RIHANNA & CHRIS BROWN BREAK BREAD...
R&B stars Rihanna and Chris Brown have celebrated their love by treating one another to $200,000 diamond necklaces.
The couple - who is still refusing to confirm their romance, despite having been photographed kissing on numerous occasions together - bought the expensive gifts from jeweller Jason Arasheben's exclusive Beverly Hills store.
Arasheben tells Britain's News of the World tabloid, "Chris went for the heart theme while Rihanna chose a diamond-encrusted cross to give to him."
YOUR FAVORITE RAPPER IS PROBABLY GAY
If you thought the picture of rappers Lil Wayne and Baby kissing on the lips caused a stir in the hip-hop world, just wait till the book Hiding in Hip-Hop: Confessions of a Down Low Brother in the Entertainment Industry drops in 2008.
Written by former MTV producer Terrance Dean, Hiding in Hip-Hop has already lit up the internet -- no doubt with hot searches for sample chapters and excerpts from the memoir.
Already author of spiritually fluffy-sounding books Be Empowered: 30 Days of Meditation for Men of Color and Reclaim Your Power!: A 30-Day Guide to Hope, Healing, and Inspiration for Men of Color, Terrance Dean sold Hiding in Hip-Hop: Confessions of a Down Low Brother in the Entertainment Industry to Atria recently.
A Publishers Marketplace report titled "Publishers Lunch Deluxe: Lunch Weekly for Monday, January 29" gave this description of Terrance Dean's book deal:
"Terrance Dean's HIDING IN HIP-HOP: Confessions of a Down Low Brother in the Entertainment Industry, detailing the author's life as a closeted homosexual working in the film and music industry and his relationships with other closeted homosexuals -- film stars, rap artists, and music producers, to Krishan Trotman at Atria at auction by Karen E. Quinones Miller of Liza Dawson Associates. "
After the Hiding in Hip-Hop deal was officially announced, the net has exploded with folks hot on the trail for the names of those undercover famous people included in Dean's tell-all.
However, reports claim that Terrance Dean will not actually tell all in Hiding in Hip-Hop, and that Dean will not name names in his book, unlike his female predecessors, Karrine Steffans and Carmen Bryan.
Yet an Atria spokesperson has reportedly claimed that the real-life personas of down-low men that Dean describes in Hiding in Hip-Hop will be easy to decipher.
"Let's put it this way: You'll know who they are," she said, according to various online sources.
"It's a no-holds-barred look at Hollywood and hip-hop and who's living on the down-low."
What can your cell phone really do?
"The song recognition works by recognizing a 'musical fingerprint' from the music being sent, and matching it to a database of more than 2.5 million songs," Khanifar said. "The service uses patented technology from Shazam that can recognize songs even when cell phone audio quality is very low."
Once the song is matched, your cell-phone service provider -- which renames the service to suit its brand -- will also tell you how to obtain related content, such as ring tones and wallpaper.
Of course all this costs money. Identifying a song ranges from 99 cents to $1.99 on most services; a monthly all-you-can-ID subscription is $3.99 via your service provider.
But you probably didn't even know your phone could recognize songs, did you?
There are other things your cell phone can do that you probably didn't know it could. And there are also things you might have heard can be done but really can't. Let's separate truth from rumor:
In case of
MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT WHAT UR CELLY CAN DO
Rumor: If you call 112 from anywhere, you are connected to an emergency operator who will respond to your call. This will work even if your key guard is on.
Truth: Um, first, the keyguard wouldn't open on our LG enV when we pushed 112. When we manually took off the key guard, all we got was a "call cannot be completed as dialed" message. Best hope 911 is available.
Pardon this interruption
Rumor: Your cell phone can cut short a meeting or a date or other unpleasant activity.
Truth: When you register with www.popularitydialer.com, you can program it to call your cell phone at a specific time. Your phone rings, you answer it, and then you go through a prerecorded, entirely fake conversation with prompts on the other end. You get five calls for free.
Unlocking your car
Rumor: If you lock your keys in your car, call someone who has the spare key fob with the remote lock-unlock button. Have them press the unlock button while you hold your phone up to the car, and the doors will open.
Truth: Boy, wouldn't this be great if it worked? Sadly, it did not, several times on our Suburban and Prius. Luckily, we were just testing it and not actually stranded somewhere.
Need a reminder?
Rumor: You can send reminders to yourself to take your medicine. Or buy bread. Or anything.
Truth: Jott.com is a dictation and transcription service that lets you call in messages to yourself; after you've dictated a 30-second message, it turns it into an e-mail or text message to your chosen end destination. So when you dictate "Pick up the kids from preschool" into your phone while you're driving, it winds up as an e-mail on your office computer. The service is currently free.
Low on batteries
Rumor: Your battery is low, and you are nowhere near a recharging power cord. Just dial *3370#, and your battery will, somehow, get half of its juice back.
