Sports network makes investment is digital sports/recreation company.

HOUSTON — A judge in Texas has ordered the father of actress and singer Hilary Duff to spend 10 days in jail for contempt of court.

Bob Duff was led away in handcuffs Wednesday during a court hearing after Judge Thomas Stansbury in Houston determined he violated an injunction against selling assets without court approval.

The Houston Chronicle reported in its online edition that Bob Duff must pay into a court repository $367,537 he earned from selling stocks last month.

Bob Duff's attorney Robert Piro said his client would post bond and file an appeal.

Bob and Susan Duff are in the midst of a bitter divorce.

Stansbury determined Bob Duff should pay Susan $12,500 for Hilary's birthday party, which was the subject of the hearing. Her mother wanted $25,000 to pay for a present and party.

Neither Hilary, whose 21st birthday is Sept. 28, nor her sister Haylie were in court.

DENVER — Kanye West's regret on the day Barack Obama was nominated for president: That his mother, Donda, hadn't lived to experience it.

"It's an incredible time to be around. I wish my momma could have seen this day," the 31-year-old rapper told a crowd gathered for his performance early Thursday morning.

Jamie Foxx then joined West onstage and delivered what was easily the strangest Obama song dedication at this week's Democratic National Convention.

"We make history, man," Foxx declared at the ONE campaign party. "With Obama, we make history. If you ready for Obama, make some noise. Yo man, let's do this for Obama."

Nobody said politics and entertainment always mix smoothly: The pair then launched into their hit "Gold Digger," about money-grubbing women.

The party, sponsored by Bono's ONE anti-poverty campaign and the Recording Industry Association of America, drew celebrities including Forest Whitaker and Ashley Judd, who arrived with Foxx waving an American flag. Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle also walked the red carpet.

Some, including Daschle, left the club before West took the stage and roared through hits such as "Touch the Sky," "Home" and "Stronger."

Backed by a band clad in black outfits that seemed inspired both by Mad Max and the riot police ringing the convention arena, the hip-hop star also tried out two new songs he said he'd written in the past several days _ both more focused on relationships and heartbreak than politics.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will talk directly to his opponent in a television ad his campaign is airing in battleground states tonight around the time Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) accepts the presidential nomination, his campaign said.

Aides would give few details beyond the fact that McCain will speak directly to the camera, addressing Obama.

The strip-tease on the ad is one of several moves by the McCain campaign that could distract attention from Obama's big night.

Before they ship PCs to retailers like Best Buy, computer makers get paid hundreds of millions of dollars to load them up with lots of free software. For $30, Best Buy will get rid of it for you.

Mozilla, the non-profit organization behind the popular Firefox web browser, has extended its search deal with Google for another three years. In return for setting Google as the default search engine on Firefox, Google pays Mozilla a substantial sum - in 2006 the total amounted to around $57 million, or 85% of the company’s total revenue. The deal was originally going to expire in 2006, but was later extended to 2008 and will now run through 2011.

The deal will ensure that the non-profit Mozilla foundation will be able to continue with the development of Firefox, its mail client Thunderbird, and a number of other applications. From Mozilla CEO John Lilly:

“We’re very, very happy about our relationship with Google and this makes sure that Mozilla will be sustainable and thrive for quite a long time to come”.

Mozilla uses the funds to pay staff, support its bandwidth and hardware infrastructure, and to distribute a number of grants. Because the search giant accounts for 85% of its revenues, Mozilla has become almost totally reliant on Google, something that has apparently concerned a number of members in the open source community. But Mozilla maintains that the two organizations operate independently. From its 2006 Financial FAQ:

“We develop our product and technical direction as part of an open process unrelated to the search relationship with Google. We talk to Google about the parts of the product that offer Google services (i.e., the Firefox Start Page) and the services they provide, like anti-phishing. Otherwise Google does not have any special relationship to Mozilla project activities.”

You can see the original announcement at Mozilla Chairperson Mitchell Baker’s blog.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

LONDON, England -- The British Museum plans to display a statue of supermodel Kate Moss that it bills as the largest gold statue built since ancient Egypt.
The statue of Kate Moss will be displayed in the British Museum in a gallery holding anicent Greek sculpture.

The statue of Kate Moss will be displayed in the British Museum in a gallery holding anicent Greek sculpture.

Called "Siren," the statue will be part of a group of major sculptures by leading British artists to go on display at the museum in October, the museum announced.

The museum says the artist, Marc Quinn, claims it's the largest gold statue since ancient Egypt.

His previous work included the marble sculpture Alison Lapper Pregnant, which appeared on a plinth in London's Trafalgar Square.

Texas once again led the nation with the highest percentage of residents without health insurance, a U.S. Census Bureau report showed Tuesday, although the same study also reports a slight dip last year in the percentage without coverage across the nation.

...

