What's a Five Letter Word for Ingenuity?

Apple isn't scheduled to announce anything until sometime on Jan. 27, but developer Stand Alone Inc. has already come up with first official application for the Tablet: Crosswords.

The Crosswords game is currently being used on the iPhone and lets users download and work on the crossword puzzles from more than 30 newspapers, including the New York Times and the Onion. Stand Alone is currently working to reformat the program to fit the 10-inch screen of the still questioned Tablet.

Stand Alone claims that Apple has given them no specifications on anything about the Tablet. While the existence of a game doesn't give us proof that the Tablet is real, Brian Alaska, a PR representative from Stand Alone, said that "the tablet device is almost guaranteed in our opinion. Thus, the developer has prudently begun work on a new design for the game..."

What's interesting to me is that by using Crosswords, many print media sources already have a jump on this new product from Apple. People that download this may also want to subscribe to the New York Times or other online newspapers.

Many people are skeptical about this new product though, including blogger Barb Dybwad, and are wondering if this is just hype. With everything that has been said about the Tablet, how can Apple ever hope to live up to what consumers already expect out of this product?

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Jersey Shore 2?

The Jersey Shore is MTV's newest hottest show since the Real World was cool and Laguna Beach was still worth caring about. With the seven member cast shocking the country with their tan six packs, perfectly primped hair, and fist pumping leaving their audiences wanting more we must ask the question, "Will there be a season two?"

All across the United States magazines, celebrity news stations, and fans have been following the debate about the next Jersey Shore. However, sources are saying the Guidos and Guidettes are asking for a few more incentives. The initial salary deal for the cast has gone from a $5,000 per episode per cast member contract to $10,000 per episode per cast member. This will double the $420,000 season two MTV was hoping to air next fall. Nicole "Snookie" Polizzi, Pauly D Vecchino, Vinny Guadagnino, Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola, Ronnie Magro, and Mike "the Situation" Sorrientino are asking for all the money they can get and the negotiations are looking positive for them.

The Jersey Shore has sky rocketed MTV's ratings. In the last episode there was a reported 4.8 million viewers and that's the situation.

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Left-Wing Radio Still Flies

With the demise of Air America last Thursday came shouts of joy and despair as politicos on both sides of the aisle contemplated what many considered to be the death of progressive talk radio.

Columnist Brian Stelter denounced these doomsday predictions by pointing out that Air America was merely one of many different avenues used for progressive talk radio hosts. Rachel Maddow and Al Franken were both former Air America employees who became much more influential after leaving the network.

Air America was almost six years old and its collapse has been blamed on poor management and financial misfortunes. Production at the network ended last Thursday night, just an hour after employees were informed that they no longer had jobs.

According to Stelter, a political based media form must be, "run as a business rather than as a crusade." Air America got so caught up in the waves of ideology that it lost sight of the shore, but as its boat sails off into the horizon, its legacy lives on in progressive media.

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