MTV's Big Change

MTV is embracing change. In nearly three decades on the air, almost everything about the cable network -- from its programming, to its focus, to its place in popular culture -- has changed with the times, except for its famous tagline, "Music television." Recently, the network quietly unveiled a new logo which has dropped the tagline entirely, indicating that MTV itself is leaving its original mission of an all-music channel in the dust.


The new logo is meant to put the focus on MTV's current slate of talent -- the stars of mostly reality shows like "Jersey Shore," "Teen Mom," and "The Buried Life." Since the logo (which seems to have a shorter "M" than the original) is also available in a see-through model, it can change when new stars come into the fold. Tina Exarhos, a spokesperson for MTV's marketing team, explained the change to "The New York Daily News": "If you watch the channel, you've seen that it's definitely going in a new direction. We really wanted to see the logo featured in a new way, and this was really meant to be able to house all the great things that are happening at MTV at any given time."


When MTV first revolutionized television in 1981, it was based on the idea of one network devoted entirely to music, a central hub where fans could watch music videos, see interviews with their favorite recording artists, and even get their news from a music fan's point of view. The channel was also a valuable promotional tool for the music industry itself, which no longer had to depend mainly on radio to get its product on an audience's radar. But over the years, MTV morphed into a channel that focused less on any one theme and more on targeting a specific teen and young-adult audience, ditching its music roots to deliver whatever the network perceived that audience wanted.


And, clearly, that audience is more into shows like "Jersey Shore" than old-school music video blocks like "120 Minutes."


"The MTV brand, to me, stands for such an irreverent groundbreaking brand, and unfortunately I feel a little underwhelmed when I look at this," Hamish McLennan, global
chairman-CEO of advertising powerhouse Young & Rubicam, told Ad Age.


The new logo and its focus on the personalities that drive the channel is based on recent show successes like "Jersey Shore," which turned its stars into celebrities overnight. According to Ad Age, MTV is looking into developing a new tagline to match its new logo.

Latvian ghost town auctioned off for $3.1 million

SKRUNDA, Latvia – Latvia sold a deserted town built around a Soviet-era radar station to a Russian investor who bid $3.1 million at an unusual auction Friday, officials said.
The town formerly known as Skrunda-1 housed about 5,000 people during the Cold War but was abandoned over a decade ago after the Russian military withdrew from Latvia following the Soviet collapse.

A representative of a Russian investor won the bidding contest in Latvia's capital, Riga, with an offer of 1.55 million lats ($3.1 million), said Anete Fridensteina-Bridina, a spokeswoman for the Baltic country's privatization agency. She said the buyer was Aleksejevskoje-Serviss, a Russia-based firm, though she could not provide details.

It wasn't immediately clear what plans the buyer had for the 110-acre (45 hectare) property, which is located in western Latvia about 95 miles (150 kilometers) from Riga. The town contains about 70 dilapidated buildings, including apartment blocks, a school, barracks and an officers' club.

Built in the 1980s, Skrunda-1 was a secret settlement not marked on Soviet maps because of the two enormous radar installations that listened to objects in space and monitored the skies for a U.S. nuclear missile attack. Like all clandestine towns in the Soviet Union, it was kept off maps and given a code-name — which usually consisted of a number and the name of a nearby city.

After the Soviet Union fractured in 1991, a newly independent Latvia was eager to scuttle all Soviet military bases and expel Russian troops. Russia's Defense Ministry, however, continued to rely on Skrunda's early warning system, and as a result the radar base was for years used as a negotiation tool between Washington and Moscow.

One of the radar buildings — dubbed Pechora — was enormous, soaring 60 meters (180 feet). In May 1995, it was ceremoniously blown up by a U.S. demolition firm using over a ton of dynamite.

Finally, in 1998 the last residents of Skrunda-1 departed, leaving behind hundreds of vacant apartments and dozens of buildings. Talk about transforming the town into a recreational area went nowhere, and finally two years ago Latvia's government decided to put the entire settlement on the auction block.

Sarmite Stradniece, a resident of Skrunda, which is 3 miles (5 kilometers) south of Skrunda-1, praised the idea to sell the former military base. "They need to restore that place and let some people live there," she said.

The fact that the town was sold to a Russian investor is bound to bother nationalists in Latvia, who are leery of Russian capital buying real estate in the tiny Baltic state, but privatizations officials insisted the sale was a success.

"It fetched 10 times the starting price," Fridensteina-Bridina said, "and finally something can be done with the town."

Gary Peach reported from Riga.

நோபல் பரிசு தொகை குறைப்பு

உலகின் உயரிய சாதனை செய்தவர்களுக்கு வழங்கப்பட்டு வரும் நோபல் பரிசு வழங்கும் திட்டத்தை ஸ்வீடன் நாட்டை சேர்ந்த ஆல்பர்ட் நோபல் என்பவர் 1901ம் ஆண்டு உருவாக்கினார். இதற்காக ஒரு அமைப்பை ஏற்படுத்தி பரிசை தொடர்ந்து வழங்க ஏற்பாடு செய்தார்.

இதற்காக குறிப்பிட்ட தொகை வங்கிகளிலும், பல்வேறு துறைகளிலும் முதலீடு செய்யப்பட்டு உள்ளது. இதில் இருந்து வரும் வருமானம் மூலம் பரிசு தொகை வழங்கி வருகின்றனர்.

ஒவ்வொரு நோபல் பரிசுக்கும் ரூ.7 கோடி பரிசு தொகை வழங்கப்பட்டு வருகிறது. ஆனால் உலக பொருளாதார மாற்றங்கள் காரணமாக நோபல் அமைப்புக்கு வரவேண்டிய வருமானம் குறைந்துவிட்டது. எனவே இனிவரும் காலங்களில் நோபல் பரிசு தொகையை குறைத்து வழங்க திட்டமிட்டு உள்ளனர்.

