In the real world, you’re worth more than everyone on Forbes’ latest list of the richest people in the world.

The venerable magazine has put together a roster of the world’s wealthiest fictional characters, with imaginary magnates like Thurston Howell III, Scrooge McDuck, Richie Rich and “Twilight’s” Carlisle Cullen boasting bogus bankrolls. Topping the list: Cullen, the 370-year-old vampire who has built a $34.1 billion fortune thanks to stock-picking by his adopted daughter Alice, who can see the future.

Cartoon miser McDuck is worth an estimated $33.5 billion, Rich’s fortune is up to $11.5 billion and Beverly Hillbilly Jed Clampett’s oil holdings are now worth $7.2 billion. Sir  Topham Hatt, the schedule-obsessed railroad tycoon from Thomas the Tank Engine is worth $2 billion, some $100 million less than Howell. Lucille Bluth, the matriarch of the “Arrested Development” family’s real estate empire, is $950 million.

Perhaps most disturbing about the list is that the Tooth Fairy can now afford to buy Uncle Sam. The man who wants you went from infinite wealth to being worth less than a billion today, according to the magazine’s calculations. The Tooth Fairy’s dental investments are now worth $3.9 billion.

The magazine put together its list based on an analysis of each fictional character’s source material, and valued against known real-world commodity and share price fluctuations. In the case of privately held fictional companies, such as Rich Industries, analysts sought to identify comparable fictional public companies.

Source: Jason Chen from Gizmodo

You are looking at Apple’s next iPhone. It was found lost in a bar in Redwood City, camouflaged to look like an iPhone 3GS. We got it. We disassembled it. It’s the real thing, and here are all the details.

While Apple may tinker with the final packaging and design of the final phone, it’s clear that the features in this lost-and-found next-generation iPhone are drastically new and drastically different from what came before. Here’s the detailed list of our findings:

What’s new

• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It’s unclear if it’s the 960×640 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the “Connect to iTunes” screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

What’s changed

• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery

How it was lost

Here is a detailed account of how the phone was lost.

Why we think it’s definitely real

We’re as skeptical—if not more—than all of you. We get false tips all the time. But after playing with it for about a week—the overall quality feels exactly like a finished final Apple phone—and disassembling this unit, there is so much evidence stacked in its favor, that there’s very little possibility that it’s a fake. In fact, the possibility is almost none. Imagine someone having to use Apple components to design a functioning phone, from scratch, and then disseminating it to people around the world. Pretty much impossible. Here are the reasons, one by one.

It has been reported lost
Apple-connected John Gruber—from Daring Fireball—says that Apple has indeed lost a prototype iPhone and they want it back:

So I called around, and I now believe this is an actual unit from Apple — a unit Apple is very interested in getting back.

Obviously someone found it, and here it is.

The screen
While we couldn’t get it past the connect to iTunes screen for the reasons listed earlier, the USB cable on that screen was so high quality that it was impossible to discern individual pixels. We can’t tell you the exact resolution of this next-generation iPhone, but it’s much higher than the current iPhone 3GS.

The operating system
According to the person who found it, this iPhone was running iPhone OS 4.0 before the iPhone 4.0 announcement. The person was able to play with it and see the iPhone 4.0 features. Then, Apple remotely killed the phone before we got access to it. We were unable to restore because each firmware is device specific—3GS firmware only loads on 3GS devices—and the there are no firmwares available for this unreleased phone. Which is another clue to its authenticity.

It is recognized as an iPhone
This iPhone behaves exactly like an iPhone does when connected to a computer, with the proper boot sequence and “connect to iTunes” restore functionality. Xcode and iTunes both see this as an iPhone. Mac OS X’s System Profiler also reports this as an iPhone in restore mode, which is a natural consequence of remotely wiping the phone, but report different product identifiers (both CPID and CPRV) than either the 3G or the 3GS.

It uses micro-sim
The fact that it uses a micro-sim is a clear indicator that this is a next-generation iPhone. No other cellphone uses this standard at this point in the US.

