A few Top 20 Photos of 2010

The Daily News brings you our picks for the Top 20 Photos of 2010. From celebs getting slimed to rescue efforts from the earthquake in Haiti to volcanic eruptions, you wouldn't want to miss these pics. Check out the most breathtaking and captivating photos of the year ... The moon begins to obstruct the view of the sun from earth during a solar eclipse at Tienanmen Square on January 15, 2010 in Beijing, China.

Search and rescue team members from Yogyakarta look for victims of Mount Merapi's eruption as the volcano spews hot air near the village of Ngancar in Sleman on November 8, 2010.

Singer Katy Perry gets slimed at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles on March 27, 2010.

A model displays an Amaya Arzuaga design during the Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011, in Madrid on Sept. 22, 2010.

Ion Banner loses control on a giant wave during the first heat of the Mavericks surfing contest on Feb. 13, 2010, in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

What does a 'polar bear plunge' do your body? Jumping into icy waters isn't for the faint of heart

An unidentified woman runs out of the ocean during the annual New Year's day polar bear swim at Coney Island in New York, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009.

Do you like to ring in the New Year with an icy dip in the Atlantic? 

Taking a 'polar bear plunge' is more than just a cold shock to the skin – it's a shock to your entire system. 

Brave souls who race to Coney Island each year to jump into frigid waters boast the plunge's invigorating qualities – After all, the Scandinavians have been diving into cold water and then warming up in the saunas since the time of the Vikings. 

But does it really give your health a boost? 

"I don't know of any definitive medical studies that have been done to measure the health benefits of cold-water swimming," Dr. Alan Steinman, one of the country's foremost experts on hypothermia and cold-water survival told Msnbc.com. 

He's worried that these chilly revelers may be taking health risks. 

He recommends a gentle dip, slowly into shallow water, rather than a total, sudden plunge. Yes, this sort of defeats the purpose for these daredevil human polar bears. 

When the body is suddenly immersed in icy water, there's a sudden gasp, an inhalation, rapid breathing and the inability to hold your breath, "which can be a problem if your head's underwater," he says. 

For that reason, it's better to "plunge" gradually, from shallow water, and not off a dock or a boardwalk. It's possible to go into cardiac arrest due to shock -- The small blood vessels constrict on the surface of your body as a defense mechanism, so you don't lose heat. That means that a whole lot more blood is being squeezed into the same amount of blood vessels, which "serves to increase the effect on blood pressure," said Steinman. 

Still, organizers of the Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plungefest, which raises money for charity, has been incident-free. 

Around 12,000 people are expected to run wild in the Chesapeake. 

Top 10 Mobile Products of 2010

Mobile technology has seen major advances over the course of 2010, with new platforms, new services and new usage trends all taking hold to spread the adoption of not just the mobile Web, but the Web itself. The number of smartphone owners are increasing, mobile operating systems are proliferating and apps have become the new go-to tools for accessing mobile content on the go.

When you look back at the past 12 months, it's almost hard to narrow a list down to only 10 top products, in fact - there's so much innovation happening around mobile today. But we think the list below stands out as representative of the most important products from the year.

iPhone 4

In June, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the newest iPhone at a packed press event in San Francisco. The iPhone 4 introduced a number of mobile innovations, including front-facing cameras for the phone's new Facetime video chat feature; gyroscopic controls that let developers create more advanced games and other apps using location and the position of the device in 3D space; an updated OS that introduced multi-tasking; app folders; andmore, and perhaps most memorably, an updated design where the antenna wrapped around the outside of the phone, leading to degraded performance.  Ah yes, Antennagate 2010, which only showed that not only can Apple make mistakes, doing so has no impact on its sales whatsoever. iPhone 4 sales reached record numbers, despite the buzz around its signal issues.

