Yall better start payin yall phone bills

Wireless Carriers Could Send the Virtual Repo Man to Freeze Your Computer, If You Don't Pay Your Bills


As wireless carriers begin to subsidize computers that come with wireless Internet access, they're faced with a quandary: What do they do if the buyer stops paying his bills?

The company can cut off the computer's wireless access, but the carrier would still be out a couple of hundred dollars. The buyer would be left with a computer that's fully usable except for cellular broadband.

LM Ericsson AB, the Swedish company that makes many of the modems that go into laptops, announced Tuesday that its new modem will deal with this issue by including a feature that's virtually a wireless repo man. If the carrier has the stomach to do so, it can send a signal that completely disables the computer, making it impossible to turn on.

"We call it a `kill pill,'" said Mats Norin, Ericsson's vice president of mobile broadband modules.

The module will work on AT&T Inc.'s U.S. third-generation network, and on many other 3G networks overseas.

AT&T late last year started subsidizing small laptops known as "netbooks," which normally cost about $400, so that RadioShack Corp. can sell them for $100. The buyer commits to paying $60 per month for two years for AT&T's wireless broadband access. Such offers have become very common in Europe.

It's unlikely that carriers would resort to wielding the "kill pill." But the technology, developed with Intel Corp., has other uses. For instance, a company could secure its data by locking down stolen laptops wirelessly. Lenovo Group Ltd. has said it will build this sort of feature into its laptops.

The new Ericsson modem can also stay active while a computer is off, listening for wireless messages. That means it could wake up and alert the user when it receives an important e-mail, or if someone is calling with a conferencing application like Skype.

Laptop makers that use Ericsson modules include LG Electronics Inc., Dell Inc., Toshiba Corp. and Lenovo.

Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=7216101

The New Wolverine Movie Got Leaked!

20th Century Fox's claws are bared.

The studio has vowed to prosecute whomever is responsible for a full-length copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine ending up online Tuesday, a month ahead of its May 1 release date.

"We forensically mark our content so we can identify sources that make it available or download it," Fox said today in a statement. "The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law—the courts have handed down significant criminal sentences for such acts."

The FBI and Motion Picture Association of America are investigating, they said.

Calling the leaked cut an "incomplete and early version" of the Hugh Jackman-starring action film, the studio said it only contained temporary sound and music and was missing various scenes and special effects.

So don't go thinking the actual Wolverine is going to suck or anything.

"We are encouraged," Fox continued, "by the support of fansites condemning piracy and this illegal posting and pointing out that such theft undermines the enormous efforts of the filmmakers and actors and, above all, hurts fans of the film."

But, according to one studio exec, they aren't too concerned that a premature Internet audience is going to steal the X-Men prequel's theatrical thunder.

"People who are going to download and watch it on their computer were either never going to pay to see it anyway or they're the type of super-fan who was going to go 10 times in the first week," a Fox honcho tells EW.com.

"Seeing a spectacle movie like this one on your computer is not the same as seeing with a communal audience, and I don't think this is going to hurt them that much."

Source: eonline.com

Im still gunna go watch this in imax

Kanye got his own Kicks (Air Yezzy Release Date info)

With all the hype surrounding the Nike Air Yeezy, countless release photos, many have wonder how they could get their hands on it and at what price. Individuals anticipating the release may be able to think a little easier now. The sneakers are set at the price of $215 at selected Nike retailers.Via. KicksOnFire.com

The Zen Grey colorway will be available at NYC’s 21 Mercer store, The House Of Hoops in Harlem, and both the 34th street locations of Foot Locker and Footaction on April 4th. If you’re currently out of the state of New York, contact your local sneaker boutique for availability.

I might have to cop some tho

Hell Yea, The Cleveland Show is coming!! Kanye to have a guest star role.

Rapper Kanye West is set to appear as a hip hop wannabe in Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show.

The Stronger hit-maker is a huge fan of Seth MacFarlane's original animated comedy, and jumped at the chance to lend his vocals to the up-coming show.

The new series sees character Cleveland Brown move away from the neighborhood he shares with bumbling Family Guy patriarch Peter Griffin. West will play an aspiring rapper called MC Kenny West, and recorded his guest slot last week.

Executive producer Mike Henry tells People.com, "We knew Kanye was a big Family Guy fan because he invited Seth (MacFarlane) to his house a year or two ago."

Co-producer Richard Appel adds, "Before we came to the table ... there was only one line he didn't love, and he came up with another idea and in a completely modest, nice way said, 'Would you mind if I changed just this one line?' And our feeling was, how many raps have we written? One? And how many has he written? Be our guest."

The spin-off is set to air in the U.S. in autumn, with West's slot slated to be shown in early 2010.

I Cant Wait!!

If im in sweden anytime soon im def hittin this up!

Check out the Ice Hotel in Sweden!!!

Source: www.icehotel.com

Trick Daddy wont take his medication for lupus. We Prayin for you Trick.

