Level 3 investe nella resilienza a Manchester, radicando la presenza in Europa

Instradamento diverso supporta gli obiettivi di sviluppo economico della città
LONDRA–(Business Wire)–
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ : LVLT) ha annunciato oggi di avere
investito per rendere resiliente la connessione di Level 3 alla città di
Manchester, il che significa che la connettività internet della città è ora
indipendente dall’hub londinese di Level 3. Level 3 serve circa 45 mercati in
Europa e può erogare in maniera fluida servizi di trasporto oltre che di
protocollo internet (IP) da Manchester fino all’Europa occidentale e ai mercati
del Nord America.

Con effetto immediato, Level 3 ha implementato un aumento della propria rete
europea per fornire una rotta diversa per Manchester. L’annuncio giunge mentre
la città cerca di attrarre nuove attività commerciali e di stimolare lo sviluppo
economico nell’area.

“Il nostro obiettivo al Manchester Investment Development Agency Service (MIDAS)
è di promuovere l’investimento interno e lo sviluppo economico a Manchester e
l’impegno di Level 3 per rendere la città resiliente sicuramente sostiene tale
obiettivo,” ha dichiarato Katie Gallagher, direttore industrie creative al
MIDAS. “Quando le aziende devono decidere dove fare affari, la connettività è un
criterio cruciale e questo investimento fornirà accesso diretto ad una delle
maggiori colonne portanti di internet al mondo.”

La rete europea di Level 3 continua ad espandersi in linea con la domanda dei
clienti. Tale espansione segue un incremento nella sua capacità di rete in
Europa centrale e orientale. Quest’anno, la società ha investito nell’espansione
e nel radicamento della sua presenza in varie sedi in Europa, tra cui il Regno
Unito, la Repubblica Ceca, la Francia, la Germania e il Belgio. L’azienda ha in
progetto di continuare il suo investimento nelle infrastrutture e nella
connettività europee per tutto il 2010.

“Introducendo la resilienza, miglioreremo la diversità della rete lontano da
Londra, approfondendo la nostra presenza europea e potenziando le nostre opzioni
di servizi nell’area di Manchester,” ha dichiarato James Heard, presidente
Mercati europei per Level 3. “Noi riteniamo ci siano grandi potenzialità di
crescita economica in quest’area e siamo impegnati a supportare questa crescita
con soluzioni di telecomunicazione di livello mondiale.”

La rete di Level 3 oggi copre 22 Paesi, offrendo servizi in circa 190 mercati in
Europa e Nord America. La capacità viene offerta tra i due continenti su cinque
sistemi transatlantici, con sette rotte diverse. Per maggiori informazioni sulle
capacità europee di Level 3, si prega di cliccare qui..

Informazioni su Level 3 Communications

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) è un importante fornitore, operante
a livello internazionale, di servizi per la comunicazione basati su fibra
ottica. Aziende, fornitori di contenuti, operatori all’ingrosso ed enti
governativi fanno affidamento su Level 3 per la fornitura di servizi con una
combinazione leader del settore di scalabilità e valore tramite una rete
end-to-end in fibra ottica. Level 3 offre un portafoglio di servizi
metropolitani e a lunga distanza, comprendenti trasporto, traffico dati,
Internet, trasmissione di contenuti e traffico voce. Per ulteriori informazioni
si prega di visitare il sito Web www.Level3.com.

