Lonelygirl15

That's the short version of how Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried came to be co-founders of the social entertainment company Eqal. 
 

"The conversations you have in college, we were having post-college, late into the night about the Internet, entertainment, and where it was all headed," Beckett tells Sun Media. 

 

In 2006, Beckett (who was in a plastic surgery residency program), Goodfried (the lawyer) and another friend, Ramesh Flinders, created lonelygirl15, a video-blog featuring a seemingly "real" teenage girl named Bree. 

She quickly built up a massive audience on YouTube that had no idea they were watching a scripted show, delivered by Beckett and his pals. Eventually, the secret became too hard to keep and the web community caught on, but fans decided to stick around and lonelygirl15 evolved into a hit multi-character web program. 

Interactive stories 

"From the success of lonelygirl we have just been building, and building, and building the company," Beckett said. "Our goal as a company is to enable people and organizations to tell interactive stories online." 

Eqal later worked with CBS, creating Harper's Globe, a web series companion to the TV show Harper's Island. Through their relationship with CBS, Beckett and Goodfried met Anthony E. 

Zuiker and, before long, Eqal was hired to create the web experience for Zuiker's digi-novel, Level 26. 

"They have done this before and they're kind of the creators of the genre of social community in terms of narrative," Zuiker says. 

The website for Level 26: Dark Origins launched this weekend. Besides being the home base for the motion-picture bridges that link readers from one group of chapters of the novel to the next, level26.com hopes to develop a successful online community. 

"Think of it like a book club online. It's going to be a community for people to talk about the book and then also talk about the greater Level 26 universe," Beckett says. "What if the Harry Potter books launched with an official community built around the universe and mythology, where there was the creator J.K. Rowling, and there was extra content, and the books themselves were interactive, and everyone could have profile pages, and they could come up with their own characters and write their fan fiction and create their own story lines?"

Beckett's plans for Zuiker's creepy thriller series don't end there. 

"For Book 2 and Book 3 there are going to be sections of the forum featuring recurring contests, and calls to action for people to actually create their own characters and their own storylines that might actually become a part of the second and third books."

Burma frees Suu Kyi trial man

An American whose unauthorised visit to Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi led to her extended detention, has been released, the office of US Senator Jim Webb said.

The statement from Washington said Webb, who was on a two-day visit to Burma, secured the release of John Yettaw, who was sentenced on Tuesday to seven years' imprisonment for swimming secretly to Suu Kyi's lakeside residence.

Webb was allowed to meet Suu Kyi, who was sentenced to 18 months house arrest for allowing Yettaw to stay at her residence for two days.

raiders vs cowboys

raiders vs cowboys

SOMETHING WAS MISSING from the Raiders' debut possession of their 2009 exhibition season Thursday night.

Something beside a touchdown. Someone, actually. No, not Michael Vick, who is now property of the Philadelphia BooBirds.

To paraphrase the theme of the Raiders' 50th anniversary season: Where were you ... on that first drive, Darren McFadden?

He was on the sideline, much as he was last season when the Raiders foolishly shied away from using their scintillating rookie running back.

McFadden must become the Raiders' go-to man, or else they'll pay for it in ways similar to their past six seasons of sorrow. They can't win if he can't get on the field.

Once he made his way onto the Oakland Coliseum dance floor Thursday against Dallas, he proved once again he's the electrifying playmaker this youth-oriented offense needs.

Once McFadden broke loose for a 45-yard run to end the first quarter, that effectively should have ended Justin Fargas' hold on the starting job.

If staying strictly with Fargas on the first series was a token sign of respect for his years of crash-test-dummy service, the Raiders can check that off their to-do list. Now just give D-Mac the job, and the ball.

Fargas (one carry, 2 yards) and Michael Bush (three carries, 23 yards) will complement McFadden when needed, so it's not as if they should be shackled to the bench. In fact, a Cowboys linebacker told one of

his club officials this week that the Raiders may tout the league's top running back trio.

The Raiders offense will experience plenty of growing pains this season, especially with quarterback JaMarcus Russell embarking on just his second year as the full-time starter.

McFadden's presence is needed to offset those setbacks.

He's not perfect. He may miss a blitz pick-up that leads to an easy sack, as happened on his first snap Thursday. He may get disturbingly caught from behind on a long run, as happened last year in a toe-injuring instance against the Kansas City Chiefs.

But he's a weapon, and if given more opportunities, he'll prove worthy of last year's No. 4 overall draft pick. Last year, injuries and sporadic playing time limited him to 499 yards rushing (4.4 yards per carry) and 285 yards receiving in 13 games.

In his two series Thursday, he had four carries for 63 yards and a 9-yard reception on a screen pass. As for the Raiders, it's no coincidence they had themselves a lead after his series.

