Kim Kardashian's attorney told a judge on Nov. 28 that the reality starlet is "handcuffed" to her estranged husband, Kris Humphries, and unable to move on with her life because the NBA player continues to seek an annulment but is not ready for trial.

Humphries is blocking more than the basketball these days. The Brooklyn Nets player, whom socialite Kim Kardashian is reportedly trying to divorce (so that rapper Kanye West can marry her), is seeking an annulment instead of a typical divorce.

Due to the legal hoops that must be jumped through, annulments can take longer than divorces, and West reportedly has had it up to here with waiting around. He wants his turn to marry this Kardashian.

It Never Happened

Have you ever wanted to make something just go away? Pretend it never happened? That’s basically what an annulment does to a marriage.

“An annulment is a declaration by a court that there was never a marriage,” explains Dylan S. Mitchell, a partner with Blank Rome LLP in New York. “Unlike a divorce, which focuses on the actions of parties during the marriage, an annulment depends solely upon the actions of one or both parties at the time of the marriage.”

They are very uncommon, at least in New York, Mitchell says. When they do happen, they often involve short marriages and fraud. “Basically, one party will allege that the other fraudulently induced that party to marry based upon a promise, which is usually the promise to have a child,” he says.

“Annulments are disfavored in New York since they result in a declaration that the marriage never legally existed,” Mitchell says. “It’s not available just for the asking, or because one or both don’t want to admit the marriage failed and ended in divorce.”

Aside from fraud, other grounds for getting an annulment might include mental illness of one of the spouses, forced or lack of consent, physical incapacity to consummate the marriage, or bigamy, according to a site dedicated to U.S. marriage laws.

More Hoops to Jump Through

Dylan S. Mitchell

In Kris and Kim’s case, it’s probably taking longer than a divorce would because Kris has more to prove than the fact that the marriage (obviously) didn’t work.

In order to get an annulment, you first have to prove that the underlying problem – fraud, mental illness, etc. – exists. For example, to prove fraud, you would have to show the other person made a false statement, that they knew it was a lie and were trying to trick you, and that you were harmed in some way by the deception.

State laws also require the plaintiff to prove that an annulment is necessary, and it can be challenged by a spouse who doesn’t want it. “A party could effectively fight the annulment and require the plaintiff to prove his or her case at trial,” says Mitchell.

Uncontested? Still Takes Forever

Even if the annulment is not challenged, just one person saying he or she wants it isn’t enough. “There must be other evidence of fact produced to the court,” Mitchell adds. Thus, Kim and Kanye will have to wait.

While annulment makes the marriage itself go away, it doesn’t render any children from the union illegitimate, Mitchell says. And a couple who gets an annulment still has to divvy up their property, since, as he adds, “the court retains the power in an annulment to equitably distribute marital assets, determine separate property, etc. just as it does in a divorce action.”

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[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Showtime's Homeland is a massive hit for the network, and it's for a good reason. 

The show's first season was excellent TV – worth the ~$10/month consumers have to pay to get the network.

But this year's season has been basically terrible due to plot implausibilities, poor acting, and boring story-telling.

Here are four quick reasons why:

• The Dana Brody subplot is super boring. Plus, the actress who plays her can only make one face – the sneering teenager scowl.
• Al Qaeda has a mole in the US Congress, and they use him as an errand boy? In the middle of this season, Al Qaeda sends Nicholas Brody to pickup another mole and take him somewhere. Al Qaeda makes Brody do all kinds of dumb stuff like that. A mole in congress is a hugely valuable asset. Why waste it on stupid chores? Answer: Because plot is hard.
• Character development has halted: Season one was about Brody and Carrie creeping toward instability. This provided narrative arch. In season two, both have spent the entire time whacked out. Carrie cries every episode. Viewers get numb to that stuff.
• The show is riddled with other dumb implausibilities: For example: One minute, the CIA is monitoring all of Brody's calls. The next, Abu Nazir is Skyping him about murdering the Vice President and the CIA has no idea. By the way, Abu Nazir got into the US somehow? And is running around an industrial plant by himself? What?

There is only one solution for Homeland.

They need to kill off Brody and make the show about another CIA case – pronto.

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ComScore, the internet traffic measurement agency, published a white paper today in which it essentially declares war on Nielsen and its panel-based TV audience ratings in favor of a new standard of digital measurement that includes viewers on desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile screens.

Advertisers have for years complained that Nielsen's ratings are inadequate. To measure them, Nielsen utilizes "panels," which are a selected group of households with meters that monitor their TV habits and diaries they fill out with their media consumption. Nielsen then infers the nation's watching behavior from the samples.

The problem is that in many digital media it is possible to know exactly how many people are viewing content at a given time. Only in TV, and a few other old media backwaters, are audiences inferred from samples.

