$30G for Pete's ball haul

A Canadian company agreed yesterday to pay $30,000 - $1,000 each - for the 30 autographed baseballs consigned to a New Jersey auction house by the estate of Barry Halper, the legendary sports-memorabilia collector.

Yesterday, the disgraced hit king began selling balls signed "I'm sorry I bet on baseball" on his own Web site for $299 each, but the Canadian firm thinks the original balls are worth the extra money.

"These are the limited-edition balls," said Donna Montgomery, a spokeswoman for Entertainment Systems Inc., a British Columbia company that provides software and other products to online-gaming companies. "These are the originals."

Montgomery said the company will distribute the balls to loyal customers.

As the Daily News reported this week, Robert Edward Auctions of Watchung, N.J., obtained 30 of the inscribed balls from the estate of Halper, the New Jersey businessman and limited partner in the Yankees who died last year at 66.

Get Into the Paris Hilton

Great and Funny clip about Paris

BIG FILM SPARKS BIG

HEAVY-DUTY actors Sean Penn, An thony Hopkins, Jude Law, Patricia Clarkson, Mark Ruffalo, James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet star in the remake of Robert Penn Warren's novel "All the King's Men." It opens tomorrow. Sony is making sure it generates excitement. Already touted as Oscar material is Sean Penn. Sean Penn is the movie. It revolves around his character Willy Stark, who is a depiction of Louisiana's long, back, sleazy, greasy Gov.Huey Long.

WE HEAR . ...PARTY TONIGHT

THAT Jay-Z will throw a party at his 40/40 Club tonight for Alfonso Soriano of the Washington Nationals to celebrate his entry into the 40/40 club: players who hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in one season. LETS GO YANKS !!!!!...they should of kept him

MARRIAGE IN END ZONE

JESSICA Namath, the sexy coed daughter of Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath (far left), is being credited for a sack. The 21-year-old University of Alabama sophomore has been named the "other woman" in the messy divorce between Palm Beach spa owner William "Blu" Stephanos, 28, and his wife, Carly, 26, the Palm Beach Post re ported yesterday. Carly claims he's spending her money on his new honey - lavishing her with Tiffany jewelry and luxury trips. Jessica could not be reached for comment.

GIULIANI DISSES FBI

RUDY Giuliani has made enemies among a group that should be solidly behind "America's mayor" - the Society of Former Special Agents - after canceling as their keynote speaker. The retired FBI men, at the New York Hilton for the society's 54th annual convention, booked Giuliani in May for this morning's breakfast speech. But Hizzoner canceled two weeks ago, leaving the group almost no time to line up a replacement. "We are deeply disappointed," said Joseph Valiquette, the retired spokesman for the FBI's New York office. "He is a national figure, We were looking forward to hearing his perspective on terrorism." A less diplomatic member said, "Don't forget, it was the FBI cases that Rudy rode to prominence so he could run for mayor in the first place. We did not forget him, but he forgot us." Among those who pressed Giuliani into relenting and giving the speech was Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. But Giuliani couldn't be swayed. A spokeswoman for Giuliani said, "He deeply regrets not being able to be there. There was a scheduling conflict." In the end, the speaker they ended up with ain't too shabby - FBI Deputy Director John Pistole.

LIKE I AIN'T TOO

IN an understatement of the ages, Paris Hilton told Los Angeles cops she's not the brightest bulb in Hollywood's chandelier.

The heir head told investigators probing the home-invasion robbery of "Girls Gone Wild" producer Joe Francis that she's not a reliable witness.

"Like I really . . . I don't remember. I'm not like that smart," Hilton said in police audio tapes set to air on "Dateline NBC" on Saturday night.

LAPD Detective Steve Koman and Deputy DA Hoon Chun were asking Hilton to remember what she told Francis at a party shortly after the "Girls" mastermind was victimized on Jan. 24, 2004.

Francis passed on Paris' information to cops, who eventually busted Darnell Riley. But when investigators pressed Hilton to recall her talk with Francis, she didn't remember much, The Post's David K. Li reports.

"I like forget stuff all the time," she said.

Koman, however, jumped to Paris' defense and encouraged her to think again.

"Don't cut yourself short," he said in the "Dateline" tapes.

Hilton also told cops "private tapes" were stolen from her home - and that a mysterious caller wanted money for the hot goods.

"They . . . wanted money. They were tryin' to sell it to like a newspaper or something," said Hilton, who balked at paying - and chalked it up to advice from dear old Dad.

"So if you pay somebody, then you're gonna be paying for the rest of your life," Hilton said. "My dad always taught me. They'll keep the tape anyway."

Riley pleaded guilty to residential burglary and attempted extortion in the Francis attack. He was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison

In a pretrial hearing, prosecutors showed video that Riley himself took of the home invasion. Francis was tied up, had his pants pulled down and was taunted with a phallic sex toy. "Dateline" captured this footage but has no plans to air it.

Google: The New Port Authority

A juggernaut gets ready to inject a big glob of silicon into New York City



Google plans to occupy in the heart of the city. It's a poorly kept secret that the company will soon open a huge new office and networking facility at 111 Eighth Avenue. Google's new base in the city will dump a sizable influx of Google employees into the social and professional environment of Chelsea and the West Village.

The art deco landmark is fast becoming one of the most important high-tech facilities in the world. Google's blockbuster invasion of New York and its impending takeover of nearly two floors of the massive building aim to make New York City a key component of its little-publicized global expansion—the details of which have become fodder for a mildly hysterical parlor game in the technology community and on Wall Street. The ultimate goal? Perhaps the planet's biggest ever computer network, bypassing all those pesky cable and telephone companies.

That's why what lies beneath 111 Eighth Avenue may be more important than the building itself. The old Port Authority headquarters sits atop one of the main fiber optic arteries in New York City—the Hudson Street–Ninth Avenue "fiber highway." The venerable behemoth is already one of the country's most important "carrier hotels"—loosely speaking, the physical connection points of the world's telecommunications networks and the World Wide Web. As a result, Google will "have access to as much bandwidth as possible and as much variety of bandwidth as possible," says Dana Spiegel, a technology consultant and executive director of NYC Wireless.

And now Google will be putting massive amounts of brainpower in the same building as the physical connections. But how does the new data center at 111 Eighth Avenue fit into Google's broader plans—and just exactly what are Google's broader plans, anyway?

"We have nothing to announce at this time," a typically mum Google spokesperson says when asked about the new offices. "But," she added, "Google is always looking for opportunities to expand." The spokesperson noted that Google already has over 500 employees at its current location at 1440 Broadway in Times Square—an office believed to occupy approximately 100,000 square feet over four floors.

Because the company refuses to share its plans with either the general public or Wall Street, speculation has bounced around the technology world without official refutation. Some tech watchers have suggested that Google is building a nationwide wireless distribution network to bypass Verizon, AT&T, and the rest of the telecom and cable incumbents. Others have speculated that Google is building its own "parallel Internet" so that it can exert maximum control over online information flow and distribution. Still others have suggested that Google is building something akin to Skynet, the malicious computer network that in The Terminator became "self-aware" and launched a war to destroy humanity.

Bill St. Arnaud, senior director for advanced networks at CANARIE (Canada's Advanced Internet Development Organization), chuckles at these suggestions. "I think what they are doing is a lot more modest," he says, adding, "Google loves the speculation because it rattles their competitors. All they have to do is sit back and say nothing."

Still, Google is up to something.

In 2005, the company spent some $838 million on facilities and hardware. Along with massive purchases of unused "dark fiber"—the underground fiber optic cable left dormant since the dotcom crash—the company has invested in a series of giant data and networking centers. These data centers are home to an estimated 450,000 individual servers, grouped in clusters, or "server farms." With its vast open floors and technological amenities, 111 Eighth Avenue appears to be an ideal location for a massive Google data center.

"It turns out that one of the biggest global peering facilities is in New York City at 111 Eighth Avenue," St. Arnaud says, referring to the physical spots where tech firms hook up with one another. By positioning server farms in key locations like 111 Eighth Avenue, industry experts believe, Google is quietly, but systematically, building the most advanced computer network in history. "This is why Google is locating big server farms around the world," St. Arnaud says.

Google not only gains a giant space for a new server farm that will most likely house thousands of Google machines, but also gets direct access to the building's network-neutral meet-me room—literally, an area where telecommunications companies can physically hook up and exchange data cheaply and efficiently. Google would be able to expand its offerings of new Internet products and services such as Internet telephone service, video, and Web-based enterprise software—competing for business against the likes of Microsoft, Skype, and YouTube—much more efficiently and competitively.

