Entertainment and Technology

Miley Cyrus chat

2009-07-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

If you want to chat with Miley Cyrus July 5 is the date you need to know. Miley will be answering questions starting at 7PM eastern time. She will be online and live and you can be part of it by letting her know your questions before the chat starts. The questions that receive the most votes will be selected for answering. The Miley Cyrus live chat July 5 is a must for all fans.

It's not really interactive as far as asking the questions but the answering of the questions will be live just like you expect a chat session to be. If you love Miley and Hannah Montana you should not let this opportunity pass you by.

Kris Allen wins American Idol season 8

2009-05-21T05:42:00.000-07:00

While many people were surprised to see Kris Allen win American Idol, I wasn't, not that much. Of all the people who made it through the top 13 before the wild card, Kris Allen is the only one whose audition I hadn't seen. He even dared to sing Michael Jackson in the top 36 something that would have sent any "ordinary" contestant back home but not Kris Allen. From that very first surprise everybody following American Idol knew that they should keep a close eye on that kid.

He's come a long way since "Man in the Mirror". I remember last year finale when Simon Cowell was criticizing David Cook for not singing Billy Jean in the finale, he told Simon that the show was about growth and he didn't want to go back to something he did long before but instead he wanted to show that he had grown along the process and did knew songs. Frankly when he said that it was clear that he had the edge over David Archuleta who did re-sing Imagine in the finale. And David Cook won. If you go back to auditions, the top 36, the top 13 until the top 3 tell me which one do you think has "grown" the most Adam Lambert or Kris Allen. Adam has stayed practically the same he was when he entered the competition and his over exposure on the show and the constant lobbying by the judges didn't help. Simon was even impatient to have Adam crowned the American Idol. But Kris Allen over came all the major obstacles like the fact that before the top 13 most people didn't even know his name and even after that they only mentioned him for his niceness, like the fact that he helped out other contestants on Michael Jackson week. At no time he was favored to win this until he made it to the top 3 and sang Heartless then the judges started to doubt that it was a sealed deal for Adam but the Kris Allen's fans already knew by then that they could count on him to go all the way.

If you can remember some questions aimed at Kris, they were constantly asking him if he took the competition seriously, if he's in this to win it. The same questions they were asking Jason Castro during season 7, the judges, especially Simon Cowell never believed in him at least not until the very end.

I have to confess that I was extremely happy last night, once again the judges didn't have it their way and Kris Allen won the title he fought so hard for. Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and all the others were tough competition to overcome but he did it.

Congratulations Kristopher Neil Allen.

Here is a video of how fans gathered in Conway, Arkansas (Kris' hometown) reacted to the news.

Who Will Win American Idol Season 8?

2009-05-13T14:19:00.000-07:00

Depending on who makes it to the finals tonight we could already now, one week in advance who will be the American Idol in 2009.

Let me explain. If Adam Lambert makes it with Kris Allen, chances are Adam will win. If it's a Danny Gokey/Kris Allen finale then it will be harder to tell who will win. If it's a Danny Gokey/Adam Lambert finale it will depend on how well/or badly Adam performs. I find Gokey to be more consistent especially when he gets to pick his genre and song.

Personally I'm hoping for a Kris Allen/Danny Gokey for next week. I'm being optimistic for Kris since everybody's talking about his "Heartless" let's just hope it paid off. Buzz is always a good sign. It means people actually remembered you after the show was over let's just hope they also remembered to vote.

After looking at the photo above I think I finally understand the Danny Gokey phenomenon. Danny is actually "cuter" than the other guys. Yes he can sing also but the does not look bad either and that always helps in show business. The appeal for Kris is not much his cuteness but the fact that he is perceived as an underdog. Until this day some people are still trying to find a photo of Kris Allen's wife on the Internet. Just to tell you how much some people are interested in him. His a celebrity now.

American Idol Results May 6 2009

2009-05-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

Allison Iraheta was eliminated on May 6th 2009 from American Idol season 8. She made it all the way to the top 4 but on results night it was her time to say goodbye and go home.

This season was labeled the guy's season early on. When they decided not to have equal gender participation in the semi finals, it was clear that the public had a preference for guys since only three women made it into the top 13 with votes alone, the other two needed the wildcard to be admitted in.

