News Corp.'s struggling social networking site MySpace today announced it has a deal to acquire iLike, an application that helps users of social networks share music recommendations and playlists.
The combination would bring together MySpace, a site emerging and established artists have long used to promote their music, with an application that allows people to introduce their friends to new music.
âThe iLike acquisition advances our relentless pursuit of innovation and the need to create new distributed social experiences in music and beyond,â MySpace Chief Executive Owen Van Natta said in a statement. âWe are deeply committed to bringing world class talent into all areas of the company and this acquisition demonstrates our focus on this objective.â
The acquisition comes as iLike has been poised to introduce its own music store, in cooperation with all four major music companies. Brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi founded iLike in 2006. In two years, it has attracted 55 million users -- including users on rival social networking site Facebook. It is unclear what the acquisition would mean for Facebook.
âCombining MySpaceâs existing platform, reach and resources with iLikeâs syndication network and social discovery tools creates the potential for truly exciting innovation," said iLike President Hadi Partovi.
Van Natta said the acquisition would have no immediate impact on iLike users.
-- Dawn C. Chmielewski
Photo: MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta. Credit: Jacob Mosur /Â Los Angeles Times.
Rejoice, 'Project Runway' is finally back
As promised, here is the "Project Runway" feature I wrote for the Tribune's LIVE section. It contains some quotes from this interview with Tim Gunn, as well as some quotes from a "Project Runway" contestant from Chicago, Ra'mon-Lawrence Coleman.
Itâs not easy to make Tim Gunn lose his composure.
But sitting at First Lady Michelle Obamaâs table at a July 24 White House luncheon was a beyond-fabulous moment for the famously calm designersâ mentor on âProject Runwayâ (9 p.m. Central Thursday, Lifetime).
âI was in heaven,â Gunn said in a recent phone interview. âI already loved her, but then I thought maybe Iâll be disappointed [in person]. No. She exceeded my expectations.â
Gunn was at the White House event celebrating the winners of the National Design Awards, and meeting the woman he calls âfashionâs saviorâ was a thrill.
âWhen I consider the economic downturn, if it werenât for Michelle Obama, I would be putting an RIP stone over American fashion,â Gunn said. âNot only because she is this warm, accessible, charismatic figure who looks fabulous in her clothing, but because she sends a message to Americans, which is that you can do this on a budget.â
Yes, the Obamas are fans of the showâ"at least three of them. The first lady told Gunn that âshe was sorry that the kids [Malia and Sasha] werenât there because they were off at campâ"they were big fans of the show.â
The Obamas, like many other âProject Runwayâ devotees, may have been wondering what happened to their favorite fashion show. Starting in April 2008, âProject Runway,â which aired for five increasingly successful seasons on Bravo, was the subject of a legal tussle between that network and Lifetime, which eventually won the right to air the catwalk chronicle.
âI thought it wasnât going to [air],â Gunn said of the showâs sixth season, which was filmed last year as the lawsuit dragged on. âI thought, âThis will just be in court forever.â [Host] Heidi [Klum] was forever optimistic; I was ever doom and gloom.â
Eventually the legal catfight was resolved. The show returns looking much the same as it ever has, even though most of the season was shot in a new city, Los Angeles. (The finale was filmed, as usual, in February during New Yorkâs Fashion Week.) Gunn pronounced himself âbeautifully satisfiedâ with how Season 6 turned out, but he said that shooting the season with a new network and a new production company had its share of challenges.
âWe were doing challenges that integrated ABC shows and Disney [properties] that suddenly went away because we didnât know where the show was going to air [Lifetime is part-owned by Disney]. It was awful,â Gunn said. âThere wasnât a single solitary soul on the set other than me who knew what happened ... from the time Heidi would deliver the challenge until the work would end up back on the runway to be judged. I was the only one.â
âRunwayâ fanatics will want to know two things: Is there worthy design on display? And is there juicy drama in Season 6? Gunn says yes to both.
âWe have drama to beat the band, including a model who refused to wear a garment. Iâm in the sewing room begging herâ"well, not begging her. Iâm quite firm in saying, âThis is your responsibility. Itâs not a matter of personal tasteâ"you are a mannequin basically. A walking mannequin. Put it on,â.â he said.
The âProject Runwayâ designers bring quite a bit of professional experienceâ"several of the 16 contestants have serious fashion industry credentialsâ"and of course, there are some larger-than-life personalities.
Of Chicago native Raâmon-Lawrence Coleman, mentor and Liz Claiborne Chief Creative Officer Tim Gunn would only say, âThereâs never a dull moment with Raâmon!â
Gunn also wrote on Lifetimeâs âRunwayâ site that, as a designer, Coleman âthinks too much.â
Coleman, a graduate of south suburban Hillcrest High School, said in a phone interview that he took that statement âas a compliment. I like to consider myself an intellectual person. I think itâs better to think about things rather than throw things out there without any intent. So many people dabble in design with no clear vision.â
Coleman, 31, took an unusual path to fashion design. At the University of Iowa, he was in a neuroscience program but began to have some doubts that science and medicine were his true callings. He returned to Chicago and ended up studying art history and fashion design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
âSomething clickedâ"I thought, âThis is what youâre supposed to be doing,â.â Coleman said. And his study of anatomy and biology paid off, he adds.
âThe way I approach design, I think about the human form,â he said.
Coleman ended up moving to Minneapolis and designing for Target, but after filming of Season 6 of âProject Runwayâ concluded, he moved to Milwaukee and began working for Kohlâs. These days heâs collaborating with âThe Hillsâ star Lauren Conrad on the line of clothing she created for Kohlâs.
Of course, Coleman wouldnât say if he won the sixth season of âRunway,â but he sounds quite happy about where his pursuit of fashion has taken him.
âI really donât know because there are so many opportunities right now,â Coleman said when asked whether he would stay with Kohlâs. âWhatever the outcome of the season, a lot of doors have been opened for me.â
Tickets on sale
Live performancesAmerican Metal & Iron Fight Night at the Tank. Sept. 12, HP Pavilion. Ticketmaster.
Children Jot Questions, Hopes In Letters To Obama
When author Bruce Kluger sent out a call for letters from children to President Obama, he ended up with more than 1,000 responses. He compiled the funniest, poignant and pointed letters in the new book Dear President Obama. One girl even asks if the president believes in ghosts.
BOOKS-US: The (Not So) Invisible Ones
NEW YORK, Aug 19 (IPS)People try to illegally enter foreign countries for many different reasons, and in many different ways. But they all have something in commonthey are largely "invisible" to authorities and the media.
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