Dichiarazioni rilasciate a titolo di previsione

Alcune delle dichiarazioni riportate nel presente comunicato stampa
costituiscono dichiarazioni rilasciate a titolo di previsione. Le suddette
dichiarazioni rilasciate a titolo di previsione non costituiscono una garanzia
della performance e sono soggette a una serie di incertezze e altri fattori,
molti dei quali esulano dal controllo di Level 3, e in considerazione dei quali
gli eventi effettivi potrebbero discostarsi in maniera sostanziale da quelli
espressi esplicitamente o implicitamente in siffatte dichiarazioni. I fattori
più importanti che potrebbero impedire a Level 3 di raggiungere gli obiettivi
dichiarati comprendono, ma non in senso restrittivo, l`attuale precarietà dei
mercati finanziari a livello mondiale e dell`economia globale; cambiamenti a
carico dei mercati finanziari che potrebbero intaccare la capacità di Level 3 di
ottenere ulteriori finanziamenti; nonché la capacità della società di:
accrescere e mantenere il volume del traffico sulla rete; integrare
efficacemente le acquisizioni; sviluppare sistemi di supporto aziendali
efficaci; difendere la proprietà intellettuale e i diritti di proprietà; gestire
le interruzioni o avarie a carico di reti e sistemi; sviluppare nuovi servizi
che soddisfino la domanda dei clienti e generare margini di profitto
accettabili; adattarsi ai rapidi cambiamenti tecnologici che portino a nuova
concorrenza; attirare e mantenere personale dirigenziale e altro personale
qualificato e adempiere a tutti i termini e condizioni dei propri oneri
debitori. Ulteriori informazioni in merito a questi e ad altri fattori
importanti sono rinvenibili nei documenti depositati da Level 3 presso la
Securities and Exchange Commission. Le dichiarazioni contenute nel presente
comunicato stampa vanno vagliate tenendo in debita considerazione gli importanti
fattori di cui sopra. Level 3 non si assume alcun obbligo, e declina
espressamente qualsiasi obbligo, rispetto all`aggiornamento o alla revisione di
una qualsiasi dichiarazione rilasciata a titolo di previsione, alla luce della
disponibilità di nuove informazioni, alla luce del verificarsi di eventi futuri
o per qualsiasi altro motivo.

Il testo originale del presente annuncio, redatto nella lingua di partenza, è la
versione ufficiale che fa fede. Le traduzioni sono offerte unicamente per
comodità del lettore e devono rinviare al testo in lingua originale, che è
l’unico giuridicamente valido.

Level 3 Communications
Media:
Alexis Hammack, 720-888-2441
oppure
Investitori:
Mark Stoutenberg, 720-888-2518

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Indian-American Guv candidate hit by sex scandal

Two weeks before a highly competitive Republican primary for the post of Governor, State Representative Nikki Haley, has been hit by charges, by one of her supporters, that she had an “inappropriate physical relationship” with him three years ago.

On Tuesday, Will Folks, a blogger and political consultant, promised to document claims that he had had a relationship with Haley. Haley, 38, who leapt to frontrunner status last week, days after an endorsement by Sarah Palin, issued a strong denial, saying, “I have been 100 per cent faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage.”

Folks was a spokesman for previous Governor Mark Sanford, who is limping out of office after admitting to an affair last year. Folks himself has been a cheerleader for Haley on his blog, FitsNews. For months, Haley, who has two children, was regarded as a long-shot candidate opposed by a congressman, the attorney general and the lieutenant governor. But she has won support from the Tea Party camp, and after a visit and endorsement from Palin on May 14, Haley’s political fortunes soared.

Folks said, Haley’s political enemies were shopping a story about their alleged relationship, which he told reporters took place in 2007 when he worked for her campaign. (Folks married the following year.) In his blog posts, Folks said that he warned the Haley campaign of leaks, and that he was “forced” to “pre-emptively” acknowledge the relationship.

On Tuesday, Folks went further, blaming “operatives with ties to the campaign” of US Representative J Gresham Barrett, one of Haley’s Republican opponents’ for pushing the story. Barrett’s campaign manager, Luke Byars, denied that.

Haley said the allegation against her was not surprising. “This disgraceful smear has taken form less than a week removed from the release of a poll showing our campaign with a significant lead,” she said. “It is quite simply South Carolina politics at its worst.” Palin also leapt to her defence.

In a radio interview on Monday, Haley implied that Folks might be benefiting from his claim. “Political consultants in South Carolina take care of those that pay them,” she said. Folks said he had not had “any paid position, direct contract or subcontract with any of the campaigns for Governor.” NYT

‘Ghost’ set for Japanese remake

London, May 16 (ANI): Japan is about to get its own version of Patrick Swayze”s hit movie ‘Ghost’.

The 1990 film won two Academy Awards including a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Whoopi Goldberg.

And now the flick is heading back to the big screen under the direction of Taro Otani with an all-Japanese cast, reports The Daily Express.

The project will begin filming in June (10).

It is slated for an autumn release (10), according to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. (ANI)

Facebook loses friends over privacy settings

New York, May 15 (ANI): Recent privacy changes have prompted some Facebook users to logout for good.

“It doesn”t feel like Facebook is on the side of its users,” said Peter Rojas, a well-known blogger who created Web sites like Gizmodo and gdgt.com. “They”re playing fast and loose with privacy settings.”

