Alex Chilton (born William Alexander Chilton, December 28, 1950, in Memphis, Tennessee – March 17, 2010 in New Orleans)  was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer best known for his work with the pop-music  bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton’s early commercial sales success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was not repeated in later years with Big Star and in his indie music solo career on small labels, but he did draw a loyal following in the indie and alternative music fields.

Chilton said in the September 1994 issue of Guitar Player that he considered himself a “musical performer, not a songwriter” and that some of his songs sound only “half-baked” to him. Nonetheless, his compositions have been performed by a number of artists, including This Mortal Coil.

The Replacements wrote the song “Alex Chilton” in his honor, for their 1987 album Pleased to Meet Me.

Ron Washington, the manager of the Texas Rangers, tested positive for cocaine in 2009, according to Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman. “I did make a mistake and I regret that I did it. I am really embarrassed and I am really sorry … Any attempt to try to explain it is going to sound like excuses. There is no right way to explain something wrong, and I did wrong. Was it tension? Maybe. Anxiety?” The Rangers knew about the positive test, then decided not to fire him. Washington’s star outfielder, Josh Hamilton, is a recovering drug addict.

President Barack Obama’s bracket, there’s a 50 percent chance the national champion will come from the Sunflower State.

U.S. President Barack Obama has a “standing offer” to join CBS for its telecast of college basketball’s men’s tournament, network executive Sean McManus said.

The CBS Corp. network contacted the White House to ask whether Obama would fill out a 65-team bracket or otherwise participate in coverage of the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.

Obama, an avid basketball fan and recreational player, sat in with CBS commentators Clark Kellogg and Verne Lundquist for six minutes of commentary during a game between Georgetown University and Duke on Jan. 30, also appealing for contributions to Haiti’s earthquake recovery.

After Obama described one player’s spin move and score, Kellogg, the network’s lead basketball color analyst, said Obama could have a career in broadcasting.

WASHINGTON:Google Tv, Google and Intel have teamed up with Sony to develop a platform called Google TV to bring the Internet to a new generation of televisions and set-top boxes.

The newspaper said that Google has built a prototype TV set-top box, but the Web-enabling technology may be incorporated directly into TVs or other devices like Blu-ray players.

It said the TV technology was based on Google’s open-source Android mobile phone operating system and runs on Intel’s Atom chips.

The Times said the Google TV software would present users with a new interface for TVs that lets them perform Internet functions like search while also pulling down Web programming like YouTube videos.

It would also allow Web applications like games or social networks to run on the devices, the newspaper said.

The Times said the project has been under way for several months but that none of the companies involved would comment publicly at this time.

“Google wants to be everywhere the Internet is so they can put ads there,” the Times quoted a person “with knowledge of the project” as saying.

Web companies and electronics manufacturers have been exploring ways to bring the Internet to the television set for some time and a number of companies already offer set-top boxes and Web-enabled TVs.

The Times said Google, Intel and Sony have partnered with Logitech to develop a remote with a tiny keyboard to work with the system.

The Times said Google had begun testing the set-top box technology with Dish Network, a satellite TV provider.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Google was testing a new television programming search service with Dish Network.

The Journal said Google hopes to link the TV service with its TV ad-brokering business, Google TV Ads, allowing the Internet giant to target ads to individual households based on viewing and TV search data.

Raja Chaudhary Shradha Sharma, the handsome actor of Bhojpuri films who became household name  in the country after his fracas with item girl Sambhavana Seth in season 2 of ‘Bigg Boss’, was caught on camera flirting with two girls leading to split from his girlfriend Shraddha Sharma.

Raja Chaudhary and Shraddha Sharma were in a live- in relationship for almost one year and expected to get engaged very soon, probably by the end of March. However, after watching the footage of reality show ‘Emotional Atyachar’, Shraddha has changed her mind and is trying to absorb herself in Southern movies, wherein she is a big star(‘Jeeva’ just released & ‘Jaye Ho’ being shot presently).

Sources say that Raja Chaudhary, after knowing the fact that Shradda had seen all that flirting, tried to contact her but the lady was furious and in no mood to compromise on the issue. Earlier, Raja Chaudhary had been dumped by his television actress wife Shweta Tiwari(Prerna of Balaji telefilm’s ‘Kasauti Zindagi Kay’) due to his alcoholic and violent nature. Raja Chaudhary has a daughter from his earlier marriage.

