gossip

Hulu has signed a licensing deal with CW Network that will give the online-video service something that its archrival Netflix doesn't have.

Two weeks ago, Netflix announced its own deal with the network operated by Time Warner and CBS, parent company of CNET. But in that deal, Netflix customers will get only previous seasons of current CW shows, such as "Gossip Girl" and "The Vampire Diaries."

Hulu said in a press release today that under the five-year agreement, it will "offer next-day access to the most recent five current prime-time episodes [at Hulu Plus, … Read more

ChannelCaster for Android lets users create and publish personalized "channels" that aggregate news from thousands of supported news sources. In addition to all of the expected big-name publications and blogs, ChannelCaster can pull feeds from Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and Twitter. Its design is clean and visually appealing with its sharp, vibrant thumbnails, and its navigation is incredibly simple with only three main tabs along the top of the app.

The Favorites tab is really the heart of the ChannelCaster experience. This is where you save your most frequently visited channels, and presumably where you'll spend most of … Read more

In one of the more bizarre headlines to pop up about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, gossip outlet TMZ revealed late Monday that a restraining order had been issued against a man who had been allegedly stalking the Facebook CEO.

Today, TMZ posted a bizarre letter that it claimed the man, Pradeep Manukonda, had sent Zuckerberg; the handwritten letter begged for financial assistance for the author's allegedly ill mother.

The restraining order, TMZ reported, was issued after Manukonda sent Facebook messages to Zuckerberg, his sister Randi Zuckerberg, and his girlfriend Priscilla Chan, and then attempted to show up at several … Read more

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's interview on "ABC World News" on Wednesday night was pretty boring. But according to one hilarious rumor Thursday, the 26-year-old founder will soon be showing up on a very different kind of prime-time television.

Apparently he will be voicing a cartoon version of himself in a cameo appearance on "The Simpsons."

New York Magazine's pop-culture blog Vulture claims to have heard this much: "Lisa (Simpson) decides to help fund Nelson's new bike company. While attending an entrepreneurs convention, the two encounter Zuckerberg, who reminds the kids just how … Read more

It's summer. It's the time of year when us business reporters are more likely to grudgingly (or not-so-grudgingly) refer to a day as a "slow news day," when CEOs are languishing on the decks of their yachts, when legislative bodies are more likely to be out of session. It's the season when we start wallowing in the quicksand of C-list celebrity deaths and even "X-Files"-caliber cryptozoology--as when, two years ago, gossip outlet Gawker became ensconced in the mystery surrounding the "Montauk Monster," a bizarre carcass that washed ashore on a … Read more

So sorry, Ashton Kutcher: The biggest success of a Hollywood-Silicon Valley crossover may ultimately turn out to be William Shatner. A gossip item in the Toronto Sun cites "unofficial word on Wall Street" in claiming that the former "Star Trek" star's decade-plus stint as the poster boy for travel deals site Priceline.com has been worth $600 million. Shatner was originally paid in Priceline stock when he began his pitchman gig in 1997, and it's been doing rather well as of late.

To put things into perspective, with $600 million Shatner could probably buy … Read more

For a mathematician, the obvious is just as much of a challenge as the obscure. Each has to have a number put upon it. Because once there is a number, we can all feel the issue has been solved and defined.

I therefore had the iPad temporarily expunged from my inner hard drive when I discovered that a group of mathematicians, from no less a university than La Sapienza in Rome, have created an equation that defines the speed and power with which gossip spreads through the Web's crack-filled veins.

You might think that they ought merely to have … Read more

It's unusual for tech billionaires to wind up on gossip emporium TMZ.com, but Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen made a cameo on the AOL-owned site Monday when he happened to be standing next to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's now-famous post-Super Bowl makeout.

All eyes are on the celebrity power couple--yes, even more than usual--because of widespread reports that they were on the verge of a breakup. At the Super Bowl, where the two were rooting for the victorious New Orleans Saints, they were engaged in some fairly evident damage control. And Paul Allen factors into it...somehow. … Read more

Somehow, recently, Bill Gates turned into Mr. Awesome. He's tweeting and blogging, and now, according to the New York Post, he was spotted "dancing, Paris (Hilton) style, on a banquette" at a Microsoft-sponsored party at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

"He gyrated in a VIP booth until 2 AM," a "spy" told the Post's Page Six--a gossip item, so take it with a grain of salt. "Everybody was snapping photos of him until his security rushed him out the back door after he tipped a waitress $500." … Read more