• … it became a trending topic for no reason. The world’s richest dude, the Microsoft founder who spent 30 years being incredibly cutthroat before finally giving in to the philanthropy bug, joined Twitter today, in large part because he wanted to help Haiti. Among the 40 or so people he’s following: Ryan Seacrest, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, Wired editor Chris Anderson, CNET Microsoft writer Ina Fried (who’s probably the only transsexual technology writer out there), and “High School Musical” star Ashley Tisdale. Quite the motley crew. source

• Jay’s side of the story: Pretty honest, not douchebaggy, not trashing on NBC, not trashing on Conan, respectful. Why do we hate him again? Oh, it’s because he’s not funny.

• 3D is going to be the future. The one thing ‘Avatar’ could do because of its success – especially its critical success – is give permission to other filmmakers to think of 3D.
• “Avatar” director James Cameron • Regarding his wins at the Golden Globes last night – including best director and best film drama. The awards show favored crowd pleasers over arthouse flicks – “The Hangover” won best film comedy, and Sandra Bullock’s popular role in “The Blind Side” won best film actress in a drama. But really, Haiti was on the minds of the stars at the awards gala, with many wearing ribbons and giving words of support to the devastated country. source

• “Titanic was a ship. Avatar’s a rocket ship.” That’s how Chris Aronson, Fox’s senior vice-president of domestic distribution, put the success of “Avatar,” which is showing few signs of slowing down weeks after its release. It’s quite possible it could pass Titanic’s $601 million total by the beginning of February. Here are some numbers on the horse race with history:

Worldwide totals so far

• $1.6
  billion already, after just five weeks of release – holy freaking crap!
• $237
  million needed to topple “Titanic” and its $1.8 billion worldwide total

North American stats

• $41.3 million the film’s weekend box office after five weeks of release
• $491.8 million the film’s total box office – it should top $500 million Monday
• 32
  days time it will take “Avatar” to reach that total – it took “Titanic” 98 source

• Wyclef tries really hard to defend his charity here, but before you believe every word you read here, we want to note that while the Haitian pop star is definitely sincere, there has been a lot of waste in his organization in the past, as Gawker notes. source

• Dick Ebersol is the kind of flamboyant exec with strong opinions about things — some of which, including comedy, he knows little about. This is the guy who, when he took over “Saturday Night Live” in the early ’80s, thought that then-‘SNL’-writer Larry David was talent-less.
• Entertainment Weekly TV columnist Ken Tucker • Working to neuter the folklore of the “Conan failed because he sucked” story perpetuated by NBC Sports exec Dick Ebersol. Ebersol ran “Saturday Night Live” back in the early ’80s, an era noted by the brand’s pure suckitude. It was only after Lorne Michaels returned to the throne that the show’s comedy started to improve again. Ebersol’s trying hard to sully Conan’s image, but it won’t wash. It’s too late for the backlash. Tucker makes an even better point – Ebersol is perfectly happy that the Olympics are going to lose money, despite the fact that he chided Conan for being a huge failure almost immediately after he started. Double-standard? source

• $30 million in golden parachute money for the redhead source

• We think we understand why ‘American Idol,’ which dedicates itself to discovering new talent, would impose this restriction. But is the show being unfair to prospective contestants, or even shooting itself in the foot?
• New York Times culture writer Dave Itzkoff • Suggesting “American Idol” has hurt itself with the age limit restriction. Beyond General Larry Platt, the 63-year-old “Pants on the Ground” supergenius (who has a killer backstory), it’s worth noting that “Britain’s Got Talent” star Susan Boyle has sold WAY more records than any recent “Idol” winner, and she’s 48. Maybe that’s why Simon Cowell is leaving – “The X Factor” doesn’t have an arbitrary age restriction that lends itself to a cookie-cutter effect. source

• Again, it’s certainly looking like Conan has the emotional upperhand, even as his show goes down the tubes thanks to NBC. While NBC Sports executive Dick Ebersol (who, as proven by his stay on SNL, wouldn’t know funny if it hit him in the face) savaged Conan in a New York Times article, saying “what this is really all about is an astounding failure by Conan,” Conan put his show up on Craigslist – a joke funnier than anything Jay Leno has come up with in about a decade. We hope Comcast fires Ebersol and Jeff Zucker, execution-style. source