Although Nielsen isn't specifically named in the white paper, TV ratings is the company's bread and butter. ComScore called Nielsen-style measurement "no longer sufficient" and "not feasible" for advertisers who want to know all their customers' watching habits.

Here's the anti-Nielsen broadside within the paper, titled, "Brave New Digital World: A Manifesto for the Future of Digital Media Measurement & Analytics":

All media – including TV – are going digital; measurement must follow the same path.

[ISSUE] Traditional media measurement methods, such as the purely panel-based approach used in TV measurement, are no longer sufficient to measure audiences in today’s multi-platform world. While a panel can be used to develop a credible view of a particular individual medium, using this approach alone has substantial limitations that result in a silo’ed view of the digital universe when multiple media are involved. Development of a single-source panel large enough to de-duplicate audiences across the multiple platforms that exist today is simply not feasible.
 
[SOLUTION] A truly holistic view of digital media consumption – inclusive of TV, desktop computers, smartphones and tablets – requires census-level digital data as a critical input to binding together different media platforms into a unified view of the digital consumer. While panels will remain critical for informing person-based estimates, it is the digital census data that holds the key to understanding the cross-platform audience overlap needed to accurately and effectively synthesize channels into a multi-platform view. comScore’s innovative approach to this problem has created the industry’s first-ever unduplicated multi-platform measurement system that successfully traverses four different screens.

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• Lindsay Lohancurrently owes $16,000 to a storage company after falling behind on paying her monthly bill on a storage unit filled with designer clothes, family heirlooms and potentially embarrassing items. The account is now delinquent and the locker can't be opened until the balance is paid in full, which can't happen because the IRS has frozen her bank accounts due to unpaid taxes. If Lohan doesn't pay up soon, all of her belongings will hit the auction block.
• Mark Wahlberg is working on an untitled hacker film based loosely on the GQ article “The Hacker Is Watching,” about a terrifying, anonymous hacker who goes after the students of a suburban high school.
• The whole Apatow clan, kids included, made it out for the premiere of "This is 40," in which they all star, last night in Los Angeles.
• Russia's Karo cinema chain received a $100M investment for multiplex expansion.
• Former Warner Music Group chief Lyor Cohen is now Kanye West’s close adviser. Cohen, who left Warner Music in September, has been advising West on his music deals, including an upcoming tour. “He’s 100 percent in Kanye’s camp."
• Bruno Mars' “Locked Out of Heaven” has just bumped Rihanna’s “Diamonds” from the number one spot on the Billboard 100 this week. Over on the albums side, Taylor Swift's "Red" is back at No. 1, and only 85,000 people bought Ke$ha’s "Warrior."
• Courtney Love did not approve of Sir Paul McCartney replacing Kurt Cobain on vocals when Nirvana reunited last night in NYC for the 12-12-12 benefit concert at Madison Square Garden — their first show together in 20 years. Cobain's widow says she is "not amused" by Paul's involvement, adding "Look, if John were alive it would be cool." Watch McCartney, 70, join Nirvana on-stage to perform their new song, "Cut Me Some Slack":

SEE ALSO: Google's 10 most searched for movies of 2012 >

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The nominees for the 70th annual Golden Globes Awards have been announced! 

Unlike yesterday's SAG nominations, "Life of Pi," "Django Unchained," and "Zero Dark Thirty" received a little love with both receiving Best Picture nods. 

"Moonrise Kingdom" was also acknowledged – though in the Best Picture, Musical, or Comedy Category along with "Les Misérables." 

While Jennifer Lawrence received a nod for the SAG equivalent of Best Actress in a Leading Role, the "Silver Linings Playbook" actress was instead recognized in the Best Actress in a Musical, or Comedy category – which only makes sense. 

In her place, came a nod for Rachel Weisz in "The Deep Blue Sea." 

And, it's evident that Disney almost certainly has the best animation award in the bag – three of the five nominated are from the Mouse House. What may be the big surprise there is that the very popular "Wreck-It Ralph" actually has a chance at beating Pixar's latest film "Brave."  

Big surprises included: 

• Keira Knightley's "Anna Karenina" receiving a single nomination, but not for its acting.
• "30 Rock" getting a snub for Best Television Comedy.
• "The Newsroom" knocking "Mad Men" from the Best Television Drama category. 

You can check out the full list here.