The results are in. After the nationwide vote Allison Iraheta is sent back home. Though it's probably too late for her to go back to school.

I'm not sure if I can say there was any suspense tonight. It was clear that in spite of what the judges had to say there were only two people at risk of going home, Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta. If we are to learn the lessons from last season and from the semifinals in general, it is clear that American Idol's audience is made up mostly of females who love so-called cute contestants. And that is why I was pretty sure Allison was the one going home. Kris is cute Allison isn't.

I'm not saying that Allison is ugly not at all, and she also seems like a nice and cool kid but she lacks that force of attraction found in people like Kelly Clarkson. The same can be said of last year's Sayesha Mercado. Those are people that would have never won American idol no matter how far the advanced in the competition they were bound to loose to a cute guy!

Kris Allen probably picked up the votes of Anoop Desai's fans. He did have his own fan base but I don't see the people who liked Anoop voting for Adam or Allison, they might vote for Danny Gokey as well.

I'm not saying Kris Allen made it in the final three because of his looks but I'm saying that had he looked like let's say Nick Mitchell he probably wouldn't have made this far...

American Idol season 8 Top 4 with Slash in a photo

2009-05-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

The remaining 4 contestants on American Idol season 8 pose with this weeks mentor, Slash. This week is Rock week on American Idol and with the help of Slash the remaining contestants, Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen will try to prove once more that they deserve to be the American Idol for 2009.

In case you didn't know Slash used to Gun N' Roses lead guitarist. He's currently a member of a band called Velvet Revolver. Wednesday for the results show, we will have performances from No Doubt and ex-idol contestant Chris Daughtry and his band Daughtry.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

2009-04-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know, today the much anticipated X-Men Origins: Wolverine is premiering. Fan will get to know more about Wolverine and his past. Other mutants not seen in previous X-Men movies are also introduced in this film.

While reading an article about a special screening of Wolverine a few days ago I noticed they mentioned American Idol season 8 ex-contestant Scott MacIntyre. He was present at the world premiere in Tempe Arizona along with the stars of the movie like Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Lynn Collins, Taylor Kitsch and will.i.am . I guess Scott is a star now. Know what you're thinking 'but isn't Scott blind?' Yes that's what I thought too. He may not be able to enjoy all the special effects but I'm guessing he must be a Wolverine fan?

Photo by © Chris Hatcher / PR Photos

Here is a photo of Hugh Jackman arriving at the wold premiere in Tempe, Arizona on his Harley Davidson.
Photo by © Chris Hatcher / PR Photos

For those who like to be teased before actually watching a movie, here is a clip fromX-Men Origins: Wolverine , 'Hunting Mutants?'

American Idol results - April 22 2009

2009-04-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

The results are in. Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai were sent back home last night. They had a long ride but it's the end of the road for them.

Because the judges 'saved' Matt Giraud the week before this week was a double elimination week. For some odd reason everybody seemed to expect Lil Rounds to go home. Maybe it was because Simon Cowell said he wouldn't have considered saving her had she been the one on the chopping block last week? Or maybe it was because the people of Votefortheworst had chose her as their pick of 'worster' to vote for? Or maybe it's because she was this season's Lakisha Jones and the judges just couldn't stand her anymore after considering her to be one of the front runners? Everybody knew Lil didn't have much time left in this show. Personally I feel that if they had let Matt go home last week she could have had a chance. In fact, it seems to me nobody expected Anoop Desai to make it through, his elimination was expected. Again, it seems that week after week no single contestant gets to be super safe anymore.

It's definitely nothing like what we saw last year where it was clear early one that the two Davids, Archuleta and Cook would make it to the finals. This year people were talking about a Adam Lambert / Danny Gokey final but now what we're seeing is that it's not guaranteed because for some odd reason those do can no longer separate themselves clearly from the rest of the pack in terms of votes. Meanwhile Kris Allen has been growing his fanbase steadily and so has Allison Iraheta. How many times has Kris been in the bottom three?

American Idol season 8 should be remembered as the Matt Giraud show or "How you to can very far in this competition if the judges really like you". That's right, we need to remember that Matt made it to the top thirteen because he was picked by the judges after the wildcard round, so was Anoop by the way. When America wasn't convinced that Matt needed to stay any longer and voted him off the judges thought they should give him a third chance and 'save' him. Just take a moment to think about the other contestants who made it this far thanks to America's votes alone. Hopefully the judges no longer have to power to impose their veto on the outcome of the eliminations at this point.

