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"We feel like we need a break, to go somewhere with no paparazzi or gossip magazines, where we don't have to feel so self-conscious. I can't live my life that way and pretend I'm not bothered. . . . It deeply disturbs me. So we may go and live in Amsterdam or Greece or somewhere."

That's "Brokeback Mountain" actress Michelle Williams to Interview magazine. So, Miss Williams and her beloved, Heath Ledger, and their baby, Matilda, might take a well-deserved sabbatical. (They met and fell in love on the intense "Brokeback" set, saw that movie lavishly praised as a pop culture phenomenon, had a child, were both Oscar-nominated, neither won, and then they watched as "Crash" took the ultimate prize. Greece is divine, kids.)

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Wasn't it only yesterday that Britney Spears was everybody's adorable fledgling music goddess? Didn't Madonna herself anoint her as successor? (That fabled MTV kiss) Yes! But in the twinkling of an eye it seems, Spears' image has taken a drubbing from which many insist she'll never recover. Miss Spears' two marriages -- one hasty, one ongoing but a veritable train wreck of low-rent gossip, her sometimes-careless habits, her refusal to starve herself back to her "pre-pregnancy body" have combined to leave Spears hung out to dry. She is a helpless pincushion for the weeklies.

Still, maybe things aren't as bad as they seem. Spears is rumored ready to pursue Quincy Jones to help revamp her musical sound into something funkier, more mature. And she was recently spotted shopping at Prada and Gucci. She loves her flip-flops and cutoffs, but. . .

Now all the mags say she is possibly pregnant again, which would rule out career rejuvenation and fashion makeovers for a while. And you know what -- maybe flipflops and cut-offs and a normal-sized body, more babies and even Kevin Federline are exactly what this sweet Southern girl who began working as a child, wants.

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It's over for a year. And whether the Academy Award-winning films and nominated actors and craftspeople "resonate" with the moviegoers -- as critics of this year's awards keep saying -- seems to me to be completely beside the point. Oscar isn't supposed to be about box office, TV ratings, popularity or PR. (Though it has often been.) Oscar is supposed to be about an almost forgotten thing in the 21st century -- creative excellence.

Voters for the Oscars are the film industry itself -- actors, directors, writers and masterful technicians. They are not supposed to be worried about pleasing John Q. Public or TV number-crunching nerds or network executives or the Christian right or whatever political party happens to be in the White House on any given year.

All this talk about how the public didn't see or like the nominated movies at their local Cineplex is probably the first aesthetic backhanded compliment Hollywood has received in years. (George Clooney more or less summed this up in his acceptance speech.)

Academy Award winners, losers and also-rans comprise a unique year of choice and superior film-making.

In 2005 we were presented with controversial, offbeat, politically incorrect, less-expensive, thought-provoking and in some cases, cringe-inducing screen efforts, made with intelligence and substance. All five of the nominated movies were of high caliber, most with meaningful themes. Performers and other nominees were so good, you could hardly quibble with any of them. Technical expertise has never been better.

You may disdain, dislike or be bored by the Academy Awards, but you and I aren't voting. We are onlookers as Oscar awards his own. It should not have anything to do with that ultimate, meaningless phenomenon of American life -- those things called "general popularity" and "celebrity worship."

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Contact Liz Smith at , or write to her in care of Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207.

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I don't know who Phil Steele is, except that he puts out a dandy preseason football magazine, conveniently named Phil Steele's College Football Preview.

Since the mid-1980s, his gridiron obsession has made him a reputable source, even though he did tell the Cleveland Plain Dealer he's not a great writer.

"No one ever said that it's fine literature," he said. "I write with a purpose."

F. Scott Fitzgerald he's not.

Heck, he's not even Oscar Madison.

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He is, however, an unapologetic football geek -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing. He reportedly watches every televised college football game (estimated at about 700) before compiling his publication, which is on newsstands now.

And from what he has seen on film, live TV, video, DVD, TiVo, YouTube, paper or in his imagination, he has reached this conclusion: The Mountain West Conference's 2008 championship will depend on the outcome of the Utah-BYU game on Nov. 22.

He had to watch 700 games to decide that?

What's his next prediction, that gas prices will rise?

Nevertheless, you have admit he has a sense of drama. If this season unfolds as he sees it, the Utah-BYU game will feature two undefeated teams. Utah will win, thus becoming, as he puts it, "this year's non-BCS darling."

