November 29, 2005 - Apple's Mac mini will be reborn as the digital hub
centerpiece it was originally conceived to be, Think Secret sources have
disclosed. The new Mac mini project, code-named Kaleidoscope, will feature an
Intel processor and include both Front Row 2.0 and TiVo-like DVR functionality.

While the specific model and speed of the Intel processor in the new Mac mini is
unknown, sources are confident the system will be ready for roll-out at Macworld
Expo San Francisco, in line with other reports Think Secret has received that
Intel-based Macs will be ready some six months sooner than originally expected.

The new Mac mini is also said to sport a built-in iPod dock, a feature that was
scrapped from the Mac mini Apple first introduced one year ago. Other hardware
specifics are unknown, such as whether the Mac mini will feature video recording
out of the box or whether an add-on will be offered for those looking to employ
the Mac mini not as a second computer but as their living room command center.

It is similarly unknown whether Apple will scrap the 2.5-inch hard drive
currently featured in the Mac mini in favor a standard 3.5-inch hard drive, both
to boost storage capacity that heavy media users demand and to trim costs; such
a move would undoubtedly result in a larger Mac mini.

Specifics surrounding Front Row 2.0 and Apple's DVR application are limited at
this point, although sources with knowledge of the project have dubbed the
latter a "TiVo-killer." The moniker might not be without some bias, however, as
sources report that talks of an Apple-TiVo deal recently fizzled, prompting TiVo
to independently announce this month that it will soon offer customers the
ability to copy stored content to a video iPod.

While Apple surprised watchers when the company delivered Front Row alongside
updated iMac G5s recently, Apple's media center intentions have become
startlingly clear in the past year since Apple first delivered the Mac mini and
customers first started connecting the system to home theaters and installing it
in automobiles. Sources have hinted that additional media announcements will
further propel Apple's strategy, and with the hardware, software, and iPod sales
behind it, Apple now seems poised to firmly plant its footprint in living rooms.

WASHINGTON - A basketball-sized piece of marble moulding fell from the facade
over the entrance to the Supreme Court, landing on the steps near visitors
waiting to enter the building.

No one was injured when the stone fell. The marble was part of the dentil
moulding that serves as a frame for the frieze of statues atop the court's main
entrance.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20 - TiVo, the maker of digital video recorders, plans to
announce a new feature on Monday that will let TiVo owners watch recorded
television shows on Apple's video iPods and on Sony's handheld PSP game machine.

The announcement builds on TiVo's release in February of an update to its video
recorders that allows its users to transfer programs to personal computers and
DVD's, as well as to portable video players that support Microsoft's mobile
video format. When the company releases new software in the first quarter of
next year, it will extend that capability to the video iPod, released last
month, and the Sony PSP.

"This is another thing we can do to add value for our subscribers," said Jim
Denney, TiVo's vice president of product marketing. "We've seen reasonable
demand and interest from people to bring their videos with them."

TiVo recorders, which compete with similar devices offered by cable and
satellite television companies, allow users to automatically record television
programming, as well as pause and replay live broadcasts. Subscribers to TiVo's
service receive automatic updates to broadcast schedules. The company has 3.6
million subscribers and says it is signing on as many as 250,000 new ones each
quarter.

When it released its TiVoToGo software in February, TiVo said it was compatible
with portable video devices made by Creative Technologies, Samsung and other
companies - players that have not been a hit with consumers. By extending that
capability to the video iPod and the popular Sony PSP, TiVo is tapping into a
market that is potentially much bigger.

Owners of the Apple or Sony devices will need to pay TiVo to unlock the portion
of the new software that converts videos to the MPEG-4 format used by those
players. While TiVo has not yet set the price for the software, similar programs
typically cost between $15 and $30, Mr. Denney said. The cost will cover
licensing fees and other expenses associated with using the MPEG-4 format, he
said.

The new TiVo software will also have a syncing feature that will allow
subscribers to choose whether they want new recordings of their favorite
programs transferred to their portable devices automatically via their PC.

Apple, which is not involved in TiVo's announcement, introduced the video iPod
last month and began selling music videos and programming from the Walt Disney
Company and Pixar.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

By JOSEF ADALIAN

It's not looking good for "Arrested Development" or frosh laffer "Kitchen
Confidential."

Fox has cut back its episode order on the critically-admired "Arrested" to just
13 segs, down from 22. Producers of "Kitchen," meanwhile, have been told the
show won't be getting a full-season pickup.

More worrisome: Fox is pulling both shows from the schedule, effective
immediately. "Arrested" returned from a month-long hiatus this week, while
"Kitchen" was slated to return Monday.

Instead of the two laffers, Fox will air repeats of drama "Prison Break" in the
8-9 p.m. Monday slot for the rest of the November sweeps. It's presumed
"Arrested" and "Kitchen" will return to finish out the remainder of their runs
in December. Come January, net has long planned to move "House" into the Monday
slot.

Fox wasn't commenting Thursday morning, and for now, nobody's using the word
"cancellation." But in the case of "Arrested," the handwriting appears to be on
the wall.