Best Picture, Drama:
“Argo”
“Django Unchained”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
“Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy:
“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
“Les Misérables”
“Moonrise Kindgom”
“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”
“Silver Linings Playbook”

Best Director:
Ben Affleck, “Argo”
Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”
Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained”

Best Actress, Drama:
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Marion Cotillard, “Rust and Bone”
Helen Mirren, “Hitchcock”
Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”
Rachel Weisz, “The Deep Blue Sea”

Best Actor, Drama:
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”
Richard Gere, “Arbitrage”
John Hawkes, “The Sessions”
Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
Denzel Washington, “Flight”

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy:
Jack Black, “Bernie”
Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Hugh Jackman, “Les Misérables ”
Ewan McGregor, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”
Bill Murray, “Hyde Park on Hudson”

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy:
Emily Blunt, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”
Judi Dench, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Maggie Smith, “Quartet”
Meryl Streep, “Hope Springs”

Best Supporting Actress: 
Amy Adams, “The Master”
Sally Field, “Lincoln”
Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables ”
Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”
Nicole Kidman, “The Paperboy”

Best Supporting Actor:
Alan Arkin, “Argo”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Django Unchained”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”
Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained”

Best Screenplay:
Mark Boal, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Tony Kushner, “Lincoln”
David O’Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained”
Chris Terrio, “Argo”

Best Foreign Language Film:
“Amour”
“A Royal Affair”
“The Intouchables”
“Kon-Tiki”
“Rust and Bone”

Best Animated Feature:
“Rise of the Guardians”
“Brave”
“Frankenweenie”
“Hotel Transylvania”
“Wreck-It Ralph”

Best Television Comedy or Musical:
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Episodes”
“Girls”
“Modern Family”
“Smash”

Best Television Drama: 
“Breaking Bad”
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Downton Abbey”
“Homeland”
“The Newsroom”

Best Actress, Television Drama:
Connie Britton, “Nashville”
Glenn Close, “Damages”
Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Michelle Dockery, “Downton Abbey”
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”

Best Actor, Television Drama:
Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire”
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
Damian Lewis, “Homeland”

Best Miniseries or Television Movie:
“Game Change”
“The Girl”
“Hatfields & McCoys”
“The Hour”
“Political Animals”

SEE ALSO: The most Googled movies of the year >

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More than 2,000 people work for Lucasfilm, which was recently bought by Disney for $4 billion.

This year, they all received a pretty sweet Christmas present from George Lucas. One of those lucky workers posted a picture on Reddit.

It's a 32gb unlocked iPhone 5, a 32gb 3G enabled iPad, a thank you card, and a Lucasfilm pillow.

You can get those Apple gadgets anywhere, but that pillow is priceless.

SEE ALSO: The most expensive movies ever made >

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Ariel Winter is the 14-year-old star of ABC's hit show "Modern Family," but in real life, the teen is at the center of a custody battle within her own messy family.

After alleging verbal and physical abuse by her mother in November, TMZ reports that a settlement has finally been reached outside of court.

Winter, who has been living with her sister Shanelle Workman since the drama began, will remain under her sister's care while her father will now control her estate and finances, reports TMZ.

Winter has been estranged from her father, Glenn Workman, for years and he has previously referred to the young actress as "my retirement surprise child."

While the elder Workman has control over the estate, he must first consult with a group of professional advisers and lawyers who work directly for Ariel before making any moves.

If Workman disagrees with the advisers, a judge will act as tiebreaker.

With her father being awarded financial control and sister getting guardianship, Winter's mother has now been completely cut out of her life.

TMZ reports the shuffle is temporary, but could become permanent in March.

After Wednesday's settlement, Ariel's brother Jimmy Workman told reporters his family would be seeking therapy and counseling and that his father is "happy and thrilled" with the settlement — and so is his mom, for now.

SEE ALSO: Ariel Winter's mom files charges against daughter's boyfriend amid parental abuse allegations >

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Come January 13, "Saturday Night Live" alums and longtime friends Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will take the stage as hosts of the 70th annual Golden Globe awards.

They'll also be competing against each other in the category of "Best Actress, Television Comedy Or Musical" as Fey in nominated for "30 Rock" and Poehler for "Parks and Recreation" — both NBC shows, the same network on which the Golden Globes air.

Fey has previously won two Golden Globes, while Poehler was a nominee last year.

Both actress' lost in 2011 to "Enlightened" star, Laura Dern.

But the NBC stars will be more focused on their hosting technique than their nominations, as the below promo video shows the women testing out different accents and banter.

The video was released just a few hours after Thursday morning's Golden Globe nominations were announced.

Watch the funny 40-second spot below:

SEE ALSO: Snubs and surprises from the Golden Globes nominations >

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For everyone who’s ever been unhappy with the way they look in a picture or on video, there’s almost always someone there to try and comfort them by pointing out that the camera “adds ten pounds” to its subjects.

Sometimes this just excuses actual flabbiness, but some people swear up and down that the phenomenon is real and cameras actually fatten us up. What’s going on?

Flash Problems

A few different things, one simply being the way the subject is shot. Strong, flat light directed straight at a person—like from a bad lighting setup or the camera’s flash—flatten the features of a subject by killing shadows. Those head-on shots of you at the family reunion look bad, in part, because your cousin’s camera flash flattened and fattened you.

The camera itself also shoulders some of the blame. Telephoto and wide angle lenses each distort an image in their own ways. No matter the type lens, though, there’s also the problem of a camera having just one of them.

