Actor Corey Haim Reported Dead

Actor Corey Haim, best known for roles in movies like the Lost Boys, License to Drive, and many others (a number of which also featured Corey Feldman), has reportedly been found dead of an apparent drug overdose. 

>>> You can leave your condolences on FamousDead.com.

The LA Times reports:

The Los Angeles Police Department said Haim, 38, was pronounced dead after 3 a.m. at a Burbank hospital. He had been living in the San Fernando Valley.

Details of his death were not immediately available. The L.A. coroner’s office was investigating. A police spokesman said more details would be available later.

Haim connected with his fans through social media, specifically a MySpace page, which currently has 4,253 friends.

The "about me" section reads:

The real Corey Haimster here! I asked Jenny J to set this up for me, so here it is. I’ll be checking in to read all your shout outs & when I get the time, I’ll leave a message for you all. Thanks for hitting my MySpace page!
Love & peace out,
Corey

"Actor Corey Haim" and "Lost Boys" are currently both trending topics on Twitter.

Haim’s latest movie American Sunset premiered in Las Vegas in January. He had also been seen in the realty TV show The Two Coreys with Feldman. More on Haim here.

Social Bookmarking Strategy To More Traffic

Anyone who’s sneered at the idea of using the iPad as video-watching device, citing the laptops, desktop monitors, and TVs that offer larger viewing areas, might have to reconsider their stance on the grounds of "something’s better than nothing."  MySpace intends to let iPad users see at least the occasional movie trailer before everybody else.

Today marks the first time that this is occurring, with iPad users getting to view what’s been billed as the "exclusive debut" of the Resident Evil: Afterlife trailer.  At some point, iPad users should get the opportunity to see a trailer for Step Up 3D prior to the general public, too.

Of course, this tends to raise the question of how MySpace intends to separate out its regular visitors from iPad users, and on the MySpace Blog, COO Mike Jones addressed the issue by writing, "[U]sers who visit MySpace.com through the iPad Web browser will see specially customized content."

Jones also promised, "iPad users can also view full 1080p HD trailers for some of the most highly anticipated movies of the year . . ."

So it looks like MySpace – along with Google, Yahoo, and just about every other company in the world – will be trying hard to win over iPad users.  It should be interesting to see what the social network can achieve.

Google Adds Real-Time Results From MySpace

Google and MySpace have taken the real-time plunge.  This afternoon, Google implemented the MySpace Real-Time Search API, meaning that searchers can now find all sorts of content moments after it’s created on the social network.

A MySpace representative wrote in an email to WebProNews, "Beginning today, when users perform a search on Google, publicly available MySpace stream updates will appear in Google’s Real-Time search results.  The results provide a live snapshot of what our users are thinking and doing as it relates to any given search topic, and results are ranked so that only the freshest and most relevant data appears."

You can see an example of how this works below.  As for what sorts of MySpace stream updates are on tap, searchers can expect to come across blog posts, status updates, and photos (again, so long as they’re publicly available).

This is an interesting and possibly beneficial move for all involved.  Thanks to it, Google and its users will get access to more of the world’s information, even as MySpace and its users stand to gain from the additional exposure.

Then here’s one other thing worth noting: while Google can now provide its users with updates from both Twitter and MySpace, Facebook still hasn’t been brought into the fold.

MySpace’s CEO Out

Owen Van Natta, who only joined MySpace in April of last year, will no longer serve as its CEO.  Reports indicate that he’s in fact been fired, and MySpace has at least confirmed that Jason Hirschhorn and Mike Jones, who reported to Van Natta, are becoming co-presidents.

This series of developments comes as a big surprise.  Just one week ago, rumor had it that Hirschhorn might leave MySpace due to tension with Van Natta.  But according to Kara Swisher, News Corp. Chief Digital Officer Jon Miller then became involved, and after talking to all three men, wound up sacking the CEO.

So let’s discuss MySpace’s new co-presidents.  Before becoming MySpace’s chief product officer, Hirschhorn filled executive positions at both Sling Media and MTV.  Jones founded Userplane prior to becoming MySpace’s chief operating officer, and also worked for AOL following an acquisition.

Both men have done well at MySpace, too.  Miller stated with respect to Van Natta’s semi-replacements (remember the difference in titles), "Mike and Jason have demonstrated true leadership in their operational and product guidance, respectively, and I have the utmost confidence in both of them to lead MySpace into its next chapter."

Hirschhorn and Jones said, "We joined MySpace last April with very a specific set of goals in mind, and are anxious to continue working together to make those goals a reality.  This business is now pointed in the right direction, and we have a great team of employees that will continue to push MySpace closer to its potential as the place where people go to be discovered and to discover great content."

Age Differences Between MySpace and Facebook Users