I wonder how last season would have turned out if Michael Johns had been saved by the judges the way Matt Giraud was...

Those that we will soon forget from American Idol season 8

2009-04-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

There are only 8 contestants left on American Idol Season 8 at this point, we are a long way form the top 32 and yet some people who had caught our attention early on just didn't make it this far. Frankly, before the top 12 I had no idea who Kris Allen was. In fact of all the people still standing there are only a few that I can remember from the Auditions, Danny Gokey, Anoop Desai, Lil Rounds, Adam Lambert, Matt Giraud and Scott MacIntyre. Ok, so I can actually remember most of them....

I would like to remind you of some people who help feed the buzz on American Idol even before they appeared on the show and some who were rumored to be contenders. No I'm talking about Michael Castro. See below for those that we should not forget simply because I wanted to see and hear more of them.

Ann Marie Boskovitch

Because I was impressed when she auditioned and the judges seemed to like her so much. It seems to me that she was a victim of the horrible top12 selection process where most female contestants didn't stand a chance. If only they had kept last season's format maybe , just maybe Ann Marie could have gone further. Though I have to say not keeping the male female ratio to a clear 50/50 seems to have benefited the show in terms of viewership.

Taylor Vaifanua
Labelled a contender even before they showed her audition on television. Some people saw in her the next Jordin Sparks. And yet she not only didn't make it to the top 10 she wasn't even brought back by the judges in the wild card round.

Alexis Grace

The young mother who was told by Kara DioGuardi to dirty herself... What can I say, they insisted that she unpolished her image and yet they didn't save her when the time came. Maybe Simon didn't like her lack of personality. Notice, the female judges were the ones telling her not to wear pink and to get dirty. Her stay in the top 13 was short lived.

Brent Keith

He looks much better on television then he does on photo, seriously. You could tell the Kara and Paula were under his spelled when he was smiling after he sang during his audition. Like many females around the globe they thought he looked cute. Not sexy but cute, maybe it's the dimples.

Felicia Barton
I'll admit that I haven't seen Felicia sing because I don't actually watch every single minute of every single episode. But it felt so...Well they brought her back only to let her out again. I know it wasn't the judges fault but they could have kept her with the wild cards and yet they didn't.

Jackie Tohn
Jacky was funny, I liked watching her. It has nothing to do with her singing I really thought she was funny unlike some of the people in the top 8.

Kai Kalama

Kai, also known as mama's boy. He was cute also, not as cute as Brent Keith but...what can I say they already had Kris Allen they didn't need Kai or Brent.

Matt Breitzke

I saw one of his performances, he's someone I would like to hear more, he was different, not over the top different but simply different.

Mishavonna Henson

At some point she convinced me that she had worked really hard and deserved to go farther. Have you ever wondered who could have been in the top 12 if they didn't have the wild card? Maybe Jeanine Murray wouldn't have made it, Maybe Megan Joy wouldn't have made it? maybe... Maybe Mishavonna could have made it, maybe.

Tatiana del Toro

If someone was exploited by American Idol this season that someone was certainly Tatiana del Toro. Yes, she seems almost unreal, yet she's a real person with real feelings and it seems that American Idol over used the fact that she expresses her feelings in excessive manners. They even brought her back in the wild card which I felt was not a bad call. It seems to me that if they focus less on the drama surrounding her and more on her singing maybe people would have found her more likable. On TV all you see is the image they want you to have of a person.

Kristen McNamara

I've never heard her sing either but I think she looks like Victoria Beckham. See photo proof.

American idol results 2009

2009-02-26T08:42:00.000-08:00

American Idol season 8 building the top 12

Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images/ Fox

It's performance day for the second group of semifinalist for American Idol season 8. The first one to sing is Jasmine Murray. Singing first if a big challenge you need to be really good to make a lasting impression after 11 other people follow you on the stage. Unfortunately Jasmine wasn't up to that. She used to be the judges' pet but not anymore. They simply didn't like and basically tell her she needs to grow up...

