Jay-Z has had tremendous success during his tour of Europe, bowling over fans with a slew of festival appearances, including his historic appearance at England’s Glastonbury Festival on Saturday.

Glastonbury is Britain’s biggest summer rockfest, and it’s usually headlined by popular limey rock bands like Coldplay, Muse, Radiohead, and Oasis.

So this year, when it was announced that American rapper Jay-Z would top the Glasto bill, Oasis’s own mouthy mouthpiece Noel Gallagher was none too thrilled. Noel even went so far as to publicly blame Jigga for Glastonbury 2008’s unusually low ticket sales.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If you break it, people ain’t gonna go,” the famously cantankerous Britpopper complained to the BBC in one of his typically brazen interviews. “I’m sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance. I’m not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. No way. No. It’s wrong.”

Well, apparently 140,000 or so festivalgoers disagreed with Noel and showed up for the headlining Hova…who kicked off his Glastonbury set in a most cheeky fashion by performing Oasis’s “Wonderwall” acoustic, dressed in a Gallagher-esque anorak, while a parody film featuring Noel’s nasty comments screened behind him. The crowd exploded, according to The London Times, which reported: “Both audience and artist rose to the occasion and turned in a moment of real, euphoric, pop-culture history.”

“Jay-Z’s performance will go down in Glastonbury history,” British paper The Independent also declared, while The Guardian concurred: “It’s brilliantly staged, utterly thrilling, and it makes Gallagher look a bit of a berk.”

Yep, Jay-Z showed ‘em what he got, indeed. But hey, Mr. Gallagher–don’t look back in anger, a’ight? And have a happy Independence Day…

[Source: Yahoo! Music.]

Video of Jay-Z on Glastonbury:

[More videos on BBC.co.uk.]

“ 25-year-old Wes (James McAvoy) was the most disaffected, cube-dwelling drone the planet had ever known. His boss chewed him out hourly, his girlfriend ignored him routinely and his life plodded on interminably. Everyone was certain this disengaged slacker would amount to nothing. There was little else for Wes to do but wile away the days and die in his slow, clock-punching rut. Until he met a woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie). After his estranged father is murdered, the deadly sexy Fox recruits Wes into the Fraternity, a secret society that trains Wes to avenge his dad’s death by unlocking his dormant powers. As she teaches him how to develop lightning-quick reflexes and phenomenal agility, Wes discovers this team lives by an ancient, unbreakable code: carry out the death orders given by fate itself. With wickedly brilliant tutors — including the Fraternity’s enigmatic leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman) — Wes grows to enjoy all the strength he ever wanted. But, slowly, he begins to realize there is more to his dangerous associates than meets the eye. And as he wavers between newfound heroism and vengeance, Wes will come to learn what no one could ever teach him: he alone controls his destiny. “

Wanted is an action film loosely based on the comic book miniseries Wanted by Mark Millar. The film is directed by a russian director Timur Bekmambetov, and stars James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Thomas Kretschmann, and Konstantin Khabensky. Wanted released on June 25, 2008 in the UK and June 27, 2008 in the US.

Movie Details

Movie Title:
• Wanted

Logline:

• The tale of one apathetic nobody’s transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice.

Genres:

• Action/Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller, Crime/Gangster and Adaptation

Running Time:

• 1 hr. 48 min.

Release Date:

• June 27th, 2008 (wide)

MPAA Rating:

• R for strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality.