"Apple's continued success proves 1) apps and the Web are becoming more important than the ability to make a voice call; 2) consumers have little problem with Apple's heavy handed control of the end-to-end experience, in fact they appreciate it; 3) no one has come close to matching Apple's alchemy of great hardware, software, and marketing," explains Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research

iPad

Apple's introduction of the iPad in March, to put it simply, has forever reshaped the mobile computing landscape. The iPad is part mobile (it runs the iPhone operating system, now called iOS instead of iPhone OS), and part "real" computer (you can do actual work on it using Apple's office suite). In other words, the iPad is a device that straddles two worlds. Some,including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckberberg, have said "iPad isn't mobile" and we mostly agree - it's more computer than smartphone, despite the apps it runs. But to leave it off a year-end list of mobile products? Sacrilege! The iPad has completely changed what mobile computing means to us - it's a worthy replacement to notebooks and netbooks, even eating away at the latter's sales. And it has prompted competitors to make major changes in their own device offerings, too. Next year, we'll see more Android-based tablets, tablets from HP-Palm running HP's newly acquired Palm webOS and even new Microsoft tablets running Windows.

But is the iPad mobile? Maybe, maybe not. Says Michael Mullany, VP of products at mobile app builder Sencha, "The iPad is the Starbucks of computing devices - a third device between your phone and your laptop that you didn't even know you wanted. But once you get that first hit, you're hooked (and it doesn't even have caffeine)."

Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps puts it more simply: "The Pad is the right product for the right time." She also noted its dual uses. "Consumers are primed for mobile media consumption and casual couch computing, and the iPad delivers on both fronts. One-quarter of iPad owners use their iPad for work, too - it's becoming the must-have accessory at meetings and events."

Android

This was Android's year. The mobile operating system from Google has seen dramatic increases in terms of phone sales, market share, adimpressions, apps, you name it - any way you measure the mobile landscape, Android is there, climbing higher and higher. In September, analyst firm Gartner made waves with its prediction that Android would become the number two mobile OS worldwide by year-end. By November,Android reached the top spot in the U.S., and yep, number two worldwide based on shipments.

"Android swamped the market in 2010 and in 2011 it will become the share leader via lower cost, entry level smartphones," says Forrester's Golvin.

HTML5

Although not even a fully ratified standard yet, HTML5 was a booming technology this year. Much of its growth can be attributed to Apple's decision to not support Adobe Flash on its mobile devices, most notably its iPad computer. As the debate over the decision reached a fever pitch, Apple CEO Steve Jobs finally detailed the reasons for his decision in a long missive posted to Apple.com. Flash is proprietary, has poor security and doesn't perform well on mobile devices, Jobs said. By May, 46% of Web users were ready for HTML5, a study revealed, and plenty of major Web properties were too, including YouTube, Vimeo and a host of online publications that Apple touted in its "iPad-Ready" list of websites. Technically, these sites, which included news organizations like CNN, The New York Times, Reuters and others, were HTML5-ready, which made them "iPad-Ready."

"After 5 years of hard work by the working groups, HTML5 hit critical mass, giving developers and designers a slew of rich Web technologies for media, graphics and storage that are built right into the browser," says Mullany. "It's what we've been waiting for since the birth of the Web 20 years ago."

Mozilla's Vice President of Products Jay Sullivan agrees with the impact HTML5 has had on mobile this year, as well. "New, emerging technologies like HTML5 are enabling the Web to bring the same rich, compelling experiences users are used to on their desktop to mobile devices. Users are able to view crisp video and play interactive video games on their mobile devices using HTML5 technologies," he said. "In addition, HTML5 increases innovation by saving developers the time and resources they would spend testing and optimizing their native applications for multiple devices by allowing them to build beautiful applications for one platform - the Web."

App Stores

Apps Stores are a product, but their proliferation is also a trend - in fact, it even made our list of top trends of 2010. In addition to stores for mobile operating systems (iTunes, Android Market, Ovi, Windows Phone Marketplace), other stores came into their own as well, including carrier app stores, third-party stores like GetJar, device app stores, tablet app stores and more. Some reports even indicate that certain segments of the market are switching from the browser to apps as their primary way to access the Web via mobile devices.

The trend prompted tech publication Wired to publish what may have been one of its most controversial articles this year: "The Web is Dead," a catching headline that immediately prompted a visceral backlash from Web supporters. But some of the article's content was actually right on: the Web is becoming further and further encapsulated into these mobile apps. It's not dead, really. But the way we choose to access it from our phones is definitely changing.

Application stores have succeeded because they make "downloading and purchasing applications easy for consumers," says Distimo, makers of an app store analytics tool for developers. "Combined with the increased capabilities of devices, these application stores accelerated the market in both device sales and application downloads. The Apple App Store, for example, grew from 141,331 applications in January 2010 to 323,859 applications in November 2010 (US)."