I didn't watch the performances last week and I find it a bit strange that they get to sing so long. I remember from previous seasons, in the top 24 the performances were super short, it starts then it ends almost right away. It's good for the contestant to have more time to convince and show off their talent. It also gives them time to correct a mistake if they start the song badly but when the performance is not so good, it's excruciating.

Kara DioGuardi, for some reason they are giving her more attention then he other judges but she sucks. She practically killed all Jasmine's chances with her remarks. Even Paula Abdul is crucifying her. It's definitely not Jasmine's night.

Matt Giraud chose to sing Viva la Vida from Coldplay, the music could have saved him but the performance is so unenjoyable you can tell he won't make it.

Jeanine Vailles also choose a very popular and recent song to sing, by Maroon 5. But all the judges seem to remember from her performance are her legs. She was wearing shorts and high heals. She looks much better on TV than she does in her photos. Kara is really rude to her...

Then came Nick Norman, and he blew it. He has many fans out there but seriously people the first time he performed this song in Hollywood was so much better.

Allison Iraheta was pretty impressive. She sounds more mature when she sings than when she does her interviews. She's not very articulate and definitely not lady-like. She's only 16 after all... At this point there is absolutely no doubt that she will make the top 12. She reminds me of Kelly Clarkson because of her looks mostly.

Kris Allen singing Man in the Mirror probably made the poorest choice song for the night. A Michael Jackson song is a big no-no, usually.

Then came Megan Joy Corkrey and I think she looks a bit weird..... I find her quite forgettable if it weren't for her huge arm tattoo.

The second Matt followed, Matt Breitzke, I really wanted this guy to make it. Maybe because he looks so much more "normal" than all the others. Unfortunately he blew it. He's just not mainstream enough. That's what happens when you choose a song you're too much in love with.

Jesse Langseth is one more who's sinigng s song she thinks is the greatest song ever written. After hearing that you just know it's going to suck. And it does. Whenever a person says she's so lin love with a song, it sucks.

Kai Kalama called mama's boy tries himself at what seems to be an oldie. The female judges are obviously in love with him. But it semsa that overall they want him out.

The girl with the unusual name, Mishavonna Henson pleasantly surprises me. Did you know that she had made it to Hollywood last year? It's my second favorite performance fot he night. She was great and she looked nice as well. But the judges are just full of it and they are trying to drown her. Some people say that it's because they wanted to "pimp" Adam Lambert, the last contestant for the night. So they had to make the people who performed before him seemed really horrible.

Anyway, along came Adam Lambert and he does exactly what you think he would do. An over the top performance, loud and whatever.; Here's one more who looks better on TV than he does in photo. If it were for me, he'd be out and he wouldn't even make the wild card round. That's the kind of performance you do when only one person is going to be eliminated. But the judges want him to go through so badly that he might just make it. They chose to sacrificed both Kai and Mishavonna for the benefit of Adam, what a shame.

Strangely enough I find myself singing What becomes...

No American Idol on Tuesday February 23

2009-02-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

Indeed, the schedule for this week has been slightly changed.

The president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, will address the congress of the USA on February 23rd and Fox has chosen to broadcast it, therefore no American Idol for us on that day. The show will air the following day instead, on Wednesday, February 24th at the usually 8PM easter time, it will be two hours long. The results show will air the following day, on Thursday.

American Idol season 8 top 12 week 1

2009-02-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

I barely caught the results show last night. It was all about how Stevie Wright seemed to have succumbed under the pressure. They there was group singing. The dance moves! I guess the reason why it does not look better is because they don't have enough time to rehearsal right? Then the results. I'm a bit confused, I usually don't really watch much after the auditions and before the top 12 and knowing that this year they adopted a new format didn't help me follow the show very smoothly. And it seems also that I spent too much time looking up the contestants online. Now that they are going to leave the competition by packs of nine, what a waste.

Though I must say I remember the audition of each one of those who made it to the top twelve last night. Alexis Grace was shown with her baby and they even showed the photo of her fiancé. One one site she was labeled poster-child for teen pregnancy, I wonder why??? The judges wanted her to be dirtier and apparently that's what she did and America liked it. I wonder if America would have liked it as much if she stayed a nice girl. After all Jordin Sparks had a nice girl image, didn't she?