Adds Steele, "I feel both Utah and BYU have solid shots at going undefeated and getting the MWC back to a BCS Bowl."

His preseason rankings have Utah rated No. 14 and BYU No. 17.

Steele predicts Utah will meet Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl (sorry, no Fiesta this year) and BYU will face UCLA in the Poinsettia Bowl.

Why do I care what Phil Steele thinks? This week I spent $5 in gas money and $32.28 in magazine money, procuring as many preseason publications as possible. That way I could assess what those in faraway places think of the teams right here. After five stops, I had found only four magazines: Steele's, The Sporting News, Lindy's and Athlon.

Aside from Steele's, each publication has BYU rated higher than Utah.

BYU is ranked 19th by The Sporting News, 12th by Lindy's, and 14th by Athlon, while Steele's is the only publication that has Utah in its top 25.

"If the defense is retooled the way the offense was in 2007, BYU should win another MWC title and, this time, find itself in the BCS mix," says Athlon.

Meanwhile, Lindy's goes even further, predicting BYU will meet Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 5.

"One way or another," writes Lindy's, "there will be at least one BCS opening in a western bowl -- and that's the destination BYU is aiming for in Bronco Mendenhall's fourth season."

Lindy's isn't alone in its optimism about the Cougars. ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach had BYU ranked 14th after spring drills, noting, "The Cougars look like the best bet from a non-BCS conference to crash the big boys' party this coming season," and adding, "... the Cougars will easily be the class of the Mountain West Conference (and might even finish unbeaten)."

While it's clear Utah's BCS-busting '04 team and BYU's resurgence have given the MWC credibility, nothing important has changed. The conference is rated seventh-best in all four magazines. Though it remains ahead of the WAC, which has been making inroads, it is still the odd man out in the BCS picture.

Speaking of odd, has anyone heard from Utah State since the '70s?

Although Aggie coach Brent Guy is expecting a resurgence -- USU won its final two games in '07 -- the magazines apparently aren't convinced. USU is rated 118th (of 119 teams) by Lindy's and 117th by Athlon. The Sporting News and Steele's don't rank every team, but do pick USU to finish last in the WAC.

So the national guys have spoken. Everyone thinks Utah and BYU are the best of the MWC. And they unanimously agree USU is headed for another losing season.

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It doesn't take a clairvoyant to predict that, either.

E-mail:

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Bob Barker, 83 years old or thereabouts, has been on weekday TV since 1956.

Vin Scully, 80 or thereabouts, has been broadcasting Dodgers games since 1950.

Hugh Hefner, 81 or thereabouts, has been publishing Playboy magazine since 1953.

(Why am I writing about these old guys? Because I grew up joyfully watching Barker on "Truth or Consequences," because no one has ever made a summer night feel more like a summer night than Scully and because most men in America have fantasized about spending one night in Hef's shoes. That's why.)

Barker, who is retiring this month from "The Price Is Right" after a 35-year stint, has been on-air longer continuously than anyone in TV history. Scully's 58-season tenure with the Dodgers is the longest of any broadcaster with a single franchise in pro sports history. And Hefner holds a variety of records that the late Wilt Chamberlain could only dream about.

You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone as enduring in pop culture as these three men.

(Hey, we're not talking about Carrot Top with a paper-cup-and- string telephone strutting across a Las Vegas stage 15 weeks a year, we're talking about a half-a-century-plus run in the brightest lights.)

Barker, Scully and Hefner all reside much of the time in Los Angeles, where the fountain of youth comes in the form of air- brushing and Botox.

Barker is to game shows as Weber is to gas grills

Who knows the in-studio, live-audience format better?

Do you think it's coincidence that "The Price Is Right" attracts 5 million viewers daily and people wait hours to get a seat in the studio audience? Do you think it's coincidence that Barker attracts only the finest announcers, fellas like Johnny Olson and Rod Roddy? Do you think it's coincidence that he attracts the most beautiful and most litigious TV models?

(Barker's been like a father to me - like my dad, he is a smart and successful octogenarian who sometimes acts as if he doesn't know me - but, since the 1990s, he's Gucci Ring been in a court room more than the green room. Every time he steps out of wardrobe, one of his former models is suing him, usually for sexual harassment. My advice to Bob: Like they said in "Scarface," "Don't get high on your own supply.")

Scully is to baseball broadcasting as Cezanne is to still life.

Who has ever painted a better picture on radio?