Forrester analyst Thomas Husson, also noted the large numbers of app downloads we've seen over the course of the year. "Willing to replicate Apple App Store success with its 7 billion cumulative downloads, a catalogue of 300,000 applications available, application stores flourished in 2010," he said. "Android Market and GetJar both passed the 1 billion download market in 2010 while Nokia's OVI is now delivering 3.5 million downloads a day." But few stores offer publishers the reach they want, he cautioned.

Ouriel Ohayon, co-founder of app discovery platform AppsFire, agreed with that assessment. Although app stores "provide a deep ecosystem of content creation, monetization and distribution," he said, "they fail in being efficient discovery platforms."

But the app movement is far from over. CEO Ben Keighran of the app discovery service Chomp said that the trend of app stores "is linked to the next great technology movement, the 'Appification' of the Web.' All the innovation currently going on is around this present day movement.  The number of IOS apps downloaded per year is 5 billion.  Compare that to the 17.1 billion Web searches a month and it's clear that the demand for apps has exploded at a phenomenal rate."

iAd

Although not registering as high on consumers' radar, Apple's influence on the mobile ad industry was felt this year, too, with the launch of iAd. Announced alongside the new Apple mobile operating system, iOS4, iAd was Apple's attempt to improve the mobile ad experience through the use of rich media and interactive ads. At its best, iAd represented a push for better, more attractive ads, leading others to launch cross-platform solutions that did the same; at its worst, it treaded dangerously between innovation and anti-competitive behavior when it seemed Apple had begun to boot apps using competing products from the App Store. But as the year drew to a close, it was clear iAd was doing well.

Reports found that Apple would end up with 21% of the market by year-end, while Google, with its AdMob acquisition, would drop from 27% to 21% as well.

According to mobile ad firm Medialets' chairman and CEO Eric Litman, "2010 was the year the advertising industry awoke to mobile, with iAd and a host of other innovations driving the change. It set the stage for brands to consider mobile as a separate line item in their advertising budgets for the first time at meaningful scale."

Competing firm Greystripe's Director of Marketing Dane Holewinski agrees that iAd's launch was significant. "Apple's launch of iAds has solidified mobile's place as a critical brand advertising channel by generating much deserved attention to mobile's ability to deliver engagement to the fingertips of a brand's target audience," he said, while noting that "advertiser criticism of iAds has highlighted the importance of being able to reach a cross platform audience, give brands and their agencies creative control and share campaign data."

Crisp Media VP Marketing Tom Limongello, also pointed out that iAd promoted the use of HTML5. "First, the launch of iAd was like a debutante ball, introducing major advertisers to mobile with much pomp and circumstance," he said in explaining its significance. "Second, it validated that the best mobile ad experiences come from self-contained rich media units created in HTML5, rather than in separate micro sites or applications. Previously, advertisers were stuck with building separate sites or apps, which made it harder for brands to reach consumers on their mobile devices."

LTE

While cellular technology advancements aren't a major focus of this blog's coverage area, leaving LTE off this year-end list wouldn't make sense. The technology, described as delivering a 4G network (despite the technical incorrectness of that terminology), delivers faster speeds for mobile users. That's good news for consumers, considering our ever-increasing appetite for mobile data (40 exabytes by 2014!), especially mobile video, which had already reached 90 petabytes per month in February. According to Cisco, mobile video will grow at a compound rate of 131% between 2009 and 2014, a report found, thanks to streaming videos from Netflix, YouTube and others.

Says Michael Manzo, chief marketing officer for subscriber optimization software Openet, "Long-term evolution (LTE) or 4G is absolutely the best mobile innovation of 2010. With wireless networks stretched to capacity, this new infrastructure will increase speed and capabilities of mobile devices, as well as provide some relief to existing networks. Though the technology was discussed some in 2009, LTE has become a vital component of the year as wireless operators made large scale deployment announcements, and 4G devices started becoming available to consumers - expect to see even more LTE news in 2011."