A week ago today (March 30), Miami rapper Trick Daddy revealed during a radio interview with The Rickey Smiley Morning Show that he has been suffering in silence for years with the disease Lupus [click to read].

Late last week, Trick candidly spoke with HipHopDX about his battle with the life-threatening autoimmune disease, revealing that he has abandoned treatment necessary to successfully stave off the Discoid Lupus he suffers from potentially spreading from damaging his skin to ravaging internal organs [click for additional information].

“I stopped taking any medicine that they was giving me,” Trick told DX, “because for every medicine they gave me I had to take a test or another medicine every thirty days or so to make sure that medicine wasn’t causing side effects – dealing with kidney or liver failure…I just said all together I ain’t taking no medicine.”

Trick was initially using expensive prescription sunscreen to protect his skin (that he explained was “greasy or oily and uncomfortable”), and taking cortisone shots to treat lesions that appeared on his body.

“If there’s one thing I want people to know, do not accept those steroid shots for [lesion] flare ups,” said Trick of the cortisone injections. “They leave scarring. They leave indentations in your skin. Trust me. I used to get these shots in my face and in my beard. So I let my hair grow…’cause the breakouts are in the hairy areas more so than other [areas]. So I [grew a] beard, [but] after awhile I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’ll just shave…’”

In addition to using prescription sunscreen, taking cortisone shots and additional medications, Trick was told by his doctor to alter his lifestyle in ways he has found difficult to do.

“We ain’t gon’ ask that question,” Trick gently replied when asked if he had stopped smoking – an activity that can expedite the appearance of skin lesions. “Just pray for me. Help me help myself so we can help others.”

Clearly, Trick’s primary personal focus is educating the masses on the form of Lupus he suffers from, a condition that can include symptoms such as the aforementioned lesions, damaged hair that can eventually stop growing, and chronic fatigue.

“With my friends I joke about me having to always look in the mirror and make sure my face ain’t too fucked up,” said Trick of how he copes with his own symptoms. “Or, I joke about me forgetting that I can’t go outside with my tank top on… I learned as a kid to joke about my mama being on welfare, and to joke about our lights was off, and to joke about all those things. ‘Cause if I can laugh at it, then you couldn’t make me cry about it.”

First diagnosed in 1998, after going to the doctor seeking treatment for severe dry skin that had begun to appear spotted and discolored, Trick was subsequently told to take the aforementioned drug treatments, limit sun exposure, and to stop drinking and smoking.

But Trick quickly tired of the medical routine he was subjected to.

“It gets so serious to that point, with the needles and doctor visits, I know it discourages people,” he explained. “And I just need to encourage them to do whatever they need to do to make [themselves] better.”

In a combination of nobility and arguable foolishness, Trick Daddy is now encouraging others to seek the treatment he himself has stopped taking.

“Me and the Lord best friends,” he noted. “That’s why he sent me to talk to people about this…At least I can give the youth that’s dealing with The King of Miami tells DX exclusively, “I ain’t taking no medicine.”, [or] even the older generation that’s [living with the disease] – some people’s dealing with a form of Lupus that’s even crippling that I know me talking about it could even make them feel better. And if I could just make them feel better, then I feel like I did my job.”

Source: Hiphopdx.com

Big Up to Madonna!

Madonna's adoption is going to have to wait—at least a little bit longer.

The pop star attended an hour-long closed-door hearing in Malawi's Lilongwe High Court this morning as Judge Esme Chombo heard her application to adopt a second child from the African country.

But no official ruling was made, and Madonna's case has been adjourned until Friday, when a second hearing will take place in the nation's capital.

The 50-year-old's subdued courthouse appearance—she donned a black top and black-and-white skirt and carried a straw hat with her into the courtroom—came just days after word broke that she was looking to adopt an orphaned girl from the country, who would become her fourth child overall.

Amid renewed criticism from local groups, Madonna touched down over the weekend in her bid for 4-year-old Chifundo James, whose name translates in English to Mercy. The girl's 18-year-old mother died shortly after giving birth and it's unclear if the child has any surviving relatives.

Mercy has been living in the same orphanage, the Home of Hope Orphanage Center, where Madonna's other adopted child, David Banda, was from.

Should all go according to plan, Mercy would join 3-year-old David in a brood that also includes 12-year-old Lourdes, Madonna's daughter with former beau Carlos Leon, and 8-year-old Rocco, the Material Mama's only biological child with ex-husband Guy Ritchie.

Madonna, David and Lourdes arrived in Malawi yesterday. While David was able to meet with his biological father, Yohane Banda—who told reporters that the boy did not recognize him and even asked him at one point who he was—Madonna and Lourdes were seen walking through the village of Chinkhota, where the singer's charity, Raising Malawi, is planning to build the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, a school reportedly modeled after Oprah Winfrey's educational endeavor in South Africa.

The star refused to answer any questions from reporters about her pending adoption, but said it was "amazing" to be back in the country. Her reps, too, have yet to comment on the proceedings.