A week after rumors of Miley Cyrus dying in an automobile crash, one of the tour busses of the teen icon carrying crew members crashed on an embankment leaving the driver dead.

The driver Bill Douglas died on the spot. Nine of the passengers suffered injuries. The bus flipped in Interstate 85 near Richmond, Virginia on its way to a Cyrus show in Greensboro, North Carolina scheduled Sunday. Cyrus was not aboard the bus when the incident happened as the bus is one of the four bus entourage.

Miley Cyrus and family issued an official statement from the star’s website mileycyrus.com. The statement was, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Bill ‘Uncle Bill’ Douglas. Members of our tour are like members of our family. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family in the midst of this tragedy. He will truly be missed.”

Investigation on why the bus flipped is still ongoing as of this time.

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Miley Cyrus Crew Bus Kills One, Injures Nine Others

The second movie of the Twilight saga New Moon broke two records on its first day and is positioned to break even more as it goes on its second day.

The movie broke the biggest midnight opening grossing $26.3 million in 3,514 theaters eclipsing previous record of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at $22.2 million in its midnight release. Another record broken is the biggest advanced ticket seller for the Fandango corporation. Previous holder was Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith.

The movie is expected to break more records. As of 5 PM, the movie already grossed $50 million threatening the biggest single day box office record of The Dark Knight, which stands at $67.2 million.

It might enter the top 5 of biggest weekend sales if it reaches above $114 million, which is probable since the film is expected to open in 4,024 theaters this weekend.

Worldwide records projection stand that the movie is at $150 million after New Moon debut in 25 other countries.

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“New Moon” Breaking Records

Google’s new Chrome Operating System is already out! It’s absolutely FREE but you’ll need VMWare Player (or VMWare Fusion for Macs) or VirtualBox on top of your current OS (Windows, Linux or OS X) installation to make it work.

The VMWare image is ready for download via torrent. If you want some tutorial, you can go over at TechCrunch.
Enjoy!

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Google Chrome OS now available for download

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is expected to announce today, November 20, that she will end her current show on September 9, 2011 after being on air for 25 years since 1986. The reason: to concentrate on the start of her own network.

The coming of this final show has been the topic of several rumors ever since Winfrey announced January last year that she partnered with Discovery to open a new cable network named OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). It is expected to finally start broadcasting in 2011 to 75 million homes. It is believed that, if not a revamped version, then a new talk show will be hosted by Oprah on OWN.

Winfrey’s production company, Harpo, Inc., confirmed the decision of the host to end the show after its current contract expires. The company produced shows of Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz.

Several national and local networks stand to lose ratings and revenues once the program is pulled out. CBS syndicates the show while ABC broadcasts it.

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Oprah Winfrey Will End Her Current Show on September 2011

In an annual Microsoft stakeholder’s meeting, CEO Steve Ballmer reported the shooting sales of their new product, Windows 7.

According to Microsoft’s main man, The Company has sold twice as many copies of Windows 7 as any previous Microsoft OS in almost the same time frame. Of course that includes both OEM sales and boxed retail copies.

Oh Well! Microsoft got it right this time. Congrats!

[via Engadget]

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Steve Ballmer says Windows 7 sales are up! up! up!

Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy was elected the very first permanent president of the European Union. He will assume the post on December 1, 2009 as mandated by the European Union Treaty of Lisbon. He will be chairing EU summits and coordinate meetings between the European governments.

Elected with him is British Baroness Catherine Margaret Ashton of Upholland as the first High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The appointments were met with mixed reactions. Both are considered little, low-key figures. Van Rompuy has been prime minister for less than a year and he assumed the post after King Albert II asked him to form a new government after the 2007-2008 Belgian Political Crisis. Ashton never held an elected office before.

US President Barack Obama, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy all welcomed the appointments.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had been pursuing the EU President position but lost out his bid when current British Prime Minister Gordon Brown can’t find enough support for Blair.

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European Union’s First President Elected

Introducing MacPad, the first-ever tablet Mac. Because you wouldn’t shut up about it.

[image credit: BBG]

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MacPad is out!

One of Iraq’s Vice Presidents, Tariq Hashimi, vetoes a recently approved elections law putting a possible problem for the national elections to push through early next year. This will also put on hold the plans of the United States to withdraw its troops from the Middle East country.

Under Iraqi law, the president and its two vice presidents are entitled with the power to veto legislation. Under the Iraqi constitution, national elections should be conducted by the end of January.

Hashimi, a Sunni, made the move to demand that additional seats be provided to represent Iraqi refugees who had fled the country. The election law states that a given number of seats must be given to the minority, internally displaced nationals and refugees in other countries.

The election law was sent back to parliament. The parliament has been delayed in producing the law and is already in doubt on whether they can revise it in time.

The US under agreement with Baghdad needs to withdraw its troops by the end of 2011. US President Barack Obama wants the troops out by August. The withdrawal can only start after a national election occurs.

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Iraq’s 2010 National Elections in Trouble

After Windows 7 and the announcement of the full release of Windows Azure, Microsoft is now releasing a public beta version for MS Office 2010. The general retail will be out Spring next year.

Improved features include the ability to backstage view, broadcast powerpoint slideshows,video editing in powerpoint, navigation pane in word, calendar preview in outlook, enhanced pivot tables and sparklines in excel and the outlook social connector to ride in with the current social networking rage.

New to the edition is the counterpart Office Web Apps. This is a free web-based version of Office. It includes Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

A public beta was also released for SharePoint Server 2010, Project 2010, Visio 2010 and Microsoft Office Mobile 2010. Anyone with a Windows 6.5 mobile phone can download and test the suite until April 5 next year.

The Mac OS X version will also be available next year.