Last week, Google announced that it would offer a suite of Web-based software services aimed at business customers. It is worth noting that Citigroup, the world's largest bank, has a network presence inside 111 Eighth Avenue. In theory, Google will be able to provide Web services to Citigroup directly through the meet-me room, bypassing not only the "Tier 2" service providers who buy and sell Internet access, but the top-level Tier 1 providers, such as AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest.

For the time being, by installing itself above Chelsea's broadband "fiber highway" at 111 Eighth Avenue, St. Arnaud explained, Google can bypass many of the major telecommunications firms and interface directly with Tier 2 service providers such as Level 3 Communications or XO Communications, which also are located in the building. This will significantly cut down the costs associated with reaching business customers on Wall Street and in the media and fashion worlds, and generally throughout the Northeast power corridor from D.C. to Boston. The arrangement also suits the Tier 2 providers, which are "thrilled because they can get content directly from Google and bypass" the major telecom and cable Tier 1 providers, St. Arnaud says.

But the advantages of Google's new space at 111 Eighth Avenue are not merely technological. Google's office will be highly efficient, because the lease covers nearly 300,000 square feet on just two floors, rather than the 10 or more floors that much space would take up in a traditional New York City office building, like, say, the Empire State Building, which was completed one year before 111 Eighth Avenue, in 1931. That means fewer bathrooms, fewer elevators, more efficient wiring, and less energy consumption, not to mention those large communal meeting spaces that Googlers love so much. In a way, the vast horizontal spaces afforded by 111 Eighth Avenue echo the sprawling, horizontal nature of Silicon Valley itself, perhaps best exemplified by Google's vast campus in California.

Depending on how the company allocates its employees and hardware, the new office will represent a significant infusion of Google jobs into New York city—over time as many as 500 to 1,000 new hires, by one estimate. UBS Internet analyst Ben Schachter says that the company's expansion into 111 Eighth Avenue makes sense because the company is hiring at such a torrid rate to keep up with its rapid growth.

"Clearly, Google is rapidly expanding its head count around the globe," says Schachter, who published a report in May noting that Google had over 1,800 publicly posted job openings worldwide, including over 100 in New York City. "We think this is a company that is building a strong base of talent for the long term." It remains to be seen just what impact the influx of Google employees into Chelsea will have—after all, there are already plenty of technology workers in the building. Still, it will be interesting to see how Google's quirky, geeky-yet-laid-back culture will mesh with the trendy restaurants and exclusive clubs of Chelsea and the meatpacking district.

And if anyone can afford New York real estate, it's Google.

Based on conservative real estate industry estimates of the building's asking price—about $33 per square foot—Google will likely pay at least $10 million per year in rent, not to mention the additional capital and labor investment in the economy of downtown New York City. That's just a drop in the bucket for the Internet search leader. Over the last year, the company earned $3.6 billion profit on $8.5 billion in revenue, driven by the meteoric rise of its ubiquitous search engine. What's more, Google just raised over $4 billion cash in a secondary stock sale, bringing its total free-cash hoard to $10 billion.

FALLEN ANGEL

FORMER "Charlie's Angel" Cheryl Ladd has a devil of an attitude toward gays, according to Frank DeCaro, who hosts a talk show on OutQ, the gay channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. Ladd was booked to promote her book "Token Chick: A Woman's Guide to Golfing with the Boys," when her publicist, Brad Ferris, abruptly canceled, saying: "Cheryl's camp is not that comfortable doing the OutQ show . . . it's not the target audience." He added that Ladd would do Martha Stewart's radio show. Ferris, of Ketchum Public Relations, said: "It's an absurd accusation . . . Cheryl was in town to talk about women in their 50s who are menopausal. We didn't think it was in their demographic."

CINDY CRAWFORD'S SECRET

ALTHOUGH Cindy Crawford is threatening to sue the French magazine Gala for publishing statements she never made about receiving Botox, we hear from fashion insiders that despite the false article, there has been speculation for some time the 40-year-old supermodel has in fact had a little nip and tuck. Cindy has retained her flawless looks with "Botox injections and an eyebrow lift," says a source. Her spokesman said: "Cindy Crawford has retained legal counsel to investigate the publication of a fictitious 'interview' in French Gala magazine. Ms. Crawford never participated in any such interview. The interview contained false and defamatory statements." After viewing photos of Crawford from 2004 versus 2006, renowned Manhattan plastic surgeon Dr. Howard Bellin (who has not treated the supermodel) told us, "She's either had a brow lift or found an incredible new way to tweeze her eyebrows."

SIGHTINGS..in NYC

KATE Bosworth sipping Peroni beer at Zac Posen's party at the Soho Grand . . . ANNA Kournikova in a sexy little dress and high heels at the Shore Club's Skybar in Miami Beach, dancing wildly at the bar . . . HEATHER Graham at Tequila Don Julio's Mexican Independence Day party at Lincoln Center honoring "Y Tu Mamá También" filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron . . . MOBY tossing back water while his three lovely female guests downed Roberto Cavalli martinis in the Sapa Lounge Monday night.

BABS (& HER SHADOW)

'I'M SURE President Bush is a very nice guy, but some people voted for him because they thought he was a person they could have a beer with. What is that about?! Do you want to have a beer with the doctor who's going to operate on you, or do you want him to be the top of his class . . . be a bit in awe of him?"

So says Barbra Streisand in the new issue of O, talking to Oprah herself. Streisand, schmoozing in anticipation of her next concert tour, says of her image, "I have found that the myth of the 'diva' is much bigger than me. If you look at the ad for my concert, the shadow is much bigger than the person."

Listen, shadow, schmado - in an era of people famous for absolutely nothing at all, we have a still-functioning and vital giant like Barbra Streisand. A woman famous because she has a unique talent, great ambition, an unstoppable work ethic. She ain't easy, but if she were, would we be talking about her 40-something years since she first made her mark?

SEINFELD'S B'DAY BASH

JERRY Seinfeld played the loving husband Sunday night when he hosted a 35th-birthday party for his wife, Jessica, at Il Cantinori. Seinfeld took over the entire East 10th Street eatery for about 50 guests - including Anderson Cooper, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Oscar winner Rachel Weisz and director Darren Aronofsky, architect Charles Gwathmey and wife Betty Ann, Tribeca Film Festival organizers Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, New York magazine owner Bruce Wasserstein, HBO biggie Richard Plepler, and Gina Gershon, who seemed to be with Ronald Perelman. George Stephanopoulos and his wife, Alexandra Wentworth, ignored the "no gifts" advisory on the invite and gave Jessica a big fake diamond ring. Seinfeld gave a heartfelt toast to his wife, the mother of three, about how she brings joy into everyone's life.

SPLASHY RETURN

" Sony BMG head Clive Davis is said to be planning to have Whitney Houston sing at the charity event - if Houston stays sober.

Couple of Co-Stars

Toronto Film Festival
It looks like Jennifer Lopez (with hubby Marc Anthony) has gone retro. Maybe it was to promote her new movie -- in which they costar -- called El Cantante. It's the life story of Hector Lavoe, who started the salsa movement in 1975 and brought it to the United States.

Madonna's New Bob

Tokyo, Japan
While promoting a photography and videography exhibit, Madonna stepped out with a bold new look. What do you think of her brassy new bob? Give your opinion below.

Brooke & her Babes

Pacific Palisades, California
It was girl power at the Promises Foundation Hosts the First Annual Family Fun Festival and Polo Match. Here's a shot of Brooke Shields and her two adorable daughters, Rowan (l.) and Grier. Their dad is Chris Henchy. Also on the scene? Katey Segal and Tom Arnold.

Gwen's Hey Baby Hey

New York City
We love us some Gwen Stefani and we appreciate how she's indulging us by letting photos take photos of her scrumptious little boy, Kingston. We're in love.

READY, SET, GO AT 'TODAY......

September 18, 2006 -- DON'T expect to see the brand-new "Today" show set remain the way it is for too much longer. Our network insider says the on-air talent at NBC's long-running morning gabfest is already on the warpath over the $3.5 million makeover that heralded the arrival of Katie Couric's replacement, Meredith Vieira, last week. "They're fuming that it's too big. It just swallows them up, and it looks something like a hospital wing," our insider continues. "Both Meredith and Matt Lauer have complained about it, so there are going to be changes. It's going to evolve again over the next couple of months, and it's going to cost them millions more to do it, even though they worked on the new set since April." We also hear that construction crews have already been notified about some of the proposed modifications. An NBC spokeswoman admitted there may be some "small tweaks" in store for the set but insisted, "We're thrilled with the feedback. If you ask Matt, Meredith, Al [Roker] or Ann [Curry], they'd all agree they love it.

BALDWIN RIPS EX AND

September 18, 2006 -- ALEC Baldwin just can't keep his bitter anger about ex-wife Kim Basinger - or her pack of pit-bull lawyers - bottled up.
In a startling interview in the October GQ, the actor trashes the Oscar-winning blonde he divorced in 2002. Baldwin claims she told such horrible lies about him that he wanted to die. And he rips one of her attorneys as an obese blowhard.

