Rihanna To Debut New Video Friday -- Same Day Chris Brown Premieres His

Rihanna's 'Russian Roulette' premieres on ABC, while Brown's 'Crawl' debuts on 'Wendy Williams Show.'

Rihanna is set to premiere the video for "Russian Roulette," the official lead single from her forthcoming album, Rated R, at a yet-unspecified time Friday on ABC. In yet another instance of her promotional schedule colliding with that of her former boyfriend Chris Brown, his new video, "Crawl," will premiere on the same day.

In an unfinished version of the video previewed by MTV News, Rihanna appears to be restrained in a compound where she is being detained against her will. The video features a face-off of sorts between the singer and her love interest as the two sit as a table with a weapon placed between them. Things later come to a head toward the end of the video when Rihanna breaks free.

The images are stark throughout. Anthony Mandler directed "Russian Roulette" and also helmed the clip for "Wait Your Turn," the first video released for Rated R. He told MTV News recently that Rihanna was aiming for "bravado" in her videos.

"We shot the clip in mid-October on a cold day in New York City. The vibe and feeling was great," Mandler explained of "Wait Your Turn." "It was the first video for the album, so obviously everyone was excited and focused on setting the tone for what's to come. Rihanna and I spoke in depth about creating a piece that was gritty, raw and more of a street video than a classic beauty piece."

Also on Friday, Brown will premiere his latest video, "Crawl," during his appearance on "The Wendy Williams Show." The clip features Bad Boy recording artist Cassie as the lead.

Originally, Rihanna was slated to premiere "Russian Roulette" during her appearance on "20/20," in which she discussed Brown's assault on her, last Friday. However, the video wasn't finished before the taping.

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TVXQ are planning to work by themselves

The three members of TVXQ who have taken legal action against SM Entertainment are planning to work by themselves, according to their legal counsel.

When Sports Seoul asked the three members' legal counsel about SME demanding the three members to make a decision by the 12th, they were told:

"The three members are taking a break at the moment and are planning new projects. We do not plan on responding to SME's press conference. SME was ordered by the court to submit relevant evidences and they have been ignoring this order for almost 3 months now and they also have not been following any other court orders. Conversations with SME will start when they start respecting the court's decision. The court said that the three members may work on their own, so we do not need SME's permission on that. We are also seriously considering making criminal accusations against SME."

The three members are now planning their own projects separate from that of the five-member TVXQ and in no way related to SME. They also do not intend on responding to SME's demand for an answer by the 12th.

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Microsoft pulls Windows 7 download tool

Microsoft has halted distribution of a tool aimed at making it easier to put Windows 7 on Netbooks amid allegations that the utility makes improper use of open-source code.

The software maker said on Tuesday that it has pulled down the Windows USB/DVD Tool while it investigates the issue, which was raised last week by Windows blogger Rafael Rivera on his Within Windows blog.

In his blog post, Rivera said Microsoft appears to use code from a tool called ImageMaster that is licensed under the GPLv2 open-source license. The General Public License, like other open-source licenses, allows code to be freely used by others, but has its own set of terms and conditions, such as sharing any modifications made to the code.

Microsoft confirmed it has launched a review of the matter and taken the utility off its online Microsoft Store until that inquiry has been completed.

"Microsoft is looking into this issue and is taking down the (Windows 7 updating) tool from the Microsoft Store site until its review is complete," the company said in a statement. "We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience."

Though somewhat arcane, the utility is important because it solves a technical challenge in upgrading the operating system on Netbooks and other PCs without an optical drive.

Microsoft had been exploring for months different ways of trying to help users of Windows XP-based Netbooks move to Windows 7. The tool, which was released last month alongside Windows 7, allows users to take a downloadable copy of the operating system and create a bootable drive.

The issue is also a thorn in Microsoft's efforts to show that it can play nice with the open-source community. As ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley notes, this isn't the first time Microsoft has been accused of misusing GPL code.

