Rupert Murdoch, apparently not content to destroy The Wall Street Journal and Newsday (and, in the process, The New York Times) has resorted to hiring hackers. From our friends at Reuters (via Mashable):

A computer hacker testified on Wednesday that a News Corp. unit hired him to develop pirating software, but denied using it to penetrate the security system of a rival satellite television service. Christopher Tarnovsky — who said his first payment was $20,000 in cash hidden in electronic devices mailed from Canada — testified in a corporate-spying lawsuit brought against News Corp's NDS Group by DISH Network Corp.

The plaintiffs claim Tarnovsky, one of the "two best hackers in the world," was tasked with hacking into DISH's satellite network and stealing code which would then allow the NDS Group to flood the market with knock-off smart cards. Had he succeeded, the estimated cost to DISH would have been $900 million.

Tarnovsky says he's been on the Harper Collins payroll for the past 10 years.

UPDATE: We called Erin Crum, director of corporate communications at Harper Collins, for comment. She was unaware of the story and said she call us back. After waiting 30 minutes, we called her back and she said she had no comment, citing the fact that "it's a News Corp. lawsuit." Calls to News Corp.'s PR have yet to be returned.

UPDATE: Teri Everett, senior vice president corporate affairs & communications, emails us the following statement:

Statement from NDS on Echostar Litigation

The Echostar litigation dates back to 2002 and involves allegations which NDS has vigorously denied. Our position remains the same. There is no validity to these allegations. A significant proportion of the claims have already been dismissed over the years.

The litigation process and associated discovery have only strengthened NDS' position that we had nothing to do with the Echostar piracy. The hacking of Echostar was the result of inferior technology arising from inadequate investment in research and development by Kudelski. NDS, on the other hand, invests heavily in research and development — at that time we reinvested over 30 percent of our revenues into R&D — and the result is that we have zero piracy and the platforms of our customers are completely secure.

We are confident our position will be upheld at trial.

Remember Jessica Cutler? You know, "Washingtonienne"?

The Senate aide-turned-sex blogger had her 15 minutes of fame a few years back when Wonkette discovered her story and outed her? Remember afterwards when Cutler and Ana Marie Cox were BFFs for two days? And then how Cutler released a book that sunk like a lead zepplin?

It looks like she's working as an escort these days. The New York Post discovered that Cutler is listed as an escort by NYC-based Wicked Models, operated by the Eliot Spitzer-linked Kristin "Billie" Davis.

Unfortunately, the Wicked Models site is borked right now, but that's Cutler's picture to the right. Here's her description:

Brooke is an All-American brunette with long dark hair and big green eyes. She has the benefits of an Ivy League education. With her good looks and background, she is a great companion for any gentleman. Rates start at $1,000 per hour, please call or email to schedule: 212-xxx-xxxx - xxx@hotmail.com

Incall available to select clients.

Google cache available here.

Darlene Rodriguez's police officer husband being accused of rape... We've covered it before.

It turns out that, yesterday, she accompanied husband David Rodriguez when he turned himself in on charges relating to raping a 17-year-old-girl.

The host of Today in New York told her fellow reporters, "I just want to say I know a lot of you and a lot of you know me. I'm here to support my husband [...] I believe in him. I love him. He's innocent 100 percent."

The 17-year-old girl he allegedly raped was also able to distinguish identifying features of his genitalia, including a shaved pubic area. Uhh, Darlene... he might not be "innocent 100 percent." Hate to tell ya, but it kind of sounds like he's not.

Also, for the sake of disclosure, the 17-year-old was living with a 35-year-old boyfriend who was rumored to be a drug dealer and who had just been arrested for assaulting her. One thing is for sure: There is more to this story than what has been reported.

Over at Eater they just obtained a pic of the Client #9 on tap over the popular Lower East Side bar/restaurant (heh) Spitzer's Corner. Meanwhile, Gobble snapped a pic of this wonderful sign at Eisenberg's Sandwich shop and did a genius interview with owner Josh Konecky to boot:

Me: So, who came up with the sandwich?

Josh Konecky, owner [He is wearing his customary ponytail, and a loud
shirt bearing the print of hundreds of swirling cups of coffee]: Spitzer came up with it. [pause]. No, I came up with it. Did you already order?

Me: Yeah. I didn't order the tongue.

Konecky: What'd you order? The chicken?

Me: No, the roast beef.

Konecky: A lot of people don't like tongue. Tongue is delicious! Funny how people will eat one part of the cow, but not another.

Me: So how many have you sold today?

Konecky: A couple. [Gestures to the lunch counter]. Someone's eating one over there right now. [Another regular walks in.] Jim, you gonna order The Spitzer?

Jim: [Looks up at a neon orange sign advertising the sandwich, "You
just gotta try Sandwich No. 9," clenches fist, grins and softly taps
the counter with his fist]. Yeah, I'll have mine with mustard!

Previously: Bars & The News Cycle II: Spitzer Drink Special Edition

As previously reported, Conrad Black is now Prisoner 18330-424 of the Coleman Federal Corrections Institute. You see, due to Black's foreign citizenship he's viewed as a "criminal alien" — which bars him from Martha Stewart-style prison camps. Instead, he's being sent to a minimum security prison. Portfolio visited Coleman and found out what Lord Black can look forward to:

Black is said to be quite fit these days, and there's good news at Coleman on that front: There are aerobics classes, stationary bicycles, a music center with a piano, drums, guitar and accordion, pool tables, boccie ball, shuffleboard, horseshoes, and a ping-pong table. The hobby craft center offers beadwork and leatherwork.