Rojas isn”t the only one. Matt Cutts, head of the Web spam team at Google, and Cory Doctorow, co-editor of the popular blog BoingBoing, have also bid adieu to the social networking site.

In a Twitter post, Doctorow blamed a slew of recent privacy changes – and Facebook CEO Marc Zuckerberg – for his decision to leave the site, reports The New York Daily News.

“Never made use of Facebook, but privacy awfulness from Zuckerberg has prompted me to delete acct,” he wrote.

What’s more, “delete Facebook account” was among the top 20 trending searches on Google Friday.

New default privacy settings on Facebook put more of users’ information out there for the whole world to see.

Also, data on Facebook profile is now being shared with “partner sites” like Yelp, Microsoft, Pandora and more. These companies can use profile information to target advertising, as well as to understand what demographics are using or talking about their products.

Zuckerberg recently said in a statement, “The privacy and security of our users” information is of paramount importance to us.” (ANI)

‘Boobquake’ cleric defends earthquake-promiscuity link

Washington, May 15 (ANI): The Iranian cleric, who claimed last month that promiscuity and immodest dress cause earthquakes, has defended his argument.

Kazem Sedighi insists God may be holding off on natural disasters in the West in order to let people sin more and relegate themselves to hell.

Sedighi’s preaching created a buzz on the web last month, as blogger Jennifer McCreight of Indiana asked women to show as much cleavage as possible through a Facebook page named Boobquake, reports Fox News.

Seidighi had said: “Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes.”

Now, the cleric is back defending his concept.

Sedighi notes that some might ask why there aren”t more earthquakes and storms striking Western nations that are “up to their necks” in immorality.

He says the answer is that God allows some of those who “provoke His wrath” to continue sinning “so that they (eventually) go to the bottom of Hell.”

Meanwhile, on the lines of ‘Boobquake,’ a new Facebook group called for ‘Brainquake’, a day for women to “show off their resumes, CVs, honors, prizes, and accomplishments.” (ANI)

Aussie tourism body apologises for racial slur

Melbourne, May 12 (ANI): A Northern Territory Government agency has apologised after a blogger here caught it out paying for a sponsored Google link to the racial slur “Abo”.

Till Tuesday afternoon, if an internet user typed “Abo” into Google, a sponsored Tourism NT advertisement popped up. It even used the word as the headline for its ad.

Underneath “Abo” it said: “An experience you will never forget. Experience Aboriginal culture in NT””.

The ad linked to the Travel NT website, run by Tourism NT.

It was first spotted by blogger Brett Nicholson, of Melbourne agency Next Digital, on Monday.

””I came across this by accident when misspelling an acronym and I was quite shocked,”” he wrote in his blog.

””Not only have Tourism NT approved – and are bidding on – a racially offensive keyword, they are actually including the word ”abo” in an advertisement.””

According to The Courier Mail, Tourism NT released a three-sentence statement, which said it had alerted its online search provider and the link had been taken down.

Spokeswoman Carmel Nola, when pressed for more information, said they were still investigating. (ANI)

Pals says new US Supreme Court judge Kagan no lesbian

Washington, May 12 (ANI): A close friend of newly appointed Supreme Court judge Elena Kagan has refuted allegations and rumors that she is a lesbian.

POLITICO quoted Sarah Walzer, Kagan’s roommate in law school and a close friend, as saying onTuesday: “I’ve known her for most of her adult life and I know she’s straight. She dated men when we were in law school, we talked about men — who in our class was cute, who she would like to date, all of those things. She definitely dated when she was in D.C. after law school, when she was in Chicago – and she just didn’t find the right person.”

Walzer, half amused and half appalled to be discussing her friend’s sexual orientation, agreed to be interviewed after Kagan’s supporters decided they should tactfully put an end to the rumor, which White House officials had already tried to squelch in background interviews with reporters.

She said she decided to talk to POLITICO because the discussion of Kagan’s personal life has become a “distraction.”

“It’s taking away from substantive discussion of the issues from a really substantive person who deserves to be given the opportunity to address the substantive issues,” she said.

Another friend, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, a member of Kagan’s social circle at Princeton University, said: “I did not go out with her, but other guys did. I don””t think it is my place to say more.”