The latest dust-up comes as Microsoft is celebrating the third anniversary of its deal with Novell, one of Microsoft's biggest--and most controversial--efforts to blend its world with the open-source world.

Under that deal, Microsoft agreed not to sue Novell customers for their use of its Linux distributions.

Microsoft has also released a number of products under various open-source licenses itself, though typically not under the GPL, which it sees as one of the more restrictive licenses. Redmond has been particularly critical of terms in version 3 of the GPL.

The software maker did release a few Linux drivers under GPLv2, although it appears its hand may have been forced there. Some have suggested the drivers contained GPL code, meaning that they would have necessarily needed to be released back under the GPL.

Microsoft has taken a number of different approaches to open-source software, particularly Linux. The software maker has at times accepted the notion of a heterogeneous world where Linux and Windows co-exist, pledging to do better to make sure IT administrators can manage mixed environments.

At other times, Microsoft executives have lashed out, painting open-source software as violating hundreds of Microsoft patents. In its lawsuit against TomTom earlier this year, Microsoft for the first time made those accusations in court, alleging that TomTom's implementation of Linux in its GPS systems infringed on Microsoft patents. The two companies quickly settled the matter, although terms were not disclosed.

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Lady Gaga Brings the Crazy in "Bad Romance" Video

The new video for Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" premiered today, and it's all the right amounts of crazy you’d expect from Gaga: A sci-fi setting with Slim Jim monsters that do a few "Thriller" zombie moves, a few shots of a bare-faced Gaga, these shoes and some human trafficking thrown in for good measure.

In the past, we've found her relentless ploys for attention pretty exhausting ("Ugh, can she try any harder?"), but this music video really makes us appreciate everything Gaga actually brings to pop music.

She's exciting to watch, plain and simple. Sure, her theatrics might cause a few eye-rolls, and she definitely isn't breaking any pop music conventions, but while Britney's out there making the same old boring video, we need someone like Gaga to really bring it. To put actual thought and care into her product so that it feels alive.

So keep on being a weirdo, Gaga. Will it bother us? Yeah, sometimes. But other times we really do need a pop star in tranny makeup to wear a polar bear rug/cape and start some stuff on fire.

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Suspected to use cosmetic surgery to snatch endorsements; Rainie Yang defeats Jolin Tsai

When ‘Cute Princess’ Rainie Yang attended ‘Hi My Sweetheart’s premiere event last week, sharp-eyed fans discovered that Rainie’s previous sharp chin had turned into a cute round apple face! Even Show Luo felt that her round face was nice to touch, and every time he had to kiss her, he would first use his hands to pinch her cheeks. Rainie joked: “All my make-up got smudged by his constant touching!” And Rainie’s popularity continues to rise; this year in Taiwan alone, she accepted 10 endorsements, defeating her senior Jolin Tsai.

‘Cute Princess’ Rainie Yang has lately been busy filming CTS’ new drama ‘Hi My Sweetheart’ in Hang Zhou. Last week when she attended the drama’s premiere event, sharp-eyed fans discovered that her previous sharp chin had turned into a cute round apple face. And her co-star Show Luo also discovered that her face was getting much nicer to touch. Every time they filmed a kiss scene, he would first use his hands to hold her face, and touch and feel it for a long time, even smudging all her make-up. Rainie pretended to be angry and joked: “Every time Show kissed me, he had to touch my face. Sometimes, the director requests for us to try the scene out first before filming officially starts, and he would just stand there pinching my face here and there, smudging all my make-up!”

Comparing photos of her at the premiere event of ‘Hi My Sweetheart’ to photos of her at the signing events during her 2007 album release ’Free Gate’, it’s not hard to see that her face shape has changed. Leading cosmetic surgeons pointed out that Rainie’s cheeks look more plump than in the past, and that it’s quite likely she had hyaluronic acid injections, to make her round face look more beautiful.