Meanwhile, the Silicon Alley Insider is using Black's incarceration to call for internet access in jail. We're not opposed to it in theory — but something tells us that the SAI's Henry Blodget is unaware of the expensive collect call rates that cost the families of American prisoners an average of $3-$5 for a 15 minute telephone call — something that effects rehabillitation rates much more.

The rich go to prison in much different circumstances than you or me.

Conrad Black is officially heading to jail. He was denied bail on Thursday, while his two co-defendants were allowed to remain free on bond. Black's first day in prison will be Monday.

Starting on Monday, Conrad Black will become Prisoner 18330-424 of the Coleman Federal Corrections Institute. However, before he enters the pen, Black is throwing a farewell party at his Palm Beach mansion. Meanwhile, his wife Lady Black is celebrating capitalism:

"She has bought a dog, which is a big thing in her life. They were both getting on fabulously well. She has probably been prepared for a bad ending longer than he has. She tends to be more pessimistic," he said.

The Palm Beach Daily News reported in its gossip column that Lady Black had spent $250,000 on the new collection by fashion designer Oscar de la Renta.

Well, that's what happens when you commit white collar crime.

LINKED PHOTOS BELOW NSFW.

Website Wired.com has obtained a cache of previously unreleased pictures from Abu Ghraib. The pictures were given to the magazine by psychologist Philip Zimbardo, the man behind the Stanford Prison Experiment and an expert defense witness for court-martialed Abu Ghraib guard Chip Frederick. Zimbardo was giving a lecture at the Monterey, CA TED Conference, which Wired.com is liveblogging.

The photo set Wired.com acquired contains pictures of American soldiers posing with decaying corpses, prisoners covered in feces, prisoners being attacked by dogs, prisoners being forced into simulated sex acts and various depictions of torture. Again, NSFW.

(Obdisc: This editor has written for Wired.com in the past.)

(Image via Wired.com)

We briefly mentioned earlier that New York Times ombudsman Clark Hoyt publicly slammed Bill Keller over the John McCain affair article. Hoyt sampled some of the reaction the newspaper received from readers:

Marilyn Monaco of Philadelphia, one of more than 2,400 readers to comment on The Times's Web site, said the newspaper "has sunk below its standards and created a salacious distraction from an otherwise substantive campaign. And for the record, I am an Obama supporter." Terry Bledsoe of Sun Lakes, Ariz., said, "I am most disappointed in The New York Times for engaging in this sort of trash-the-candidate journalism." A minority of readers applauded the article. "Bravo to The Times for integrity and guts," said Rick Gore of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

However, NYU's Jay Rosen claims that the Times was (barely) within their moral rights by publishing the piece even as a Fox News pundit called for Bill Keller to step down. Ex-Wonkette Megan Carpentier has a whole lot to say over at Glamour, as well.

And finally, we're not going to write anything about Ralph Nader. Sorry.

We woke up this morning to find a detailed takedown piece of John McCain in the New York Times. Fine. But the article itself was a construct of smoke and mirrors that promised much and delivered little.

The Times implied that McCain was involved in a romantic relationship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman:

Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.

However, no evidence was given by the newspaper to support this. In the piece, the Times went on to criticize McCain for:

Meet John Lavine (pictured), dean of Northwestern University's journalism school. He's in hot water for allegedly fabricating quotes from students for the alumni magazine. We are writing this in complete seriousness. A j-school dean is being investigated for falsifying quotes for a university PR publication.

If you want to see the articles for yourself (which, we must warn you, are standard alumni magazine material), they may be found here in PDF format.

On February 11, Northwestern journalism student David Spett published an article in The Daily Northwestern that opened the dean to questioning:

Nearly every guide to journalism ethics says anonymous quotes should be avoided. So when I saw Medill Dean John Lavine had used three of them in two columns for Medill magazine, I was surprised.

One quote, in last spring's issue, is attributed to a Medill junior [...] The quote reads: "I came to Medill because I want to inform people and make things better. Journalism is the best way for me to do that, but I sure felt good about this class. It is one of the best I've taken, and I learned many things in it that apply as much to truth-telling in journalism as to this campaign to save teenage drivers."

I see no reason for the quote to be anonymous. Many newspapers print their rationale for granting anonymity, but there was no such explanation here.

The phrasing also struck me as odd, and an instructor at Medill, who insisted upon remaining anonymous for fear of retaliation, told me that Lavine often uses the phrase "sure felt good" colloquially. I searched my e-mail and found one message the dean sent to Medill students, dated Oct. 23, 2007, that contained the phrase "we sure want you to know."

Still, these suspicions hardly amount to evidence of the quote's inauthenticity. So I contacted all 29 students in the class, reading the quote and asking whether they said it. (Only five were Medill juniors.)

All the students denied saying the quote, even when I promised not to print their names.

Now the story is being covered in the national media. Spett was just interviewed by NPR. Professors at the school are calling Lavine's quotes "a crisis" and "embarassment." Members of the school's faculty have even e-mailed a group statement to Romenesko.

However, Northwestern University coincidentally renewed Lavine's contract a few weeks before the allegations broke. It's funny how those things work, isn't it?

(Image via Chicago Reader)