The rumor about Kagan has circulated for months on gay blogs and became a matter of controversy when it was cited as fact by a conservative blogger on the website of CBS News, drawing a sharp White House rebuttal. (ANI)

Cyberbullying: Even moms get vicious online

New York, April 29 (ANI): Cyberbullying is no longer confined only to kids, as reports show that mums who blog, tweet and text can get just as vicious as any teenager online.

Mommy blogging is growing in popularity, but instead of finding compassion, kindness, most are facing negative and hurtful judgements.

“There’s a lot of insecurity, a lot of confusion, resentment, just about being a mother,” the New York Daily News quoted psychiatrist and mom blogger Janet Taylor as telling Good Morning America.

“There’s a sense of ‘I have to be better than you and I’m going to prove it by writing negative things’. Not supporting, just writing negative things,” she said.

The bullying words are quite unsubtle, like when a blogger called a working mother “selfish”, and called a co-sleeping mother, a mom who sleeps in the same bed with her kids, “irresponsible”.

According to Good Morning America, one of the meanest reactions to an online mom blogger came last year after Shellie Ross, a popular blogger, found her 2-year-old drowned in the pool.

Less than an hour after she found him, she was tweeting her 5,400 followers, asking for their prayers.

And although she said she did not “tweet-by-tweet” the accident, her Twitter feed was full of responses, many of which were angry and which blamed her for her son’s death.

“A child is dead because [of] his mother’s infatuation with Twitter,” one person wrote.

In another incident, mom of two Norie Pereira, from New Jersey, endured criticism when she spoke out online about how her daughter had been the victim of online bullying after a nude photo she’d texted to her boyfriend went viral.

The subsequent bullying from the online mom community was shocking, Pereira revealed.

Moms called her daughter a slut and said that the girl should have been taught morals and self-respect by her parents.

“It just amazes me there’s no compassion, especially [in] moms because you think moms that have maternal feeling to protect,” she added. (ANI)

Father of hybrid rice named China”s richest soul

Beijing, Apr.29 (ANI): Yuan Longping, known as the father of hybrid rice, has been named China”s soul-richest person.

The China Social Sciences Press said in Beijing that Yuan”s contribution with hybrid rice was invaluable to the world, but the man had never sought fame and wealth and still works on his farmland as a plain farmer.

Also on the list are Chen Guangbiao, a famous philanthropist; Li Shufu, founder of China”s Zhejiang Geely Holdings; Han Han, a professional rally driver, best-selling author and China”s most popular blogger; and Hu Shuli, chief editor of CAIXIN Media, the China Daily reports. (ANI)

“Boobquake” doesn’t spark off earthquake!

Melbourne, April 28(ANI): Cleavages don’t make the earth move — literally.

That’s the claim of a blogger, who called on women around the world to test the premise of an Iranian cleric who suggested that immodest women were to be blamed for earthquakes.

“Women who do not dress modestly…lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases (consequently) earthquakes,” Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi had said.

Dubbed Boobquake, Jen McCreight encouraged women around the world to flaunt their breasts and their cleavage to prove the Iranian cleric wrong.

“Our provocative dress didn”t really seem to effect the frequency of earthquakes,” News.com.au quoted McCreight as writing on the Blag Hag blog.

She added: “There were 47 earthquakes on the 26th, which falls well within the 95 per cent confidence interval for number of earthquakes (about 0 to 148).”

An earthquake that occurred in Taiwan was considered in the study, but it wasn’t enough to affect the results.

McCreight said: “That single earthquake wasn”t significant. Earthquakes between 6.0 and 6.9 magnitude happen, on average, 134 times a year.

“That means we had about a 37 per cent probability of an earthquake of that magnitude happening on boobquake just due to chance alone.”

McCreight admitted that the experiment was more of a “humorous exercise” than a rigorous study.

She said: “Maybe God really was pissed, but he couldn”t increase earthquakes for us because that would provide proof for his existence. Or of course, maybe God is just biding his time.

“If you hear a news report in the next couple weeks saying a bizarre Indiana earthquake killed a science blogger, well then maybe we”ll have to rethink our conclusions a bit.”

McCreight believes humour can often work against sexist attitude.

She said: “I think people were fed up with ridiculous anti-science and anti-women claims like the one made by Sedighi, and sometimes light-hearted mockery is the best solution.” (ANI)

MyLikes Secures $630K in Seed Funding

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Apr 14 (MARKET WIRE) —
Word of mouth advertising platform MyLikes (www.mylikes.com) announced
that it has secured $630K in seed funding. The funds will be used to fuel
the expansion of the company’s product and mission to make social media
advertising and marketing more personal, relevant, and conversational.