While numbers for "Arrested" were underwhelming this week, it's worth noting
that a number of returning laffers -- including Fox's "Stacked" -- aren't doing
much better.

Wednesday, November 9, 2005
WILLA HOLLAND CAST AS KAITLIN COOPER, MARISSA'S SISTER, ON "THE O.C."
Released by FOX

Willa Holland has been cast in the role of "Kaitlin Cooper," Marissa's sister,
on THE O.C. Holland begins production this week and will appear in a
multi-episode arc starting in early 2006. THE O.C. airs Thursdays (8:00-9:00 PM
ET/PT) on FOX.

Holland's character "Kaitlin Cooper," age 14, has returned to the O.C. during
her winter break from an exclusive Montecito boarding school, bringing a lot of
attitude and a few secrets of her own. Much more in the mold of her mother Julie
Cooper than her sister Marissa, Kaitlin will wreak havoc, turn heads and
introduce a darker, edgier element to the sun-drenched O.C.

"Willa is a real presence and a wonderful actress," says THE O.C. creator and
executive producer Josh Schwartz. "She can be sweet as a little girl, but also
dangerous and much more self-possessed than her age would suggest. She seems
like Mischa Barton's little sister and looks it, too. She's a real original,
with the same sophisticated allure that Mischa possesses. She's going to break a
lot of hearts."

Holland, age 14, can be seen modeling in campaigns for Guess, Gap, Abercrombie &
Fitch and Ralph Lauren. She has been a guest star on "The Comeback" and appeared
in the FOX pilot for "The Inside." Holland grew up in London and Los Angeles and
is the stepdaughter of director Brian De Palma. She currently lives with her
family in Los Angeles.

From Wonderland Sound and Vision and College Hill Pictures and in association
with Warner Bros. Television Production Inc., THE O.C. is executive-produced by
Josh Schwartz, Bob DeLaurentis and McG. Stephanie Savage serves as co-executive
producer and Ian Toynton is supervising producer. The series stars Peter
Gallagher (Sandy Cohen), Kelly Rowan (Kirsten Cohen), Benjamin McKenzie (Ryan
Atwood), Mischa Barton (Marissa Cooper), Adam Brody (Seth Cohen), Melinda Clarke
(Julie Cooper) and Rachel Bilson (Summer Roberts).

An auditing board sponsored by the United Nations recommended yesterday that the
United States repay as much as $208 million to the Iraqi government for
contracting work in 2003 and 2004 assigned to Kellogg, Brown & Root, the
Halliburton subsidiary.

The work was paid for with Iraqi oil proceeds, but the board said it was either
carried out at inflated prices or done poorly. The board did not, however, give
examples of poor work.

Some of the work involved postwar fuel imports carried out by K.B.R. that
previous audits had criticized as grossly overpriced. But this is the first time
that an international auditing group has suggested that the United States repay
some of that money to Iraq. The group, known as the International Advisory and
Monitoring Board of the Development Fund for Iraq, compiled reports from an
array of Pentagon, United States government and private auditors to carry out
its analysis.

A spokeswoman for Halliburton, Cathy Mann, said the questions raised in the
military audits, carried out in a Pentagon office called the Defense Contract
Auditing Agency, had largely focused on issues of paperwork and documentation
and alleged nothing about the quality of the work done by K.B.R. The monitoring
board relied heavily on the Pentagon audits in drawing its conclusions.

"The auditors have raised questions about the support and the documentation
rather than questioning the fact that we have incurred the costs," Ms. Mann said
in an e-mail response to questions. "Therefore, it would be completely wrong to
say or imply that any of these costs that were incurred at the client's
direction for its benefit are 'overcharges.' "

The Pentagon audits themselves have not been released publicly. Ms. Mann said
Kellogg, Brown & Root was engaged in negotiations over the questioned costs with
its client in the work, the United States Army Corps of Engineers and
Developmentas been set for resolution of these issues," Ms. Mann said. The
monitoring board, created by the United Nations specifically to oversee the
Development Fund - which includes Iraqi oil revenues but also some money seized
from Saddam Hussein's government - said because the audits were continuing, it
was too early to say how much of the $208 million should ultimately be paid
back.

But the board said in a statement that once the analysis was completed, the
board "recommends that amounts disbursed to contractors that cannot be supported
as fair be reimbursed expeditiously."

The K.B.R. contracts that have drawn fresh scrutiny also cover services other
than fuel deliveries, like building and repairing oil pipelines and installing
emergency power generators in Iraq. The documents released yesterday by the
monitoring board did not detail problems with specific tasks in those broad
categories, but instead summarized a series of newly disclosed audits that
called into question $208,491,382 of K.B.R.'s work in Iraq.

A member of the monitoring board said questions about the contracts "had been
lingering for a long time." Once the audits are completed, said the board
member, who asked not to be identified because he did not want to be seen as
speaking for the United Nations, the results will give the Iraqi government "the
right to go back to K.B.R. and say, 'Look, you've overbilled me on this, this is
what you could repay me.' "

The monitoring board authority extends only to making recommendations on any
reimbursement. It would be up to the United States government to decide whether
to make the payments, and who should make them. But Louay Bahry, a former Iraqi
academic who is now at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the board's
findings would stoke suspicions on the street in Iraq, where there had always
been fears that the United States invaded the country to control its oil
resources.