Seeing in Stereo

Most of us look at the world through two eyes, and our brains take what we see with each one and fuse it into a single image, which allows us to perceive depth. With only one eye—its lens—a camera lacks our accurate depth perception. Unless the photographer creates some illusion of depth by using distance cues, light, and shadow, or by composing their shots in certain ways, the lack of it makes their photos and subjects come out looking flatter than they really are, which also makes them seem wider.

Another difference between a two-eyed view of the world and a one-eyed view that factors in is the way they capture the background behind the subject. Background features hidden from one eye can be seen by its partner, and together they capture overlapping views that a single eye or camera can’t. This means that a single eye has a different perception of the width of the subject relative to the background than two eyes working together.

Michael Richmond, a physics professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, illustrates this effect with a few photos of a coffee mug against a patterned background sheet. He took one photo straight on like the lone eye of a camera would see it, one photo four centimeters to the left of center the way your left eye would see it if your nose was directly at the center and one photo four centimeters to the right of center the way your right eye would see it. He then merged the perspectives of the latter two “eyes” by cutting both those pictures through the center of the mug and fusing the right side of the right eye’s picture with the left side of the left eye’s picture to get something like what the brain would create.

In both pictures, the mug is the same number of pixels across, but there’s a huge difference in the way the camera view and the combined “two-eyed” view capture the background. In the camera view, background appears narrower, and the mug looks much “fatter” against it.

More From Mental_Floss:

7 Ingenious Hidden Spy Cameras

Weird Camera Effects

Does Eating Slowly Help You Lose Weight?

12 Essential American Cartoons

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2012 was hands down the most memorable year ever – and we have 100 reasons to prove it.

From NASA landing a one-ton rover on Mars to everyone doing the "Gangnam Style" dance, 2012 provided us with tons of moments that will never be forgotten.

Click here to see the highlights >

'Call Me Maybe' went viral in January and inspired tons of great parodies and lip dubs.

Check out the best 'Call Me Maybe' parody videos HERE >

Everyone made their own version of 'S--- Girls Say.'

Watch the 10 best "Sh!t People Say" videos HERE >

Honey Boo Boo made her TV debut and taught us about Rednecks.

And people can't get enough of her TV show.

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Today, Taylor Swift turns 23, but you would never know how old the singer actually is based on her love life.

From 18-year-old Conor Kennedy to 35-year-old John Mayer, Swift is no ageist when it comes to who she will date.

Young or old, British or American, Swift really doesn't discriminate in her love life.

But at the age of 23, Swift has already had at least ten high-profile relationships (some more flings, really) that have all ended the same way — in song.

In honor of her 23rd year, let's relive Swift's vast array of boyfriends, shall we?

2008: Taylor Swift, 19 & Joe Jonas, 19

Swift's first Hollywood romance was perfectly age-appropriate. While Swift was just entering emerging onto the pop scene, Jonas, along with his singing and dancing brothers, were at the top of their game.

Between concert stops and personal appearances, Swift and Jonas were spotted spending time together, but neither copped to a romance at the time.

Swift told MTV News of the relationship: "For me, in dealing with things that people write, I try not to let it affect my life ... He's an amazing guy, and anyone would be lucky to be dating him."

But the pair split months later when Jonas reportedly left Swift for his "Lovebug" video co-star Camilla Belle.

It's all good, though, because Swift says "I addressed it, and, you know, that's a chapter in my life that's closed now."

And of course she got a song out of the relationship: "Forever & Always."

2009: Taylor Swift, 20, & Lucas Till, 19

Swift's "You Belong With Me" music video co-star Lucas Till spilled the beans on the not-so-secret, brief relationship: 

"We just really both liked each other ... but most relationships work out 'cause you get along and then you don't, and then you make up and it's passionate. And with us I really just liked her as a friend. That's the only reason that didn't work out."

2009: Taylor Swift, 20, & Taylor Lautner, 17

And here's where she started to slide.

Technically, this relationship was possibly illegal in many states as 20-year-old Swift was dating a minor.

The two met after co-starring in the year's "Valentine's Day" and never publicly admitted they were dating, but were frequently spotted spending lots of quality time together.

In October 2010, Swift revealed her crush: "Taylor Lautner. It's always going to be Taylor."

It's believed that the song "Back To December" is Swift's apology to Lautner for their breakup.

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Model Cameron Russell walked the Victoria's Secret catwalk as an Angel a few weeks ago. 

But she recently showed off her brains instead of her body and gave a talk at a TED conference about the industry. 

Russell, 25, has been a model for eight years. 

But she said it makes her sad when young girls tell her they want to follow in her footsteps. 

"What I really want to say to these little girls, is 'Why? You know, you can be anything,' Russell said. "'Saying you want to be a model when you want to grow up is akin to saying you want to win the Powerball when you grow up."

