Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Gift-giving, etc:

How to drop a man a hint about gifts: "Subtlety is lost on a man," says W-BRUCE CAMERON, author of "How to Remodel a Man." His tips to Woman's Day magazine include:
   --Being direct. When you show him something and say you love it, it won't register. Instead, circle what you like in catalogs.
   --Get him in the mood. Most men don't think about gifts until crunch time. So have a more general discussion early, or hit the stores together and consider a gift you can share, such as a stereo.
   --Be honest. Ask him what he's thinking about getting you, so you have a chance to kill really bad ideas.

Holiday Survey Sez:

Respondents to a Woman's Day /AOL online survey were asked, "Who's the hardest person to buy a holiday gift for?"
   --Husband/boyfriend: 32%
   --Other: 20%
   --Mom: 15%
   --Mother-in-law: 14%
   --Teenage relative: 14%
   --Best friend: 5% (Kaye)

The Internet:

Federal authorities seized more than 80 web sites yesterday in a massive crackdown on counterfeit items sold on the internet, including sports equipment, shoes, hangbags, sunglasses, and illegal copies of DVDs, music and software. Billions of dollars are lost in the American economy every year as a result of knockoffs and counterfeit merchandise.
    Though most of the goods are made in China, the domain names were registered in the United States, allowing American agents to shut down the sites and seize the domain names.
   If you tried to get on one of the confiscated web sites yesterday during a Cyber Monday shopping frenzy, you would have seen a banner on the site saying that the site had been seized by the Feds. (Maiman)
   Editor's note: There goes those fake Rolex watches I was planning to give everybody for Christmas.

Sucking the life out of the wire services:

We're just starting to get to those end-of-the-year lists, and Microsoft's Bing search engine has compiled the most-searched celebrities this year. Top five:
5. Barack Obama
4. Lady Gaga
3. Tiger Woods
2. Sandra Bullock
1. Kim Kardashian
   The next five most popular search terms were "hairstyles," Kate Gosselin, Walmart, Justin Bieber and "free," in that order.

Broadcast, cable and video news:

More reasons not to watch BARBARA WALTERS' annual "10 Most Fascinating People" special next month.
   ABC says she'll be profiling the cast of "The Jersey Shore" along with former AK Gov SARAH PALIN, JUSTIN BIEBER, BETTY WHITE, SANDRA BULLOCK, LeBRON JAMES, new "American Idol" judge JENNIFER LOPEZ and PRINCE WILLIAM's fiance, KATE MIDDLETON.
   That still leaves one more name, which is always a surprise unveiled the night of the special --Dec 09.

Making the rounds in Tinseltown:

ANNE HATHAWAY and JAMES FRANCO have signed on to emcee the 83rd annual Oscar Awards.
   Both actors are Oscar hopefuls (Franco for his performance in "127 Hours" and Hathaway for "Love and Other Drugs") but the news is also seen as an effort to improve Oscar ratings with the young actors.
   Hathaway and Franco's combined age of 60 is five years less than STEVE MARTIN's age. He co-hosted the show with ALEC BALDWIN last year.
   The Oscars will be telecast live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood Feb 27 on ABC. (Maiman)

Aliens and anal probes:

A guy in Michigan claims to own an ice meteorite with alien life-forms living in it (picture).
   AOL News says 65-year-old DUANE P. SNYDER claims he found the rock in the middle of the road 10-years ago. Snyder said, "I prayed for Jesus to send me an ice meteorite, because I knew it would be quite valuable."
   Duane plans to officially announce his alien discovery to the world today (Tuesday) at the Ramada Inn in South Haven, Michigan.
   Snyder --a former Air Force mechanic-- has a website too (here). Apparently, anyone can log on and purchase "lab reports" and authentic photos of his extraterrestrial "Clear Snakelike Life Form." (Still)