The round was over-subscribed and restricted to 11 ex-Googlers who were
former colleagues of MyLikes founders, Bindu Reddy and Arvind
Sundararajan. Reddy was the former head of product management for Google
Apps and Sundararajan was former tech lead for Google’s AdSense.

Investors in the round included Paul Buchheit and Sanjeev Singh, founders
of Gmail and FriendFeed and who are currently at Facebook; Georges Harik,
early Google director; Dipchand Nishar, ex-Google director and current VP
of Products at LinkedIn; Keval Desai, VP of Digg; Aydin Senkut from
Felicity Ventures; XG Ventures; David Hirsch from Metamorphic Ventures;
and active ex-Google angel investors Richard Chen, Thomas Korte and David
Scacco.

The company also announced that influential bloggers Robert Scoble
(http://scobleizer.com) and Louis Gray (http://blog.louisgray.com) have
joined the MyLikes Advisory Board. As strategic advisors, both Scoble and
Gray can provide valuable insight on how to effectively recruit
influencers on the web, as well as how to fine tune the MyLikes platform
to meet the needs of today’s blogger. Gokul Rajaram, founder of ChaiLabs
and the “Godfather of AdSense”
(http://www.crunchbase.com/person/gokul-rajaram), is also joining the
advisory board to provide feedback and guidance on the advertising model.

MyLikes publicly launched in January 2010 and already boasts an
impressive community of more than 60,000 social media influencers, as
well as more than 170 advertisers. Prior to this funding round, MyLikes
had been funded by Reddy and Sundararajan.

MyLikes is changing the way brand and discovery advertising is done on
social media and throughout the web by letting influencers choose and
write endorsements in their own voice. Bloggers, Twitterers, and other
social media publishers select the brands and products they genuinely
like (and will be helpful to their audience), and then promote their
‘Like’ by posting it to Twitter or their website. Influencers earn money
for themselves or their preferred charity with every click.

By hand-picking the ads that will best fit the interests of their
followers and readers, publishers protect their integrity and
relationship with their readers, as well as increase the chances that ads
will get clicked. It’s a win-win-win situation for all involved:
advertisers get more clicks, publishers earn more money, and readers
discover relevant brands and information from their favorite social media
personalities.

About MyLikes
MyLikes is a word of mouth advertising platform that
connects influencers (topic bloggers, influential twitter users, etc) on
the web with Advertisers. With MyLikes, influencers choose and write
endorsements in their own voice — making advertising and marketing a
more personal, relevant, and conversational medium. The San
Francisco-based company was founded by Bindu Reddy, former head of
product management for Google Apps, and Arvind Sundararajan, former tech
lead for Google’s AdSense and Gmail. For more information, please visit
www.mylikes.com or follow them on Twitter @mylikesdotcom.

Press Contact:
Bindu Reddy
Email Contact
415-377-9324

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

Probe launched into source of Sarkozy affairs rumours

France has initiated a criminal investigation to find out the source of internet rumours that President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni were having extra-marital affairs.

The probe has been ordered as the President’s advisers suggested that the rumours might have been started only in an attempt to destabilise Sarkozy’s position at a time when he is seeking to regulate global capitalism, ‘The Times’ reported.

“Now we are going to see whether there is a sort of organised plot with financial movements. There had to be a judicial procedure, so that fear would switch to the other side,” President Sarkozy’s communication adviser Pierre Charon was quoted as saying.

Claims that Sarkozy was having an affair with Chantal Jouanno, France’s Ecology Minister, and the First Lady with Benjamin Biolay, a singer, circulated on Twitter in February.

Both Sarkozy and his wife have denied the rumours, which the President dismissed as “idiotic”.

They were repeated by at least two French journalists on their Twitter accounts — although both say that they have no evidence to substantiate the allegations — and in a blog on the website of the ‘Journal du Dimanche’, a newspaper whose political coverage is regarded as largely non-partisan.

When Sarkozy complained, the blogger was sacked and Michael Amand, the director of the site, was forced to resign.