"I've received all these benefits from a deck stacked in my favor," Russell said. 

Check out her TED talk: 

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What is it? A daily roundup of top headlines, analysis, and video covering the media and entertainment industry. 

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Victoria's Secret Angel Cameron Russell recently gave a TED talk and addressed what it's like to work in the fashion industry. 

"Those pictures aren't me," the 25-year-old model said. "Photoshop is just the beginning; they're a construction." 

To illustrate her point, Russell showed some of the modeling shots she's taken throughout the years and contrasted them with candid shots of her at the time. 

For this shoot, she was 15 and had "never worn a bikini," Russell said. She contrasted it next to a picture of her with her grandmother around the same time: 

A picture of a bikini shoot and Russell with her friend on the same day: 

A shot of her in French Vogue and at a slumber party: 

A sexy shoot with V magazine and Russell with her high school soccer team: 

And one of Russell on the cover of Vogue and in present day: 

DON'T MISS: The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show >

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Digiday was kind enough to ask me to give a presentation on the mobile industry at their conference in New York today.

Aalysts Marcelo Ballvé and Alex Cocotas and I put together the deck with slides from our BI Intelligence chart and data library. 

We've posted the deck here. We hope you enjoy it.

BI Intelligence is a research and analysis service focused on mobile computing and the Internet. Subscribers can download the entire deck as a PDF or PowerPoint, as well as any of the individual charts from the presentation. Please sign up for a free trial here.

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Todd Hoffman was in the wrong business when the markets crashed in fall of 2008.

He leased hangar space at an airstrip outside Portland, Oregon, mostly to corporations.

But travel was one of the first items to get cut once everyone's earnings got squeezed, he says.

Hoffman was hit head-on.

"I started seeing everything go to hell in a hand basket," he told Business Insider in an interview. "It turned out to be desperation. Seeing everything fold around you, companies that never go away start going away."

But while his personal finances were swamped, he saw opportunity based on what he was happening in Washington: As the government agreed to flood markets with cash, the price of gold would go up.

"I'm no rocket scientist, but when you start printing money, start doing the things we're currently doing, ...you can't debase gold, it's common sense."

He'd grown up visiting a gold mine in Fairbanks, Alaska with his father Jack, and while they hadn't experienced overwhelming hauls, he reckoned this was the family's best chance to save their finances. 

"We just kicked it into high gear," he says. "Just tried to kick some ass." 

Rearends, consider yourselves defeated.

Hoffman is now the star of Discovery Channel's "Gold Rush," the highest-rated Friday program on television. The show follows Hoffman and several other mining camps groups as they race through Alaska's fall gold mining season in search of "hitting paydirt." 

Meanwhile, the price of gold has doubled since Lehman.

We recently spoke with Hoffman, a 43-year-old father of three, from his home in Sandy, Oregon to get his take on what it's like to mine gold for a living, and where he thinks the economy is going.

Hoffman admits he'sbeen fortunate. Mining is inherently dangerous — it requires huge earthmoving machines that can prove unreliable, especially if you've tried to build them yourself, as Hoffman did in the earliest days when he barely had enough money for fuel.

"We've had several things almost fall on us, several things almost run us over... perfect safety record," he says with a laugh.

The remote Kodiak locations where the mining takes place can also pose a threat. Hoffman says his daughter at one point experienced a severe seizure — he thinks because of an allergic reaction to bug spray — and had to be airlifted to a hospital.  

Fortune is only part of Hoffman's story. Not everyone can email a London production company with a pitch for a TV show and in the next 12 months become the star of one of the highest-rated shows on cable.

It helped that the production company, Raw, was looking for a new reality show.

But Hoffman's charisma carried the project from glimmer to product.  

"Todd is an intriguing, entertaining guy," Christo Doyle, the executive producer from Discovery Channel in charge of the show, told us.

Raw headed out to Alaska, filmed enough footage to put together a "sizzle reel," or show prospectus, and sent it to Discovery.

Greenlighting it was a no-brainer, Doyle says.

"We fell in love with it right away." 

Since the show first aired in 2010, Hoffman has become an inspirational figure. He says he receives messages from other blue-collar Americans looking to turn their lives around like he has.

"I try to encourage people to go out and try it again," he says, adding, "I've had a hard marriage, we're still together but wasn't easy.So when you realize...when i get those letters, shame on me for wanting to not do it anymore."

He also says faith has played an important role in his perseverance  

"Most of us on our team are Christians, not that we're poster boys for the faith," he says. "But we do encourage a lot of people in our faith...They're watching me, and if i can encourage them by going after it, we might be able to join together and maybe change this economy."

Talking to Hoffman about the economy reveals a man still shellshocked by the crash.

"Our economy is not stable," he says, adding semi-seriously that he's been telling people to stock up on "beans and bullets."

In addition to gold, of course.

"I'm no financial advisor, but I'm getting it, I'm big in it. And i don't sell it."