The other lucky ones were Michael Sarver and Danny Gorky. I think Danny looks weird when he sings. Not a natural performer at all... Like he has a cold. He reminded me of Michael Johns with his awkwardness except that Michael Johns is a much better singer and he is more fit.

Speaking of Michael Johns, he made a guest appearance with Carly Smithson, both oddly dressed like members of the Adams' family. The sang a song I believe they had sung last season? I think, I believe I've heard it before. Somehow I'm starting to believe all those people saying that those two were plants. Unless they brought them back because the best singers from season 7 (David Cook and David Archuleta, according to America) are two expensive and the rest (Syesha Mercado, Jason Castro, Brooke White) are just not as good or as appealing or? Or maybe they are saving the best of last year for much later this season when things get really interesting.

Ann Marie Boskowich on American Idol season 8 in Jacksonville

2009-01-27T14:09:00.000-08:00

Ann Marie Boskowich has auditioned for American Idol in Jacksonville. The auditions in the Florida town will be aired on Tuesday January 27th, that's tonight(!)

American Idol season 8 episode 5 promises to be more exciting than what we got to see last week. This is a little spoiler for you before you get to see the show tonight. Watch out for Ann Marie Boskowich because it is rumored that she will make the top 50.

Here is her Jacksonville audition where she was asked to go and make herself look like a star before coming back for the audition. You can tell that they liked her and the way she idolizes Kara DioGuardi.

She seems to be very talented. Let's hope she picks good songs to sing and goes far on the competition.

Listen to her sing Part of you world for the Little Mermaid 2. It's the sequel to Disney's Little Mermaid that went straight to DVD.

Some people call her a plant, that's what they call contestants who've had previous record deals and/or actual records that came out and were sold, but apparently she didn't have any, at least that's what I've read online. In there defense I have to say that most of those so-called plans were obviously not successful with their previous records and that's why we hadn't her of them before American Idol.

Becaus

American Idol Season 8 Episode 3 - Recap and thoughts

2009-01-21T04:57:00.000-08:00

Last night was one of those less exciting nights for American Idol. We were shown mostly bad signers with a few uninteresting ones who made it to Hollywood.

The auditions were taking place in San Francisco where they had discovered Katharine McpPhee in season 5 and and William Hung.

After watching the show from end to end, all I can say is that it was not really worth it. Certainly there were many fun moments and I did laugh a lot, especially in the beginning but by the end I started to feel tired and completely unconvinced that the next American Idol would come from San Francisco this year.

The show started with Tatiana del Toro. She was labeled a beauty pageant contestant and I still can't get her laugh out of my head. She looks like a nice girl. Not an excellent singer technically speaking, she's a bit of a drama queen which means she certainly wont win this. Below is a photo of Tatiana taken from Myspace.

Here is the video of Tatiana Nicole del Toro's audition

For some odd reason, one contestant seems to have caught America's attention. He's name is Adam Lambert. He sang “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Simon thought his audition was theatrical and I can only agree on that with him. He's voice is not bad but he's more of a showman than a singer. I'm not actually looking forward to seeing more of him but I bet you the judges wouldn't agree with me on that. According to his fans, he can sing rock and can carry both high notes and low notes. I'm pretty sure he does not make an impression on people with his voice only but also with the show he puts on when he signs. It's probably due to his background in theater, the musical kind.

What I found a bit odd is that Ryan Seacrest was not looking his best either. It looked like he was wearing no makeup at all, he didn't even look as good as an average contestant. But he was nice to the people that they showed him talking to.

The inspiring story for the night wast that of Kai Kalama, he sand “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". He put his dreams on hold to take car of his mother and now is his chance to make them come true with the help of American Idol. He looks like a nice guy but of course Simon Cowell thinks he lacks personality. In fact he said that he had the personality of a "ship singer"...

Bikini Girl Katrina Darrell on American Idol

2009-01-19T13:22:00.000-08:00

According to msnbc's readers, the most memorable auditioner of season's 8 first day is none else that Katrina Darrell who Ryan Seacrest called bikini girl. But her bikini is not the only reason why she will be remembered. The sound off with Kara DioGuardi that she won in my opinion made her come off as one who does not have her tongue in her pocket. I have to admit that the new judge did not make a valuable impression on me after that. She does not seem to add much value so far...