The camouflage case
The case it came inside was a fully developed plastic case to house this phone to disguise it like a 3GS. This wasn’t just a normal case; it had all the proper new holes cut out for the new switches and ports and camera holes and camera flash. But it looks like something from Belkin or Case-Mate. It’s a perfect disguise.

The fact that it’s in the wild right now
Logic can also narrow down why this phone is this year’s iPhone, rather than next year’s model or one from the previous year’s, just because it was found in the wild right now. It makes no sense for Apple to be testing 2011’s model right now, in super finished form—they wouldn’t be nearly finished with it. The phone also can’t be last year’s test model, because last year’s model (based on the iPhone 3GS teardowns) components were way different. No micro-sim, much bigger logic board, no flash, no front camera, smaller battery and an inferior camera. That only leaves the 2010 model.

The guts, the definitive proof
And finally, when we opened it up, we saw multiple components that were clearly labeled APPLE. And, because the components were fit extremely well and extremely conformed inside the case (obvious that it was designed FOR this case), it was evident that it was not just a 3G or a 3GS transplanted into another body. That probably wouldn’t even be possible, with the size constraints of the thinner device and larger battery.

The New Industrial Design

At first sight, this new iPhone’s industrial design seems so different from the previous two generations that it could be discarded as just a provisional case. Even while the finish is so perfect that it feels right out of the factory, some of the design language elements that are common to all Apple products are not there. Gone is the flushed screen glass against the metal rim. Gone is the single volume button, replaced by two separate ones. Gone is the seamless rim, and gone are the tapered, curved surfaces.

Despite that, however, this design is not a departure. Not when you frame it with the rest of the Apple product line. It’s all the contrary: This new iPhone gets back to the simplicity of the iMac and the iPad. In fact, you can argue that the current iPhone 3GS—with its shiny chrome rim and excessively curved back—is out of place compared to the hard edges and Dieter-Ramish utilitarianism of the iMac and the iPad. Next to the iPad, for example, the new iPhone makes sense. It has the same feeling, the same functional simplicity.

But why the black plastic back, instead of going with an unibody aluminum design? Why the two audio volume buttons? Why the seams? And why doesn’t the back have any curvature at all?

Why the plastic back?
The plastic back is the most obvious of the design choices. The iPad, with its all aluminum back, has seen its Wi-Fi reception radius reduced. The 3G version comes with a large patch on the top, probably big enough to provide with good reception. But the new tiny iPhone doesn’t have the luxury of space: It needs to provide as much signal as possible using a very small surface. I’m sure Jon Ive is dying to get rid of the plastic back, and go iPad-style all the way, but the wireless reception is the most important thing in a cellphone. A necessary aesthetical-functional trade-off.

Why separate volume buttons?
This new iPhone uses separate buttons for the volume instead of the single button that you can find in the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. It’s one of the factors that may indicate that this is a provisional case, until you think about one of the most requested features for Apple’s phone: A physical button for the camera. The new iPhone has a bigger sensor and a flash, which means that the camera function keeps gaining more weight. It’s only logical to think that Apple may have implemented this two-button approach to provide with a physical shutter button. It makes sense.

Why the seams?
The seams are perhaps the most surprising aspect of the new design. They don’t seem to respond to any aesthetic criteria and, in terms of function, we can’t adventure any explanation. But they don’t look bad. In fact, the whole effect seems good, like something you will find in a Braun product from the 70s.

It’s doubtful that the seams are arbitrary, however. Either they will disappear from the final product, or they have a function we can’t foresee at this time.

Why no tapering or curves?
As you will see in a future article, the new iPhone is so miniaturized and packed that there’s no room for the tapered, curved surfaces. Everything is as tight as it could get, with no space for anything but electronics.