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Windows 7 early adoption rate outpaces Vista's

New OS hits 4% market share; XP loses ground, says Net Applications

Windows 7 has broken the 4% market share barrier in less than three weeks, a mark that took Windows Vista five months to reach, a Web metrics company said today.

According to Net Applications, Windows 7 has crossed the 4% line in the California company's daily tracking of operating system usage. By comparison, Vista was under 1% a month after its late-January 2007 release to retail, and didn't exceed 4% until June of that year.

"Windows 7's rate of adoption is really impressive," said Vince Vizzaccaro, executive vice president of Net Applications.

With two-thirds of November to go, Windows 7 has already posted a daily market share average of 3.6%, close to the 3.8% that Vista reached at the end of May 2007. Since its Oct. 22 release, Windows 7's daily average has been approximately 3.2%.

Windows 7's share has been steadily increasing since its debut. The first week after its launch, the new operating system accounted for 2.7% of all operating systems used worldwide; the second week it climbed to 3.3%.

If Net Applications' data is accurate, Microsoft has the hit it wanted, but never got, from Vista, the much-maligned and little-loved operating system that preceded Windows 7.

Vizzaccaro said that Windows 7's gain had primarily come at the expense of Windows XP, a hint that Microsoft might have found an operating system enticing enough to get the bulk of PC users to upgrade from that eight-year-old OS. "Last week, Windows XP had a share of 69.5%," said Vizzaccaro, "while Vista had 18.5%."

The numbers for XP and Vista were down 1 percentage point and 0.3 of a percentage point, respectively, since the end of October.

Even more interesting, added Vizzaccaro, was the drop in market share of Apple's Mac OS X. "That's very intriguing," he said, noting that overall, Apple's share slipped last week to 5.19%, down 0.08 percentage point from October's 5.27%.

Windows 7 has already passed Mac OS X 10.5, aka Leopard, in the market share race, according to Net Applications. Leopard had a 2.7% share last week, while Windows 7 accounted for 3.5% of all operating systems.

Overall, however, Windows lost ground last week, even with the surge in Windows 7. "Windows had 92.4% last week," Vizzaccaro said, "and Mac was also down. But Linux was up slightly to 1.1%." At the end of October, Linux accounted for just under 1% of the OS market.

Net Applications measures operating system usage by tracking the machines that visit the 40,000 sites it monitors for clients, which results in a pool of about 160 million unique visitors per month.

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Twilight Trio Does Paris in Style

New Moon stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner are living in the lap of luxury while they promote their movie in Paris.

The Twilight threesome checked into the five-star Crillon hotel, where they all have separate suites that cost a cool $3,233 per night.

Yes, Robsten lovers, you read that right. Separate suites. But that doesn't rule out late-night visits...right?

"They could have sneaked into each other's rooms," a hotel source tells E! News. "We wouldn't know a detail like that."

Sleeping arrangements aside, the cast headed to dinner at a restaurant of Rob's choosing...

The group dined at the fancy Costes hotel restaurant, where they shared smoked salmon, foie gras and spring rolls.

"Rob has been there before and wanted to show it to Kristen and Taylor," says a source.

While K.Stew and Tay sipped water, R.Pattz downed two Bellinis—swanky, but we always figured him as more a beer guy.

The costars called it an early night and were back at the Crillon by 11 p.m. "They all seemed very jet-lagged," a source says.

Not too tired to sign autographs for some lucky fans, though.

"They all signed pictures for the fans who had waited in the cold," one fan tells E! News. "We asked Rob if he was enjoying Paris and he said; 'Of course! It's always been one of my favorite cities!'"

Hope he makes the most of his short stay...the group heads to London tomorrow for the next leg of their press tour.

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SM-TVXQ Current Exclusive Contract Released

We will reveal the exclusive contract SM Entertainment holds with its celebrities. Although this contract is the one between TVXQ and SM, it can be inferred that it is almost a basis contract for all the others. Also, as SM stated that the income division for TVXQ was the best they offered, one can surmise that the content of the contracts of other groups such as Girls' Generation, Super Junior etc. will be worse.