What a bonus it would be if the Raiders' other ballyhooed first-round draft picks in recent years also come alive, including Russell (6-of-9, 50 yards, 0 touchdowns/interceptions), rookie wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey (one catch for 8 yards) and safety Michael Huff (an interception but also a pass interference penalty in the end zone).

Russell will command the majority of attention this season by virtue of (a) his position, (b) his No. 1 overall draft status and (c) his weight.

Russell looked enormous in his unflattering uniform. He must be pushing close to 300 pounds, and he admitted at the start of training camp that he is a "little heavy." Thursday, he had a Santa Claus torso with thighs that resembled a defensive tackle's.

But Russell came to the Raiders with an oversized body. An 18-yard scramble on the Raiders' second series showed he's no dashboard hula girl (imagine: hips moving, head bobbing but feet staying still). He also rolled nicely to his right before heaving a pass nearly 50 yards that drew a pass interference penalty at the Cowboys' 8-yard line.

All the Raiders got out of that golden field position was a Sebastian Janikowski field goal for a 3-0 lead. Missed opportunities like that on their first possession (see: three points instead of seven) are why Janikowski is their all-time leading scorer and why they get outscored every year.

That's not to let the Raiders defense off the hook. Abysmal in stopping the run in recent seasons, the Raiders showed early progress before regressing to their generous state.

That's not the type of nostalgia needed in this 50th anniversary season. Nor is the sight of McFadden waiting for his turn on the sideline.

Tyler Palko

• Five former Pitt players who are now members of the Arizona Cardinals visited the Panthers at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex on Thursday before their preseason game against the Steelers at Heinz Field. All-Pro receiver Larry Fitzgerald, linebacker Gerald Hayes, quarterback Tyler Palko, running back LaRod Stephens-Howling and secondary coach Teryl Austin took turns speaking to Pitt players. "Ever since I've been back here, I've been trying to bring alive our great tradition. That's one thing we have here that a lot of schools don't have around the country," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "Those are the guys that made this program. It was awful nice of them to come by and spend a little time, and they all said something to our team. Hopefully, it sticks with a few guys and makes a difference with a couple guys."

• Wannstedt said he was "pleased" with the placekicker competition between Kevin Harper and Dan Hutchins and called it "a good problem."

"They both kicked the ball well today," Wannstedt said. "It's going to be a tough decision, but it's going to be a good decision either way because we have two guys that can do it."

• Sophomore Andrew Taglianetti replaced redshirt junior Elijah Fields at free safety with the first-team defense because of what Wannstedt termed an "internal issue" involving Fields on Wednesday. "Elijah will be back working with the first group," Wannstedt said. "He hasn't started yet. He hasn't done anything. We're being very demanding on these players. It's not just what happens on the field."

ufc 101 justin tv

ufc 101 justin tv

The Main event would Bj Penn (Title Holder) vs Kenny Florian in their championship bout at 155-pounds. Will we have a new champion or will we need a new challenger. Watch it live here.

The best place for you to watch UFC 101 live stream is to go to Justin TV. Please note that it may be illegal in your area.

Our site will provide a UFC 101 live stream for free. BTW you can checkout the full UFC 101 fight card below:

• BJ Penn Vs. Kenny Florian
• Anderson Silva Vs. Forrest Griffin
• Amir Sadollah Vs. Johny Hendricks
• Kendall Grove Vs. Ricardo Almeida
• Josh Neer Vs. Kurt Pellegrino
• Shane Nelson Vs. Aaron Riley
• Tamdan McCrory Vs. John Howard
• Thales Leites Vs. Alessio Sakara
• Matthew Riddle Vs. Dan Cramer
• George Sotiropoulos Vs. George Roop
• Jesse Lennox Vs. Danillo Villefort

UFC 101 Resuls [Updated]

BJ Penn Vs. Kenny Florian

TBD

Anderson Silva Vs. Forrest Griffin

Anderson Silva Wins by Knock Out at 3:23 in the 1st round .

Amir Sadollah Vs. Johny Hendricks

Johny Hendricks Wins by Technical Knock Out at 0:29 in the 1st round .

Kendall Grove Vs. Ricardo Almeida

Ricardo Almeida Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round .

Josh Neer Vs. Kurt Pellegrino

Kurt Pellegrino Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round .

Shane Nelson Vs. Aaron Riley

Aaron Riley Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round .

Tamdan McCrory Vs. John Howard

John Howard Wins by Split Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round .

Thales Leites Vs. Alessio Sakara

Alessio Sakara Wins by Split Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round .

Matthew Riddle Vs. Dan Cramer

Matthew Riddle Wins by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round .

George Sotiropoulos Vs. George Roop

George Sotiropoulos Wins by Submission (Arm Lock) at 1:59 in the 2nd round by kimura.