Scully was smart enough to leave Brooklyn - well, he had no choice, because the Dodgers moved west in 1958, but, trust me, New York would've chewed him up and spit him out onto a subway platform, like happened to my Uncle Nathan - and he's been smart enough to go it alone.

That's right: Scully works solo. No partner in the booth. How brilliant is that? Why should he share the mike, so some half- juiced ex-jock can spout inanities about moving the runner to third with less than two outs?

(Scully allowing, say, Rick Monday to share air time on Dodgers games would be like Michelangelo asking Earl Scheib to help Louis Vuitton Watches out with the Sistine Chapel ceiling.)

Hefner is to soft porn as Mrs. Butterworth's is to maple syrup.

Who would've ever thought of putting nude women and Vladimir Nabokov under the same cover?

There's Playboy and then there's everything else. Penthouse? Hah! Hustler? Sure, Larry Flynt gets the nod for loving seven-card stud, but Hef's the stud anywhere he plays his cards.

And, even today, while most of us thirty- and fortysomethings have trouble getting an out-of-work meter maid to give us a phone number at a Second Chance singles dance, the ageless Hef has three girlfriends living with him and an E! reality TV series, "The Girls Next Door," tracking his surreal maze.

In the land of sex, power and greed, Hef is forever the centerfold. In fact, if you're looking for America's No. 1 sporting figure of the last century - with apologies to Jim Thorpe, Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan - I'd say, "Hugh Hefner, come on down!!!"

Ask The Slouch

Q. While attending an Astros-Brewers game, I noticed a teen reading Steinbeck and a woman reading a romance novel. Would The Slouch bring books to the ballpark? (Ruth Olszewski; West Milwaukee, Wis.)

A. When I was at the University of Maryland, I once brought a Sociology of the Soap Opera take-home exam to the ballpark. I spilled some Bud Light on it and withdrew from school.

Q. If you're Billy Donovan and you have to stay in the state of Florida, why would you choose Gainesville over Orlando? (Jeffrey Howard; Sacramento, Calif.)

A. Less traffic, more T.G.I. Friday's.

Q. What is better TV, the MLB draft or the first five minutes of any "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood"? (Barry Josowitz; Pittsburgh)

A. Gotta give the nod to Mr. McFeely the delivery man and Cornflake S. Pecially.

Q. Is it true that ring announcer Michael Buffer did the introductions at your latest divorce hearing? (Mike Teneb; Pittsburgh)

A. Pay the man, Shirley.

You, too, can enter the $1.25 Ask The Slouch Cash Giveaway. Just e-mail and, if your question is used, you win $1.25 in cash!

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WHhen she opens her curtains in the morning, Vicki Rochford is greeted by two famous faces.

Plastered on a wall opposite her flat on Strand Road, Ashton, Preston, are celebrities known across the country.

Unfortunately, the people staring back at her aren't really pin-up material and moreover, their posters have been slapped on the wall without permission.

Coronation Street actor Bill Roach and It's A Knock-Out host, Stuart Hall, are currently keeping watch over the traffic flowing between Strand Road and Water Lane.

Huge images of their faces are on the side of Oyston Mill, advertising Oyston's Estate Agents, and Lancashire Magazine -both business interests of the Oyston Group. Both men are regular contributors to the magazine.

But Vicki, 31, an NVQ assessor for Preston College, has had enough of the pair intruding into her living Tiffany Jewellery room.

She said: "They're glaring in my front room window which I don't appreciate.

"I wouldn't mind if it was Robbie Williams or someone that was quite fanciable, but not Bill Roach and Stuart Hall.

"I don't want to be looking at them when I'm sat here eating my Christmas dinner.

"They are huge and they're like flags attached to the building."

Vicki reported it to the council in July, but she is still waiting for action to be taken.

Richard Fulford-Brown, features editor at Lancashire Magazine, admitted there had been an "oversight" but that the matter was being addressed.

He said: "There was a mix-up over a the planning application, but I've been speaking to the planning department and we're making an application for the poster to be there.

"The poster is there to promote the magazine.

"The planning people say they have had one or two complaints from residents who have objected to seeing Stuart Hall and Bill Roach smiling through their windows Replica Girard Perregaux Watches at them.

"People pay their licence fee to see them on the television so we're a bit taken aback."

Earlier this year, plans to redevelop Oyston Mill into apartments were thrown out by Preston Council because of an over-supply of housing in the city.

A spokesman for Preston Council said: "Some advertising boards were placed on Oyston Mill without consent.

"We have told the mill owners that they should apply for advertisement consent or remove the boards."