Photo by Michael Becker/ Getty Images

Photo by Michael Becker/ FOX

Michael Castro made it to Hollywood

2009-01-19T13:03:00.000-08:00

Click this link to see Michael Castro's photo.

Jason Castro's little brother Michael charmed the judges, particularly Kara DioGuardi to win his gold ticket to Hollywood. Personally I was not impressed by his audition. And I couldn't believe Kara D. thought that his 'if my brother can do it I can do it' answer was reason enough to send him to Hollywood. That's a childish answer and it shows that his auditioning has little to do with wanting to win American Idol it's mostly about sibling rivalry.

It seems many Jason fans are already crazy in love with him, I hope for them that he makes the top 12 at least but it's really too early to tell if he'll even make it pass Hollywood.

I really don't like his hair, he looks like a soft-punk version of a Disney star.

What I really enjoyed though was when they showed him with Jason, that was fun to watch. Jason is still as laid back as he was during season seven. If Michael does make it pass Hollywood he can probably count on Jason's fans to vote for him.

For all Michael Castro fans who don't know it yet, Michael is selling posters of himself on Jason's web site.

Jason Castro also has a younger sister, Jacqueline Castro.

America's best dance crew season 3 and American Idol

2009-01-16T14:55:00.000-08:00

What do the two have in common? Randy Jackson of course. I saw a commercial for America's best dance crew (ABDC) season 3 this week. I have to admit I've never seen the show. All I could think of was how is it that Randy Jackson's name is associated with that show. Is he a dance expert or does he just present the show? No idea but surely with all those dance movies they've made recently I'm not surprised to see that this show is very popular. Clearly not as popular as American Idol but AI is one of a kind.

It's that time of the year again - American Idol time

2009-01-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

I just realized that American Idol starts tonight. I didn't realize that the premiere was today until I read an article about how this season will be different from the previous one.

If you're an American Idol fan you probably know by now that this year there will be four judges. Kara DioGuardi is the newest judge added to the panel.

Yahoo search is the best

2009-01-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Kind of...

OK, I admit it, I use Google more often than I use Yahoo but when Google fails to deliver the results that I'm searching for where else to turn if it isn't to Yahoo Search?

I was searching for information on an IP address that was generating a lot of traffic on the network I'm using. I thought that all this traffic going to and coming from a single IP can't be normal and probably other people have encountered the same problem.

I faithfully typed the IP in the Google search box and hit enter only to have Google tell me that it found no results. So I went to Yahoo, even more faithful that I will find what I'm looking for. Then it happened, while Yahoo had no web page containing the IP address it did suggest that I try to visit the website directly, warning me that the site might not exist. So I clicked on the link and Voila! It's a site I know very well, except that I never knew its IP address. Why couldn't Google have told me that? Because Yahoo search is the best! Kind of. At least Yahoo seems to often have a better understanding of what people are looking for.

Knowing exactly what people are looking for and delivering the best results for search queries are two different things...

You know Vista is a Failure when...

2008-11-05T06:33:00.001-08:00

You know Vista is a Failure when Yahoo announces that it will no longer continue working on a Yahoo messenger for Vista. Yes Yahoo had a messenger version made just for Vista. I guess Yahoo really believed that Vista would be the next XP. Not quite! In fact Vista looks more like the new ME, remember, Windows Me, the precursor of Windows XP.

Here is what Sarah Bacon had to say about it:

As of today, Yahoo! Messenger for Vista will no longer be available for download from the Yahoo! Messenger website. We have discontinued stand-alone releases of the Yahoo! Messenger for Vista application in order to focus on delivering one Windows experience that is optimized for all Windows users.

Microsoft probably made a lot of money from Vista and yet Vista is mostly associated with all sorts of problems than anything else. Right now, Microsoft is trying to put the Vista nightmare behind him and getting ready to launch a new version of it's OS that will be, hopefully, much better than Vista.

Microsoft Buying Yahoo!