The hardware specs

The phone measures 4.50 by 2.31 by 0.37 inches. It weighs 140 grams. The 3GS weighs 137 grams on a postal scale (and 135 on Apple’s official measurements). So, in comparison, it’s 3 grams heavier. The battery is 5.25 WHr at 3.7V, compared to the 3GS battery, which is 4.51 WHr at 3.7V. On the back of the phone, it said it was XX GB, but since we were unable to get the phone to a running state, we couldn’t see exactly how large it was.

How it feels

Freaking amazing. As a person who never really liked the round mound of a back in the 3GS, the sleeker, flatter, squarer design is super welcome. It feels sturdier than the 3GS, and much less plasticky. The metal buttons give it a heftier feel—less of a toy—than all previous generations. The closest analog to it would be the original iPhone, which is more square and heavy than its newer brothers.

It feels completely natural up to your face, and the fact that both the front and the back are glossy makes no difference on how well you can hold it without the phone slipping. And because it’s thinner, it feels even nicer in your pants.

What all this means

Apple has updated the exterior drastically different from the 3G and 3GS. That design is old, it felt out of place compared to the rest of their products and needed desperately to be killed. Now you have a thinner body, a much more pleasant form factor with no wasted space and lots of hard lines. But the design isn’t the most important part that’s changed.

They’ve delivered many of the features people have been waiting for—that damn front camera!—while at the same time upgrading everything else. Flash, better back camera, better battery life and another microphone for better voice clarity. People who bought the 3G two years ago and are now in the perfect position to upgrade and get a dramatically different, and better, phone. If confirmed this summer, and if it performs as we expect, this next-generation iPhone looks like a winner.

A talented law student who led a double life as an escort died after taking a cocktail of alcohol and drugs including meow meow, an inquest heard.

Laura Main, 28, was training to be a solicitor but also worked for an escort agency called Bunnies of London under the name Eve.

The popular student, who was earmarked for a high-flying career when she graduated from Aberdeen University in 2006, was also a successful DJ, performing under the name Lady Asbo.

But she was found dead on the floor of her flat in an exclusive part of Kensington, West London, after taking a cocktail of drugs.

Her body was discovered by an estate agent who had visited the flat to show a wealthy client around the property.

A post-mortem examination revealed that Miss Main, who had a history of depression, was two and half times over the drink-drive limit, and had taken meow meow, as well as party drug GHB, known as liquid ecstasy, and Valium.

Meow meow, or mephedrone, a so- called ‘legal high’, has become one of the most widely used recreational drugs.

But it has been linked to a string of deaths and harmful side effects, and from today is banned and reclassified as a Class B drug. ‘Date rape’ drug GHB was banned in 2003 following a similar outcry.

Miss Main was found on December 14, two days after she had last been seen at a Christmas party thrown by her escort agency.

Coroner Paul Knapman said that Miss Main, originally from Lossiemouth in Scotland, had a history of depression and suicide attempts but had seemed to be improving before her death.

‘She was studying law and training to be a solicitor but she was also a DJ under the name Lady Asbo on the club scene,’ he said.

‘She was also working for an escort agency at the time of her death. She had been depressed and had seen her doctor.

‘She had taken some overdoses in the past but it appears she was not a desperately depressed person in recent times.’

Estate agent Phillippe Chuzel told the inquest: ‘I had tried to call her but the number never connected,’ he said.

‘I had a set of keys to open the door and I saw a woman lying on her stomach on the floor.’ He described how his client checked for a pulse and they waited for police to arrive.

The inquest heard that although meow meow and Valium were found in Miss Main’s blood, it was a combination of alcohol and GHB which killed her.

Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, Dr Knapman said: ‘It’s likely she collapsed on her floor and went to sleep, probably in the early hours of Sunday, and was not discovered until Monday.

‘It’s a tragic death and another example of a young woman of only 28 dying from a mixture of alcohol and drugs.’

Sandra Bullock has yet to make any further statement about the alleged affair between her husband, Jesse James, and tattoo model Michelle “Bombshell” McGee, but more details are pouring out.