Truth: The online posters of this rumor never say what you hit after the code: Send? OK? Pwr End? We tried them all with a somewhat low battery, and nothing happened. Oh, wait, a second number to try is *4720#. Guess what? More of the same. What does work, sometimes, is to turn off your phone for a few minutes and turn it back on. You often get just enough power to call to say you're going to be late.
Hit by lightning
Rumor: If you are hit by lightning while carrying your cell phone, injuries will be more severe.
Truth: Examinations of folks hit by lightning who were carrying a cell phone or other electronic device -- iPods, too -- showed more severe burns than usual. There even have been trace burns that follow the trail of the wires to the earbuds.
Updating your blog
Rumor: You can update your blog from your cell phone.
Truth: Yes, once you set up an account at www.blogger.com, you can post updates and photos via your cell phone by sending missives to goblogger.com. From there, you get additional routing directions. You can also create a new blog via cell as well. The service is free.
Want to bet?
Rumor: You can settle a wager or dispute with your cell phone.
Truth: All you have to do to get the answer to anything, at any time, from any place, is to register with www.mosio.com. Members of the Mosio "Qniverse" (question universe) are standing by to look up your answer. You can ask about locations, recommendations, trivia and more. Pretty cool, and it's free.
Sean Kingston Preps New Album With Pharrell & Timbaland
After his self-titled debut produced two singles which ended up in the top five of Billboard's Hot 100, Sean Kingston is looking to change his formula. For his sophomore set Kingston hopes to take a page from Madonna's book and enlist the help of Virginia beatsmiths Timbaland and Pharrell Williams. The 18-year-old, who jumpstarted his career via MySpace, gave HipHopDX some exclusive information about working with the two production giants.
"I'll be going in the studio with them, and I can't wait," Kingston tells HipHopDX. "It's gonna be crazy. I think their styles are so dope, and we can make some magic over those beats. I write all my own music, and all my own stuff, so it's gonna be dope."
Epic, which is the parent company of Kingston's label, Beluga Heights, originally had to sell many urban stations on their artist's first single "Beautiful Girls." Although Pop and Top 40 markets embraced the song, Epic outsourced Koch to market "Beautiful Girls" specifically to urban outlets. Since that songs release and subsequent success, Sean Kingston has performed material with The Game, Rick Ross and Bun B, among others. Although the recording for his next album has yet to begin, Kingston says he thinks the new material will be more well-rounded than expected.
"This album is gonna touch everything—the urban, the pop...everything," adds Kingston. "My first album was cool on the urban side, but it ended up being a huge pop album. This time I want to build Sean Kingston as a brand and not just somebody with a couple songs out. I've been writing everyday and coming up with new ideas to release different stuff out there. I'm grinding and I just put my mixtape out there too."
Kingston's "I'm Just Warmin' Up" mixtape is hosted by DJ Khaled, DJ Envy and DJ Felli Fel, and features guest spots from Three-6 Mafia, Plies, Red Cafe and Busta Rhymes.
Pasted from <http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.7012/title.sean-kingston-preps-new-album-with-pharrell-timbaland>
LONG TERM SHRUBBING
CAUSES BRAIN TO SHRINK
Long-term heavy use of marijuana may cause two important brain structures to shrink, Australian researchers said on Monday.
Brain scans showed the hippocampus and amygdala were smaller in men who were heavy marijuana users compared to nonusers, the researchers said. The men had smoked at least five marijuana cigarettes daily for on average 20 years.
The hippocampus regulates memory and emotion, while the amygdala plays a critical role in fear and aggression.
The study, published in the American Medical Association's journal Archives of General Psychiatry, also found the heavy cannabis users earned lower scores than the nonusers in a verbal learning task -- trying to recall a list of 15 words.
The marijuana users were more likely to exhibit mild signs of psychotic disorders, but not enough to be formally diagnosed with any such disorder, the researchers said.
"These findings challenge the widespread perception of cannabis as having limited or no harmful effects on (the) brain and behavior," said Murat Yucel of ORYGEN Research Centre and the University of Melbourne, who led the study.
"Like with most things, some people will experience greater problems associated with cannabis use than others," Yucel said in an e-mail. "Our findings suggest that everyone is vulnerable to potential changes in the brain, some memory problems and psychiatric symptoms if they use heavily enough and for long enough."
Among the 15 heavy marijuana users in the study, the hippocampus volume was 12 percent less and the amygdala volume was 7 percent less than in 16 men who were not marijuana users, the researchers said.
The researchers acknowledged that the study did not prove it was the marijuana and not some other factor that triggered these brain differences. But Yucel said the findings certainly suggested marijuana was the cause.
"STONED" FOR 20 YEARS
While about half of the marijuana users reported experiencing some form of paranoia and social withdrawal, only one of the nonusers reported such symptoms, Yucel said.
The heavy marijuana users, average age 40, said they had used other illicit drugs less than 10 times, the researchers said.
A U.S. group supporting legal sales and regulation of marijuana took issue with the findings, particularly because they were based on men who were such heavy, long-term users.
