michael jackson

Today we'll take a critical look at the way people respond to celebrity deaths in the wake of Maurice Sendak, Adam Yauch, and Vidal Sassoon. We'll take you through the five typical stages of "grief" based on what Vice Magazine calls the Facebook Death Patrol.

We also have some bad news to report to children of millennials: your parents are still getting it on, and they're probably using a smartphone at the same time. A survey from Meredith's Parent Network questioned 1,000 moms born between 1977 and 1994 and found that 21 percent of them used their smartphones in the bathroom, while an astounding 12 percent admitted to using them in coitus! Sorry if we just ruined your day, kids.… Read more

Sony's sad security song isn't finished yet.

Hackers have reportedly broken into the music label's servers and downloaded Michael Jackson's entire 50,000-track catalog, including many songs that have never been released, according to a report in Britain's Sunday Times (behind paywall). Sony purchased the catalog in 2010 from Jackson's estate for $250 million--billed as the biggest recording deal in history.

"Everything Sony purchased from the Michael Jackson estate was compromised," a source told the newspaper. "It caused them to check their systems and they found the breach. There was a … Read more

Sony Music Entertainment says the price hike in the United Kingdom on Whitney Houston albums following the singer's death was a "mistake," but some industry insiders are skeptical.

On Sunday, a day after Houston was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel, prices for two of her albums: "The Ultimate Collection" and "Greatest Hits" jumped in price in the U.K. iTunes store. In dollars, the prices rose from $7.80 to $12.50.

Right away, Sony and Apple came under fire from consumers who believed one or both of the companies were … Read more

Launched on August 1, 1981, with the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," MTV had a huge impact on 1980s pop culture.

Before MTV arrived, music programming was mostly limited to bands playing a song or two on the late-night talk shows or "Saturday Night Live." Amazingly enough, most big cities' cable providers weren't on board for the MTV launch; NYC and LA didn't offer the network until 1982. MTV's "I want my MTV!" ad campaigns helped rectify the situation, but MTV's initial rise was painfully slow. The network went … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--If you're looking for powerful brands in the entertainment business, you'd be hard-pressed to find two with more influence than "Avatar" creator James Cameron and Cirque du Soleil.

So the marriage of the two, on a forthcoming movie project Cameron is executive-producing (and that's helmed by "Shrek" and "Chronicles of Narnia" director Andew Adamson) promises to offer fans a compelling mixture of the Cirque's unique hybrid of artistry, acrobatics, music, and showmanship and Cameron's mastery of the latest filmmaking technologies.

This partnership is just one of the latest … Read more

We're back after a full weekend of turkey-binging and shopping guilt with a brand-new Digital City podcast. Bonnie Cha bravely guest-hosts, joining Julie and Scott for some shopping wish-list picks while Dan and Joe remain in holiday seclusion.

We marvel at a recent Nielsen survey claiming that iPads are the top holiday pick for kids aged 6-12. Is this really an appropriate kid gift?

Scott debates whether he has enough energy to try EA's NFL Training Camp fitness game, and whether an NFL game called "Training Camp" that's released in November suffers from awkward marketing.

Plus, new MacBook Pro rumors, a strange sequined glove pack-in for Ubisoft's Michael Jackson game, and a close-up look at the Samsung QX410, one of the best all-around laptop values of the year, and a recent four-star reviewed product. Enjoy!

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Those looking forward to the Michael Jackson Experience, raise your hand. Now put a rhinestone-bedazzled glove on it.

Ubisoft says it's giving those who preorder the game--it launches for the Wii, PSP, and DS on November 23 and other platforms later--a holiday gift. Yep, it's a glove just like the one Jacko was famous for wearing the night he introduced the world to the Moonwalk.

It's a free extra for those who preorder the Wii version only, and the company isn't raising the cost of the Wii version to make up for it. The price will … Read more

Earlier this month, Ubisoft announced that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation versions of its game based on the career of Michael Jackson would be delayed until early next year. As it turns out, 2011 will finish with another game based on the so-called "King of Pop"--a massively multiplayer game with entire realms dedicated to each of his albums.

This morning, Los Angeles-based SEE Virtual Worlds announced that it will publish a Michael Jackson-themed MMOG, Planet Michael (PDF), based on the works of the late singer. The company is behind the Entropia engine, which powers the free-to-play MMORPG … Read more

LOS ANGELES--When it comes to making a video game based on the life and performances of Michael Jackson, you can bet that the project didn't just happen by accident.

After all, the rights to the music and the likeness of the king of pop are still some of the most valuable in show business. So it was no small feat for game publisher Ubisoft to pull together not just a game based on and named after Jackson, but to be able to guarantee that the game--scheduled for a holiday 2010 release--will feature, at a minimum, mega-hits "Billie Jean" and "Beat it."

Ubisoft announced the forthcoming game at the mammoth E3 convention here on Monday, just shy of a year since the superstar died last summer. The company said that the game will have Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo Wii and DS versions, and will be compatible with both Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's Move motion control systems. It's not known if it will be one of the 15 launch titles that will be available for Kinect when that system goes on sale on November 4.

The game will "provide an interactive experience that enables players to step into the shoes of Michael Jackson himself and re-live his most iconic performances through their own singing and dancing," Ubisoft said in a release announcing the upcoming title. It "will include the most famous tracks from Michael Jackson's extensive catalog...as well as an array of his awe-inspiring dance moves for players to learn and emulate within the game." … Read more