According an interview McGee gave In Touch Weekly, the whole affair began after she sent James a social-media friend request, hoping to be on his television show, and things escalated to the point where they had “intimate relations.”

She went on to tell the magazine that she and James had sex “two or three times” the night they met (Bullock was away filming “The Blind Side,” said McGee) and from there a “serious relationship” began.

McGee and Bullock certainly couldn’t look more opposite. While Bullock dazzled in old-Hollywood style on the red carpets during awards season, McGee sports a tattoo on her forehead that reads “Pray for us sinners.”

McGee has also said in various interviews that she’s broken a bone performing on a stripper pole, and she was raised Amish.

“I grew up Amish but left the church when I was 16 — I never looked back. I moved to L.A. and got tattooed,” she told press at a Miss Ink contest in Las Vegas.

Sandra Bullock won the award for Best Actress at the 82nd annual Academy Awards for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy in “The Blind Side.” Bullock, a first-time nominee, took the stage and offered praise for her fellow nominees Gabourey Sidibe for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” Helen Mirren for “The Last Station,” Carey Mulligan for “An Education” and Meryl Streep for “Julie & Julia.”

“Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down?” Bullock joked with the audience. “I would like to thank the Academy for allowing me this last month to have the most incredible ride with rooms full of artists that I see tonight, that I’ve worked with before and hope to work with in the future, who have inspired me and have blazed trails for us.

“This is a once in a lifetime experience, I know,” she continued. “Everyone who has shown me kindness when it was fashionable, I thank you. To everyone who was mean to me, like when George Clooney threw me in a pool years ago, I’m still holding a grudge!”

Bullock offered her thanks to the family that “The Blind Side” was based upon and also praised mothers “who take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from.”

“Those moms and parents never get thanked,” she said through tears. “There is no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else — we’re all deserving of love.”

During the Oscars’ opening moments, co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin jokingly teased that they would soon find out whether or not the world loves Bullock, who had just received the Worst Actress Razzie for “All About Steve” earlier in the day. Based on the actress’ freshly earned statue, it appears they have their answer.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Jay Leno’s first two weeks back as host of NBC’s “Tonight Show” features a celebrity-packed lineup as NBC tries to revive the late-night franchise.

Leno, reclaiming the reins from Conan O’Brien next Monday, will welcome former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the cast of MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell and Olympians Apolo Anton Ohno, Shaun White and Lindsey Vonn.

Musical guests include Brad Paisley, Avril Lavigne, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Both Leno’s and NBC’s ratings and reputation took a beating after he was eased out of the prestige slot last May, and given a weeknight primetime show. Viewership of “The Tonight Show” also declined under O’Brien (until his final week last month). NBC paid O’Brien more than $30 million to exit the show.

Having big-name draws like Palin can only help as NBC tries to make “Tonight” appointment viewing once again. His other guests his first couple weeks include Dakota Fanning, Kim Kardashian, Jamie Foxx and Morgan Freeman.

VIDEO! Watch videos of Stephanie Mills discuss Teddy Pendergrass on Mo’Nique tonight.

Stephanie Mills Mo’Nique interview covered Teddy Pendergrass with whom Mills delivered the duet smash Two Hearts. Earlier this week, Teddy passed away after a battle with colon cancer.

On a side note, while Leno and Conan fight in Late Night wars again Thursday, which late night show is producing the biggest viral hit this evening? It’s this interview by Mo’Nique.

Watch below a video of the interview and performance tonight by Stephanie Mills.

STEPHANIE MILLS PERFORMS “HOME”

Interview after jump

interview:

Earlier this week, marketing firm Vitrue released its annual list of the top 100 most social brands, where Apple and its many products reigned supreme for the second year in a row. Despite holding less than a quarter of market share in the computing world, Apple has managed to make itself well-known – and very desirable – in many other ways.

