Unbelievable.

Is nothing sacred? The Next Web reports that Gandalf--an absolutely critical figure in most nerds' adolescences, the motherfucking Merlin of the 20th century--has been pimped out to promote Microsoft's line of Windows Phones:

Microsoft has partnered with Wunderman to create new digital, press and outdoor materials, featuring Bilbo Baggins (played by Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) and other characters from first film of trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson.

Warner Bros. has agreed to license the use of the characters in the UK, US, France and Germany — perhaps the most popular markets for devices running Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8 operating system.

All those years of careful brand management and painstaking assembly of arcane deep cuts like the Silmarillion, and now this.

Galadriel would shit herself.

Mr. Dotcom and his "Guilty" Mercedes. (buzzfeed.com)

First he came for the U.S. government, but now it looks like the entertainment industry is next on Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's revenge list. The notorious copyright outlaw took a break from lounging in bubble baths today to leak some compelling details of his U.S. indictment, a few of which shed a damning light on some entertainment industry bigwigs.

Mr. Dotcom shared five emails from companies like Disney, Warner Brothers and Fox with TorrentFreak. The emails reveal that just weeks before a federal investigation into Megaupload was launched, entertainment industry officials were interested in partnering with the company.

The emails indicate that the entertainment industry sought advertising and hosting opportunities on Megaupload. One email from a counsel at Walt Disney shows that, while the company wanted to work to distribute content via Megaupload, they were "uncomfortable with a couple of the provisions of your Terms of Use that we feel may jeopardize our rights in our content."

These new details, along with the claims that U.S. government officials were big Mega fans, muddy an already bizarre case. Mr. Dotcom is still on house arrest awaiting potential extradition from his sprawling Auckland mansion. The New Zealand courts are forcing poor Mr. Dotcom to live on less than $9,000 a week, like some kind of quarantined mid-century pauper.

Mr. Dotcom also claims he is being indicted for hosting a 50 Cent song on Megaupload, which is pretty much the exact kind of music we picture him listening to while lowriding in a Mercedes with a "Guilty" license plate. Get rich or die tryin', indeed.