But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)

"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American - even illegal aliens - as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.

More on John McCain

There are at least two Denver restaurants with a Chicago-themed name - a sub shop and a pizza joint. The sub shop doesn't promise a good beef sandwich, so we let them be, but the pizza place comes very close to offering a Chicago-style pie, which we just had to investigate.

Mark went in and talked to the regional manager, who seemed very nice and, if given the benefit of the doubt, probably has never had even one slice of a true deep-dish sausage or a crispy bit of heaven that is the thin crust with toppings slathered to the edge. So if he's told this is Chicago pizza, he's acting in good faith. But hey, pal, sometimes you gotta question your faith.

More on Food

Hello from Denver, where we missed yesterday's Morning Vlog Even Though We Hate The Word 'Vlog,' because a certain someone was out partying with a lampshade on her head. We won't say who. Or whom. Damn, which one is right? Moe Tkacik would know. Anyway! Here we are discussing the big DNC speeches, using custom-decorated cupcakes to illustrate our points. It's art, really. We hope you like it.

p.s. Hat tip: FishbowlNY. We never have any of the same content.
p.p.s. Also, this whole vlog counts as a shout-out to Rachel Kramer Bussel and Nichelle Stephens.

The Chicago Board of Education approved a record $6.2 billion budget yesterday while holding the line on property taxes for the first time since 1999.

The budget includes $5.1 billion in operating expenses, an increase of $200 million from the 2007-08 school year. The biggest increases were an additional $50 million for employee benefits, primarily pensions, and $32 million for salary increases.

Overall, the budget is $400 million more than last year.

As we've noted, John McCain's campaign has indeed figured out YouTube, and he leads Barack Obama in total video views on his YouTube channel over the past month. Now, we're told by the WSJ, the McCain camp has trumped Obama in search engine marketing.

The McCain campaign snapped up search terms like "Joe Biden" and "Biden" and refer traffic to a campaign ad where Biden talks in an earlier debate about he'd "be honored" to run on a ticket with John McCain. He's also bought up terms like "U.S. economy" and "housing crisis," which link to his campaign site.

Now, given the well-documented Web-savvy of the Obama campaign, any small victory from 71-year-old McCain seems newsworthy. But some perspective is in order: Obama's campaign Web site gets more than double the traffic of McCain's, and cumulatively, Obama has racked up 53 million YouTube channel views, to McCain's 10 million.

See Also:
As Dem Convention Begins, Obama Fights McCain For YouTube Views, Loses
Meet (Some Of) Barack Obama's Digital Gurus
Why Is McCain Crushing Obama On YouTube This Month?
Is Barack Obama Losing His YouTube Mojo?

DENVER — Looking toward his turn in the spotlight, Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain said Thursday he had yet to decide on a running mate.

McCain was expected to name his vice presidential pick this week, possibly Friday. The hope is to curb any uptick in polling that Democratic nominee Barack Obama could get from his convention, which wraps up Thursday, and to create momentum heading into the gathering of GOP delegates for McCain next week in St. Paul, Minn.

McCain and his running mate are expected to appear together for the first time at one or more rallies, including one planned for Saturday in Pennsylvania.

McCain said in an early morning radio interview that he was bringing along to that event both former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, two of the leading names on his short list. But he cautioned against assuming that meant either one would be the pick.

"I haven't decided yet so I can't tell you," he told KDKA NewsRadio in Pittsburgh early Thursday.

However, McCain talked glowingly of Ridge, a longtime friend who has been a frequent presence at his side during the campaign.

"He's a great American and a great and dear friend and I rely on him and I have for many years," McCain said.

Asked to hint which way he is leaning, McCain turned _ as he has for days _ to a joke, saying it would be actor Wilford Brimley.

"He's a former Marine and great guy and he's older than I am, so that might work," said the four-term Arizona senator who turns 72 on Friday.

Republicans with ties to McCain's campaign said final deliberations were focused on Romney as well as Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

Inside GOP circles Thursday, speculation swirled around Lieberman. It was fueled by reports that McCain's advisers had asked for additional detailed information from him, by McCain's close friendship with the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, and by word that Republican operatives had been told to prepare for the possibility of an "unconventional" choice.

GOP strategist Karl Rove late last week encouraged Lieberman to withdraw his name from vice presidential consideration, but Lieberman rejected the suggestion.

A person familiar with the phone call, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about it, said the suggestion from Rove, President Bush's former top campaign adviser, was laughingly dismissed by Lieberman.

There's been talk among Republican insiders that, should McCain choose Lieberman, he may well declare in his vice presidential speech or his nomination acceptance speech that he will serve only a single four-year term. GOP operatives say that, combined with putting Lieberman on the ticket, would be a way to show how the ticket would try to work in bipartisan fashion and reinforce McCain's claim that he would put the country above partisan politics. It also could address concerns about his age.