In the contract, it states that TVXQ must pay for all of the expenses required for their activities and this implies the wages for their managers and road managers. "TVXQ must pay for their travel fees and rent fees, as well as their meals, make up and coordinators' wages, dance crew and any other stage crew costs. They must also pay for the wages of their managers' monthly wages (The wages of the manager is 800,000 per month and the wages of road managers is 600,000 per month, and this increases by 10% every year.)"

Exclusive Contract Periods - 'TVXQ' is 13 years and 'BoA' is 15 years

TVXQ's Kim Jaejoong finalized his contract with SM on May 14th, 2003, Kim Junsu on February 12th, 2000, and Park Yoochun on June 30th, 2003. There were five changes to the contract after this. The contract period was extended from 10 years to 13 years and the income division was slightly increased for the celebrity. However, the clauses regarding the extended contract or compensation which were ruled by the Courts as unlawful were not changed. The five changes of the contract occurred in December, 2003, February, 2007, March, 2007, October, 2008 and February of 2009.

If you look at the contract, it can be seen that SM holds almost no obligations. All there is for the agency to do is to take care of the group's popularity and tell them of their activities. On the other hand, TVXQ must follow the orders of the manager SM gives them, and cannot personally make any promises or contracts regarding activities.They cannot talk about the internal affairs of SM. If a show or performance has a setback for no special reason, TVXQ must compensate. They must make two full albums every year and must release an album six months before the termination of their contract and perform all activities diligently. TVXQ must get permission from SM to give any of their compositions or arrangements to a third party. But SM is allowed to give any SM singer TVXQ's compositions without the consent of TVXQ.

Although the income division aspect has improved, they do not receive any money until at least 50K copies are sold. If they sell 50K~100K, the group receives 2% of sales, sell 100K~200K and receive 3%, sell over 200K and they receive 5% of total sales. The group must then split this income. If the appearance on a show is not regular, SM receives all the money for publicity. If the contract is terminated for any reason, TVXQ must pay compensation worth three times the investment money and twice the amount of their forecast income as well. This also applies when both sides have agreed to the termination or when SM is the cause of the termination.

Exclusive Contract Content

Clause 1 (Purpose)
For the effective celebrity activities of 'B' (TVXQ), all legal actions dealing with all activities, appearances and such will be dealt by 'A' (SM Entertainment) or the manager chosen by 'A'. 'B' cannot make any personal promises or contracts regarding his activities and must only focus on what they have been given.

Clause 2 (Contract Period)
1. The contract period will begin at oooo. oo. oo(The latest contract signing date) and will end 13 years after the debut date of 'B' in the industry (album release, appearance as a supporting role in a movie or drama - movie: 20 scenes or more, drama: 12 scenes minimum per episode).
2. In the case that 'B' is unable to perform normal activities due to a personal reason, the contract period will be extended by that amount of time.

Clause 3 (Assignment of Rights)
1. 'A' has full rights for the maintenance of all of the TV appearances and activities performed by 'B'.
2. During the contract period, 'B' must diligently perform all activities decided upon by 'A', 'B' is not allowed to perform any activities without the consent of 'A' during the contract period, and if this clause is violated, the appropriate consequences will be taken stated in Clause 11, subclauses 1, 2 and 3.
3. All TV appearances and authority of 'B' are held by 'A'.
4. 'A' has the rights to all albums and recorded songs (including unreleased songs) that were created during the contract period. All income division after the contract period has terminated has already been determined by the exclusive contract.
5. 'B' must give 'A' all rights such as the right to reproduce goods, copyrights, the right to release albums, distribution rights, airing rights, performance rights, karaoke, right to create second hand goods regarding any compositions, arrangements or lyrics done by 'B'.
6. 'A' is allowed to use the songs recorded and produced during the contract period in any form. ('A' is allowed to reedit and reuse any song in the form of L.P, M.C, CD, CD-FMV, DC-FMV, CD-I, CD-V, CD-G, L.D, VIEDO, limited edition albums, best albums, commercials, movies, picture, VIEDO filming, MP3, any music files.)
7. In order for 'B' to give a third party other than 'A' lyrics, compositions or arrangements, 'B' must get the permission of 'A' in advance.
8. The manager of 'B' must be chosen by 'A', and he must diligently work to maintaining the schedule of 'B'.
9. 'A' is allowed to use any lyrics, compositions or arrangements that 'B' made in any album 'A' is creating other than the album of 'B'.
10. 'A' is allowed to transfer and use all or a partial amount of the contract's content in other businesses. But if 'B' says in advance that he is completely against this, this no longer applies.