While gold prices have been slumping lately, he believes they've already hit bottom. "I still think $3,000 an ounce is not out of line."

But whatever glamor he may now have given the mining business, he does not recommend others follow his path.

"Obviously the odds are bad," he says.

Still, nothing can compare to  the sensation of discovering gold after a day's work.

"i don't care what you are, if you shorted stock or bought this biomedical firm, there is nothing more pure and sweet than digging gold out of the ground.

"Because that is something that is real. We've been doing it for thousands and thousands of years, and I'm telling you you can't get any closer to pure asskicking than that."

"Gold Rush" airs Fridays at 9 p.m. EST on Discovery.

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After seeing "Avatar," there was something that seemed slightly familiar.

Cameron has received a lot of flack claiming his beautiful world of Pandora and the Na'vi was nothing more than the equivalent of two '90s animated pictures intertwined. 

Since 2009, he and his company, Lightstorm Entertainment, have also received a flurry of lawsuits from others claiming "Avatar" was their idea.  

Just in case anyone else wants to stake a claim in what Cameron has described as his "most personal film" to date, he wants everyone to know that he had the idea for his film long before both "FernGully" and Disney's "Pocahontas." 

In fact, Cameron claims he's had initial concepts for "Avatar" floating around since the '60s. 

In a lengthy 45-page sworn declaration filed at the end of October, Cameron once and for all laid out the details of how he came up with the idea for Hollywood's blockbuster. 

Rip-offs? No.  

In the document which you can read HERE, Cameron details how basically every single element in his film was inspired from previous artwork, themes, and characters from never produced projects and films made before 1991. 

Essentially, Cameron claims "Avatar" is the byproduct and combination of four early sci-fi projects: "Xenogenesis," "Chrysalis," "Mother," and "Wind Warriors." 

Here are the plot synopses for the three films Cameron claims "Avatar" borrows: 

"Xenogenesis":  

"Xenogenesis is the saga of the voyage of Cosmos Kindred, a mile-long spaceship employing a fusion ramjet interstellar drive unit. In the face of destruction of the Earth, scientists engage in a last-ditch effort to preserve a nucleus of humanity by trying to find a new planet on which to live … "Xenogenesis" explored the concept of actual “linking” between human and machine, or mind-machine interfacing." 

"Chrysalis":

"The script describes a cosmic journey of self-discovery and transcendence taken by a wheelchair-bound man who elects to surgically remove all external sensory input, so that he can journey through his own mind."

"Mother":  

"Humans have plundered Earth and look to exploit another planet. As I wrote in 1980-81: “It was a … plan, born of desperation. For Earth was becoming hell too, crushed beneath a sea of homo sapiens, and they needed new territory. Not simply a new continent: an entire world was required. And so they came.” This effort is spearheaded by an international and interplanetary consortium called Triworld Development Corporation, or “the Company,” which sets up mines on another planet, possibly Venus or an extrasolar planet or moon such as Titan." 

"Wind Warriors":  

"An aviatrix crashes into the Brazilian rainforest and mysteriously disappears. Her daughter travels to the jungle in order to search for her mother and, together with an archaeologist who speaks the language of the natives, hire a bush pilot to take them upriver in his converted World War I bomber plane. They are attacked by mercenaries under the command of a greedy industrialist, who is seeking a mysterious but extremely valuable metal. The industrialist has an airship, which the indigenous warriors believe to be a god, and he uses the airship to make them dig for more of the metal." 

Here are some of the detailed examples Cameron says are borrowed from the films:

"Xenogenesis": 

His idea for Pandora (the world featured in "Avatar") was modeled after another location featured in the late '70s science-fiction script. 

"I modeled Avatar’s Pandora on one of the planets that the characters explore in Xenogenesis. This planet in Xenogenesis, the Luminous Planet, has a beautiful forest with a vast network of interconnected, bioluminescent trees. The human characters cannot survive on this planet because of its deadly atmosphere."

Note that the original idea for Pandora stemmed from a drawing of an alien jungle landscape drawn in 11th grade.  

"For example, in the eleventh grade, I did a pen drawing entitled 'Spring on Planet Flora' ... This drawing depicts an oversized jungle environment of an alien world that I conceived, which I called “Planet Flora.”

"The landscape depicted in “Spring on Planet Flora” is essentially the same in concept and detail to the alien jungle landscape on the moon Pandora, on which much of the action in Avatar takes place." 

Cameron's "Xenogenesis" provided so much detail for Pandora, down to its "translucent stalks" and pastel colors that pop out at night.

"Just as in Avatar, Xenogenesis’s Luminous Planet comes alive at night. As the Xenogenesis script describes: “The planet’s sunlit side seems Earthlike, but the night side glows softly with reticulated radiance of pastels of blue and green.”

The blue Na'vi people are inspired from a painting Cameron did for the film.