Distributors:

• Universal Pictures Distribution

Production Co.:

• Kickstart Productions, Marc Platt Productions, Top Cow Entertainment

Studios:

• Universal Pictures

Filming Locations:

• Prague, Chicago - USA

Produced in:

• United States

Cast and Credits

Producers
• Adam Siegel — Executive Producer
• Gary Barber — Executive Producer
• Marc Silvestri — Executive Producer
• Roger Birnbaum — Executive Producer
• Marc Platt — Producer
• Jason Netter — Producer
• Jim Lemley — Producer
• Iain Smith — Producer
• Matt Hawkins — Co-Producer

Directors

• Timur Bekmambetov — Director

Writers

• Michael Brandt — Screenplay
• Derek Haas — Screenplay
• Chris Morgan — Screenplay
• Michael Brandt — Story
• Derek Haas — Story
• Mark Millar — Source Material (from the comic book series: “Wanted”)

Actors

• James McAvoy — Wesley Gibson
• Morgan Freeman — Sloan
• Angelina Jolie — Fox
• Common — The Gunsmith
• Kristen Hager — Cathy
• Terence Stamp — Pekwar
• Chris Pratt — Barry
• Marc Warren — The Repairman
• Konstantin Khabensky — The Exterminator
• Thomas Kretschmann — Cross
• David O’Hara — Mr. X
• Dato Bakhtadze — The Butcher
• Lorna Scott — Janice

[Source: Yahoo! Movies and Wikipedia.]

“ What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? Wall-E, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon, he will discover what he was meant for, as he adventures across the galaxy chasing his dream. “

Academy Award-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) and the inventive storytellers and technical geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios (The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille) transport moviegoers to a galaxy not so very far away for a new computer-animated cosmic comedy about determined robot named WALL-E.

After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL-E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.

Joining WALL-E on his fantastic journey across a universe of never-before-imagined visions of the future, is a hilarious cast of characters including a pet cockroach, and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots.

Filled with surprises, action, humor and heart, WALL-E was written and directed by Andrew Stanton, produced by Jim Morris, co-produced by Lindsey Collins and features original and innovative sound design by Academy Award-winner Ben Burtt (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial). The film is due for release on June 27, 2008.

Movie Details

Movie Title:
• Wall E

Logline:

• A young robot looks for a home in outer space.

Running Time:

• 1 hr. 37 min.

Release Date:

• June 27th, 2008 (wide)

MPAA Rating:

• G

Distributors:

• Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Production Co.:

• Pixar Animation Studios

Studios:

• Walt Disney Feature Animation

Filming Locations:

• Los Angeles, California, USA

Produced in:

• United States

Cast and Credits

Producers
• Jim Morris (IV) — Producer
• Lindsey K. Collins — Co Producer

Directors

• Andrew Stanton — Director

Writers

• Andrew Stanton — Screenplay

Actors

• Benjamin Burtt — Voice of WALL-E/M-O
• Jeff Garlin — Voice of Captain
• Elissa Knight — Voice of Eve
• Fred Willard — Shelby Forthright, BnL CEO
• John Ratzenberger — Voice of John
• Kathy Najimy — Voice of Mary
• Sigourney Weaver — Voice of Ship’s Computer

[Source: Yahoo! Movies and Disney.]

The Shape Shifter phone will have 2 layers of plastic, one will be flexible and the other will be a hard layer with special liquid inside it. The idea behind this is that when the liquid is pushed between the layers it will form different shapes on the surface.

With the ability of changing shapes and a touch screen, this will bring a revolution in the mobile phone industry.

[Source: Phonemag.]

As something new you can use GPS with Sony Ericsson K530. That is, when you connect it to the new GPS accessory GPS Enabler HGE-100. This doesn’t come with the phone, and should be bought aside. That’s a disappointment. If the maps comes along isn’t said.

Another smart feature - or service - is that Sony Ericsson K530 can check the weather for you. It gives you a 3-day weather prognosis, so you won’t risk getting wet at your picnic. The Sony Ericsson K530 comes with a 2 megapixel camera without auto focus. The images can be uploaded to Blogger, and there’s 16 megabytes of internal memory in the phone. There’s also room for a M2-memory card.

[Source: Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog.]

“Sony Ericsson is all about offering the right phone for you, whether that’s one that lets you snap quality pictures, listen to favourite songs on the move or just stay in touch..”, says Miles Flint, President at Sony Ericsson. “These two camera phones (Sony Ericsson K850 and Sony Ericsson Z320) offer the choice between a viable digital camera alternative and a pocket-sized clamshell phone with camera for taking occasional snapshots..”, he continues.