"My ex-wife once said, 'He's Saddam Hussein.' She said that. And I thought, 'Do I hide myself in cramped underground quarters? Do I like to shoot firearms in a celebratory way? Did I execute whole villages of people and bulldoze their bodies into a pit? What are you saying? Explain this to me.' "

When Baldwin got hit with Basinger's legal missives, "it said all of these things, like I wasn't a good father [to 10-year-old daughter Ireland] . . . I remember lying in bed, thinking I wanted to die on the spot . . . I would say, 'Please don't let me wake up. I can't face another day.' "

He saves extra vitriol for Basinger's lawyers at Hersh, Mannis & Bogen, who he believes influence her. "[Judy] Bogen, she's this 300-pound homunculus whose face looks like a cross between a bulldog and a clenched fist. She's this hideously angry-looking woman. She'd snarl and hiss."

Bogen did not return our call.

SIGHTINGS....in NYC

September 18, 2006 -- MIRA Sorvino breast-feeding under her poncho at the table at Blue Fin on Times Square . . . A VERY pregnant Sofia Coppola with boyfriend Thomas Mars at Serendipity 3.

Pete's signs of his sorry times

Baseball's disgraced all-time hit king may have hit an all-time low by signing balls with this shocking inscription: "I'm sorry I bet on baseball - Pete Rose."

Thanks to a New Jersey auction house, you, too, can share in Rose's sorrow. Robert Edward Auctions plans to sell 30 of the baseballs for an expected $1,000 a pop.

"This is where the baseball collectibles field has impact on the history of the game," said Rob Lifson, president of the Watchung-based Robert Edward Auctions. "The collectibles field is not just shadowing the game - it's affecting its history."

It also could dash any hope Rose, who was banned from the sport he loved in 1989 for betting on baseball, has of getting into the Hall of Fame.

The bizarre ball signing marked the latest chapter in the sad saga of a man who was once one of baseball's most revered - and successful - figures.

Rose formally applied for reinstatement in 1997.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig extended an olive branch by meeting with him in 2002 to discuss his possible return - a meeting based on Rose's denials that he never bet on the game.

But then Rose became embroiled in a series of incidents in which he was seen gambling at casinos and sports books, and was hit with a lien from the IRS claiming he owed almost $1 million in back taxes.

In 2004, after almost 15 years of denials, Rose did an about-face and admitted in his autobiography "My Prison without Bars" that he bet on the game as a player and manager for the Cincinnati Reds. He repeated his admissions in an interview on ABC's "Primetime."

And now there are these damning baseballs.

Rose's agent Warren Greene and attorney Roger Makley did not return calls from the Daily News. Greene, however, acknowledged to Sports Collectors Digest, a hobby publication, that Rose did sign the balls.

"Pete told me he signed a couple of dozen as a favor to the guys in Cooperstown," Greene is quoted as saying in a story set to appear in Sports Collectors Digest this week.

He was referring to Tom Catal and Andrew Vilacky, two upstate memorabilia dealers who are friendly with Rose and are affiliated with Pete Rose Collectibles and the Pete Rose Museum, a shrine on the third floor of Catal's collectibles store, in Cooperstown. Robert Edward Auctions obtained 30 of the inscribed balls from the estate of Barry Halper, the New Jersey businessman and limited partner in the Yankees who died last year at 66.

Fergie Rocks the Curler-Hawk

Fergie in curlersFergie made a appearance in public mid-glamourification to pump up her vocals during an early morning rehearsal.

The newly solo artist returned to her gig with the Black Eyed Peas for a performance on NBC's "Today" show at Rockefeller Center in New York on Friday morning.

Fergie Ferg's hair may be wacky, but we commend her always taking a risk-- whether it be her outrageous clothes or downright crazy dance moves. She just doesn't care what people think, and we love her for it.

Lindsay Rushed To ER With Broken Left Wrist

Lindsay Lohan was rushed to St. Vincent's Hospital in New York late Friday night after breaking her left wrist at a Fashion Week party. The actress was attending an event at the Milk Studios in New York when she fell and broke her wrist in two places, says her rep, Leslie Sloane Zelnik. According to Access Hollywood.com, Lindsay's mother Dina Lohan drove in from her home on Long Island to meet her daughter in the hospital. (With regard to yesterday's report of Dina and Lindsay's spat at a restaurant, Sloane Zelnick tells TMZ that Lindsay "loves her mother very much" and wishes people "would leave her alone.") The accident is being investigated because Lindsay claims Milk Studios hadn't been careful enough in preventing people from slipping.

Apple computer aims to take over your living-room TV

SAN FRANCISCO -- Steve Jobs changed the way consumers listen to music. Now the Apple Computer Inc. chief executive wants to reinvent how they watch movies at home.

Tuesday, Apple announced a long anticipated thrust into living-room entertainment with a device that will display movies, television shows and other videos purchased over the Internet on television sets.


Apple unveiled the new device, which it is temporarily calling iTV, at an event here that also showcased a deal with Walt Disney Co. to offer movies for sale over the Internet, the first of a wave of licensing deals Apple hopes to strike with Hollywood studios for films. Apple also revamped its entire line of iPod portable gadgets -- trimming sizes and adding storage capacity -- in hopes of keeping sales of the device strong during the crucial holiday shopping season.

The iTV device, expected to sell for $299 when it goes on sale in the first quarter of next year, comes after years of efforts by high-tech companies to provide technology for moving content purchased on the Internet off computer screens and onto television screens that are at the center of home entertainment.

Such a device is regarded as key to enabling mass-market acceptance of the growing range of movies, television shows and other videos that media companies are making available online. While most such attempts to do so have met with middling results at best, entertainment companies believe Apple's track record in the music business with the iPod and iTunes Music Store could give iTV a better shot at success.

In an interview, Mr. Jobs said the transition from DVDs that currently make up most of the home video market to online distribution wouldn't "happen overnight." "It takes years of investment," he said. Mr. Jobs compared the growing acceptance of movie downloads to the gradual consumer embrace of music downloads after years of product enhancements by Apple. "There's no reason why movies will be that much different."

Drug overdose may have killed Anna Nicole's son

Anna Nicole Smith with son Daniel.
Investigators suspect a drug overdose may have killed ex-Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son after an autopsy showed he did not die from "natural causes" or a heart attack, the coroner said yesterday.
Daniel Smith died on Sunday in his 38-year-old mother's maternity ward hospital room in Nassau, Bahamas, just days after she gave birth to a baby girl.

"We have a cause of death, but I am reserving it pending complete toxicology reports. We have to be sure," Bahamian coroner Linda Virgil told the Daily News. Test results are expected tomorrow.

"It was not natural causes. Heart attack was ruled out," Virgil said.

She refused to confirm a report in yesterday's Nassau Guardian newspaper that "various medications, along with drugs, were found in his system."

The toxicology tests she is awaiting are used to determine levels of drugs, alcohol or poisons in the body.

Anna Nicole Smith had credited her son with helping her get clean when she became addicted to painkillers a few years ago.

But her half-sister Donna Hogan says the buxom model's party-girl ways may have corrupted her son.

"It was really hard to have her as a mother. ... She was known to be wild and he was around that his whole life," Hogan told the TV show "Inside Edition."

Girls on top

Newswomen rise from fluff stuff to network stars


Meredith Vieira
Has television journalism become women's work?
Katie Couric is in the top job at CBS. Diane Sawyer is the highest paid news personality at ABC. And the fortunes of "Today" are riding on the shoulders of Meredith Vieira, who this morning makes her debut on NBC News' top moneymaker.

"It's like the insect world, isn't it? There's a queen bee and there's the worker bees," says network news analyst Andrew Tyndall.

In the anthill of TV journalism, Couric is on top of the heap, earning a reported $15 million annually, while Sawyer is said to rake in at least $13 million, much more than her former "Good Morning America" co-host, Charles Gibson.

Vieira's defection from "The View" to "Today" comes with a hefty raise to $10 million a year, according to reports.

Vieira, long the breadwinner in the family (her husband, Richard Cohen, is an author and journalism professor at Columbia), has graduated to medallion member status.

But it wasn't always that way.

"I was a quota," says Vieira. "When I came into the business in 1975, it's because I was a woman and they wanted a woman, and in my case they also looked at me as a minority."

Vieira is of Portuguese descent, but the vowels in her surname often led people to assume she is Hispanic, she said.

"So that's how I got in the door. And I think that's how a lot of women were getting in the door."