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Corrections: In our August 2007 issue, Hand Surgeon Donald C. Faust, M.D. was mislabeled. Dr. Faust is also listed in orthopedic surgery and in the Autumn 2007 issue of Louisiana Life magazine.

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In "People to Watch," September 2007 issue, we misspelled Stephen Rehage's name. We regret the error.

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The following chart was mistakenly omitted from Ray Bernard's story, "System Life Cycle Planning," which was featured on page 68 of the March issue of Security Technology Executive.

This chart has been taken from a white paper from lntransa and Ray Bernard, entitled "How to Future- Proof Your Security Video System, available for download at .

To read the full story, The Earrings vist and look for Ray Bernard's story in the March issue's table of contents. All of the charts are included in the online version.

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Here is an excerpt from the article explaining the chart: "New technologies are being developed every year and digital technology trends continue to shorten the pace of new product introductions. This accelerating trend, of which security technology is now a part, is depicted in the Technology Timeline shown below:"

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Corporate Watch is celebrating A Decade of Dirt Digging, so reads the editorial of their latest newsletter: 'It's been ten years (and a bit) since Issue One of Dimmable LED Down Light K1017 - 3x1W / 3x3W Corporate Watch magazine was printed. Cheeky, desperately amateurish, but somehow compelling (or so we like to think), it said something that needed to be said, and still does: that the corporations have already taken over and they're only getting started.' In this special edition, Corporate Watch re-lives the past ten years of keeping companies in check.

Included are awards for the top-ten companies that have displayed heinous, misguided, and altogether antisocial behaviour over the last ten years. Corporate Watch also introduces their poetry Michele Fake anthology, 'This Poem is Sponsored By ...' You can visit online at <>.

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CoreTrace , the creator ofhigh-security / easy-change applicationwhitelisting , announced today that it has been named among NetworkWorld magazine's "Top Ten IT Security Companies toWatch." Published in the November 17th, 2008 issue, the featurehighlighted CoreTrace among the ten up and coming security companies worthwatching in 2009. CoreTrace was the only application whitelisting vendornamed in the feature. Application whitelisting is gaining quick traction inthe industry as the next viable solution in antivirus, as the technologyinherently prevents anything from running on the endpoint that isn't on anapproved whitelist. What sets BOUNCER apart from the competition is thepatent-pending ability to handle change with minimal effort, keepingcomputers secure without straining IT teams. Other vendors highlighted inthe article include Behavioral Recognition Systems, Envysion, GuardianAnalytics, Metaforic, NexTier Networks, NovaShield, Packet Analytics,Purewire, and Rohati Systems.

Based on a unique combination of security and flexibility, theaward-winning BOUNCERtechnology from CoreTrace has received numerous accolades from bothleading IT publications and industry analyst organizations, including a"grade A" from InfoWorld magazine and also being named to the list of "Best Security Productsat DEMO" by PC Magazine. BOUNCER's impressive record against rogueapplications was shown in the recent Defcon "Race to Zero" competition,where the solution stopped 100 percent of all malware created. Unlike otherapplication whitelisting solutions on the market today that are simplylockdown Fake Maurice Lacroix technologies, BOUNCER's unique "TrustedChange" capability enables IT professionals to predefine multiplesources from which users can safely install applications and have themautomatically added to the whitelist -- without any further IT involvementrequired.

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"We are thrilled to be named among Network World magazine's Top TenSecurity Companies to Watch in 2009 and mentioned alongside an impressivelist of leading-edge security companies," said Toney Jennings, presidentand chief executive officer for CoreTrace. "The validation furtheracknowledges our innovative BOUNCER technology as a game-changing antivirusalternative to be reckoned with. It is our belief that 2009 will be theyear that organizations realize that traditional antivirus solutions are nolonger sufficient. The constant threat of malware and zero-day attacks,coupled with the time consuming nature of emergency security patching, willprod IT to seek out other solutions, and BOUNCER is just that."

About CoreTrace

CoreTrace庐 is the creator ofhigh-security / easy-change application whitelisting.The company's BOUNCER(TM) product has received accolades from customers,analysts, and leading publications like InfoWorld, Network World and PCMagazine for a simple reason -- BOUNCER is the only solution thatsimultaneously stops all bad applications while allowing users to easilyadd good ones via its patent-pending "Trusted Change" capability. Theresult is improved security and more productive users at a lower total costof ownership.

For more information about CoreTrace, please visit: .

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