Sony Ericsson Z320 comes in two colors; Crimson Red and Atlantic Blue, and it hits the shelves in quarter 3.

[Source: Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog.]

“Already, this signifies that it’s going to be very cheap. Possibly around 100 euros. We realise that some people need a phone that does just the basics well, yet don’t wish to compromise on style or stand-out good looks. And why should they? The new Sony Ericsson Z250i sets out to strike this balance..”, says Howard Lewis, Head of the Entry Level Business Unit at Sony Ericsson. This phone will hit the market in Q3.

[Source: Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog.]

Sony Ericsson W910

We’ve known Sony Ericsson W910 for quite some time now, by the codename Shinobu. Now it’s official, and the name ended up being Sony Ericsson W910. It has a TFT-screen with a QVGA-resolution and can show up to 262.000 colors. It’s just 12,5 millimeters thin and weighs 86 grams.

Sony Ericsson W910 is the first phone with Walkman 3.0 and PlayNow 4.0. Shortly, this means that the phone is totally prepared to play and download music, which can be done via HSDPA (3,6 mbit/s). Walkman 3.0 has an updated user interface compared to version 2.0, and it introduces a series of new features - such as SensMe, which makes it possible to create playlists according to your mood, style or tempo. 1 gigabyte memory card comes along with Sony Ericsson W910, and can be expanded. The camera is a 2-megapixel camera without auto focus. Sony Ericsson W910 will be available in quarter 4 pricing at about 450 euros.

Sony Ericsson W960

Sony Ericsson W960 is the successor of W950, and comes with twice the amount of memory. Just like Sony Ericsson W910 you can shake the phone if you want to change song etc. Sony Ericsson W960 has a 2.6 inch touchscreen with QVGA-resolution and can show 262.144 colors. On the back you’ll find a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus. Sony Ericsson W960 measures 109 x 55 x 16 millimeters and weighs in at 116 grams. Other than that Sony Ericsson W960 also features W-LAN, so you can downloade music on PlayNow at home. It has 3G, but unfortunately no HSDPA. Sony Ericsson W960 will be out in quarter 4 at an expected price at about 700 euros.

[Source: Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog and GsmArena.]

Sony Ericsson K850i is also a HSDPA-phone, which can be used when picture- and video-blogging. A pretty interesting thing is that the phone not only features a M2-slot, you can also use microSD-cards with it. The keypad has a dual-function - when in camera, the icons are lit up and indicates, which keys that work as shortcuts to digital zoom and other features. The screen is 2,2 inches large, 240 x 320 pixels and can show up to 262.144 colors. Sony Ericsson K850i will be available from Q4.

[Source: Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog and GsmArena.]

Problogger divided two areas/models in making money from blogs, Direct Income Methods and Indirect Income Methods. Direct income methods are where bloggers earns an income from their blog, while Indirect income methods are where bloggers earns an income because of their blog. Most blogs and bloggers tend to use one or another of these methods, but there also bloggers who are experimenting both of them on their blogs.

Direct Method to Make Money from Your Blog

1. Advertising

• Contextual Advertising - Google AdSense and Yahoo! Publisher Network are very popular programs and simple to use, by just pasting some code into your blog’s templates. They will scan the content of your blog to assertion what it’s topic is and attempt to put contextually relevant ads onto your blog. Payment is on a ‘per click’ basis (CPC or ‘cost per click’ ads), bloggers earn money when their visitor clicks on the ads.

• Other CPC Advertising - A variety of CPC advertising systems which are not contextual, Chitika’s eMiniMalls as an example.

• Impression Based Advertising - Bloggers get paid for every visitor who views the advertisement. There are a variety of ad systems around like this, like Fastclick and Tribal Fusion. Usually impression based ads won’t earn bloggers much if they don’t have a lot of traffic, but can be great if they do.

