Iphone For Those On A Budget

For consumers craving an Iphone but not its hefty price tag, Apple designed a cheaper version of the Iphone based on the ultra-thin Ipod Nano music player.  According to a J.P. Morgan report, Apple plans to launch the more economical Iphone later this year.  Photo by: courtesy of apple

Apple’s original highly anticipated Iphone – a cellphone, Ipod music player and web browser combined into one cool looking gadget - hit the market the June 29 with huge fanfare.  However, the exorbitant cost of its two models - $499 and $599 – ranked as the top reason consumers did not buy the phone.   The cheaper Nano-based version may be priced about $300 or less.

Merriam-Webster Adds Cultural Flavor To Its Dictionary

. Merriam-Webster's yearly list of 100 new words embraced cultural diversity.  Here's a quick sample new lingo added: "Bollywood," the term for India's movie flicks; "crunk" a Southern style of rap, and "Telenovelas," Latin American soap operas

A new way to find love - "speed dating" - made it onto the list.  The popular number puzzle "sudoku" also became an official word with a definition.   

Visitors to company’s website voted “ginormous” as the most favorite new addition to the dictionary; yet some linguists call this addition a ginormous mistake.

Potter Still Book and Box Office Magic

J.K. Rowlings’ fifth Potter book-turned-movie, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” took in a whopping $44.8 million on its opening day, Wednesday July 11.  Toppling 2004’s “Spider-Man 2,” “Order of the Phoenix” now holds the box office record for the highest single-day gross on a Wednesday. Photo by: Harry Potter courtesy Warner Bros.

This July fans get a double dose of Potter with the July 21 release of Rowling’s seventh and final installment in Potter series – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”  The last saga of teen wizards topped the bestseller lists of online book sellers Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble after its first day of pre-orders back in February.

 In Memoriam:  “Lady Bird” Johnson Dead at 94

Former first lady “Lady Bird” Johnson, the wife of  former President Lyndon B. Johnson, died July 11 of respiratory failure.   At 94 years old, she was the nation’s oldest living first lady. A well-known advocate of the environment and its beautification, she founded center in her name to preserve native plants and wildflowers in 1984. Lady Bird Johnson Courtesty of Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum

On Friday, more than 600 admirers braved the heat to pay their respects to the Texas native and filed by her casket in the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum.   The guest list for Saturday’s invitation-only funeral service included the nation’s current first lady, Laura Bush, and an impressive cadre of former first ladies and presidents – Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. 

She wasd buried next to her husband at the LBJ Ranch.

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