Britney Spears' Choreographer Says 'Hold It Against Me' Video 'Kills'

Brian Friedman says rehearsals for the clip have been 'incredible.'
By Jocelyn Vena

Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me"
Photo: Jive

Britney Spears is hard at work on her "Hold It Against Me" video. The pop diva is currently in rehearsals for the clip, set to shoot this week. And choreographer Brian Friedman couldn't be more excited to share with fans all the hard work he and Brit are putting into the video's smooth moves.

"Just finished with @britneyspears & the dancers & I'm PUMPED!" he tweeted on Tuesday. "Day 1 was INCREDIBLE! #HIAMkills!"

He previously tweeted, "Nothing beats waking up @ 7am for rehearsal! LOL not so much! Warm up dancers. ... It's Full Out! ... Thrilled to get back in the studio tomorrow and Lock in 'HIAM.' ... It's getting closer peeps!"

Friedman has said that Spears is taking some risks in this video. "This is a dance video. Rehearsals can get pretty rough," he explained. "[It's] the hardest dance track that she's ever put out. ... It's infectious. The beat gets inside of you, and just when you think you know it, it takes a turn. The song, in particular, is one of my favorite songs I've heard off the bat. I'm really excited about choreographing it."

The clip will be directed by music-video vet Jonas Åkerlund, who has a reputation for controversial clips and has worked with the likes of Madonna and Lady Gaga. Spears tweeted the news, writing, "Dance, dance, and more dance. Getting ready to shoot the video for HIAM this week with Jonas Åkerlund. Super excited!"

In addition to working on the video for the track, Spears has also been seen at a recording studio putting the finishing touches on the album. Manager Adam Leber tweeted this tease for the fans, "Amazing day in the studio today. You guys should be very excited. This album is going to be incredible. Dare I say the best yet?"

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1656193/britney-spears-choreographer-hold-it-against-me-video-kills.jhtml

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Hands-on: Gentle Alarm for Android is a beautiful way to wake up

When I listed Gentle Alarm as one of my top Android apps, I promised a more in-depth review -- and here it is! Here are the key features of the app that's been (successfully!) waking me up every morning for the past several weeks.

Profiles

One of the best concepts in Gentle Alarm is that not all alarms are exactly alike. The Profiles screen lets you set up individual alarm "types". As you can see, each profile has its own complete set of options: You can select whether or not you'd like to have a pre-alarm (more on these later), the duration of the alarm, the initial and final volume, the alarm tone (or MP3 tune), and more.

Gallery: Gentle Alarm for Android

Continue reading Hands-on: Gentle Alarm for Android is a beautiful way to wake up

Hands-on: Gentle Alarm for Android is a beautiful way to wake up originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/07/hands-on-gentle-alarm-for-android-is-a-beautiful-way-to-wake-up/

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Usher Gets Sick, Walks Offstage Mid-Show In Berlin

Singer cancels kick off date of European leg of his OMG Tour due to illness.
By Gil Kaufman

Usher (file)
Photo: Michael Caulfield/ WireImage

Usher was forced to delay the kick off of his European OMG Tour on Wednesday night in Berlin because of illness. In a statement released to fans, the singer apologized for the last-minute scratch, saying he felt he was suffering from a "sinus complication." Although the gig was rescheduled for Thursday night at the O2 World arena in Berlin, his German fans apparently weren't appeased by his effort.

"I am truly sorry to all my fans in Berlin who were inconvenienced by tonight's postponement of the show," the singer said in a statement about Wednesday's aborted concert. "I was ill and felt that I would not have been able to give them the show that they properly deserve. ... I am looking forward to performing tomorrow and giving Berliners a great show."

According to the statement, the singer received treatment from doctors for a sinus issue that affected his balance, but a visibly still-ailing Usher was unable to finish the Thursday make-up show, reportedly abandoning the stage after just five songs.

On Friday (January 14), a follow-up statement from his spokesperson confirmed that he was too ill to play Thursday night's Berlin date and has been forced to reschedule the next three dates on the tour as well. The Rotterdam show originally scheduled for this week has been moved to March 1 and a show in Antwerp, also slated for this week, has been bumped to March 7.

The statement also updated the singer's condition: "Usher is suffering from upper respiratory illness, which is currently preventing him from performing a proper show. After consultation with doctors, he has been advised to reschedule the upcoming dates in order to get the rest he needs to ensure a complete recovery."

Footage posted on YouTube that was purportedly taken at the make-up performance in Berlin shows Usher standing silently at the microphone seemingly unable to sing, with fans booing him at first and then chanting, "Usher, Usher," as he approaches the microphone and apologizes to them for his struggles. "I appreciate your support," he told the fans wearily.

"I have been very excited about my European Tour and I deeply regret having to reschedule the shows," the singer said in the new statement. "I am truly sorry for any inconvenience I have caused my fans. My fans are the best in the world and I am looking forward to getting better so that I can give them the show they deserve."

Usher wrapped up the North American leg of his tour in December and his overseas dates are slated to last through the spring.

What do you think of the fans' reaction to Usher's walking offstage mid-show? Tell us in the comments.

Related Artists

• Usher

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1655991/usher-gets-sick-walks-offstage-midshow-berlin.jhtml

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Do Nothing For Two Minutes [Goodideas]

It's Saturday. You should be doing nothing. But if you're reading this, you're probably engaged win a marathon session with your RSS reader. That's why you need to rest, if only for two minutes. Just click this link. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/n33mN9a0tx4/do-nothing-for-two-minutes

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Photos | Britney Spears' "3" Video Shoot

Britney Spears' "3" Video Shoot

Related Artists

• Britney Spears

Source: http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1623889

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Motorola Xoom launching February 17th at Best Buy (update: priced at $700)

When we stumbled upon an $800 price for the Motorola Xoom yesterday, our instinctive reaction was to leap forward to the next obvious question: when? Well, that call has now been answered by an internal Best Buy document that's just dropped into our inbox, which explicitly pinpoints February 17th as the launch date for Moto's highly touted, Honeycomb-equipped tablet. Stock is expected to land at the big box retailer on February 16th, with the big party going down the day after. There's a note confirming that the Xoom will come with its promised 32GB of onboard storage, but anyone looking for confirmation or denial of the earlier pricing leak will be left disappointed. Guess we'll all have to set our calendar alerts for about a month from now and exercise patience in the mean time.

[Thanks, dajarbot]

Update: Our tipster has also uncovered a price: $699.99. That's a hundred green leaves south of Verizon's supposed pricing and should soothe a few agitated souls.

Continue reading Motorola Xoom launching February 17th at Best Buy (update: priced at $700)

Motorola Xoom launching February 17th at Best Buy (update: priced at $700) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/22/motorola-xoom-launching-february-17th-at-best-buy/

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How to customize the Ribbon menu in Microsoft Office 2010

This week's series of tips will be focusing on handy little features for Microsoft Excel and Word. To see the previous tips, check our Tips index.

While earlier this week I've shown you how to keep the Ribbon from getting in your way, that's not all you can do with it in Office 2010. Back when the Ribbon interface first came out, in Office 2007, it wasn't really customizable. You could modify it if you were lucky enough to know VBA (Visual Basic for Applications, Office's built-in programming language), but otherwise, you were pretty much stuck with the stock arrangement of tabs and buttons.

Fortunately, with Office 2010, Microsoft introduced a simple way to customize the Ribbon, requiring no programming at all. Simply go to the File menu, click Options and then select Customize Ribbon. You'll get a two-pane dialog, showing all available commands versus your existing ribbon, and letting you toggle things on and off and re-arrange them as you see fit.

The best part is that once you're done customizing your setup, you can easily export it for backup or to take with you to your other computers. Just click the Import/Export button and select Export all customizations.

How to customize the Ribbon menu in Microsoft Office 2010 originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/14/how-to-customize-the-ribbon-menu-in-microsoft-office-2010/

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Facebook Destroys Marriages [Facebook]

Him: "Are you unhappy?" Her: "No, of course not. Why do you ask?" Him: "Well, the few rare times we make love you cry out his name, not mine." Her: "Who's name?" Him: "Facebook." More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/KqsOplZ4vyA/facebook-destroys-marriages

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Gorenje iChef oven brings the touchscreen paradigm to all your baking needs

We've no doubt that Gorenje's iChef oven can bake, and bake well -- but as you've probably guessed, we're more interested in the appliance's finger-friendly controls. Kitchens of the future often come complete with touchscreen panels and home automation settings, but you aren't just keying in the time and temperature here -- it's got sixty-five preset dishes it can cook autonomously, 150 slots for you to program your own, and a option that lets you bake in three separate stages for perfection (or bitter disappointment, depending on your choices) inside and out. It's all controlled through a colorful filled with pictures of loving-prepared food, and though we're afraid we can't find a video of it in action, you'll find screencaps and descriptions at our source link below. The oven launches in Europe this spring and if you have to ask how much it costs, you probably won't have enough left over to afford a robotic manservant anyhow.

Gorenje iChef oven brings the touchscreen paradigm to all your baking needs originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Jan 2011 09:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/23/gorenje-ichef-brings-the-touchscreen-paradigm-to-your-baked-good/

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Night of the Living Androids: New Botnet will Zombify Your Smartphones [Smartphones]

If there are two things that nerds fear the most, it's the impending zombie apocalypse and the threat of viruses and malware on their smartphones. Well it looks like the latter is one step closer to reality. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/a25RI4k8kJo/night-of-the-living-androids-new-botnet-will-zombify-your-smartphones

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This Week's Best Apps [Apps]

In this week's thank-goodness-it's-the-end-of-the-week app roundup: Goo, sculpted; TiVo, controlled; places to eat, discovered; Twitter, relaxed; history, revisited; PBS, appreciated, and much, much more. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/UJDfI_Ll0TI/this-weeks-best-apps

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