• Blog Ads - Blog Ads traditionally have had a focus upon monetizing political blogs, but are expanding their focus lately. The good side is that bloggers set their own rates and can accept or reject advertisers that apply to them to be featured on their blogs. These ads put the control of what ads show and how much they earn into the hands of the blogger. The not-so-good-side is that if you price them too high you could never have any ads showing at all. They can also be difficult to be accepted into as a publisher as these days they only accept people into the system if they have a someone who is already in ’sponsor’ or recommend the new publisher.

• Text Ads - Text ads are great because they don’t take up much room. Programs like Adbriteis one such program that gives you control to set your own prices - and approve or reject all ads. Other programs like Text Link Ads, Adzaar, and Bidvertiser are another popular ad programs that more bloggers are using.

• RSS Advertising - An increasingly popular way for people to read blogs is via RSS. As a result publishers and ad providers have been keen to find ways to place ads in feeds. These attempts have been met with a variety of success levels. Feedburner and Pheedo are some example that have been used to help monetise many blog’s feeds.

• Other Advertising Systems - In addition to the above systems there are many other advertising options, many of them being used by bloggers every day. Here are some of them : AdGenta, CrispAds, Clicksor, Intelli Txt, Peak Click, Double Click, Industry Brains, AdHearUs, Kanoodle, Pheedo, Adknowledge, YesAdvertising, RevenuePilotTextAds, SearchFeed, Target Point, and TextAds, etc.

2. Sponsorship

Another advertising form that a smaller number of bloggers are using is to find their own advertisers. All of the above systems have the advantage of finding you advertisers (or at least assisting in the automation of ads to your blog) but as your blog grows in profile and influence you might find other options for private deals come up.

The key if you’re going to take this approach is to target advertisers in your niche that have products that closely relate to what you’re writing about. There are a variety of ads that you can offer them including banner ads, buttons, text links, mentions in newsletters and even individual post sponsorships. I would highly recommend that you always make it clear to readers that your post is a sponsored one when you’re writing a sponsored post.

3. Affiliate Programs

This method is where you take a commission for referring a reader who purchases a product or service to a company. Probably the most popular of these affiliate programs is Amazon which has thousands of products that you can link to. Other affiliate programs are Linkshare, Commission Junction and Clickbank. Affiliate programs take some work if you want to get the most out of them (perhaps more work than advertising) but can be lucrative if you match the right program with the right blog/topic.

4. Selling Blogs

The idea of selling your blog is one that many bloggers have in the back of their minds for ‘one day’, but in reality it is not something that is overly common yet (but it seems changing). Starting a blog with the main goal of selling it down is one that I’ve heard of a number of bloggers doing, but few have been successful. Rather than starting with this intention, start with the intention of building a quality site that has a large readership and it’s own good income stream so you are more likely to find buyers down the track.

5. Donations

A very small number of blogs have a history of making good money with these (Jason Kottke being one of them). To be successful with asking for money from readers you’ll want to have a large and loyal readership (and a rich one might help too). Most bloggers just don’t have the critical mass or the cult following to make it work.

6. Merchandise

Another method with reasonable effect is to sell T-Shirts, Mugs, Stickers etc with the blog’s name, logo and/or taglines on it. This is another idea that will probably only work if you either have a brilliantly designed merchandise range and/or you have a cult-like status as a blogger with some fanatical readers who are a little obsessive about your blog. Some blog topics lend themselves to this more than others.

7. Selling Subscriptions

The idea of charging readers for content is one that surfaces from time to time. While there are numerous websites around the web that do this successfully, I’m yet to see many (any) blogs do it well. To make it succeed you would need to have some sort of premium/exclusive content and/or real expertise on a topic.

8. Blog Networks

Another emerging income source for bloggers are blog networks. There are two ways to make money here. Firstly you can start a network and contract bloggers to write for you or secondly you might like to join a blog network as a writer.

Next post we’ll look at indirect ways of making money because of your blog.