Under pressure from Sarkozy’s lawyers, Hachette Filipacchi Associés, which owns the ‘Journal du Dimanche’, has lodged a formal legal complaint for “fraudulent introduction of data into a computer system”.

Katy Perry arrives on elephant at Perez Hilton’s b’day party

London, Mar 29 (ANI): Singer Katy Perry is said to have surprised celebrity blogger Perez Hilton when she arrived at his birthday party on an elephant.

The party, held on March 27 to celebrate Hilton’s 32nd birthday, saw a host of other stars, including Melanie Brown, Lindsay Lohan, Paula Abdul, Liza Minnelli, Justin Bieber and Leona Lewis, reports the Daily Star.

Lewis started off the party at Paramount Studios by singing ‘Bleeding Love’ and ‘Outta My Head’, and thanking the blogger for his support, while rapper Eve and Minnelli also performed.

The highlight of the circus-themed event came after a montage of video tributes from the likes of Kylie Minogue and Lady Gaga.

Then scantily clad Perry, 25, arrived, singing Happy Birthday, while sitting on the elephant. (ANI)

China still censoring Google searches

Chinese access to websites covering sensitive topics such as Tibet remains blocked despite Google’s decision to stop censoring its Chinese-language search engine.

The US web giant has announced it will no longer filter results on China-based Google.cn and will redirect mainland Chinese users to an uncensored site in Hong Kong, effectively closing down the mainland site.

But searches from Chinese mainland computers on subjects such as the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests and the outlawed spiritual group Falungong drew the message “cannot display the web page”.

While lists of results for other sensitive keywords such as “Tibet riot” and “Amnesty International” are being provided, not all the sites are accessible, showing the error message “cannot display the website”.

Websites of organisations deemed by China’s ruling Communist Party to be hostile to the nation, such as Peacehall, are also blocked.

Lucinda Barlow, the head of public affairs for Google in Australia, told ABC2 News Breakfast that China is still censoring search results.

“Unfortunately I can confirm that the Chinese government has filtered … some of the search results that are being received from Google.hk,” she said.

“So while we are offering uncensored search results, they are being filtered … which is hugely disappointing for us.”

Ms Barlow says “politically sensitive subjects” such as Tiananmen Square remain blocked.

“You can see that YouTube and Blogger, which have been blocked, remain so, and there is also some blocking of search results from google.hk,” she said.

Ms Barlow says Google has set up a website showing which services are available and which are being blocked.

“We feel we have made progress in offering some renewed access to information,” she said.

“We have also tried to be very transparent about it.”

Ms Barlow says Google does not regret the decision to operate in China.

“We went into China in 2006 and it was a very difficult decision that we made at that time, which was to offer compromised, censored search results for people in mainland China,” she said.

“We felt at the time that it was better to offer some access to information, albeit in a compromised way, than not be there at all.

“In January of this year we announced that there had been some cyber attacks on Google … and surveillance of Gmail accounts of human rights activists involved in China.

“Those two events, as well as what we felt was increased restrictions on freedom of speech, have resulted in us coming to this decision yesterday.”

-AFP/ABC

George Michael ”gay cruising with iPhone”s Grindr app”

London, March 17 (ANI): George Michael is using technology to find hot guys – the singer has downloaded an iPhone application that helps him find blokes nearby, it has emerged.

According to Michael”s pals, the 46-year-old hitmaker is cleverly using Grindr app to locate partners and meet them as he vacations Down Under.

“George has been using the application loads since he has been in Oz as he doesn”t know the local spots,” the Daily Star quoted an insider, as saying.

The source added: “It”s great for him as he can find out exactly where the nearest people are discreetly without having to ask around in bars where he would be recognised.”

Melbourne blogger Richard Taylor said: “Apparently George Michael was on Grindr during the break at his show last night.”

The news comes just days after Michael was snapped having fun with men on his yacht off Sydney Harbour. (ANI)

Are Evan Rachel Wood and Alexander Skarsgard an item?

Washington, Sep 8 (ANI): American actress Evan Rachel Wood is reportedly dating her ‘True Blood’ co-star Alexander Skarsgard.

According to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, Wood, 22, had recently been linked to E.R. actor Shane West, but is said to have moved on to Swedish actor Skarsgard, 33, after meeting him on the set of the hit vampire TV show, reports Contactmusic.

The pair have been spotted enjoying a string of dates, including a soccer match and a boat trip.

