Boyle's fame began when she sang on "Britain's Got Talent" and shocked the world with a beautiful rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream." Then we all remember when she lost, and had a total breakdown that was all over the news, which was pretty sad in my opinion. I think that Boyle being on Dancing With The Stars will bring a good audience since she has become so famous. It is pretty cool how she became a household name in such a short amount of time and from virtually singing one song. Hopefully she will be offered more appearances on other shows because her voice really is amazing and it would not be the worst thing to listen to.

- Vanessa

Here's a link to an article about Ndesandjo's novel, Nairobi to Shenzhen.

- Stefan

Essentially, Utterback creates an atmosphere with a screen that reflects and reacts to the movement of whoever is standing in the room with it. Her different pieces range from abstract to more concrete, but "it feels like the visuals are just responding to your body very seamlessly," she said.

A video on wired.com explains what Utterback is doing by messing with boundaries of light, video and technology to create a new type of art.

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- Jenna

She went back to partying and spending seven hundred dollars a week on meth and coke. Sweetin even revealed in her book that she downed a bag of coke right before one of her interviews.

I understand that child stars had crazy lives when they were young and got into drugs because they were hanging out with the wrong people when they were so young. However, in this case I don't think the people Sweetin interacted with were bad influences. I mean it was Full House, the most popular family show ever, so she should've become a better person from being on the show, not a drug addict. In my opinion, I feel like she probably would've become addicted to drugs even if she wasn't a former child star. It is a very sad thing to see someone who had so much potential as a child, throw away her life and career for drugs. She was on the right track when she decided to get sober, but it is not okay that she lied that she was sober; she was only hurting herself. It baffles me even more that she went to interviews that were on national television high, and absolutely no one noticed at all or even if they did, they didn't say anything. That is so unprofessional and morally wrong to talk about how you are sober and that your rehab was a success and be high on coke while saying these things. I understand that she is in need of help and had an addiction, but it is just not right. It is sending a bad message to people who grew up watching the show and seeing her as a role model.

--Vanessa Marateo

The latter E-reader has arrived in recent news to steal the spotlight due to its surpassing capabilities. Not only is the Nook equipped with integrated Wi-Fi technology, but moreover, Nook owners can lend books to other readers who have the Barnes & Noble E-reader software on their smart phones.

Here's a link to an Information Week article explaining this topic in fuller detail.

--Stefan

What makes this whole situation a little better is that Kim Kardashian is sticking up for Jessica Simpson. It shows a lot about Kardashian and her character. She is completely right when she said that people have no right to be making fun of her because she has such an amazing body. These types of acts are what can help the eating disorder problem. When people put out the message that everyone is beautiful and should be comfortable with their own body, then maybe some people will start to listen.

The network and Burger King, which sponsored the Oct. 11 cartoon, apologized for the commercial Wednesday. The apology was obviously the right thing to do, but that still doesn't change the fact that the commercial aired and people saw it, and heard its message.

- Vanessa Marateo

-Stefan

At age 5, Shannon was diagnosed with Legg-Calf Perthese disease, which he says affects the ball and socket joint development in the hips. Basically, the blood circulation to the hips is dramatically reduced, so that the joint bones don't solidify. Thus, any pressure to the hips crushes this softer bone, which is the head of the femur of the ball of the hip. OUCH. I've never heard of this disease, but I sure wouldn't want it - he's been on crutches almost his entire life.

BUT, there is a silver lining. Shannon has overcome almost everything he has to endure to become an amazing hip hop dancer. Yes, on crutches, hence his nickname: Master Crutch. He's even had a video on MTV2, shown below:

This guy's incredible. He's invented a new type of hip hop dance which uses crutches and a skateboard, which he calls Stepping Roll. He said he first created it just to walk long distances when he lived in Chicago - but as we can see, it's evolved a little from that.

His blog is fascinating, so I recommend reading it! Enjoy.

--Robin

Translation is difficult, an art form, really. There can be good and bad translations, but what happens when you encounter a writer whose work purportedly cannot be expressed in another language?

This is the case with famous German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Lord knows there are many bad translations of his poetry, so it's with great pleasure that I stumbled across this article.

It turns out Edward Snow, one of the better Rilke translators, has produced a definitive volume of his work.

This is fortunate, because the English-speaking world has been privy to bad translations, incomplete ones, etc. Plus, you can't beat the no-nonsense title: "The Poetry of Rilke." This isn't a collection of favorites. This is the whole shebang, surveying all of his most important later works (the best ones, mind you).

Of course, you could label a lot of poets as untranslatable. Snow comes pretty close, though, and you've got to give credit where it's due.

--Ricky

-Vanessa

Here's a link to a Baltimore Sun article about the price change.

--Stefan

The ultimate preservation of fiction--a theme park.

Universal Orlando Resort, along with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, announced recently that it will open "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" sometime next spring. J.K. Rowling herself and team members from the films are collaborating to make sure the experience is as "authentic" as it can be, according to the Web site's press release.

This authenticity includes many details right down to guests' ability to purchase Extendable Ears at gift shops and drink Butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks.

Hogwarts Castle, the centerpiece of the majority of the novels, will feature no less detail than the rest of the park and encompass aspects from all the books in the series.

The park will situated as another island in the Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Fl.

The intricacies and detail put into this entire project will surely make it a completely memorable experience for both old devotees and new generations of Harry Potter fans to come.

-Jenna

My first reaction when I heard about the story -- a CBS producer was blackmailing Letterman, threatening to come forward and publicly announce details of his affairs unless he paid $2 million -- was that I was just weirded out. It came out of nowhere. The funnyman has always been on my good side, and all of the sudden, he was admitting to these affairs. It was just such a weird story to me.

To me, it seems like it was handled very unconventionally. Letterman admitted to the affairs right away, which I think helped his case. I think everyone learned a little something from Clinton.

Dave laid out all the details on his show Thursday night, mixing in jokes and making it even stranger, but I do think it's better to lay everything on the table than to hide it or drive people to do the research themselves -- propelling a massive technologic rumor mill, as it usually goes these days.

When he was explaining the details of the blackmail, he said "Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would -- especially for the women."

Here's the video:

Judge for yourselves. I will NEVER be one to condone cheating, but I'm very confused by this whole situation -- and why I don't hate him.

Is that just me?

---Robin Tilley

Rather than escaping into a fictional world, try escaping into a different facet of your actual world. You could learn about endangered animal species, cultural history, or even a memoir if you prefer a personal narrative.

Check out this link for some new non-fiction titles. Libraries are also a good resource if you don't want to spend $25 or more towards a book.

So, don't forget about non-fiction -- with your acquired knowledge, at least you'll be able to impress you friends!

--Stefan