Clause 4 (Contract Mandate)
What is under the maintenance of 'A' is listed here and this is applicable for all domestic and overseas activities, 'A' is allowed to transfer and use the rights of this contract, and can give the maintenance to another company.
1. Contracts for TV appearances and schedules (including the internet)
2. Contracts for domestic and overseas performances and events
3. Contracts for movies and commercials
4. Control of illegal use of pictures of 'B' (copyrights etc)
5. Contracts for use of lyrics, compositions and arrangements
6. Maintenance of any legal problems
7. All domestic and overseas activities
'A' will hold all ownership and copyrights for any goods created by 'A' during the contract period.

Clause 5 (The Responsibility of 'A')
1. Maintain the popularity of 'B'.
2. Quickly report the schedule of 'B'.

Clause 6 (The Responsibility of 'B')
1. 'B' is not allowed to reveal to the public of the contents of the contract or the internal affairs of 'A'.
2. 'B' is responsible for adhering to all scheduled TV appearances or performances set by 'A' or the manager.
3. If a setback occurs during an appearance or a performance for a personal reason, 'B' is to tell 'A' or the manager in advance and if there was no special reason for such a setback, 'B' must take responsibility.
4. The manager of 'B' must be chosen by 'A', and he must diligently work to maintain the schedule of 'B'.
5. Between the time of the contract's termination and six months before said termination, 'B' must release one new album (recorded) that 'A' asks for, and perform activities for P.R. for said album (six months).
6. 'B' must, when 'A' wants, produce two full albums every year, and perform all recordings and activities accordingly, and work diligently in all areas. ('A' chooses the amount of time allotted for the creation of the album, and 'B' must follow accordingly.)

Clause 7 (The rights of 'B')
If 'A' asks for any demand that is not the duty of 'B', 'B' is allowed to refuse.

Clause 8 (P.R. and Production Fees)
1. P.R. will be done by both sides working together.
2. During the P.R. period, if 'A' feels there is a need to stop the P.R., 'A' is allowed to do so and if 'B' would like to stop activities, 'A' will make the final decision.
3. For the production of albums that is done by 'A' and 'B', all responsibility including production fees is incurred by 'A' and 'A' is entitled to all profits or losses.

Clause 11 (Compensation in the case of a violation)
1. In the case that 'B' violates any of the clauses in this contract, 'B' must compensate for the losses incurred, and any actions or situations that may affect the activities of 'B' will be held accountable by 'B'. If 'A' feels that it will be hard for 'B' to continue on with his celebrity activities, 'A' has the right to stop the activities of 'B', and 'B' must compensate 'A' for the losses. (Compensation does not mean termination of the contract.)
2. 'B' must pay compensation that is worth three times the amount of investment (any money used for the purpose of 'B') and twice the predicted profit that would be gained in the years had the contract not been terminated.
3. Even if a termination of the contract is agreed upon by both 'A' and 'B', 'B' must still adhere to subclause 2.

Clause 12 (Disputes and other responsibilities)
If any misunderstandings occur due to a communication error in the contract, the problem is to be solved in a mutual agreement by 'A' and 'B' based on trust.