Conversely, hard-core Republicans likely would question why someone who doesn't adhere to GOP orthodoxy would be a heartbeat from the presidency and the prohibitive Republican favorite going into the 2012 election. That would also raise lame-duck questions and literally touch off the 2012 race as soon as this election ends _ if not sooner.

McCain himself has rejected a single-term pledge as recently as last week.

"No," McCain told Politico. "I'm not considering it."

Picking Lieberman, who supports the Iraq war but breaks with Republicans on most issues, notably abortion rights, would be all but certain to ignite a revolt on the right flank of the GOP heading into the Republican convention in St. Paul and following a week in which McCain's campaign stoked a storyline of division among Democrats in Denver.

McCain, who spoke with the radio station from his home in Sedona, Ariz., has told people that he would make no final decision until after he talks with his wife, Cindy. She has been in the country of Georgia this week and had been expected to return late Wednesday.

McCain spent the past several days in Arizona huddling with advisers and working on his nomination acceptance speech.

Ridge, meanwhile, was at his suburban Washington, D.C., home on Thursday. Asked by an Associated Press photographer as he took out the trash if he had any travel plans for the day, Ridge smiled and said he didn't. He went back inside and left in his car soon afterward.

Pawlenty, in Denver to be a McCain surrogate during the Democratic convention, said during a series of TV interviews that all the speculation may be fun and interesting but is foolish.

"Most of it turns out to be inaccurate," Pawlenty told Fox News Channel. "Those are questions for the McCain campaign, and I think they are going to make their announcement shortly."

___

Associated Press writers Glen Johnson in Boston and Andrew Miga and photographer Scott Applewhite in Washington contributed to this story.

More on John McCain

Just hours after Democrats formally nominated Barack Obama for president, his campaign launched a call-in offensive to WGN radio to protest the appearance Wednesday night of a conservative Obama critic on the "Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg" talk show.

"WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote Wednesay in an e-mail urging supporters to flood the stations phone lines with complaints. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."

More on Barack Obama

Connecticut delegates are demanding that party leaders punish Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-Independent, because of his support of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the Republican nominee.

For many of them, Lieberman's plan to speak at next week's Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., is the latest offense from the man who represented their state as a Democrat in Washington for 18 years.

"There has to be some kind of penalty for this sort of thing," said Martha Aasen, a delegate from Westport, Conn.

More on Joe Lieberman

An internal source at AT&T discussed the problems fixed by the 2.0.2 update, explaining, in no uncomplicated terms, that the update controlled the UMTS power control in the phone. Each iPhone requires a small amount of power from the transmitter and that power is requested by the phone itself. If too many phones ask for too much power at once, the transmitter starts shutting down, resulting in dropped calls. The iPhone 3G was asking for too much power and, in 2.0.2, has been fixed to stop requesting that power so often.

The result is a net effect: if everyone upgraded, we’d all be OK. But since folks are slow to update, the problem persists. The only way to fix this once and for all would be to push an over the air update to the phones, something I’m not sure Apple can or will do.

Read more…

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Reporters have frequently commented on the degeneration of John McCain's "Straight Talk Express" policy throughout the campaign, but his lack of openness with the press came to the fore in a recent interview with Time Magazine. Below are some excerpts from the interview.

McCain at first seemed happy enough to do the interview. But his mood quickly soured. The McCain on display in the 24-minute interview was prickly, at times abrasive, and determined not to stray off message.

...

There's a theme that recurs in your books and your speeches, both about putting country first but also about honor. I wonder if you could define honor for us?
Read it in my books.

I've read your books.
No, I'm not going to define it.

But honor in politics?
I defined it in five books. Read my books.

...

In 2000, after the primaries, you went back to South Carolina to talk about what you felt was a mistake you had made on the Confederate flag. Is there anything so far about this campaign that you wish you could take back or you might revisit when it's over?
[Does not answer.]

Do I know you? [Says with a laugh.]
[Long pause.] I'm very happy with the way our campaign has been conducted, and I am very pleased and humbled to have the nomination of the Republican Party.

...

A lot of people know about your service from your books, but most people don't know that you have two sons currently in the military. Can you describe what it means to have Jack and Jimmy in uniform?
We don't discuss our sons.

Click here to read the whole story

More on John McCain

Meanwhile, in the past few hours we've spoke to a number of 30 Rock staffers in Denver, New York, and Washington -- some of whom thought it more productive to speak to us than attend to the on-going live DNC coverage -- and the common wisdom is: 1) Nobody can believe how much Keith Olbermann is getting away with, even if he does draw ratings; 2) As an Olbermann protege, Rachel Maddow is attracting negative feelings from staffers, since she stays mum on many of these catfights, but "there's still time" to represent; 3) MSNBC head Phil Griffin is alienating staffers by publicly defending Olbermann while privately bashing him, and it's left many wondering when that will leak (oops); 4) MSNBC publicist Jeremy Gaines appears increasing stressed out and can be seen "shaking" with a phone attached to his ear dealing with reporters; 5) You don't want to run into Chris Matthews anytime soon, especially en route to the bathroom, because he has zero pleasant things to say right now; 6) Joe Scarborough is definitely stressed, but he's managed to calm down a bit today and can be seen laughing and gabbing; 7) None of this is helping ratings, with MSNBC scoring the lowest numbers against Fox News and CNN in convention coverage.

