearance. This is a good thing she’s doing.”)

msnbc.msn.com

Construction workers climb around a section of collapsed crane that protrudes from a crushed building on 50th Street near Second Avenue in New York, Sunday, March 16, 2008. Crews with search dogs and heat-sensing cameras sought survivors or more victims Sunday in piles of rubble after a giant crane at a Manhattan construction site toppled like a tree across a city block, destroying buildings and killing at least four people. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
By KAREN MATTHEWS – 27 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Three people were still listed as missing Sunday as rescue teams picked through the rubble of a town house crushed by a toppling construction crane in an accident that killed four construction workers.
Crews removed one section of the 19-story-tall crane that crashed onto the four-story brownstone and seriously damaged five other buildings in an affluent East Side neighborhood. Rescuers were waiting for removal of the largest pieces of debris so they could intensify their search for possible survivors, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday.
The missing people were two other construction workers and a woman who was staying at an apartment in the town house, the mayor said.
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said that “with each passing hour, things get a little more grim.”

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