"In or about 1979, I did a large painting which shows a tall, thin woman with blue skin, who is wearing skin-tight purple pants … These tall, slender, blue-skinned, and genetically engineered characters became the basis for the appearance of the indigenous people, the Na’vi, and the genetically engineered avatars in 'Avatar.'"

The giant willow tree referred to as "Tree of Souls" in "Avatar" appeared in the script.

"Xenogenesis’s Luminous Planet has a unique sort of willow tree, which is described in the script as “a glorious hybrid of a fiber optics lamp, a sea anemone and a willow; a fountain of gossamer tendrils swing from each delicate stalk.” 

The fact that the plants in "Avatar" are all-knowing.  

"In Xenogenesis, the Luminous Planet itself is sentient – i.e., it can sense and react to others – like Pandora in Avatar. In Xenogenesis, the Luminous Planet reacts to the arrival of the main characters and seeks to trap them and keep them on the planet by lulling them into a state of bliss, like the “Lotus Eaters” of Homer’s epic The Odyssey." 

The "purple dire-horses" in "Avatar"? Yes, those were also in the "Xenogenesis" script.

"Chrysalis":

The idea for Jake Scully originated from the early film concept which also dealt with a disabled, wheelchair-bound man, going through a transcendent journey.

"In or about 1973, I wrote a story called Absense for a college project, which was developed in 1974 into a short film script entitled Chrysalis … The script describes a cosmic journey of self-discovery and transcendence taken by a wheelchair-bound man who elects to surgically remove all external sensory input, so that he can journey through his own mind. In this mental journey, the man is able to stand and finds himself in an alien landscape and a forest full of giant trees."

"Mother":

The idea of a company setting up mines on another planet they plan to exploit.

"I used this same scenario in Avatar: The international consortium called the Resources Development Administration (RDA) sets up mines on Pandora, a moon that orbits an extrasolar planet, whose atmosphere is toxic to humans." 

Cameron's idea for creating a duplicate of an alien life form on another planet (aka an "Avatar") was first seen here.

"Because the planet’s environment is dangerous to humans, a “xenomorph,” my term for a genetically engineered alien creature, is created based on a local life form in order to serve the needs of the Company. As my notes for Mother show, I conceived the idea that these genetically engineered aliens could be used as workers in the mines."

The psychic link to control the Avatars:

"As stated in my notes for Mother, these xenomorphs are controlled via a '“psychic link w/ an ‘adept’ or an 'electronic link w/ a trained controller.' In Avatar, I combined these two ideas to create the technology called “psionic link,” which encompasses both the natural mental power of the individual to link with his genetically matched avatar and the idea of technology used to focus and project that connection over great distances." 

"Wind Warriors" elements included in "Avatar": 

Villains searching for a rare metal who were willing to destroy whoever and whatever (the natives and their jungle) to obtain it. 

Natives fighting with simple weapons as opposed to the powerful machinery of the military.

The air battle that takes place over the jungle. 

Despite all of this, near the end of his declaration, Cameron acknowledges references to outside films and stories including "FernGully" and the story of Pocahontas among others ("Medicine Man," "The Jungle Book," and the sci-fi novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs). 

On page 20, Cameron full out tells us "Avatar" is essentially his own retelling of "Pocahontas":  

"Avatar is a science fiction retelling of the history of North and South America in the early colonial period. Avatar very pointedly made reference to the colonial period in the Americas, with all its conflict and bloodshed between the military aggressors from Europe and the indigenous peoples. Europe equals Earth. The native Americans are the Na’vi. It’s not meant to be subtle." 

Since Cameron wrote his first treatment for "Avatar" in 1995 – the same year "Pocahontas" debuted, and three years after "FernGully" was released – we imagine he began to see his ideas coming to fruition on the big screen and he needed to finally put them to work. 

Cameron held off on production for another decade though after deciding the technology to create the film wasn't readily available. 

So, yes, "Avatar" may have been based on Cameron's ideas, but it was also inspired by the beloved animated classics. 

SEE ALSO: The most expensive movies ever made >

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Naomi Campbell is suing the Daily Telegraph for libel over an article claiming she organised an elephant polo tournament in India.

A spokeswoman for Campbell emphatically denied that the model, who campaigns against animal cruelty, had planned an elephant polo tournament in Jodhpur as stated by the article on 3 November.

The article, headed "Elephant polo at Campbell's party criticised", said celebrity guests at a party thrown by Campbell for her partner, the Russian billionaire Vladimir Doronin, would play the controversial sport in three-a-side teams. The online version of the article has been removed from the Telegraph website.

A spokeswoman for Campbell described the claim as "completely untrue" and said lawyers in London had been instructed to take action.

Campbell formally filed her libel claim against Telegraph Media Group, the publisher of the Daily Telegraph, at the high court on London on 5 December. She has instructed the London law firm Michael Simkins over the article.