What's more, LTE will succeed over WiMax, says Forrester's Charles Golvin. "2011 will be the year that the WiMAX window of opportunity slams shut, as LTE establishes itself as the default next generation network technology, becoming even more dominant than GSM."

oursquare

Despite report after report after report with actual, hard data proving that location-based check-in services were only used by a niche group of early adopters, this is one trend that couldn't be stopped... from being reported on. And no one service this year generated as many headlines as media darling Foursquare. Representative of the ever-expanding group of check-in apps, Foursquare lets users register their location at a particular venue, earn points, badges and mayorships and sometimes even discounts or rewards. But even as Foursquare grew its numbers over 2010, a second wave of arguably more useful location-based services began to emerge. Services providing things like geo-fencing, travel rewards,  new opportunities for location-based ads, and even services that use location to fight identity theft are now arriving on the scene. Still, a portion of the population remains unconvinced of the power of the checkin. Plus, with privacy advocates tapping into users' fears surrounding location-sharing this year when a site called Please Rob Me launched, the check-in may give way to other location-based services in 2011.

Says CEO and Co-founder of app recommendation site AppStoreHQ, Chris DeVore, services like Foursquare providing 'check-ins-for-check-ins-sake'  have "stalled before crossing over to the mainstream." However, "the idea of location-based CRM and just-in-time local offer delivery have real traction among both consumers and local business owners," he explained. "Groupon-style local offers are the revenue engine that's powering this business right now, but the long-term economic value of Groupon  to SMBs is still in question. The company that can combine high-volume, offer-powered lead generation with a stickier customer value proposition that truly drives repeat business will have a real hit on their hands."

Forrester analyst Melissa Parrish agrees that location-based services are still just hitting their stride. "Although Forrester data from mid-2010 showed that only four percent of US consumers have ever used a Location-Based Social Network, consumer adoption will continue to grow as the services add utility for users through partnerships as well as product development."

Barcode Scanners

Barcode scanning using mobile phones was a huge trend this year - even if it's about to be phased out thanks to developments in NFC technology. Consumers apparently craved the technology leading to an increase in its use. Mobile barcode scanning was up 700% in 2010, a report released this fall revealed. But reaching this momentum didn't occur without a few stumbles - Google ran a fairly unsuccessful campaign placing QR codes in newspapers, for example. But later on, magazines like Entertainment Weekly and others had more luck with its embrace of the cross-platform Microsoft Tag to link to movie trailers and ads from the pages of its glossy magazine. Allure magazine also found that their Microsoft Tag campaign resulted in 444,572 scans.

Retailers got in on the action too: both Amazon and eBay launched mobile applications that included barcode scanning features this year, Amazon through an update to its mobile app, and eBay through the acquisition of Red Laser. Best Buy launched its own consumer electronics scanning app, Bing's iPhone app added the functionality in June and Google launchedGoogle Shopper.

Alexander Muse, Co-Founder of mobile scanning app ShopSavvy has seen major growth over 2010 as well. "Our year-over-year growth rate is north of 300% ," he said. "What started as a novelty in 2008 has become a standard way to shop for millions of users across the globe."

Blake Scholl, Co-Founder and CEO of Kima Labs, makers of the barcode-scanning app Barcode Hero, has seen similar trends. "The first generation of barcode scanning apps was all about comparing prices -- but we're already starting to see a smarter, second generation of apps that connects in-store shoppers with their social networks and community experts to help compare products and find the best item -- not just the best price."

NFC

Most of the advances in NFC came at year-end, but they came fast. Apple quietly recruited an NFC expert in August, but hasn't made any announcements about the technology yet. RIM did the same in November. However, Google's Android mobile operating system - the latest version known as Gingerbread - now supports the data transfertechnology, short for near-field communications. Although limited for now, full support is arriving soon. Also, over the course of the year, we've seen preliminary initiatives, programs and announcements involving NFC fromPayPal (via a partnership with NFC-related startup Bling Nation), Bank of America, Visa and others. As 2010 draws to a close, Visa has officially launched In2Pay, an NFC-enabled mobile payments solution, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have teamed up on Isis, a carrier-led NFC mobile payments service and the technology got an official trademark.

Vishal Jain, a mobile analyst with The 451 Group says that NFC and location-based services "will together drive mobile advertising into an entirely new dimension unlike web based performance advertising that has always focused on generating awareness. The effect would be seen in how loyalty programs, advertisers and POS terminals work in tandem. Availability and understanding of geo-targeted data, and NFC tags will enable the end to end reach and conversion process of a campaign."