Sources close to Shraddha Sharma say that the item girl was head over heels in love with Raja Chaudhary and had not paid any attention to the talk of Raja’s bad nature coming from her own friends and well wishers. But now after finding it live on television, everything has changed and she does not want to have anything with Raja.

Popstar Mariah Carey is not expecting her first child with husband Nick Cannon.

A spokesperson for the pop star has dismissed the speculation saying there’s “no truth” to the
pregnancy reports, said leading Magazine.

The singer sparked pregnancy speculation at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles,  when she told, “I have a lot of new acting projects coming up. But there’s also something else very special on the way. I can’t say any more.”

Google is testing a new television programming search service with Dish Network Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The newspaper, citing “people familiar with the matter,” said the service runs on TV set-top boxes using Google’s Android operating system.

It said it allows users to search content from Dish, which has some 14 million satellite TV subscribers, as well as Web video like YouTube and to personalize a lineup of shows.

The Journal said users can search by typing on a keyboard instead of using a remote control.

It said Google hopes to link the TV search service with its TV ad-brokering business, Google TV Ads. This would allow the Internet giant to target ads to individual households based on viewing and TV search data, the newspaper said.

The Journal said the test began last year and is limited to a very small number of Google employees and their families. It said the test could be “discontinued at any time.”

Google currently makes the vast majority of its revenue from online advertising.

Brazil rebuffed a US appeal for new sanctions on Iran about its nuclear programme, vowing not to “bow down” to gathering international pressure during a visit from US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pre-empted Clinton even before she could make the case for new United Nations Security Council penalties. Hours before meeting with Hillary Clinton today, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that Brazil would not “bow down” to international pressure to agree to new UN sanctions on Iran.
“It is not prudent to push Iran against a wall,” Silva said, “The prudent thing is to establish negotiations.” Brazil is currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Clinton is traveling there as part of a Latin American tour to try to persuade Brazil to sign off on a new UN Security Council resolution on Iran as early as next month. But it’s a particularly tough Security Council, with key current non-permanent members of the 15 member body such as Brazil and Turkey not certain to support such a resolution, Lebanon likely to vote against it, and at least one permanent member, China, also reluctant. Three past UN Security Council resolutions on Iran passed overwhelmingly, with no “no” votes and only a few abstentions. Lula is due to travel to Iran in May.

Taiwan Earthquake, TAIPEI : A 6.4 magnitude quake struck southern Taiwan on Thursday, causing panic among residents in the island’s second largest city who rushed into the streets as buildings shook.

The quake hit about 70 kilometres (about 40 miles) from the main southern city of Kaohsiung, the US Geological Survey said, and it was felt as far away as the capital Taipei in the north of the island.

It was the worst earthquake to hit the Kaohsiung area since records began, the TVBS news network reported.

No tsunami warning was immediately issued and the extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

Residents of Kaohsiung rushed out into the streets as buildings started shaking, and were reluctant to re-enter, according to local television.

Services on the Kaohsiung subway were halted, as were trains on the high-speed rail connecting the north and the south of the island, the television reports said.

The epicentre of the quake was in Jiahsian township in Kaohsiung county, one of the worst hit areas in Typhoon Morakot that struck southern Taiwan in August last year, killing more than 700 people.

Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates. A 7.6-magnitude quake killed around 2,400 people in September 1999.

Taiwan Earthquake, TAIPEI : A 6.4 magnitude quake struck southern Taiwan on Thursday, causing panic among residents in the island’s second largest city who rushed into the streets as buildings shook.

The quake hit about 70 kilometres (about 40 miles) from the main southern city of Kaohsiung, the US Geological Survey said, and it was felt as far away as the capital Taipei in the north of the island.

It was the worst earthquake to hit the Kaohsiung area since records began, the TVBS news network reported.

No tsunami warning was immediately issued and the extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

Residents of Kaohsiung rushed out into the streets as buildings started shaking, and were reluctant to re-enter, according to local television.

Services on the Kaohsiung subway were halted, as were trains on the high-speed rail connecting the north and the south of the island, the television reports said.

The epicentre of the quake was in Jiahsian township in Kaohsiung county, one of the worst hit areas in Typhoon Morakot that struck southern Taiwan in August last year, killing more than 700 people.

Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates. A 7.6-magnitude quake killed around 2,400 people in September 1999.