Gideon Benaim, a partner of Michael Simkins LLP, said: "We have issued legal proceedings on behalf of Ms Campbell against the Telegraph, who were the original publishers of these allegations. We are instructed to pursue this matter until it is satisfactorily resolved. The allegations caused damage to our client, apart from the widespread repetition of the allegations, there were also protests outside the venue, and Indian government departments who wrote to us.

"However, it seems to me that government authorities and animal welfare groups in India were simply reacting to the untrue claims that had been made. The simple truth is that there was no plan for elephant polo. Ms Campbell did not cancel it because it was never going to happen in the first place. We have as yet no idea where the false claims originated from, perhaps the Telegraph will let us know in due course."

Telegraph Media Group declined to comment.

Campbell fought a marathon legal battle with the Daily Mirror stretching back to 2001, when she won a case for invasion of privacy, breach of confidence and breach of the Data Protection Act after the paper published an article and photographs of her leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.

The court of appeal later overturned that ruling. Then, in 2004, the House of Lords found by a majority of three to two that Campbell's privacy was invaded by the Trinity Mirror-owned paper.

After taking the issue of recovery of success fees by lawyers to the European court of human rights, the Mirror won a unanimous ruling in 2011 that this represented a significant violation of freedom of expression in relation to the Campbell case.

The Daily Mirror was faced with a total bill for £850,000, of which £365,000 represented success fees – although the newspaper reached a settlement on costs for a total of £500,000.

The ECHR said the requirement to pay Campbell's success fees was "disproportionate".

However, the ECHR ruled by six votes to one that there was no breach of the Daily Mirror's freedom of expression in the earlier UK court judgment that the paper had invaded Campbell's privacy.

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Movie fans know well the classic poster for Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining."

It shows Jack Nicholson's grinning face through a jagged hole in a door, as a terrified Shelley Duvall screams on the other side. Some variations feature the ax as well, others do not. The whole movie is encapsulated in that scene.

But that was not the Kubrick's original plan for the movie. Kubrick wanted a poster by graphic designer Saul Bass, who eventually drew a not-so-famous pointillist impression of a terrified child's face inside a big 'T,' which forms the first letter of the name of the movie in big, black type. That poster gives almost nothing away about the film.

And even that poster wasn't Bass and Kubrick's first idea. An exhibition about Kubrick at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art features several rejected Bass prototypes for the movie poster -- and they are beautiful.

In each one, Bass depicts a small detail from the movie in silhouettes made of dots. And each one was rejected. The images were collected by The Fox Is Black, an art and design blog. Writer Bobby Solomon notes that Bass proposed as many as 300 different designs before one was chosen.

Here's Bass's letter to Kubrick, explaining his choices.

This looks a lot like the type of imagery used in "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind," which was released three years earlier in 1977.

Another image that gives little away. Although the tricycle is a big part of the movie, it's not at all clear that the hand is being buried by snow.

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• In the latest issue of Playboy, Matt Damon tells the mag about stripping down and kissing co-star Michael Douglas for his upcoming HBO film "Behind the Candelabra." “Normally I’d say no to nudity, but I just did a lot of it playing the long-term partner of Liberace ... I mean, it’s tastefully done, but this movie’s not going to be for everyone.” Of the married actors' kissing scene, he says "Michael was a wonderful kisser. My concerns ended up mattering a lot less once we were filming."
• "X Factor" judge L.A. Reidwill not be back next season. "I have decided that I will not return to The X Factor next year," confirmed Reid, who is chairman and CEO of Epic Records. "I have a company to run that I've kind of neglected." Of his decision to leave the singing competition, he says, "It saddens me a little bit, but only a little bit."
• After cuddling with Katy Perry in the audience of the Rolling Stones concert Thursday night in New Jersey, John Mayer took the stage to perform with the legendary rockers.
• Disney has settled a class action suit claiming the company failed to pay about 30 employees overtime wages and provide breaks they were entitled to — but a judge must now certify the out of court settlement.
• A reality show called "Best Funeral Ever" is coming to TLC on December 26. The show, which is actually about throwing "funeral parties," follows the employees and clients of Dallas's Golden Gate Funeral Home — where you can get a barbeque-themed coffin, if that's your thing.
• Adelerecorded the "Skyfall" theme song in just ten minutes, because she's just that talented. "She had the lyrics ready in her head when she drove over," says says Paul Epworth, the Grammy-winning producer behind the singer's super successful "21" album. "It was the most absurd thing. She's fast, but it was really quite phenomenal."
• Despite two marriages, Sean Penn tells Esquire magazine he feels he's never been loved.  "When you get divorced, all the truths that come out, you sit there and you go, " 'What the f--- was I doing? What was I doing believing that this person was invested in this way?'"

SEE ALSO: James Cameron swears he didn't rip off the idea for 'Avatar' >

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