More on MSNBC

Now that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has chosen his running mate, it's time for him to concentrate on another important selection: family dog. The American Kennel Club® (AKC) announced today that the public has elected a Poodle as their breed of choice for the Obama family.

The AKC launched its poll to find a breed for Obama (www.presidentialpup.com) after reports that - win or lose - the Obamas promised their two daughters a dog after the presidential election. More than 42,000 people cast their vote over the seven-week campaign. The Poodle clinched the nomination after the breed battled it out with the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier in a race almost as tight as Clinton and Obama's run for the Democratic nomination for president. The Poodle won by a (dog) hair, with just a few hundred votes separating the top two contenders.

The Miniature Schnauzer, Bichon Frise, and Chinese Crested were also nominated, due to the distinct characteristics that make them uniquely suited for the Obama family. Every family is unique, but for the Obamas who have a daughter with allergies, a hypoallergenic breed with a very consistent and predictable coat is crucial.

"Most of our Presidents kept purebreds in the White House," said AKC Spokesperson Lisa Peterson. "When times get tough - during a bad economy or when presidential pressures are at their peak - these dogs serve as devoted and non-judgmental companions that bring joy and relaxation to our first families."

If the Obamas follow America's advice and choose a Poodle, the AKC will assist them in responsibly acquiring a puppy or adult rescue dog. The AKC's puppy-buyer resource page at www.puppybuyerinfo.com offers links to responsible breeders who are members of AKC clubs as well as to affiliated breed rescue-groups that have dogs for adoption. For instance, the Poodle National Breed Club web site can be located at http://www.poodleclubofamerica.org/usamap.htm.

The Obama family may be adding a dog to their household for the first time, but Republican nominee John McCain is ahead of the pack with 24 pets, including four dogs. Therefore, animal lovers may be ready to help him "fetch" the election. According to a recent Associated Press survey, "Pet owners favor McCain over Obama 42 percent to 37 percent, with dog owners particularly in McCain's corner."

"It's no surprise the American public chose a Poodle for Obama," said Peterson. "Poodles are currently the eighth most popular breed in the U.S., according to 2007 AKC registrations statistics, and it spent more than two decades in the top spot - a true testament to its suitability as a family pet. And while Poodles require frequent grooming, their consistent and predictable coat is crucial for their daughter and all who suffer from allergies."

Poodles, often considered high-maintenance show dogs, can also be kept in a simple one-length clip. They are exceptionally smart and athletic, excel in obedience training and are great hunting companions. They are the only breed that comes in three sizes, any of which can easily adapt to life in the urban environment of the White House or the rural setting at Camp David. The Standard variety is the largest size, measuring over 15 inches at the shoulder. It is the oldest of the three varieties and developed for water retrieving. The Miniature measures over 10 inches but less than 15 inches and it is speculated that it was used for truffle hunting. The Toy Poodle measures 10 inches and under and was often used in performances and traveling entertainment groups. Learn more about the Poodle and its suitability for your family at http://www.akc.org/breeds/poodle/.

More on Barack Obama

When it comes to search, Microsoft is trying everything it can to become a serious player. It tried to acquire Yahoo, its latest version of Internet Explorer attempts to steer Web surfers away from Google, and then there is straight-out payola to search advertisers. I am talking, of course, of Microsoft’s Live Search Cashback promotion, which lets advertisers offer rebates to consumers who make a purchase after doing a Microsoft search.

After Live Cashback launched in May, Microsoft saw an initial one-month boost in its share of the U.S. search market (from 8.5 percent in May to 9.2 percent in June). But in July, its share slipped again down to 8.9 percent, according to comScore. Although we only have two months of full data (June and July) since launch to evaluate, it doesn’t look like Cashback is having any effect.

While two months worth of data is far from conclusive, it does suggest that in search you can’t buy market share. You have to earn it.

During the same period, this is what happened to Google’s and Yahoo’s U.S. search market share:

U.S. Search Market Share
———-May, 2008——June, 2008—–July, 2008
Google——-61.8%———61.5%———-61.9%
Yahoo——-20.6%———-20.9%———-20.5%

Click on the table below for a market share figures for all the major search engines going back to July, 2007

CrunchBase Information Microsoft Google Information provided by CrunchBase

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