Women have always been paired with men in television news, but in the past they were hired for their fluff appeal, there to soften the hard edges of the male co-anchor. Now they must be capable of doing the very serious interviews with intellectuals and heads of state while effortlessly segueing to cooking demonstrations and home decor tutorials. And that's one reason they can command the kind of money and power once lavished exclusively on men.

HE'S A REAL

September 12, 2006 -- 'I'M SURE happy about this award and the praise the movie has received, but I'm not now going to 'claw my way' back up to some position that people think I was at, or think I want to return to."
That's Ben Affleck, reflecting on his best actor win at the Venice Film Festival last week, for his performance as George Reeves, the tragic TV Superman in "Hollywoodland." Ben called from Los Angeles, fresh from Italy's ravishing city on the sea, and with sounds of his baby, Violet, and his wife, Jennifer Garner, in the background. Both were needing his attention for real things.

Much has been made of the irony of Affleck's role as the unhappy Reeves. Ben has had his share of trouble and media over-attention, but mostly - I think - he has struggled against Hollywood typecasting. He is more a "character" leading man than a spiffed-up action hero. So now he has played Reeves, who became a star for all the wrong reasons, or so he thought. Ben says, "If people want to read a lot into my choice, or call it a 'comeback,' that's OK with me. Now I try not to care so much about what 'they' think, or want to rail against assumptions, which are sometimes almost right, often very wrong. But it's easier for the press and the public to have one idea about a person. It's human nature to be interested in 'what the king is doing tonight.' The ancient Greeks gossiped! I get it.

"Aside from the script and the director, Allen Coulter, and the people I worked with, I was attracted to Reeves' story because it was, in a lot of ways, about being an actor, wanting to act, not having the opportunity. The terrible thing was that when he achieved the fame he'd dreamed of, he was not young anymore, and he found - surprise! - fame isn't enough. And he was ambitious back when people didn't conceal ambition. It was the American way, the Horatio Alger legend, fame was hard-earned. Today, nobody seems to want to admit to ambition, they just want to be famous.

"The movie itself is really about dissatisfaction with what one has. 'I know I'd be happier if I was this or that, had this or that.' So, everything about 'Hollywoodland' resonated with me in some way." (Adrien Brody plays the dissatisfied detective. Diane Lane appears as the dissatisfied wife of MGM's scandal-manager Eddie Mannix.)

Ben, whom I have never found less than charming, upfront, smart and cooperative, talked about how he has changed over the past couple years - a result of the films that didn't work, the relationship with Jennifer Lopez that the world presumptuously disapproved of, and now, marriage and parenting.

"I try to appreciate what a privileged life I have, and the great things about being in a business that doesn't encourage self-control, I'm more humble, less callous about certain things, but also not given to beating myself up so much. It took me a long time to grow up, find my center, evolve."

I stopped Ben, "How old are you?"

"Thirty-four."

"Ben, do you honestly think you could have been really centered in your 20s, with an Oscar in one hand and the world at your feet? You've actually gotten it together sooner than most."

He laughed, "You know, you're right, I guess. See, I still beat myself up a lot!"

Affleck is now editing "Gone, Baby Gone," his first feature film directorial effort. "I loved it! It was wonderful and terrible. One day I was sure I was a complete failure, the next I was thinking, 'OK, maybe this is pretty good.' It was the perfect bipolar professional experience."

Many people thought Ben - who can speak passionately on world issues - might even give up showbiz and go into politics. "Oh, it's not that I haven't thought about it. Not now, for sure, but you never know. But if I do, be prepared, I'm going to ask you to be on my team!"

Ben, I cast my ballot the first time we met.

'BRIAN HAS a lot more film of my backside somewhere, but he's not giving it up!"

That was Josh Hartnett, commenting at last week's L.A. premiere of "The Black Dahlia." Apparently, the Brian De Palma film is fairly discreet when it comes to Josh's love scenes with his "Dahlia" co-stars Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank. Well, we can always wait for the DVD director's cut, which usually features more of everything.

Those who have seen the film, based on one of the most infamous, and still unsolved crimes ever, say the violence - including shots of the dismembered body of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short - is disturbing. (Some would have preferred more gratuitous sex.) Both Scarlett and Hilary are reported as knockouts in their 1940s period clothes and makeup - Scarlett is a gangster's moll, Swank a rich nymphomaniac. And, like "Hollywoodland," the décor and atmosphere are drenched in despair and mystery.

At the premiere, it was noted that Scarlett and Josh - linked off-screen - seemed to keep their distance from each other. Has romance cooled? Or did they simply choose to avoid the red-carpet crawl, peppered with probing questions and requests for "just one more, holding hands!"

"The Black Dahlia" has a special screening this week in N.Y.C., a swanky affair hosted by the Cinema Society and Guerlain, at the Tribeca Grand Screening Room. Hilary Swank will preside.

HANKS' DARK SIDE, BY

September 12, 2006 -- TOM Hanks is seen as one of Hollywood's nice guys - but the Oscar winner's first wife, the mother of his kids, strongly disagreed with that perception.
In newly unearthed court papers published in the upcoming bio "The Tom Hanks Enigma," by David Gardner, actress Susan Dillingham charges that Hanks harassed her and attempted to kill her career.

"My husband has repeatedly verbally abused and humiliated me during the past 90 days in my home. This caused me to suffer great emotional distress," Dillingham wrote an L.A. court in asking for a restraining order against Hanks.

Dillingham, whose stage name was Samantha Lewes, died from bone cancer in 2002. During their messy divorce, which began in 1985 and dragged on for three years, the actress said Hanks tried to force her into depositions as she took the lead roles in a series of plays. "[It's] designed to harass and upset me at a time when I should be focusing all of my energies on my job," she wrote in one legal missive.

Hanks shot back in his own legal filing, alleging that Dillingham was delaying a divorce trial "merely to harass me and try to squeeze an unfair settlement out of me."

The couple - college sweethearts who wed after their son, Colin, was born in 1977 - began to have problems when Hanks' career took off in hits like "Splash" and Dillingham's stalled. They also had a daughter, Elizabeth, in 1982.

"Tom was spending less and less time at home . . . [and] with two children to care for and a husband who was away for long stretches . . . it was difficult [for her] to get work," Gardner writes. A year after the divorce, Hanks wed actress Rita Wilson.

Gardner also reveals that Hanks' kid brother, Jim, played a Forrest Gump-type character in a little-known soft-core sex flick two years before Tom created the role that won him an Oscar. In "Buford's Beach Bunnies," Jim invented the "now-famous jerky run associated with Forrest Gump" and, like Gump, showed a shy politeness toward women by calling them "ma'am," the author says.

Man gets 7 years for software piracy

The owner of a software piracy Web site has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison--the longest sentence ever handed down for software piracy.

Nathan Peterson, 27, of Los Angeles, sold copyrighted software at a huge discount on his site, iBackups.net, prosecutors said. The FBI began investigating the site in 2003 and shut it down in February 2005.

In other news:
Movies and iTunes: It's showtime
Leak scandal costs HP's Dunn top job
Search comes to mobile phones
News.com Extra: Mystery of Web video-diary deepens
Video: Apple's iTV links televisions, PCs
U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III on Friday ordered Peterson to pay restitution of more than $5.4 million. Peterson pleaded guilty in December in Alexandria, Va., to two counts of copyright infringement for illegally copying and selling more than $20 million in software.

Justice Department and industry officials called the case one of the largest involving Internet software piracy ever prosecuted.

Last month, Ellis sentenced Danny Ferrer, a Florida man who pleaded guilty to copyright charges in connection with multimillion-dollar sales of pirated software, to six years in prison.

Software piracy resulted in a loss of $34 billion worldwide in 2005, a $1.6 billion increase over 2004, according to a study commissioned by the Business Software Alliance.

Google, Microsoft vie for Earth domination

An updated version of Google Earth is to be released on Tuesday night, adding a timescale to the basic version of the Web-based geospatial application.

The feature--in which a slider is used to scroll through time--was previously available only to users of the premium version, Google Earth Pro, and now features a simplified interface.

Michael Jones, the chief technology officer for Google Earth, demonstrated the feature at the Association for Geographic Information event, AGI2006, in London, on Tuesday. Jones showed how scientists, who had tracked the movements of a whale shark using GPS, had then mapped the creature's path using the application.

Business uses include fleet tracking, or mapping the movements of transport infrastructure, according to Google. Jones also described how the new version would enable people to track all of the geostationary satellites orbiting the earth.

More than 30,000 developers around the world are using the Google Earth application programming interface, and there have been 100 million downloads of Google Earth, Google claims.

Google Earth's tendency to use photographs that are often out of date would not diminish the usefulness of the time-tracking functionality, as the basic application was primarily a tool to provide context, Jones explained.

"(The function) allows you to scroll through data layered on top of that," he said on Tuesday. "We're just trying to provide context to understand it."