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Motorola sold 100K DROIDs in first weekend

We have already heard all there is to know about the sexy Motorola DROID smartphone. In fact we posted up our full review of the handset not long ago, and we really liked it. The only thing left to know now is how well Motorola did the first weekend of sales.

Bloomberg reports that Motorola likely sold about 100,000 DROID handsets on the first weekend it was available. The sales figures are pointed at as a sign that Motorola is recovering, though it still trials Apple in the market.

Bloomberg reports that Verizon had 200,000 DROID handsets on hand and that stores sold about half their stock of devices the first weekend. Motorola is expected to sell about a million Android handsets in Q4 2009 counting the DROID and other devices. One analyst says that anyone expecting the DROID to outdo the iPhone on opening weekend had their goals set too high.

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Madonna goes for romantic dinner date with Jesus Luz in Brazil (without the in-laws)

A nervous Madonna touched down in Rio de Janeiro on Monday as she prepared to meet her toyboy Jesus Luz's family.

The 51-year-old pop star, who flew in via private jet, is said to be 'slightly on edge' about the introduction.

Not least of all because his mother, Cristiane Regina da Silva, is 14 years younger than the pop star.

The hairdresser, who had Jesus when she was a teen, was initially uncomfortable with her son's relationship, according to reports, so Madonna is no doubt eager to win her over.

However on Monday night, the singer was spotted going for a romantic dinner date with Luz alone and without his mother.

The pair dined out at celebrity favourite restaurant Sushi Leblon, in the fancy neighbourhood of Leblon in Rio.

During her stay she is also expected to meet Jesus's hospital worker father, Luis Heitor Pinto da Luz, who is a devout Christian.

The mother-of-four has been dating the Brazil model, 23, since July last year following her split from husband Guy Ritchie.

'I love that phrase,' she said recently. 'I just learned it the other day'.

When asked what age she likes her men, she replied 'They have to be old enough to dress themselves. [Laughs]

'There's something to be said for younger people - they tend to be more adventurous and aren't set in their ways. I mean, have you met guys my age? Usually they are married or divorced and grumpy, fat and balding.

Madonna, who recently made a philanthropic trip to Africa, also plans to explore social projects during her trip to Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro governor Sergio Cabral says the star is looking for ways to lend her help.

Cabral is scheduled to meet Madonna in Rio along with Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista to talk about possible partnerships.

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Taeyang’s “Wedding Dress” will be out on November 13th!; 30s Preview

After his latest digital single “Where U At” and it’s unexpected success, Taeyang will finally release “Wedding Dress” on November 13th. There is not a date set for the music video yet, but it would most likely be released around the same time.

Last year Taeyang had enormous success with his first solo album “HOT” and his major hit “Only Look At Me“ for this year fans are expecting a lot more and already obtained that from ‘Where U At’ even though YG wasn’t expecting it.

However unlike “Where U At“, “Wedding Dress” will be fully promoted on music shows, radio shows, etc. YG plans to broadcast and promote this song fully until the end of the year.

Taeyang will first perform this song LIVE on the 15th on SBS Inkigayo.

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Netflix streaming officially hits PS3 today

If you are one of the hoards of PS3 owners that were excited by Netflix announced streaming would be coming to the game console, today is the big day friends. Netflix has announced that its streaming service is now officially live on the PS3. I hope you ordered your PS3 Netflix disc.

The service is available free to all Netflix subscribers and allows you to watch on demand programming on your TV via the PS3 just like the Xbox 360 bragged about not long ago. The catch with the PS3 service is that you need that Blu-ray disc from Netflix.

The disc is available free and if you don’t have a Netflix account you can get one for only $8.99 per month that includes unlimited streaming. The streaming feature is possible via the BD-Live feature the PS3 supports. Way to skirt that exclusive streaming clause with Microsoft Netflix!

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