2008-08-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed I'm a long time Yahoo! user. By long time think about 10 years on the Internet ten years is a very long time. My first email address was a Yahoo email address that I still use until this day. I enjoy chatting in Yahoo chat, using Yahoo messenger for IM, I like answering questions and making contacts on Yahoo Answers. I used to like the now closed Yahoo photos a lot and so on. I'm a Yahoo user you can tell. Yes, I have had a few hotmail accounts, but spam on Hotmail was the worst back then. Even though I still use a Hotmail email address I'm not really an msn user, I mostly use it for business, reluctantly I must add.

I am one of those who felt concerned but not surprised that Microsoft wanted to buy Yahoo! I was glad to see that Yahoo did not sell itself but I would not be surprised that in the future parts of Yahoo were sold to Microsoft like the IM services and the chat. Have you looked at Yahoo messenger lately? With every new version they are one step closer to becoming MSN messenger. A merger of the two messengers, Yahoo! and MSN seems plausible and even reasonable. I just hope that the resulting YMSN(?) messenger does not have frequent mandatory updates like MSN does, I hate those. If they could find a way to combine the best of both messengers they would have one killer IM client.

Cranberry Juice with High Fructose Corn Syrup

2008-08-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

Maybe you've seen the TV commercials for Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice with no sugar added. What they don't tell you in that commercial is that they do sweeten their cranberry juice, not with sugar but with High Fructose Corn Syrup. Apparently nobody would drink a completely unsweetened cranberry juice cocktail.

I searched a little and so far this is the only video of the commercial I could find online. It's not top quality but it's watchable.

To know more about High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) read this.
I don't understand such commercials, we don't add any sugar in it. Basically they're saying that they don't add sugar in order to make the juice better for you but they add HFCS. Is HFCS good for you? Is it better than sugar? What's wrong with pure cane sugar? Its price maybe?

There are other brands out there that don't use HFCS(or sugar) in their cranberry cocktails you might want to try them out if you are looking to cut back on the amount of HFCS in your diet.

On Adsense Invalid Click and Click Fraud

2008-08-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

I was reading a post from Inside Adsense, you know the official Adsense Blog. The post was about Invalid Clicks and Click Fraud.

Read it if you want to know all the details, nothing new really. Why am I mentioning it? Well, after reading that "Third-party programs for purchasing fixed amounts of traffic, e.g. "$10 for 1,000 page views" are considered invalid impressions, guess which ads were being displayed near the message (I'm reading it in my Inbox) ? Yes, you've guessed right "10,000 visitors for $12.25" and "10,000 real visits $7.95".

The moral of the story, it's OK to make money from "$10 for 1,000 page views" programs, Google's doing it, as long as you don't use them on a site that runs Adsense.

Mario Vazquez

2008-08-01T14:36:00.002-07:00

Can somebody please tell me who is Mario Vazquez? For some strange reason Google thinks my blog is associated with this man. Until today, I wasn't even sure I knew who he was. Then of course I searched and found Mr Vazquez. He's a former American Idol contestant (season 4), he quit right before the top 12.

At first I did think he was the actor from saved by the bell who was a contestant on dancing with the stars (Mario Lopez). Then I thought that maybe he was the singer who sings with Jordin Sparks in No Air (Chris Brown)...

I don't remember writing about anybody named Mario but still it seems you my beloved readers would be interested in reading about him. So here you go, better than a Mario Vasquez wiki, he's photo, simply.

American Idle, idole, idel or ?

2008-08-01T14:36:00.001-07:00

Read the latest American Idol News.

Apparently some people searching for American Idol write American Idle instead. Idol, Idle, close enough, at least Google understands what they're actually searching for. I often make such mistakes, mixing phonetically close words. Other variations are American idole (a French or Canadian typed that), American idel (?), American Idlo (no idea how that happened), American Idols (that one was searching for little statues). I only hope I have not made those typos here, I've written so much about this show I wouldn't be surprised to see a typo slip here and there.

Melinda Doolittle News

2008-08-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Melinda Doolittle has finally signed a recording contract with an independent label Hi Fi Recordings. I've also read that she's supposed to release something this fall, an album or single, I'm not sure.

I get quite a few visits from Melida Doolitle fans, especially from some who have started their own Melinda Doolitle fan sites. I thought I'd share with you the addresses that they left and that you can visit if you are a fan as well. Here they are:

www.mdstreetteam.com
wwww.melindafan.net

I still believe that her myspace page is a good place to go to know where she's performing and simply keep up with her and read from her.