Google Earth received a major database update at the end of last week, introducing 15-centimeter resolution for the first time to areas such as the Netherlands and Japan.

Microsoft was also represented at the event by Vincent Tao, director of MSN Virtual Earth--the software giant's rival application to Google Earth. Tao highlighted recent improvements made to Virtual Earth, in particular the ability to view certain areas from an oblique "birds-eye view." This addition was made to certain U.K. areas this week, he added.

An angled perspective could provide a more detailed and recognizable view of buildings and monuments than a straight overhead angle. Google's application provides angled views, mainly through users' models of buildings and geographical features.

In other news:
Movies and iTunes: It's showtime
Leak scandal costs HP's Dunn top job
Search comes to mobile phones
News.com Extra: Mystery of Web video-diary deepens
Video: Apple's iTV links televisions, PCs
Microsoft also demonstrated another new feature for Virtual Earth, where a virtual car can be driven through certain U.S. cities. Some car manufacturers had already contacted Microsoft to discuss putting their concept cars into the simulation, Tao said.

"I can bet the owners of (the shops seen as the user drives past) really want to put their logos there," Tao said, adding that the feature provided many opportunities for advertising.

MSN Virtual Earth was also being integrated into Outlook and Windows Live Messenger, said Tao, and users would soon be able to overlay floor plans into the application.

HP chair to step down after leak probe

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Hewlett-Packard Chairwoman Patricia Dunn took the fall Tuesday after admitting she authorized an investigation that relied on "inappropriate techniques" to uncover who was leaking boardroom secrets to the media.



CEO Mark Hurd, who has the respect of Wall Street and is untainted by the investigation at the Palo Alto-based computer and printer maker, will take over, vowing that the probe's methods "have no place in HP." HP's stock rose to a 52-week high.

It was the culmination of a scandal that has rocked Silicon Valley's biggest and oldest technology company, led to investigations by state and federal authorities, and raised questions about one of the most powerful women in corporate America.

Having already concluded that HP's probe broke some California laws, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer indicated for the first time that company insiders are likely to face some criminal charges.

"We currently have sufficient evidence to indict people both within Hewlett-Packard as well as contractors on the outside," Lockyer said in an interview aired late Tuesday on PBS' "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."

Dunn, who initiated the probe in which private investigators impersonated HP directors and journalists to access their personal phone logs, will remain on the board after giving up the top job on Jan. 18. Hurd will add chairman to his existing positions of chief executive and president, the company announced early Tuesday.

Director George "Jay" Keyworth II, who acknowledged sharing company information with reporters, resigned from the board Tuesday after refusing to do so in May.

Some analysts said Dunn's demotion sent a message to investors that HP was ready to move on, while others said she should have been removed completely.

"She needed to go — she had become a liability to the company whether she liked it or not," said Morningstar analyst Mark Lanyon. "But just removing her from the chairperson role and keeping her on the board is a half-measure at best and probably not appropriate.

"There are still legal matters that could come down on the company," he said, "and the issue is still festering with her there."

Roger Kay, who follows HP as president of the market research firm Endpoint Technologies Associates, had a different take.

"I think the fact that they made the statement that she's going to leave solves most of the problem," he said. "I don't think it's that material precisely when she leaves."

The pressure on Dunn to step down rose sharply when Congress and federal investigators joined the probe of the scandal involving HP's Board of Directors

Pirates a billion dollar treasure

Burbank, California - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the swashbuckling blockbuster from Walt Disney has crossed the $1bn mark at the global box office.

Pirates is only the third film to date (behind Titanic and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) to achieve this feat.

After ten weeks in US theatres, the Johnny Depp sequel has grossed $416.6m. Internationally, it has reached $587.5m.

"To say we are excited is an understatement. This is truly an historical time for The Walt Disney Studios and a time to celebrate. Pirates continues to perform on all cylinders and this is a real tribute to the remarkable team of Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, and writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio.

"The film's phenomenal success all over the world proves once again that audiences will vote to come back again and again when presented with great entertainment," said Dick Cook, chairperson of The Walt Disney Studios.

Dead Man's Chest will be closely followed by a third Pirates movie due out next May, with Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and other co-stars on a voyage to rescue Johnny Depp's rakish pirate Captain Jack Sparrow.

How Will Apple’s Marketing Maestro Marry the Computer and the Home TV?

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 10 — Has Apple Computer’s chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, found a way to connect the PC to the TV?
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Apple’s chief, Steven P. Jobs, at a developers’ conference last month.

With an enticing invitation proclaiming “It’s Showtime,” Mr. Jobs last week touched off speculation about how far Apple will go as it takes its next big step into digital video.

On Tuesday, Apple will hold another of Mr. Jobs’s marketing events here to introduce what trade publications and analysts indicate will be his next campaign: an effort to transform the distribution of Hollywood movies as thoroughly as he has revolutionized the recording industry with the iTunes Music Store.

A distribution deal with the Walt Disney Company and sleeker, higher-capacity video iPods are part of the consensus among those who handicap Apple product announcements. But company executives have hinted that Apple has at least one bigger idea on tap.

Mr. Jobs needs one. In his quest to remake Hollywood distribution in the Internet era, his main challenge is one that has bedeviled the personal computer industry. Today, despite many efforts by Microsoft, Intel and a variety of start-up companies to insinuate the computer into home entertainment, almost all movies watched at home use cable, satellite or DVD players, making it possible for Hollywood to control both piracy and pricing.

The computer industry, under the banner of “digital convergence,” has been looking longingly at the American living room for several years. Beginning in 1993, Microsoft tried to rally the cable industry under the banner of Cablesoft, an abortive effort to turn the home cable box into a Microsoft-based PC.

More recently, Microsoft and Intel have invested millions in a slow-growing effort to offer Media Center PC’s that promise a single home entertainment box. Separately, Microsoft has been trying to start a business in Internet-based television technology, intended to arm telephone companies to compete with cable operators. And in January, Intel introduced a microprocessor system called Viiv, designed for PC-based digital entertainment. So far, it has found few backers.

Despite proclaiming that its Macintosh computer is the center of a digital home strategy, Apple has taken only baby steps into the video era, offering iPods that play television videos on tiny screens and a software program called Front Row, largely hidden within the Mac, for managing video collections, music playlists and slide shows.

Those efforts may become more aggressive on Tuesday, but so far Mr. Jobs has kept his strategy well hidden. Much speculation has centered on a living-room-ready version of the company’s least expensive computer, the Mac Mini, a compact desktop model originally positioned as an inexpensive way for PC users to switch to the Macintosh market. A living-room Mini could play DVD’s, download Internet data like digital movies and include a TV tuner.

The downside of such a strategy, of course, is that it would be compared, perhaps unfavorably, with the dozens of similar devices already introduced in attempts to bring the Internet closer to the home television set. That might amount to yet another box in the living room — something Mr. Jobs and his designers choose to avoid.

“Apple is genetically incapable of doing anything that smacks of me-too,” said Mike McGuire, research vice president at the market research firm Gartner.

A more intriguing possibility discussed by former Apple engineers and on rumor sites like AppleInsider.com is that Apple may use wireless technologies like Wi-Fi and ultra-wideband to stream digital content from a Macintosh to the TV. Such a system would allow the video to be played on television screens with the computer’s hand-held Apple remote control.

Such an approach would almost certainly ap

TWO JOKERS

September 11, 2006 -- PRESIDENT Bush showed off his sense of humor this morning on "Today" in an interview with Matt Lauer. The segment, taped Friday, showed Bush entering the Oval Office holding a copy of People magazine opened to the page with a bare-chested Matt Lauer. The president jokes, "Can I have an autograph?" Lauer responds: "Oh, do not start with this. That's just not nice [pointing to the picture]. The amazing thing is they put my head on your body." Bush: "I don't spend that much time at the gym."

NATION HONORS

September 11, 2006 -- President Bush vowed renewed resolve in the war on terror after he and his wife, Laura, solemnly placed wreaths at Ground Zero yesterday - as the city and nation prepared to mark today's somber fifth anniversary of 9/11 with poignant tributes to the thousands lost.

To the strains of bagpipes, the Bushes set floral wreaths adrift in reflecting pools that mark the locations of the north and south towers of the World Trade Center.

They spoke no words at the ceremony, walking hand-in-hand on the floor of the huge pit after a slow procession down the long, flag-lined ramp from the street.

Afterward, the Bushes attended a memorial service at nearby St. Paul's Chapel, a 240-year-old Episcopal church that became a center for weary rescuers in the days after Sept. 11.

Then they stopped by Engine 10, a rebuilt firehouse, to greet the firefighters who lost five brethren on 9/11, and toured the visitor center next door.

At the center, the visibly moved president seemed especially interested in a display containing the helmet and uniform of a fallen firefighter from Engine 10.