Wood even jetted into Louisiana over the weekend to keep the actor company during breaks from filming the ‘Straw Dogs’ remake. (ANI)

Demi Moore threatens to sue blogger Perez Hilton over daughter’s pics

Washington, September 4 (ANI): Hollywood actress Demi Moore has threatened to sue celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, after she spotted a link on the latter’s site directing viewers to a set of “inappropriate” pictures of her teen daughter Tallulah.

The 15-year-old is the youngest of Demi’s three daughters with ex-husband Bruce Willis.

According to reports, the snaps Demi is angry at show the teen baring her chest in a revealing top, and wearing a tiny pair of shorts.

Moore has expressed her disgust about the pictures on her Twitter.com page, accusing the blogger of flouting child pornography laws.

“Expect another letter from my attorney, kitten,” Contactmusic quoted her as having written.

Moore goes on to rage about Hilton’s “exploitation” of teens in a series of furious posts.

She wrote: “Clearly Perez Hilton isn’t taking violating child pornography laws very seriously. He might not but there are a lot of people who do! Anyone who advertises follows or supports Perez supports violating child pornography laws!”

She further wrote: “Let me ask all of you, what is it called when someone is telling people to look and focus on a child’s ‘boobs and ass’ while providing photos? (It’s) child pornography! Or just being a general pervert/creep. Disgusting! This is not a game. Children should not be exploited. They must be protected.”

Hitting back at Morre, Hilton called her comments “libellous, defamatory, inaccurate and stupid.”

In a post on his own Twitter.com page, he writes: “Thanks for drawing MORE attention to your daughter’s behaviour and your parenting skills (or lack thereof). U r (sic) real smart! That is CLEARLY not child porn. And I didn’t even post those on my site! I would not let my 15 year old daughter dress like that under ANY context. You are delusional and slightly senile!” (ANI)

When Obama’s newest catchphrase ‘wee weed up’ left the press puzzled

London, August 22 (ANI): U.S. President Barack Obama left the national media struggling to get the meaning of his newest catchphrase “wee weed up”, which he uttered at a healthcare forum with Democratic party activists in Washington on Friday.

He spokes these words while comparing his recent negative press coverage with similarly dire predictions made during his run for President.

“There’s something about August going into September where everybody in Washington gets all wee weed up. I don’t know what it is. But that’s what happens,” Times Online quoted him as having said.

Obama’s words left the press puzzled.

“I don’t know what that means,” wrote Mike Memoli, of the Real Clear Politics website.

“Is this some Chicago phrase I don’t know about?” asked the conservative blogger Michelle Malkin.

Moments after Obama had made that remark, Time Magazine’s Michael Scherer tweeted: “Obama just said ‘wee wee’.”

There also came an interpretation from the Weekly Standard’s Mary Catherine Ham, who said: “My little brothers often wee-weed up the pool in August.”

Sam Youngman, of The Hill newspaper, wondered when the conservatives questioning the validity of Obama’s birth certificate would “start saying that ‘wee-weed up’ is an old Kenyan Muslim saying?”

The debate finally ended with the White House spokesman Robert Gibbs shedding some light on the phrase during a press briefing.

He said: “(Wee weed up is) when people just get all nervous for no particular reason”.

He added: “Bed wetting would be the more consumer-friendly version.” (ANI)

Ashlee Simpson slams blogger Hilton over ‘untrue’ drunken story

Washington, August 19 (ANI): Ashlee Simpson has lashed out at celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, accusing him of publishing “untrue” story about her being involved in a drunken row with husband Pete Wentz.

Hilton recently reported that the singer started a fight with her Fall Out Boy bassist partner during the first anniversary celebrations of Wentz’s Chicago bar “Angels and Kings”.

He alleged that the couple were “completely wasted” as was witnessed by several partygoers.

But Simpson slammed the blogger on her Twitter page, saying his story was far from the truth.

“When all you do is make up untrue stories – look in the mirror. Do you even feel human? Karma is a b**ch. Your story is WAY off,” Contactmusic quoted her as saying.

Hilton fired back replying: “I don’t wanna (sic) name names and get people fired but several of the people I spoke with work at Angels and Kings. I’m not wrong.”

But Simpson had the last word, insisting: “WRONG. My husband is an amazing DJ and was dedicating songs to me. We were just havin (sic) fun. Our love is amazing. Get ur (your) own life.” (ANI)