"Something like this will be caught in the Iraqi press and be discussed by the
Iraqi general public and will leave a very bad taste in the mouth of the
Iraqis," Mr. Bahry said. "It will increase the hostility towards the United
States."

The audits may also come at a bad time for the Bush administration, since Vice
President Dick Cheney's former role as chief executive of Halliburton has led to
charges, uniformly dismissed by Mr. Cheney and the company, that it received
preferential treatment in receiving the contracts. The early Kellogg, Brown &
Root contracts in Iraq were "sole sourced," or bid noncompetitively.

"The Bush administration repeatedly gave Halliburton special treatment and
allowed the company to gouge both U.S. taxpayers and the Iraqi people,"
Representative Henry A. Waxman, a California Democrat who is the ranking
minority member of the House Committee on Government Reform, said in a statement
on the new audits. "The international auditors have every right to expect a full
refund of Halliburton's egregious overcharges."

Some of those contracts were paid for with American taxpayer money, but others
were financed by Iraqi oil proceeds. Because the monitoring board was created to
oversee those proceeds, its audits focus only on the work that was financed with
Iraqi money. The board consists of representatives from the United Nations, the
International Monetary Fund, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development,
the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Iraqi
government.

Besides the Pentagon audits, reports from the private auditing firm K.P.M.G. and
the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, a United States
government office, were used by the monitoring board.

Because Kellogg, Brown & Root employs K.P.M.G. separately for its own internal
audits, the firm recused itself from some of the work on K.B.R. The recusal
temporarily threw some of the auditing work into disarray, since K.P.M.G. had
initially said that the conflict would not prevent it from proceeding.
Ultimately, the special inspector general took over some of the work that
K.P.M.G. dropped.

But some of the K.P.M.G. audits that were carried out, relying on Iraqi ministry
documents, turned up what appears to be clear evidence of mismanagement and
corruption among Iraqi officials that was apparently unrelated to the K.B.R.
work. In its report on the Iraqi Oil Ministry, the auditing firm used the
euphemism "nonrefundable fees" for bribes in the awarding of oil contracts. "We
found two cases," the report said, "where nonrefundable fees ($10,000 and
$20,000) were charged to obtain tender documents (total contract value
$150,302,897)."

Other entries suggest the existence of $600,000 in ghost payrolling in the
Electricity Ministry and additional evidence of bribes.

The K.P.M.G. audits also show ample evidence of the chaos that permeated the
early reconstruction effort in Iraq, with paperwork on hundreds of millions of
dollars of contracts won by firms other than K.B.R. that were lost or never
completed, making it difficult or impossible to tell if the work was carried out
properly.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - CBS has given a full-season pickup to
freshman comedy "Out of Practice," while NBC is said to be sticking with
sophomore critical darling "The Office" at least through May.

"Out of Practice," starring Stockard Channing, Henry Winkler, Christopher Gorham
and Paula Marshall, has averaged 11.97 million viewers and a 3.9 rating/9 share
in adults 18-49 to date, growing in the coveted demographic during its past four
original broadcasts.

CBS has now given full-season pickups to four of its six freshmen series -- the
comedies "Out of Practice" and "How I Met Your Mother" and the dramas "Criminal
Minds" and "Ghost Whisperer" -- while new drama "Threshold" has received an
order for additional scripts.

After a critically well-received but low-rated midseason debut last season, "The
Office" was given a 13-episode second-season order in May.

NBC's reported decision to order a full season of the offbeat comedy comes just
as the Steve Carell starrer posted its best retention of its "My Name Is Earl"
lead-in against an original episode of Fox's "House" on Tuesday but still
finished fourth in the 9:30-10 p.m. time period.

As of Thursday night, NBC reps couldn't confirm the "Office" pickup. Sources
indicated that there might be issues with accommodating the additional episodes
with Carell's busy film schedule.

NBC already has given full-season pickups to freshmen "Earl" and "Surface" and
ordered additional scripts of "E-Ring."

In other news, the WB Network has reduced the order for the Amanda Bynes comedy
"What I Like About You" from 22 to 18 episodes.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

BARRE, Vt. --Vermont is the brightest state in the country, according to a
Kansas publisher.

Morgan Quitno Press ranked Vermont at the top of the list, ahead of Connecticut,
which was second, followed by Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maine.

"Vermont shines in many key areas of education," said Scott Morgan, president of
Morgan Quitno Press. "A high percentage of its students excel in reading,
writing and math. In addition, schools in Vermont have smaller class sizes and
lower pupil-teacher ratios than in most other states."

The publisher compiled its yearly list of the smartest states measuring 21
factors.

Last year, Vermont ranked third, and second the year before.

Arizona was at the bottom of the list, below Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada and
California.

The publisher also says Vermont is the healthiest state, the second safest and
the third most livable.