"Laura and I approach tomorrow with heavy hearts. It's hard not to think about people who lost their lives," Bush said afterward.

"[Today] is a day of sadness for a lot of people. It's also a day of remembrance. I vowed that I'm never going to forget the lessons of that day."

The exhibits in the center, he said, "reminded me that there's still an enemy out there that would like to inflict the same kind of pain on us again. So [today] is also a day of renewing resolve."

The wreath-laying took place as New Yorkers braced for 9/11's grim anniversary with tears, prayers and tributes.

"To religious fanatics hellbent on killing those who worship diversity, to fundamentalist zealots committed so fervently to hatred, oppression and tyranny, American freedom represents the ultimate threat," Gov. Pataki said.

Accompanying the Bushes at Ground Zero were Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who received roaring cheers as he left the chapel. Also at the Bushes' side was Marine Maj. Mark Thompson, a military aide who helped them lay the wreaths.

In St. Paul's, Bush sat next to Jeanette Vigiano, who lost two sons in the attacks - Joe, a cop, and John, a firefighter.

He gave her a brief kiss and held her hand during the service, ceding the front aisle seat that normally would have been reserved for him to her husband, retired FDNY Capt. John Vigiano.

Sitting next to Laura Bush was retired firefighter Bob Beckwith and his wife, Barbara. Beckwith had stood on the pile of rubble with Bush during his first Ground Zero visit.

On their way in, Bush and his wife also personally greeted Arlene Howard, the mother of 9/11 victim George Howard, a New York Port Authority cop, with a kiss on the cheek. The mom had given Bush her son's badge when the pair met in 2001, and the president said he keeps it as a constant reminder of the attacks.

Later, during his impromptu visit at Engine 10, Bush shook hands with firefighters.

"He said we will never forget and we still have a job to do in Iraq," said Lt. Anthony Matteo, 40.

Today, the president is scheduled to have breakfast with firefighters and cops at a Lower East Side firehouse.

Then, he is set to travel to Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon - where others died in 9/11 plane attacks - before addressing the American people tonight.

Punk picked wrong gran!

A pistol-packing Harlem granny turned the tables on a robber yesterday, busting out her registered .357 magnum and shooting the mugger in the elbow - while riding in her motorized scooter, cops said.

Feisty Margaret Johnson, 57, who has a dislocated hip and a herniated disk, was heading out for target practice about 3 p.m. when a career criminal came up behind her and went for her necklaces, sources said.

"There's not much to it," she said later. "Somebody tried to mug me, and I shot him."

The thief "walked past her, and came around and choked her," said Johnson's pal, Lynnell Bunce, 40. "He was going for her jewelry, and he got it. He didn't say anything - until she shot him."

Then the man cursed and fled from the scene outside 470 Lenox Ave., where the victim has lived for decades, Bunce said.

"I'm very tired. It was very scary," Johnson said as she later entered her building in her three-wheeled scooter with scratches on her neck and left hand. "I've had a very long day."

Police followed the trail of the wounded man's blood to a McDonald's restaurant not far from Johnson's building and arrested 45-year-old Deron Johnson, an ex-con with nine robbery arrests who is no relation to the victim, sources said.

He was in stable condition at Harlem Hospital last night, and charges were pending against him. The jewelry was recovered, officials said.

Margaret Johnson has a premises permit for the gun, a police source said, meaning she is allowed to keep the pistol in her home and transport it to a firing range.

Bunce said her friend, who has a grown son and at least one grandchild, got the permit when she was a bus driver for the city.

Neighbors said Johnson, a granddaughter of a famed Harlem gangster, the late Ellsworth (Bumpy) Johnson, is a well-known and well-liked woman.

"Everyone loves Margaret," Bunce said. "Margaret is funny. She's like clockwork. She's lived here forever, and she walks her dog four times a day and says hello to everybody."

"She's spunky," said Toi Frederick, 26, a lawyer who lives in the same building. "I wouldn't think she would be someone who would just lay down and give up her stuff."

MARIA ROLLS PAST AMELIE

September 9, 2006 -- Two bagels never looked so good.

Maria Sharapova advanced to her first U.S. Open Final, routing No. 1 ranked Amelie Mauresmo in yesterday's semis by posting book-ending 6-0 sets during a breakthrough, three-set triumph.

And despite the 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 rout, Sharapova is hungry for more.

"I'm not done yet," the 6-foot-2 blonde told the Ashe Stadium crowd.

Tonight's prime-time women's final is a delectable matchup, pitting the tour's glamour girl with the smoldering forehand/looks against the blue-collar Belgian baseliner and 2003 Open champion, Justine Henin-Hardenne. It will be ferocious forehand vs. ferocious forehand.

In the second set, a fan yelled out, "You're so pretty," in reference to Sharapova's popular new commercial, and Sharapova promptly bashed a swinging volley winner.

In posting her first victory ever against the French woman, Sharapova clobbered Mauresmo in the first and third sets in posting as lopsided a victory as a three-setter allows. Mauresmo notched just seven points in the third set.

Sharapova was 0-4 vs. Mauresmo and is 1-4 vs. Henin-Hardenne, losing the last four meetings.

Henin-Hardenne survived a horrid first set in outlasting up-and-comer Jelena Jankovic in a three-set win.

"I had a terrible record vs. Amelie and I have a terrible record against Justine," Sharapova said. "I'm hoping I can turn that around [tonight]."

Sharapova supports the women's final under the stars. She gets another opportunity to wear that black Audrey Hepburn dress, with the collared crystals that's drawn raves.

"The Open is all about the night matches," Sharapova said. "I think it's very cool."

There's a bit of jealousy among the women's tour at the attention and flood of endorsements Sharapova, 19, has received despite winning just one Grand Slam title. Since winning the 2004 Wimbledon, she hadn't been past a Grand Slam semifinal until yesterday.

It was only appropriate supermodel Heidi Klum was in attendance. In what sounded like a needle, Henin-Hardenne said of Miss Madison Avenue, "She's still looking for her second Grand-Slam title. She will have a lot of motivation."

"I didn't feel expectations from the outside world, more so from myself," Sharapova countered of the perception she hadn't lived up to the hype. "I won a Grand Slam, beat top players. After the first couple of months, I felt I needed to win every single match. I had to step back and say it's not going to happen."

Mauresmo, the Australian and Wimbledon champion, was stunningly tight at the outset, hitting stuff long or wide, unable to control the wind. She got broken three times, mis-hitting an inordinate number of balls. The first set was over in 24 minutes.

"I thought I played really smart," Sharapova said. "I wasn't making errors at the wrong time. I put pressure on her. I took my chances. It was very important to start well and I did."

Mauresmo settled down in the second set, breaking Sharapova at 5-4 to close the set, as the decibel levels of Sharapova's grunts soared to a crescendo, prompting giggling from the crowd.

"Even when I won the second, I didn't feel things were going the way I want to," Mauresmo said.

Mauresmo melted down again. To start the third, she banged two consecutive forehands into the net, getting broken in the first game and the second collapse was on.

Smelling blood, Sharapova broke her again to go up 3-0. Mauresmo sliced an awful backhand drop shot into the net and then outlasted Mauresmo on a marathon baseline rally to secure the game. Sharapova broke Mauresmo at love to go up 5-0 with a bullet backhand down the line, and moments later Sharapova lifted her arms in joy.

WE HEAR . . .

September 9, 2006 -- THAT Norah Jones will perform at the Rainforest Action Network benefit tonight at the Plumm with special guest Whoopi Goldberg . . . THAT among the former staffers rounded up to support record mogul Andre Harrell on Oct. 21, when he hosts a Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund benefit at Hammerstein Ballroom, is his most famous ex-intern, Sean Combs . . . THAT the modern Chelsea loft of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" food/wine guru Ted Allen and interior designer Barry Rice is featured in Elle Décor, which has Jimmy Choo shoe tycoon Tamara Mellon on the cover.

SHY PROPRIETOR

September 9, 2006 -- ELAINE Kaufman isn't ready for her close-up. The legendary saloonkeeper's Second Avenue watering hole was a hangout of real-life FBI agent John O'Neill, an integral part of ABC's embattled flick "The Path to 9/11." It turns out the producers asked Kaufman, who once appeared as herself in "Diary of a Mad Housewife," to be in a scene in which O'Neill comes in for dinner. But she respectfully declined - sparing her any association with the stink being raised over the movie's depiction of Bill Clinton.

IBM to Build World’s First Cell Broadband Engine Based Supercomputer

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has selected IBM to design and build the world’s first supercomputer to harness the immense power of the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell B.E.) processor aiming to produce a machine capable of a sustained speed of up to 1,000 trillion calculations per second, or one petaflop.