And Thomas Husson, a research analyst at Forrester, agrees that NFC means more than mobile payments. "It will enable a range of applications and services from various industries, linking together mobile marketing, mobile CRM, and mobile commerce." He, however, may disagree with it appearing on this list, saying that NFC "had some traction in 2010 but still suffered from the lack of a critical mass of devices," but that next year, "the market will finally move away from the trial stage in regions where NFC infrastructure is in place."

Jeff Miles, director of mobile transactions at NXP, definitely believes this was NXP's year. "Although NXP co-invented NFC jointly with Sony in 2002, 2010 was clearly the year that NFC made its entrée into the heart of the consumer's world," he said. "With almost all the world's top manufacturers and carriers backing the technology and developers accessing open source NFC implementation, 2010 opened the gates for new ways of extending the reach of mobile devices, driving creative applications and adding real value to consumers."

hristmas Blizzard of 2010 creates havoc for travelers; 18-20 inches of snow expected in NYC

The Christmas Blizzard of 2010 howled into New York on Sunday night, crippling road, rail and air transportation on one of the busiest holiday travel days of the year.

The National Weather Service said 18 to 20 inches of snow would fall by midday Monday, with 2 feet or more in some places.

By evening, gale-force winds were blowing the snow horizontally, and lightning was flashing amid the swirling flakes, a phenomenon known as thundersnow.

States of emergency were declared from North Carolina to Massachusetts, and airports up and down the Eastern seaboard, including Kennedy and Newark, suspended all air traffic last night.

More than 1,400 flights in and out of New York were canceled Sunday alone.

Amtrak halted train service between Boston and New York.

Mayor Bloomberg asked New Yorkers to stay inside if possible and take mass transit if they had to travel.

Transit officials bracing for a tough rush-hour commute on Monday morning were running deicers and sweepers to keep subway tracks clear. Officials said subways were expected to operate on a normal weekday schedule, but the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North and NJTransit were implementing weekend or holiday schedules Monday.

The LIRR suspended service about 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

Most runs on interstate bus services such as BoltBus and Megabus were canceled Sunday night.

Bloomberg said 4,800 sanitation workers were working 12-hour shifts to clear the streets.

As the storm began to blow in earnest, panicky shoppers swarmed supermarkets and hardware stores.

"It's like the end of the world," said Mark Balsamo, head of seasonal sales at the Home Depot on Forest Ave., S.I., where snow shovels and bags of salt were flying off the shelves.

Richie Castellano, 30, who was preparing for his first winter as a homeowner, bought four 50-pound bags of rock salt, a shovel and a bucket.

"I'm kind of new to this, so I don't know how much I need," he said. "This might be overkill, but it's better to be safe than sorry. If anyone needs rock salt, just stop by my house. I have plenty."

As of 10 Sunday night, nearly 10 inches of snow had fallen in Fresh Meadows, Queens, while 13 inches had piled up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

Double Rainbow Appears Over L.A., Twitter Explodes in Meme Catchphrases

A double rainbow appeared in the sky over Los Angeles today, and Twitter users just about lost their heads.

Full on. All the way.

The atmospheric phenomenon appeared in several TwitPics and images from other services; users captured it from airports, from between skyscrapers, from tenement buildings, and on one celebrity-tinged occasion (thanks, Levar Burton) from what appears to be a strip mall parking lot.

Android in Space - the full story

Hobbled 'Spider-Man' Cancels Performances to Enact Strict Safety Measures

Broadway's ill-fated 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' will indeed go dark Wednesday night in order to make its set safer after a performer in a Spider-Man costume plunged 30 feet on Monday night when a cable snapped during an aerial stunt -- the musical's fourth accident since October. An investigation into the fall revealed that someone failed to attach top stunt man Chris Tierney's harness properly.

The 'Spider-Man' company met yesterday with federal and state investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the New York State Labor Department and Actors' Equity to discuss "additional safety protocols," 'Spider-Man' spokesperson Rick Miramontez said yesterday in a statement. "It was agreed that these measures would be enacted immediately."

Those new measures, focusing on a three-step process to ensure proper harnessing before each stunt, were announced Wednesday by Maureen Cox of the New York Dept. of Labor.

Cox told reporters that before each stunt, the operator or stagehand will fix the latch to the harness of the performer. Then, another stagehand nearby will verify that it's attached properly. That second person will then be in contact with the stage manager to verify the measures have been completed.