"These were people who were essentially stoned all day every day for 20 years," Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Bruce Mirken said by e-mail. "This study says nothing about moderate or occasional users, who are the vast majority -- and the (study) even acknowledges this."
"The documented damage caused by comparably heavy use of alcohol or tobacco is just off-the-charts more serious, and you don't need high-tech scans to find it," Mirken added.
Yucel said the researchers have begun new research on the effects of both short-term and long-term and moderate and heavy use of marijuana.
TEEN BLAMES DUI ARREST ON KISS WITH DRUNK BOY
One New York teenage driver may not have been drunk with love, but that didn’t stop her from claiming it was the reason she swerved in and out of her lane in Manhasset last Friday night.
Gianna Vigliotti, 17, claimed she had not been drinking but had been kissing a boy who was, after police pulled her over and found her blood alcohol limit to be almost twice the legal limit, Newsday reported.
According to the police report, Vigliotti told the officer, "I didn't drink! I was kissing a boy who was drunk."
Newsday reported Officer Michael Pallazzo found four bottles of beer under the passenger seat of her Volkswagen and an empty beer can in her purse.
Vigliotti was arrested and pleaded not guilty the following day. She is due in court again on June 18.
"To now have it publicized is not only embarrassing, but demeaning as well," Vigliotti's attorney, Dennis Lemke, told Newsday. "We expect it to be resolved in the near future."
HILLARY ON VICE PRESIDENCY: OPEN FOR BUSINESS!!!
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton told colleagues Tuesday she would consider joining Barack Obama as his running mate, and advisers said she was withholding a formal departure from the race partly to use her remaining leverage to press for a spot on the ticket.
On a conference call with other New York lawmakers, Clinton, a New York senator, said she was willing to become Obama's vice presidential nominee if it would help Democrats win the White House, according to a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to speak for Clinton.
Clinton's remarks came in response to a question from Democratic Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who said she believed the best way for Obama to win key voting blocs, including Hispanics, would be for him to choose Clinton as his running mate.
"I am open to it," Clinton replied, if it would help the party's prospects in November.
Clinton also told colleagues the delegate math was not there for her to overtake Obama, but that she wanted to take time to determine how to leave the race in a way that would best help Democrats.
"I deserve some time to get this right," she said, even as the other lawmakers forcefully argued for her to press Obama to choose her as his running mate.
Joseph Crowley, a Queens Democrat who participated in the call, said her answer "left open the possibility that she would do anything that she can to contribute toward a Democratic victory in November. There was no hedging on that. Whatever she can do to contribute, she was willing to do."
Another person on the call, Rep. Jose Serrano of New York City, said her answer was "just what I was hoping to hear. ... Of course she was interested in being president, but she's just as interested in making sure Democrats get elected in November."
Rep. Charles Rangel, a devoted booster of Clinton who helped pave the way for her successful Senate campaign, said he spoke to her Tuesday and got much the same answer.
"She's run a great campaign and even though she'll be a great senator, she has a lot of followers that obviously Obama doesn't have, and clearly the numbers are against her and so I think they bring all parts of the Democratic Party together and then some," Rangel said.
Aides to the Illinois senator said he and Clinton had not spoken about the prospects of her joining the ticket.
Obama effectively sewed up the 2,118 delegates needed to win the nomination Tuesday, based on a tally of pledged delegates, superdelegates who have declared their preference, and another 18 superdelegates who have confirmed their intentions to The Associated Press. It also included five delegates Obama was guaranteed as long as he gained 15 percent of the vote in South Dakota and Montana later in the day.
Word of Clinton's vice presidential musings came as she prepared to deliver a televised address to supporters on the final night of the epic primary season. She was working out final details of the speech at her Chappaqua, N.Y., home with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, their daughter Chelsea, and close aides.
Earlier, on NBC's "Today Show," Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said that once Obama gets the majority of convention delegates, "I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee."
Clinton will pledge to continue to speak out on issues like health care. But for all intents and purposes, two senior officials said, her campaign is over.
Most campaign staff will be let go and will be paid through June 15, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge her plans.
The advisers said Clinton has made a strategic decision to not formally end her campaign, giving her leverage to negotiate with Obama on various matters including a possible vice presidential nomination for her. She also wants to press him on issues he should focus on in the fall, such as health care.
Universal health care, Clinton's signature issue as first lady in the 1990s, was a point of dispute between Obama and the New York senator during their epic nomination fight.
In a formal statement, the campaign made clear the limits of how far she would go in Tuesday night's speech. "Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination," the statement said.
Clinton field hands who worked in key battlegrounds said they were told to stand down, without pay, and await instructions. Speaking not for attribution because they didn't want to jeopardize their jobs searches, many said they were peddling resumes, returning to their hometowns or seeking out former employers.
Clinton officials have said they would not contest the seating of Michigan delegates at the convention in Denver this August. The campaign was angry this past weekend when a Democratic National Committee panel awarded Obama delegates it thought Clinton deserved.