The ’hybrid’ supercomputer, codenamed Roadrunner, will be installed at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory. In a first-of-a-kind design, Cell B.E. chips - originally designed for video game platforms - will work in conjunction with systems based on x86 processors from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD).

Designed specifically to handle a broad spectrum of scientific and commercial applications, the supercomputer design will include new, highly sophisticated software to orchestrate over 16,000 AMD Opteron™ processor cores and over 16,000 Cell B.E. processors in tackling some of the most challenging problems in computing today. The revolutionary supercomputer will be capable of a peak performance of over 1.6 petaflops (or 1.6 thousand trillion calculations per second).

The machine is to be built entirely from commercially available hardware and based on the Linux® operating system. IBM System x 3755 servers based on AMD Opteron technology will be deployed in conjunction with IBM BladeCenter H systems with Cell B.E. technology. Each system used is designed specifically for high performance implementations.

Designed also with space and power consumption issues in mind, the system will employ advanced cooling and power management technologies and will occupy only 12,000 square feet of floor space, or approximately the size of three basketball courts.

Roadrunner’s hybrid design will allow the system to segment complex mathematical equations, routing each segment to the part of the system that can most efficiently handle it. Typical compute processes, file IO, and communication activity will be handled by AMD Opteron processors while more complex and repetitive elements -- ones that traditionally consume the majority of supercomputer resources -- will be directed to the more than 16,000 Cell B.E. processors. Designed originally for gaming platforms, where intense graphics and real-time responsiveness are key, the Cell B.E. processor is ideal to speed Roadrunner through intense mathematical problems.

IBM will begin shipping the new supercomputer to the DOE facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory later this year, with completion of the installation and acceptance anticipated in 2008.

Based on the Power Architecture, the Cell B.E. processor was developed in collaboration with IBM, Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (Sony and Sony Computer Entertainment collectively referred to as Sony Group), and Toshiba Corporation.

RIM hoping multimedia BlackBerry bears fruit

Since their inception, BlackBerrys have been a lot like their users: all business.

Aside from one video game included with the popular, handheld device, the various BlackBerrys from Research in Motion were mobile e-mailing workhorses: no camera, no MP3 player, not much style.

That is until today. Research in Motion is unveiling its first multimedia phone dubbed the BlackBerry Pearl, a sleek device that sports the company's first camera and MP3 player.

The phone, the first BlackBerry to look like the latest offerings from Motorola, Nokia and Samsung, is a huge leap for the company that's made its name on its business reputation. The device goes on sale Tuesday exclusively through T-Mobile and is priced at $199 with a two-year service contract.

Executives believe the Pearl can ignite sales for the Ontario company and expand its customers beyond its current 5.5 million largely corporate users. The release comes at a pivotal time, as RIM continues to lose market share in the smart-phone space to newcomers like Motorola's stylish Q and the increasingly robust Palm Treo.

"There will naturally be some existing users who will upgrade to the Pearl," said Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-chief executive and chairman. "But there will be totally new users who will say, 'This is for me. I wasn't in the market for a BlackBerry, but I am now.' "

A different look

Balsillie said RIM had set out to update its line and add more media capabilities, more function and design to future phones. It turns out they were able to pack it all into one device about the size of a Motorola SLVR.

The look of the phone is decidedly un-BlackBerry. Previous BlackBerry models were bulky and conspicuous. Even the 7100 line of phones, the first to take more of a bar-shape, were still much larger than most phones on the market. The Pearl sports a clean black-and-silver design and, perhaps most shocking for diehard BlackBerry users, no thumb wheel. The wheel has been replaced by a white trackball navigation tool, the inspiration for its name.

But inside, the phone sports a number of firsts for RIM. The Pearl includes a 1.3-megapixel camera with flash and zoom capabilities, an MP3 and video player, a microSD memory slot and voice dialing. They complement the traditional strength of BlackBerrys: e-mailing and text messaging. The phone, like BlackBerry's 7100 line, does not have a full QWERTY keyboard, but instead relies on a system called SureType, which places two letters on each button and uses predictive technology to spell out words. The Pearl syncs easily with Microsoft Outlook without the need of an installed BlackBerry Enterprise Server at the office. It also provides "push" e-mail access to personal accounts such as Yahoo.

Balsillie says the phone can be a boon for phone carriers that are looking to encourage more data use by their customers. He said existing multimedia phones have not done a good enough job providing a dynamic experience, something the Pearl can help overcome.

Balsillie said this is just the start of RIM's move into consumer phones. The company plans to release at least a couple of new consumer-oriented phones by early next year. He declined to say when the Pearl will be available for other carriers.

Analysts are generally impressed with the new phone and expect it to do brisk business for RIM.

"I think this is big news for BlackBerry, it's a big first step," said Ellen Daley, vice president and research director for Forrester Research. "I think this could be people's first BlackBerry."

Expanding its market

Ken Dulaney, vice president of mobile computing at Gartner Research, said the Pearl is a necessary next step for RIM. The company risked being relegated to the sidelines if it failed to expand its portfolio and appeal to the mass market.

"RIM has to win on hardware," Dulaney said. "They have the potential to become another Nokia but that's a long way off. But to do that, they have to come downstream with more-fashionable models. They have to get to the consumer and presumer (those who have not bought similar products) level. That's where the hundreds of millions of customers are."

Dulaney said the market is moving toward mobile e-mail and phones will eventually all be equipped with that capability. He said while there may be only 15 million phones equipped with mobile e-mail, that number should jump to 2 billion in 10 years.

He said the Pearl, while eye-catching and efficient, still faces challenges including identifying and effecting branding strategy and overcoming a narrow release on T-Mobile, the smallest of the big four wireless carriers. And he said the price could be a hindrance as well.

"One-hundred and ninety-nine dollars? That's still a high price when a lot of phones are free," Dulaney said.

Balsillie said he's confident the Pearl will overcome any challenges. He said the company is ready to take its signature mobile e-mail to the masses and he believes the Pearl will help win converts.

"I think that's the part that will pleasantly surprise people about the Pearl," said Balsillie. "They'll say, 'I never thought I'd be e-mailing and browsing and doing all these things on a mobile phone.' "

Sharon Stone for Oscar nod !!!

SHARON STONE, who should be a shoo-in for an Oscar nod for the upcoming "Bobby," has been chosen as Badgley Mischka's new advertising icon. The ads begin appearing next month and show Stone at her glamorous best, a nice contrast to the unforgiving camerawork in "Bobby."

Shakira

ANAND Jon shows his fash ions tomorrow at the Metro politan Pavilion. Born in India, raised in mystic Hindu surroundings, having a Jewish grandma, brought up Christian, deep into yoga, living in New York, partnering with his mother in business, fund-raising for the sanctuary at Horseshoe Creek Wildlife, working on a reality show with Michelle Rodriguez of "Lost" fame, now making a movie with producer Deepak Nayar, designing for names like Halle Berry, Daisy Fuentes, singer Shakira, doing the shirts for Bruce Springsteen's tour, he arrived late for our interview, brought a dozen people to stand around staring, had no lights on, never invited me to sit, said his logo is a serpent "because it means hidden knowledge" and wore a black T-shirt that read "Star Whores" when we met. OK?

SEXPOT BLAMES

THE rest of the world mourned in 1995 when Christopher Reeve was paralyzed in a horse-jumping mishap, but "Nip/ Tuck" sex bomb Kelly Carlson figured he had it coming. "OK, this is going to offend people," Carlson told Steppin Out's Chaunce Hayden. "I love Christopher Reeve . . . But it was more his fault. When you're jumping a horse, 99.9 per cent of the time it's your fault . . . You never take a horse over a fence unless your horse is totally trained to do it, and you have a relationship with the horse. It's all about trust . . . You have to have your hip bone and heel bone in a straight line up and down. If you don't, you'll go over the horse's head . . . Chris probably wasn't sitting right in the saddle. That's the only reason why you fall off." Reeve died two years ago of complications from being paralyzed from the neck down. His wife, Dana, a non-smoker, died last year of lung cancer.

BEAUTY OVERLOAD

September 8, 2006 -- IT was babe-lock at P.M. Lounge the other night around the banquette where funny brothers Damon, Marlin and Shawn Wayans were ensconced. Nearby, rub le-rich Anna Anisimova was redefining the meaning of "conspicuous consumption." Ob serving it all were actor Topher Grace and Fergie with her Black Eyed Peas. In a back corner, P.M.'s chief model wrangler Francois was celebrating completion of his sexy CD, "The Way." The velvet-voiced crooner is being called Congo's answer to Marvin Gaye.

Brando son toasts Post

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Christian Brando is tired of getting a bum rap.

He's fuming about a New York Post Page Six hatchet job that called him a "creepy killer" and accused him of trying to sell the personal address book of his late father, legendary actor Marlon Brando, in order to make a quick buck.