இது பற்றி நோபல் அமைப்பின் நிர்வாக இயக்குனர் மைக்கேல் ஷால்மர் கூறும்போது, “எதிர் காலத்தில் பரிசு தொகையை குறைக்க வேண்டிய கட்டாயம் ஏற்பட்டு இருக்கிறது. இதை தவிர்க்க முயற்சித்து வருகிறோம். ஆனால் நிலைமை சீராகும் வாய்ப்பு குறைவாக உள்ளது” என்றார்.

NEW YORK – A wire-haired dachshund that held the record as the world's oldest dog and celebrated its last birthday with a party at a dog hotel and spa has died at age 21 — or 147 in dog years. The dog, named Chanel, died Friday of natural causes at her owners' home in suburban Port Jefferson Station, on Long Island.


Chanel, as stylish as her legendary namesake, wore tinted goggles for her cataracts in her later years and favored sweaters because she was sensitive to the cold, owners Denice and Karl Shaughnessy said Monday. The playful dachshund was only 6 weeks old when Denice Shaughnessy, then serving with the U.S. Army, adopted her from a shelter in Newport News, Va.


Along with her owner, Chanel spent nine years on assignment in Germany, where she became adept at stealing sticks of butter from kitchen countertops and hiding them in sofa cushions in the living room, Shaughnessy said. She also liked chocolate, usually considered toxic to dogs, Shaughnessy said. "She once ate an entire bag of Reese's peanut butter cups, and, you see, she lived to be 21, so go figure," Shaughnessy added. Karl Shaughnessy nominated Chanel for the title of world's oldest dog after noticing the Guinness World Records book had no record.


Guinness World Records officials presented Chanel with a certificate as the world's oldest dog at a Manhattan birthday bash hosted by a private pet food company in May. Chanel loved the party, especially the cake, which had a peanut butter flavor and had been made for dogs, Denice Shaughnessy said. Chanel exercised daily and ate home-cooked chicken with her dog food, but good care wasn't entirely responsible for her long life, said her owners, who attributed God.


"Dogs are God's angels sent here to look out for us," Denice Shaughnessy said. A dog from New Iberia, La., named Max, is vying for the record of world's oldest dog. Owner Janelle Derouen said Max marked his 26th birthday on Aug. 9. She said Guinness World Records officials were reviewing documents to authenticate his age; a Guinness World Records official in London didn't immediately answer an e-mail from The Associated Press requesting confirmation of that.


When asked the secret to her dog's long life, Derouen said she was shocked he's still with her.

America's First Newspaper-Scheme of a Lottery

An ad from the back page for a Scheme of a Lottery, which was created to sell 6000 tickets at $2 each to raise funds to pave the highway in Charlestown from the Ferry to the Neck. Of the $12,000 to be raised, according to the ad, $10,800 is earmarked for prizes and $1200 for paving the highway..

தேமதுரத் தமிழோசை உலகமெலாம்

யாமறிந்த மொழிகளிலே தமிழ்மொழிபோல்

இனிதாவ தெங்குங் காணோம்

பாமரராய், விலங்குகளாய், உலகனைத்தும்

இகழ்ச்சிசொலப் பான்மை கெட்டு

நாமமது தமிழரெனக் கொண்டிங்கு

வாழ்ந்திடுதல் நன்றோ? சொல்லீர்

தேமதுரத் தமிழோசை உலகமெலாம்

பரவும் வகை செய்தல் வேண்டும.

யாமறிந்த புலவரிலே கம்பனைப்போல்,

வாள்ளுவர்போல், இளங்கோவைப் போல்

பூமிதனில் யாங்கணுமே பிறந்ததில்லை

உண்மை, வெறும் புகழ்ச்சி யில்லை

ஊமையராய்ச் செவிடர்களாய்க் குருடர்களாய்

வாழ்கின்§ம், ஒருசொற் கேளீர்

சேமமுற வேண்டுமெனில் தெருவெல்லாம்

தமிழ் முழக்கம் செழிக்கச் செய்வீர்

பிறநாட்டு நல்லறிஞர் சாத்திரங்கள்

தமிழ் மொழியிற் பெயர்த்தல் வேண்டும்

இறவாத புகழுடைய புதுநூல்கள்

தமிழ்மொழியில் இயற்றல்வேண்டும்

மறைவாக நமக்குள்ளே பழங்கதைகள்

சொல்லுவதிலோர் மகிமை யில்லை

திறமான புலமையெனில் வெளிநாட்டோர்

அதை வணக்கஞ் செய்தல் வேண்டும்.

Ted Kennedy's legacy shapes Obama's path

Ted Kennedy's legacy shapes Obama's path

Through two years of wearying campaigning, defeats and victories, the cool, disciplined Sen. Barack Obama rarely was overcome by emotion. Once was on the eve of the election, when his grandmother died.
The other time, a close aide recalled, was when Sen. Ted Kennedy endorsed him.
Kennedy's endorsement may have won Obama the nomination. His legacy, health care legislation, has already shaped Obama's presidency, and Obama will deliver a eulogy at Kennedy's funeral Saturday. But it wasn't until the last minute, in late January 2008, that Kennedy decided to take sides at all - throwing himself into a hard-fought primary between two of his friends, Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Clinton.
When he did, it was without reservation. He addressed critics, declaring Obama ready to lead. And he invoked his family's legacy:
"The torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on," he said, as the future president sat on a tall stool on stage behind him at American University in Washington on Jan. 28, 2008. Read more: