Howard Stern Bids Farewell to traditional radio

On Friday morning, Howard Stern signed off of traditional radio for the last time, ending more than two decades of great entertainment.

The self-proclaimed King of All Media signed off with a over-the-top midtown Manhattan party for thousands of fans - some of whom came from as far away as Ohio and many of whom had to get out of bed by 4 a.m. to even get close to the stage New York Times reports. The morning was capped by a "victory lap" through Times Square where Stern stood atop a double-decker bus.

"We broke every rule known to radio and mankind and I'm proud of that," Stern shouted to supporters from an outdoor stage.

"And I don't think this ride is over yet. Let the freedom bell be rung, and let it be rung by a stripper!

"We beat then at their own game, we figured out how to do it," he said. "Change the rules, break the chains, the last of a dying breed."

Stern rocked the broadcasting world in October 2004 when he signed a five-year contract with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. reportedly valued at $500 million.

Stern has two entire channels with Sirius, which is not regulated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and charges subscribers $13 a month for more than 100 channels.

BS: Britney Spears Statistics

The Bosh is advising caution as regards reports that Britney Spears is the most searched for single entity on the World Wide Web. A Brit search on Google, for example, turns up 10,800,000 results pages, but a Paris Hilton search turns up 13,400,000, and Paris hasn’t even released her album yet. Must be that the sex tape decreased interest in her!

Michael Jackson also is ahead of Brit-Brit, as far as number of Google search pages in his name goes; the closeted bigot comes in with 11,100,000 pages. Wagging tongues have been comparing these two megastars; little noses, great dance moves, funny collections of animals; Britney and Michael are virtually the same person, they would have us believe.

Yet there is a personage leaving the others behind in the dust; George W. Bush, who gets 50,400,000 Google results pages. Outdoing him is that perennial favorite, God, clocking in at 153,000,000 pages. Here we can see that women’s lib has a way to go; Goddess only gets 17,100,000 pages, still more than Britney’s 10 comma 8. (By Scott Rose)

Intel to sponsor BMW's Sauber Formula 1 team

Chip maker Intel Corp. has announced that it has formed a multiyear partnership with German automobile company BMW that includes sponsorship of the BMW Sauber Formula One motor racing team Team. The deal, which BMW describes as a "long-term strategic technology partnership," starts in January.

Intel's sponsorship will renew the rivalry with Advanced Micro Devices, who sponsor Sauber's F1 rival Ferrari reports BBC

"Formula One demands the control and coordination of hundreds of parameters simultaneously and the precise execution of every step," said BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen.

"Cutting-edge technology is a crucial success factor, and BMW has accepted the challenge.

"We are delighted that a strong partner such as Intel has done likewise in collaboration with us."

The deal will see the German automobile giant deploying Intel based systems across their network. The Intel logo will be displayed on the car used by BMW's Sauber team starting January 2006. Nearly 150 million people are estimated to watch each of Formula One's 19 races. BMW bought the Sauber team in June this year.

"Intel and BMW intend to collaborate heavily on the IT technology and marketing side as our brands are very dynamic and innovative," said Intel senior vice president Eric Kim.

"Intel will infuse the BMW Sauber F1 Team with its technology - technology that we believe will support the team's performance."

Visto sues Microsoft for patent infringement

Visto Corp, a maker of software for wireless e-mail, said on Thursday it filed a lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. for infringing Visto patents for technology that support e-mail on mobile devices. The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, was made a day after Visto licensed patents belonging to NTP, the company that is engaged in a patent challenge to Research in Motion. The NTP case could shut most service to the BlackBerry communications device reports New York Times.

Visto said it is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Microsoft from "misappropriating" technology from Visto and its co-founder developed nearly 10 years ago. Microsoft's wireless e-mail product, Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology, will be introduced in the spring.

Visto contends that Microsoft's software violates three patents that deal more with synchronizing data and security than directly with wireless e-mail, the crucial element of NTP's patents."They have a product that they look like they've copied from us," Mr. Bogosian said. He acknowledged that no one at Visto had examined or used the Microsoft system, which, like BlackBerry, is aimed primarily at corporate users.

Visto's customers include Vodafone Group Plc, the world's biggest mobile service provider, as well as U.S. market leader Cingular Wireless, a venture of AT&T Inc. and BellSouth, and Sprint Nextel Corp..