Using a unique sentiment-analysis algorithm developed in-house, Vitrue narrowed down these brands by determining their popularity across major social media platforms and social interactivity. Beyond just determining who or what was most popular, the Vitrue team was able to monitor online conversations across different mediums and dig deep to see what made people talk, and what makes consumers excited about a brand.

A news release from Vitrue said, “Marketers are adding social as a foundation into the marketing mix and need the infrastructure to manage their increasingly robust presences. TV spots are now tagged out with Facebook URLs instead of corporate web sites and point-of-sale call to actions now direct you to fan them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.” The list includes many brands you’d expect to see – Coca Cola, Microsoft, Amazon – as well as some surprises, such as General Motors. All together, the list is made up of just a few key industries, ranging from the expected (technology) to the unexpected (food). The following is a quick breakdown of the industries that stand out the most on this extensive list.

Luxury

Top luxury brands were well represented, with Gucci as the top luxury brand — ranking 27. New Gucci has more than half a million fans on Facebook — the largest of any of the other brands on the list. For luxury brands, social media can be hard to balance, because opening it up to the masses lessens its exclusivity. However, Gucci seems to have found the balance. Also making the list were Louis Vuitton at 81, Prada at 88, and Burberry in the number 94 spot. Their place on this list alone showcases the resilience of the industry, especially among these top brands, who are getting people excited and talking about their product. Though it may be harder for people to buy from these brands,it’s clear that they’re connecting with customers – and potential customers – on an entirely new level.

Technology

It’s hard not to miss all of the tech companies and products dominating Vitrue’s list. With the iPhone in the top spot, iTunes in 6th place, Apple itself at number 8, it’s clear that the tech innovator knows how to generate buzz. Other big tech brands include Microsoft (18), Verizon (48), Hewlett-Packard (51), Sprint (69), Phillips (84) and Panasonic (89). Interestingly, Google is absent from the list. Vitrue reasons: “While Google, Facebook and others are top brands, The Vitrue 100 is measuring companies that are using social technology, not those who are the technology.”

Media

“Media brands make up 8 percent of the list – CNN #3, MTV #4, ESPN #23, CBS #32, ABC #33, Turner #36, Fox News #56, NBC #68 – perhaps illustrating our socialization of their content,” writes Vitrue. In September 2009, Sparxoo’s Digital Influencers in News and Politics Report contained many of the same networks. If these are any indication, we can only expect more news and media outlets to develop effective online strategies, and target and engage digital audiences.

Auto

Though it’s no secret that the automotive industry has been struggling, many top brands are still able to get customers buzzing, as evidenced by this list. In the top 25 alone, Mercedes (17), BMW (20), Ford (24) and Honda (25) all make the cut, with Ferrari (26), Nissan (37), Toyota (38), Kia (53), and more following behind – 16 major auto brands in all. Ford has embraced social media through Twitter and YouTube, sharing customer stories and has launched entire campaigns specifically for social media, while Mercedes-Benz has developed their own crowdsourcing social media site for Mercedes owners to connect with each other and share ideas with the carmaker itself. Marketers and advertisers for this industry have definitely found something that works.

Food

Restaurants Subway (50), McDonald’s (62), Krystal (63), and KFC (66) all made the list, while grocery brands like Pringles (86), Nutella (42), Skittles (65), Pepsi (73), and Red Bull (47) helped make the food industry stand out. Some of these brands may not be much of surprise – Skittles, Pringles, and KFC (66) all have innovative ad campaigns both online and through traditional media that have had people talking for a while. For the rest of the brands, this could be an opportunity to follow suit and find even better ways to get people talking.

Like it or not, social media is here to stay. A 2008 survey found that 56 percent of Americans feel both a stronger connection with, and also feel better served by companies, when they can interact with them in a social media environment. The same survey found that 93 percent of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media. In 2010, these numbers are estimated to be even higher.

Brands are coming down to the consumer’s level using social media, where they’re able to build meaningful, sustainable relationships. Social media is inexpensive, accessible and can be very effective. Next year’s list is sure to be even more competitive, as more brands strive generate buzz through social media.