The show canceled its matinee performance on Wednesday in order to rehearse the new protocols. Around 5 PM a sign was posted outside Foxwoods Theatre announcing that the evening performance would also be postponed. When asked if the new measures were the cause of Wednesday night's cancellation, Cox responded that she was not sure.

Earlier she noted that the show had been "working on this all day" and that the DOL was "hopeful this is something that can be done rapidly."

The production is expected to resume Thursday night.

Director Julie Taymor, who has been criticized for the show's on-set injuries, released a statement saying, "An accident like this is obviously heartbreaking for our entire team and, of course, to me personally. I am so thankful that Chris is going to be alright and is in great spirits. Nothing is more important than the safety of our Spider-Man family and we'll continue to do everything in our power to protect the cast and crew."

Despite the controversy swirling around the show, ticket sales are "hotter than ever," according to the AP.

"People are coming because they love Spider-Man, U2 or because of morbid curiosity," one theater insider tells PopEater. (U2's Bono and The Edge wrote the show's music and lyrics.)

But serious questions remain about why the performer fell and why three other cast members have been seriously injured in Broadway's most expensive -- at $65 million -- musical ever. Tierney, 31, the aerialist who fell into the orchestra pit at the Foxwoods Theatre in front of Monday night's shocked audience, is the latest 'Spider-Man' casualty. Having suffered a few broken ribs, he remains in "good spirits" at Bellevue Hospital, where he is listed in serious-but-stable condition. According to the New York Post, Tierney underwent back surgery on Wednesday.

On Nov. 28, the first night of previews, leading lady Natalie Mendoza, who plays Spidey's nemesis, Arachne, suffered a concussion when a piece of equipment dangling from a rope backstage hit her on the head. Stunt double Kevin Aubin broke both wrists during a rehearsal in October while being catapulted from the back of the stage to the front. A month before, an actor who wished to remain anonymous e-mailed a reporter at The New York Times saying he had broken his feet on the same move a month earlier. A spokesman for the 'Spider-Man' musical said the actor in question had broken a toe.

Yesterday, safety inspectors from the New York State Department of Labor, which must approve special effects in stage productions, spoke to the production team and checked harnesses, cables and other equipment to try to determine what happened.

DOL spokesperson Leo Rosales told The Hollywood Reporter yesterday, "These kinds of accidents are taken very seriously by the Department of Labor ... We're going to find out the truth of what happened and we're here make sure it's addressed."

"This is a very elaborate production. We're very heavily involved in this production, and we're going to be very heavily involved in this investigation," he added.

In early November, the New York State DOL called in federal authorities to help in its investigation, OSHA spokesman John Chavez tells PopEater. OSHA, which is part of the United States Department of Labor, "has a current open and ongoing inspection of the Spider-Man production," he says.

The New York State DOL asked OSHA to join in the investigation "because of some of the initial incidents that happened on the set," he said.

Federal OSHA normally doesn't shut down a workplace unless it declares there is immediate danger to workers or an immediate life-threatening situation, says Chavez. "That would require a court order."

On the other hand, the New York State Department of Labor has the power to shut down a show if it is too dangerous for workers, he says.

The accidents have some in the Broadway community crying foul. Tony Award winner Alice Ripley tweeted yesterday, "Does someone have to die?" Earlier she tweeted, "Spiderman should be ashamed of itself," saying this "is completely unacceptable and embarrassing to working actors everywhere."

Even before this latest accident, some in the Broadway community were saying that the show still needs a lot more work. After seeing the first night preview, New York Post theater critic Michael Riedel wrote, "Not even Spider-Man could avert this disaster." He called the play an "epic flop," because "its high-tech gadgetry went completely awry amid a dull score and baffling script..."

Still others in the Broadway world are hopeful that 'Spider-Man' will save the day. "We want to see this show succeed," Bill Augustin, who wrote the book and lyrics for the off-Broadway show 'But I'm a Cheerleader,' tells PopEater. "But we want it to be good, too. If they focus on the storytelling as much as the special effects, which are complex, then the show has a good chance of being successful. People come to Broadway not just to see special effects, but to come away moved."

Augustin says he thinks producers will do what it takes to make the show a success. "They are putting on the show for all the right reasons," he says. "They believe in it, which gives the show a different kind of sentiment."