"I didn't do it! I'm not a seedy creep!" said Christian Brando, 48.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily News, the Oscar winner's eldest son swore he had nothing to do with pilfering or hawking the celeb-packed roster, which was briefly offered on eBay but quickly pulled when lawyers for "The Godfather" star's estate reported it stolen in June.

"Why would I do that? Why does everyone blame me for all this s--t?" said Brando, the family black sheep who did six years in prison for fatally shooting his half-sister Cheyenne's boyfriend Dag Drollet in 1990.

"I didn't get away with anything! I did my time," he said.

"There are people in the media that are gonna make up anything about me. They hit me over and over. ... I can't help the media," he griped.

"Everyone thinks we got millions of dollars. When my father died he left a lot of taxes," said Brando, who is one of at least nine children the star had with three wives and various lovers.

Brando's girlfriend Donna Geon backed up his assertion. "Christian was very upset about the death of his dad when we went there [to Marlon's former Mulholland Drive home this year]. He didn't take the phone book," said Geon, who admitted they did grab "some dishes."

Christian Brando also railed that Robert Blake's lawyers tried to blame him for the 2001 murder of the former "Baretta" star's wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

Brando had a fling with Bakley, who initially said her baby was Brando's. A DNA test proved Blake was the father of baby Rose.

"When Blake's wife was murdered, I was under 9 tons of logging truck" in Washington State, "but they tried to pin that on me," Brando fumed.

L.A. County prosecutors said Brando had an "airtight" alibi for the time of Bakley's shooting death. Blake was acquitted of murder in 2005.

Battle over Butter's bread

A Manhattan nightclub owner is suing his partners for allegedly getting fat on Butter - and slicing him out of the profits.

In a pair of Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuits, Alireza Ghassemi charged that he and investors from Bala Associates were "robbed" of ownership shares at the celebrity hot spot that instead were sold off to the likes of hip-hop mogul Damon Dash and supermodel Carmen Kass.

The other partners in the sleek Lafayette St. lounge and restaurant - noted ladies' men Richie Akiva and Scott Sartiano - are accused of skimming profits while wining and dining their famous friends at Butter.

"Akiva and Sartiano brought this on to themselves," said Seth Redniss, an attorney for Ghassemi.

The $7.5 million lawsuit said that Butter - which attracts bold-faced names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean (Diddy) Combs and the Olsen twins - has generated millions in profits since opening in April 2002. It added that none of that money has found its way back to the investors at Bala, who the suit says put up $1.75 million to open the place.

"We've had no explanation for any of these things," Redniss said.

Sartiano, who is dating "Sopranos" star Jamie-Lynn Sigler, has previously been linked to Ashley Olsen and singer Ashlee Simpson. Akiva has squired starlet Lindsay Lohan, Mary-Kate Olsen and Kass, a chess-playing stunner from Estonia.

Book: Paris' granny was a Mafia wife

Paris Hilton is a singer, actress, accidental porn star - and, we now learn, a bit of a Mafia princess.

The hotel heiress' parents almost didn't get married because her maternal grandmother was married to a mobster, a new book reveals.

Jerry Oppenheimer reports in "House of Hilton" that Kathy Richards - known as "Big Kathy" -was hitched to a notorious gangland figure when her daughter, "Little Kathy," fell in love with Paris' dad, Rick Hilton.

Oppenheimer, whose Crown book comes out in November, is withholding the mob guy's name for now. But he reports that federal prosecutors linked him to Mafia families in New York, Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago.

"Big Kathy used to boast to friends … that 'if you ever need someone taken care of,' her husband had the muscle to handle it."

But Big Kathy got nervous when her daughter hooked up with Rick. "I can't have the Hiltons finding out what [my husband] does," she told a friend.

Big Kathy promptly divorced the potential wedding-spoiler, one of four husbands she collected. The gentleman later died of a heart attack - just before he was due to serve 15 years for counterfeiting, money-laundering and other charges.

Even so, Mama Richards was banned from the Hilton estate in Los Angeles unless the family patriarch, Barron Hilton, was out of town, according to Oppenheimer. "Barron couldn't stand being around Kathy's mother," a source told Oppenheimer. "He used to call her 'The Madam' - as in bawdy house madam."

Word is her mobster gave Big Kathy the same big honking diamond ring that he'd given earlier molls. "He'd always get it back from them," a source tells us. "But he never got it back from Big Kathy."

Agreement Reached In James Frey Suits

Memoirist James Frey and Random House, Inc. have agreed in principle to settle lawsuits filed by readers who said they were defrauded by fabrications in Frey's million-selling book, "A Million Little Pieces," the publisher said.

"I can confirm that we have an agreement in principle," David Drake, a spokesman for the Random House imprint Doubleday, said Thursday. "However, it requires court approval and may take several weeks and even months."

Readers who bought "A Million Little Pieces" on or before Jan. 26, the day Frey and his publisher acknowledged that he had made up parts of the book, would be eligible for a refund of the full suggested retail price, according to a person with detailed knowledge of the settlement, who provided background information on condition of anonymity because approval is still pending.

'Housewives' actress Cross is pregnant

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- On television, she's a desperate housewife. But in real life Marcia Cross is an expectant mother, her publicist confirmed Wednesday.

The redheaded actress, who plays Bree Van De Kamp on "Desperate Housewives," expects to give birth to her first child in April, publicist Heidi Slan said.

Cross, 44, and her stockbroker husband, Tom Mahoney, married in June. The two dated for more than a year and became engaged in August 2005.

"She's over the moon," co-star Eva Longoria told People Magazine at the time of the couple's engagement. "I'm so excited for her. It's so beautiful to see her this happy and so in love."

Paris Hilton arrested on DUI suspicion

She was pulled over in Hollywood about 12:30 a.m.

"She exhibited the symptoms of intoxication," LAPD spokesman Irv Isabella said, reading from a written statement. (Watch Paris Hilton after arrest -- 1:14)

The DUI charge would be a misdemeanor. Hilton has been released on her own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in court at the end of the month, at which time she will learn if she will be charged.

Elliot Mintz, Hilton's publicist, said Hilton was not intoxicated. He said she had "had one drink" and hadn't eaten all day, and the field sobriety test showed "the very absolute lowest reading you can possibly get to warrant being taken in."

He added that she had been up late working on a music video, in the second day of shooting.

"Of course these matters are never to be taken lightly," said Mintz, who noted that it is "unfortunate she was behind the wheel of a car even with one drink."

"It's her first offense and hopefully it will never happen again."

Mintz said sister Nicky Hilton and Nicky's boyfriend, actor Kevin Connolly of TV's "Entourage," picked Paris up at the police station in Hollywood, according to The Associated Press.

In June, Hilton had a fender-bender accident when her Range Rover backed into a car in a parking garage after a shopping trip, AP reported.

Apple Nears Deal for Feature Films on IPod

Apple Nears Deal for Feature Films on IPod
Washington Post, United States - 9 hours ago
Apple Computer Inc. will soon begin selling feature-length movies online for viewing on its iPod devices, according to Hollywood ...

Latest line of iMacs unveiled

One includes 24-inch display, all have Intel Core 2 Duo processors * Printable Version
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Apple Computer Inc. rolled out a line of iMacs Wednesday with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, including one with a 24-inch widescreen display, the largest iMac to date.

The computers perform up to 50 percent faster than their predecessors, and some have also dropped in price, the Cupertino company said. They incorporate processors introduced this summer.

The announcement comes in advance of a "special event" next week in San Francisco, where Apple is expected to unveil new products and services. Rumors have been swirling that they could include a new iPod digital media player or a movie download service.

It's not clear if the new iMacs are related to next week's event. But by introducing a 24-inch iMac, the company, already a major presence in the digital lifestyle movement with the iPod, is trying to establish itself as the hub in the digital living room, said Michael Greeson, principal analyst at the Diffusion Group. "This is a baby step in the direction to the living room," he said.

Apple's David Moody, vice president of Mac hardware product marketing, said that the company is "in the business of building computers."

At the same time, Moody added, DVDs and television shows downloaded from iTunes can "be played and look great on the 24-inch. And of course, we have the Front Row media experience and the Apple remote, which gives you a simple way to enjoy your movies, photos and iTunes television shows from the comfort of your sofa instead of sitting in front of your screen."

The new iMacs include a high-definition LCD display and are priced at $999 to $1,999 each. The price of the 20-inch iMac has been cut from $1,699 to $1,499 and the 17-inch 2.0 GHz iMac from $1,299 to $1,199.

Apple also upgraded the Mac mini, replacing the Intel Core Solo processor with the faster Intel Core Duo processor. "Now you have the fastest processors in all the Mac (desktops)," said Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies. "It represents a new era of Mac-based systems."