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DMW Daily, September 26, 2007

Top Stories
o Activision Acquires Racing Game Developer Bizarre Creations
o Political Blog The Huffington Post Lands $5 Million
o Sex Pistols Re-record "Anarchy in the U.K." for "Guitar Hero"
o Women's Media Network Sugar Publishing to Acquire ShopStyle
o Smithsonian African American Museum Seeks User-Generated Content
o Mobile Content Distributor mVisible Raises $6.5 Million
o Project Playlist Raises $3 Million for Social Music Sharing
Opinion & Analysis
o Ecko’s Poll Results: Barry Bonds Record Ball to Get Asterisk
o Firebrand Shows Ads The Way MTV Used To Show Music Videos
o Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens get their own Magazine
o Maya Rudolph Leaves SNL, Only to Return
Briefly Noted
o 15 Mystery Authors Team on "The Chopin Manuscript" Audiobook
o Ford to Offer HD Radio on Most 2008 Vehicles
o Sharp to Introduce 1-terabyte Blu-ray Disc Recorder
o Stardoll Virtual Dress-Up World Gets DKNY, Sephora Stores
o XM Radio Expands NHL Coverage to Include Every Game
o Maven Networks to Power All Fox News Online TV Services
o Global Grind Debuts Online Hip-Hop Community
o Sony Sells 250,000 Units of New PSP Model in Four Days
o Game Publisher NCsoft Gets U.K. Grant to Expand in Europe
o MTV Games, Red Mile Release "Jackass" Video Game
 Top Stories
o Activision Acquires Racing Game Developer Bizarre Creations 
Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision announced on Wednesday that it has acquired racing game developer Bizarre Creations. [more..]
o Political Blog The Huffington Post Lands $5 Million 
Los Angeles - Influential news and politics blog The Huffington Post has raised $5 million in its second round of financing, from previous investors Softbank Capital, Greycroft Partners, Bob Pittman's Pilot Group and company CEO and co-founder Ken Lerer, PaidContent.org reported. [more..]
o Sex Pistols Re-record "Anarchy in the U.K." for "Guitar Hero" 
Sunnyvale, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision announced on Wednesday that surviving members of the legendary punk band the Sex Pistols have re-recorded their classic track "Anarchy in the U.K.," which will be included in the guitar-based karaoke title "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock." [more..]
o Women's Media Network Sugar Publishing to Acquire ShopStyle 
San Francisco - Sugar Publishing, a San Francisco-based online media network for women, said on Wednesday that it will acquire ShopStyle, a social shopping website focused on women's fashion. [more..]
o Smithsonian African American Museum Seeks User-Generated Content 
Washington - The Smithsonian Institution has launched the website for its new National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is seeking user-generated content including essays, recorded oral histories and eventually video, the Associated Press reported. [more..]
o Mobile Content Distributor mVisible Raises $6.5 Million 
Deerfield Beach, Fla. - mVisible Technologies, a developer of mobile content distribution technology, has raised $6.5 million in a new round of venture capital financing, led by Harris Preston & Partners. [more..]
o Project Playlist Raises $3 Million for Social Music Sharing 
Beverly Hills, Calif. - Project Playlist, a service that lets users share music playlists on blogs and social network profiles, has raised $3 million in its first round of funding, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing. [more..]
 Opinion & Analysis
o Ecko’s Poll Results: Barry Bonds Record Ball to Get Asterisk 
Mark Ecko bought the record-setting ball for over $750,000 and started the website "Vote756" to allow fans to vote on the balls fate. [more..]
o Firebrand Shows Ads The Way MTV Used To Show Music Videos 
What if you could collect all the good television commercials in one place and let people watch them?  My guess is it's not only the marketers that would watch, blogs Rohit Bhargava.
[more..]
o Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens get their own Magazine 
The Disney duo will get their own magazine, courtesy of Popstar, and it will be called...what else? Zanessa [more..]
o Maya Rudolph Leaves SNL, Only to Return 
One of the few remaining reasons to watch Saturday Night Live nearly left the building, as reports surfaced that veteran Maya Rudolph resigned from the show on Sunday. [more..]
 Briefly Noted
o 15 Mystery Authors Team on "The Chopin Manuscript" Audiobook 
New York - A group of 15 mystery novel writers have teamed to produce an audiobook-only novel, "The Chopin Manuscript," which is available for purchase through Audible.com and the iTunes Store, Reuters reported. [more..]
o Ford to Offer HD Radio on Most 2008 Vehicles 
Dearborn, Mich. - Ford Motor Co. announced on Wednesday that it will be the first automaker to offer HD Digital Radio across nearly all of its vehicles. [more..]
o Sharp to Introduce 1-terabyte Blu-ray Disc Recorder 
Osaka, Japan - Japanese consumer electronics firm Sharp on Wednesday announced plans to introduce a Blu-ray Disc recorder that sports a 1-terabyte hard drive, capable of holding up to 127 hours of HD video. [more..]
o Stardoll Virtual Dress-Up World Gets DKNY, Sephora Stores 
Stockholm, Sweden - Stardoll, an online celebrity paper doll dress-up site and community, said on Wednesday that fashion designer Donna Karan and cosmetics retailer Sephora have opened virtual stores in its virtual world, Reuters reported. [more..]
o XM Radio Expands NHL Coverage to Include Every Game 
Washington - XM Satellite Radio said on Wednesday that it has expanded its NHL coverage from six to nine play-by-play channels, and will now broadcast every game played by every team this season. [more..]
o Maven Networks to Power All Fox News Online TV Services 
Cambridge, Mass. - Maven Networks, a provider of Internet video content delivery technology, on Wednesday announced that Fox News has selected Maven to power all of its online video news channels. [more..]
o Global Grind Debuts Online Hip-Hop Community 
New York - Global Grind on Wednesday introduced its online hip-hop community site, which has received backing from Accel Partners and hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons. [more..]
o Sony Sells 250,000 Units of New PSP Model in Four Days 
Tokyo - Japanese game industry magazine Enterbrain reported on Wednesday that Sony has sold 250,000 of the new smaller, cheaper version of its PSP handheld game in Japan in the device's first four days on sale. [more..]
o Game Publisher NCsoft Gets U.K. Grant to Expand in Europe 
London - South Korean video game publisher NCsoft's European unit has received a grant of nearly $400,000 from the South East England Development Agency, which NCsoft Europe will use to double the staff at its Brighton, England headquarters, GamesIndustry.biz reported. [more..]
o MTV Games, Red Mile Release "Jackass" Video Game 
Sausalito, Calif. - Viacom's MTV Games unit and developer Red Mile Entertainment on Wednesday shipped their game version of the movie and TV property, "Jackass." [more..]