The show has also captured the nation's attention -- and will likely draw many tourists. "It's hard to get a musical produced on Broadway," says Augustin. "This is the only Broadway show in years that has made it to regional news. People in middle America know about it. It's being watched by everyone in the industry. Everyone is talking about it. It was even on SNL already."

Time Out New York's critic Adam Feldman says everyone has to wait and see what the investigations reveal before making any judgments. "This is live theater, where people do trip and fall off the stage and get hurt," he says. "This show has the kind of special effects and aerialization that you would see at the circus or in athletics. But it's being done in a space that wasn't built for that. So we have to see if these were ordinary accidents -- or was there something else? Was there something wrong with the equipment, for example? We don't know all the facts yet. I hope they fix everything and that it opens and it's good and a huge success. I will wait until the show opens before I make any judgments."

California rain storms: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declares state of emergency in 6 counties

A vehicle sits partially submerged underwater after flood waters rose in the San Diego River during a powerful rainstorm this week.

After days of relentless downpours that have drenched California, forecasters predict the worst is yet to come.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for six counties on Wednesday as heavy rains submerged roads, stranded motorists and forced some evacuations.

The strongest part of the storm is expected to pummel southern California in the early morning.

"It's going to be a three-ring circus," National Weather Service spokesman Bill Hoffer said. "There's going to be a six-hour time frame in the early morning when it's really going to be dumping on us.

Heidi Montag reveals scars from plastic surgery nightmare: Bald spots, lumpy legs, uneven breasts

Heidi Montag says she regrets having 10 plastic surgery procedures performed in one day.
One year after Heidi Montag underwent a drastic plastic surgery makeover, the former reality star has come forward to show her operation-room battle wounds and to express her deep regrets about going under the knife.

"Parts of my body definitely look worse than they did presurgery," Montag, 24, told Life & Style during a Dec. 2 photo shoot. "This is not what I signed up for."

Montag, who was seeking perfection when she infamously underwent 10 plastic surgery procedures in Nov. 2009, now sports a series of unattractive scars and uneven body parts. 

Among the permanent marks are a 2-inch-long raised blemish under her chin (from a chin reduction) two large bald spots along her hairline (from a brow lift) and a jagged scar behind her ears (from having her ears pinned back). She also sports lumpy legs and four spots on her lower back and below the buttocks (from botched liposuction), a bright-red mark inside her right nostril (from rhinoplasty), uneven breasts and a stretch mark on her chest with deep scars around her nipples (from a second boob job).  

"The big dark mark from my chin reduction is probably the most noticeable. But the absolute worst is on my breasts, and the scariest is below my butt cheek," she told the mag. "People have fewer scars from car accidents than I have on my body."

Last month, Montag appeared on "Primetime" to claim she did not feel "prepared" for the procedures, which were performed by celebrity surgeon Dr. Frank Ryan just nine months before his fatal car crash.

"I definitely think I should have been way more informed. I think that doctors should really walk you through all aspects of it, not just the glamorous side of it," the busty blond told ABC News' Cynthia McFadden. "Doctors, it's like they're selling you cookies or something."

Desperate to move on with her life, Montag told Life & Style that her scars serve as constant reminders that she made a big mistake last year.

"I would love to not be 'plastic girl' or whatever they call me," she told the mag. "Surgery ruined my career and my personal life and just brought a lot of negativity into my world. 

UConn Is Not the Only Winner as Team Breaks Record Basketball Streak

With a 93-62 victory over Florida State on Tuesday night, theUniversity of Connecticut women's basketball team won its 89th consecutive regular-season game and broke an NCAA record that many people had said would never be broken -- the 88-game record set by UCLA's men's basketball team in 1974.

Now the debate will continue about whether women's basketball is as good as the men's game, and I'm happy to leave that discussion to the talk shows and sports bars.

Here's what Tuesday night's game says to me: "You've come a long way, baby."

Thanks to a pervasive ad campaign for Virginia Slims cigarettes, that catch phrase had become part of the popular culture by Jan. 19, 1974 -- when Notre Dame ended the UCLA basketball team's record winning streak at 88 games (UCLA didn't have a women's team until the 1974-75 season). The Virginia Slims slogan was seen in magazine ads and on billboards in 1974, even though the full jingle left the airwaves in 1971 when tobacco ads were banned from television and radio.