For Office users, you can check what’s new via an online presentation and you can download the beta version.

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Microsoft Office 2010 Public Beta Now Available for Download

Uruguay managed a draw with Costa Rica Wednesday, November 18 and took the two-leg playoff 2-1 on aggregate enabling them to clinch the last of the 32 nation team slots for the 19th FIFA World Cup next year in South Africa.

Uruguay, host of the very first FIFA World Cup in 1930, had previously won the tournaments twice, during its hosting stint in 1930 and again in 1950. Costa Rica was trying to reach the finals for the third time.

Uruguay took the lead during the 69th minute courtesy of Sebastian Abreu but Costa Rica equalized four minutes later when Walter Centeno shot home from close to the penalty spot.

Nerves continued to rattle as the game was stopped for a few minutes near the end of the game after an argument between an Uruguayan camera crew positioned near the Costa Rican bench.

Only 7 nations had won the world cup, England (of the United Kingdom), France, Uruguay, Argentina, West Germany (now just Germany), Italy and record holder Brazil (5 times).

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Uruguay Clinches Last World Cup Slot

Democratic West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd became the longest serving member of the congress. He served uninterruptedly for 20, 744 days or 56 years and 320 days as of November 18, 2009. He broke the record of 56 years and 319 days set by Senator Carl Hayden.

He earned from the senate a formal salute and a resolution to mark the milestone. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid acknowledgement of Byrd’s achievements was one of the first business in the floor.

Byrd was elected in the House on 1952 and became a senator on January 3, 1959. He’s been there ever since serving. He was once Senate Minority Leader and twice Senate Majority Leader. He is currently the President Pro Tempore of the United States, putting him third in line of the presidential succession behind Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Among the other records he is currently holding in the Congress are the following: the longest serving senator, the most number of votes casted (already above 18,000) and the only surviving senator to have voted on a bill giving statehood to a US territory.

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US Senator Byrd Becomes Longest Serving Congress Member

Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp won his second title of Sexiest Man Alive from People Magazine. Only three other men won it twice previously, namely: Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Richard Gere. No three-time winner yet. Gere, however, won his first title as part of the Sexiest Couple Alive title with Cindy Crawford back in 1993.

Depp dethrones 2008 winner Hugh Jackman. He beat out 15 other finalists to win back the title that he previously held in 2003. New Moon star Robert Pattinson is said to be in the top 15.

People described him as “the king of cool with the killer cheekbones.” The magazine, however, was more drawn to Depp’s softer side as a family man.

Previous winners include John F. Kennedy, Jr., Sean Connery, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Affleck, Jude Law, Matthew McConaughey and Matt Damon.

The mag has awarded the title annually since 1985 with an exception in 1994. It started when a planned article for Mel Gibson made a female editor to exclaim, “Oh my God, he is the sexiest man alive!” Then someone else said, “You should use that as a cover line.” Gibson thus became the first man to receive the coveted title.

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Johnny Depp is Sexiest Man Alive

Delta and its SkyTeam Alliance will offer Japan Airlines (JAL) $1 Billion to lure it away from American Airlines’ Oneworld Alliance.

JAL has asked the japanese government for financial aids for the fourth time since 2001. The airline has posted its third loss in four years. Japan’s transport minister already said that a court-led bankruptcy is still possible for the airline but Tokyo still refused to let that happen. JAL already cut jobs and routes to ease up its debt problems.

The financial lifeline offered by Delta consists of $500 million equity injection, a revenue guarantee worth 300 million dollars and 200 million dollars in asset-backed funding. A $20 million transition cost for changing alliances is also included.

American Airline is not putting this down without a fight. It has partnered with private equity group TPG to make a counter-proposal.

A transfer of alliance will cause a short-term disruption in US traffic air flows as the major hubs of American Airlines is in Chicago and Dallas while Delta is in Atlanta and Detroit.

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Delta to Offer $1 Billion to Japan Airlines

A hostage taking occurring in a TJ Maxx store in Venice, Florida already claimed 1 injury. The hostage drama started at 9 PM Tuesday, November 17.

The store is located at the Bird Bay Plaza, 452 N. US 41 Bypass. The area was closed down for the incident.

Herald Tribune reported that eight employees were taken hostage for three hours. Seven of the hostages were released unharmed but the final victim, a 16-year-old girl, was injured and had to be dragged out from the store in a blanket. NBC meanwhile reported that there are nine hostages.

A gunshot was heard shortly before midnight. Four hostages got out of the store at midnight and another four twenty minutes later. At that point, SWAT members entered the store.

Police has not yet located the gunmen as of 2 AM, Wednesday, November 18. The gunmen demands are still unclear as of the moment.

The employees were closing up for the night when the gunmen entered. The employees were oriented to obey and not to fight would-be robbers.

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TJ Maxx Hostage Taking Injures 1 Victim

Microsoft will bring its cloud computing platform Windows Azure to full production starting January 2010. The service will start collecting charges starting February 2010. The cost was previously released last July.

Cloud computing is defined as a paradigm shift where details are abstracted from users who no longer need knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure “in the cloud” that supports them. It typically involves the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources as a service over the Internet.

“For consumers, the best result of cloud computing is that they don’t notice it,” Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect, said. Ozzie is the Lotus Notes creator replaced Bill Gates as Chief Software Architect has been the main person pushing Microsoft into cloud computing.

The approach is to give developers a platform to write out their applications and then rent space in the datacenters while it runs the customer’s applications from Azure’s servers.

The service is currently running as a free Community Technology Preview (CTP) with three components: SQL Azure, AppFabric and Windows Azure itself.

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Cloud Computing Windows Azure to Start January 2010