Smoking a specially marketed cigarette – hardly a healthy activity -- was viewed as a sign of progress for women in the second wave of feminism. But involvement in competitive sports was still something that stirred caution, if not outright skepticism. Sports, some feared, would make women muscle-bound, or worse, might damage their reproductive organs.

In 1972, Congress' passage ofTitle IX, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in all federally assisted education programs and activities, spurred growth of varsity sports for girls in high school and for women in college.

But back in 1974, when my friend Kathy Conroy won the Athena Award as the most athletic girl in the graduating class at Edina-East High School in Minnesota, she was honored in part for her performance on the football field and basketball court – as a member of the pom-pon squad that danced at halftime – and in part for her participation in the school's synchronized swimming club.

That is no dis of her athletic skills – both activities required a high level of dedication and physical fitness. But if sports like basketball or softball had been offered for girls, she said Tuesday afternoon, she definitely would have gone out for them. And I feel safe in saying that she would have excelled.

The same year that UCLA punctuated its winning streak at 88 and Kathy Conroy was honored for her athletic abilities, tennis star Billie Jean King founded the Women's Sports Foundation, which describes itself as "a charitable, educational organization dedicated to promoting girls and women in sports and fitness."

The foundation's chief executive, Kathryn Olson, said in a phone interview on Tuesday that in 1 in 27 girls were active in sports when King started the organization. Today, 2 in 5 girls are active in sports. "There's a tremendous amount of progress that has been made," Olson said.

And attitudes have changed dramatically. No longer do parents worry that sports will diminish their daughters' femininity. "Thank goodness we've made a lot of progress in terms of what a healthy body is considered to be," Olson said.

The Women's Sports Foundation said that a recent study found that 4 of 5 executive businesswomen surveyed played sports when they were growing up and attributed their success, in part, to their sports experience.

"It's just expected that girls will be playing sports and boys will be playing sports," Olson said.

It's also expected that fans will want to watch women athletes competing at the elite level. The game Tuesday night, at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., was televised on ESPN2 and had a capacity crowd that included shirtless male fans who had painted themselves in UConn blue.

It does my heart good to see the deserving players of UConn and Florida State bask in the spotlight. But I am happier still to see the unsung players on the unsung teams testing themselves in gyms across the country and gaining the benefits of sports. Because of those benefits, even teams that wind up on the short end of the scoreboard still come up winners.

Greeting card store owner JillAnne shows her customer appreciation with in-store pole dances

JillAnne is a greeting card designer who owns her own store in the lower East Side. If a customer buys $50 worth of cards, she'll do a pole dance.

The acrobatic owner of a lower East Side greeting card store is putting a new spin on customer appreciation - by pole-dancing for her patrons.

At her store of the same name on Allen St., shapely shopkeeper JillAnne strips down to "bootie shorts" and heels for anyone who spends $50.

"If they want to tip me, they can," said the California-born artist, who also keeps a pole in her one-bedroom apartment. "Just don't touch."

The store opened in October, selling greeting cards and calendars of JillAnne's design in a space so narrow that she sometimes smacks the walls with her heels while spinning from the pole.

"I can't go all-out in here," lamented JillAnne, who stands 5-feet-7 even before she slips into her 6-inch heels.

The R-rated performances, usually set to tunes far less raucous than those heard at places like Scores, have drawn appreciative customers and brought bewildered passersby in off the street.

"They see the cards, then they see me pole-dancing," said JillAnne, who uses only one name. "So they pop their heads in and say, 'What is this?'"

JillAnne in her greeting card store on Allen St. (Handschuh/News).

The former model opened the brick-and-mortar store after spending 11 years selling merchandise wholesale online at JillAnne.com.

The artist also hawks stripper heels, tiny tank tops and shorts - and even has $350 poles for sale alongside a range of birthday, bar mitzvah and sympathy cards.

"I'd go stir-crazy if I was just working straight," JillAnne said. "I'm not in some office where I can just go to the next cubicle and take a break."

JillAnne admits she's no born athlete, although she did gymnastics as a child.

She caught the pole-dancing bug after performing on a mock rickshaw at a gay pride parade. Now, she is a contortionist who can hang upside down and balance in midair with only her thighs gripping the metal pole.

"You don't want me on your football, baseball or basketball team," she said. "But pole dancing? You want me on your team.