Yearly Archives: 2015

July 27, 2015

Top News Stories –

Vladimir Putin says Sepp Blatter deserves Nobel Prize –
Vladimir Putin has said that Sepp Blatter deserves to win the Nobel Prize and does not believe a word of the corruption allegations against the Fifa president. In an interview with Swiss broadcaster RTS, the Russian president gave his full support to the Fifa president just days after Mr Blatter had assured him that Russia had Fifa’s “complete trust” as hosts of the next World Cup finals in 2018. Mr Putin added that he believed that bribery scandal being investigated by US, Swiss and other law enforcement agencies was as a result of the failure of England and the US to win the rights to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. [Daily Telegraph]
Vladimir-PutinVladimir Putin

Norwegian court orders bank to cover man’s £23k lap-dance and drinks bill –
A Norwegian court has ordered a bank to cover a £23,400 drink and lap-dance bill run up by one man during a night at a Polish strip club. The court made the decision after it concluded he had been drugged and could not be held responsible for his actions. Sparebank 1 will now have to make up for its client’s losses even though an investigation by Polish police into the incident at the club in the up-market seaside town of Sopot has been discontinued. The court rejected Sparebank’s argument that the man was responsible for how he spent his money, saying all the evidence suggested he was doped, and therefore a victim. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

The High Voltage Ejector Bed

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #3YearsOfFifthHarmony #DirtyWorkMusicVideo Sergio Romero
2 #OTRAMinneapolis #WhenTrumpIsElected #3YearsOfFifthHarmony
3 #LaPeliQueMeHizoLlorar WWGTM #mondaymotivation
4 Martinoli #3YearsOfFifthHarmony #BobbiKristina
5 Sergio Romero #BuyBEAToniTunes Conley Thompson
6 #dirtyworkmusicvideo #mondaymotivation Khloe Kardashian
7 Bugs Bunny #ImStrongestWhen #OTRAMinneapolis
8 #CiteCoisasQueOdeiaNoFacebook #IWasSoHighOneDay #ImHardLeft
9 Gago Bugs Bunny #jaiappreciationday
10 #MexicanPartyCopaOro Google+ Lord Sewel

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July 28, 2015

Top News Stories –

Cecil the lion’s killer revealed as American dentist –
Cecil the lion – the most famous creature in one of Zimbabwe’s national parks – was killed by an American hunter who has boasted about shooting a menagerie of animals with his bow and arrow. Walter James Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, is believed to have paid £35,000 to shoot and kill the much-loved lion with a bow and arrow. The animal was shot on July 1 in Hwange National Park. Two independent sources have confirmed the hunter’s identity to the paper, which has also seen a copy of the relevant hunting permit. [Daily Telegraph]

Yahoo launches Livetext messaging app to rival Snapchat and WhatsApp –
Yahoo’s unveiled a messaging app to take on the likes of Snapchat, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Livetext will allow users to exchange live video, text and emoticons, but without audio. The app is available now for Apple and Android devices in the UK, US, Canada, Germany and France. Yahoo says video calls can be better than texts for expressing emotions, but their audio component makes private conversations public. With Livetext, you message friends by typing, just like texting, but you see video of friends without the audio. [BBC Newsbeat]

Clive Rice: Former South Africa and Notts captain dies aged 66 –
Former South Africa and Nottinghamshire captain Clive Rice has died aged 66.
Rice was South Africa’s first skipper in one-day cricket after their readmission in 1991 following their sporting isolation during apartheid. The all-rounder played for Nottinghamshire between 1975 and 1987, winning the County Championship in 1981 and 1987, and was later appointed coach at Trent Bridge. He had been ill with a brain tumour. Rice was 42 when he made his official international debut and played only three ODIs, despite an outstanding first-class record which saw him average 40.95 with the bat and 22.49 with the ball. [BBC] (See List of the Day)

Video of the Day –

Angry Birds 2 – Official Gameplay Trailer

List of the Day –

Clive Rice career statistics

Competition ODI FC LA
Matches 3 482 479
Runs scored 26 26331 13474
Batting average 13.00 40.95 37.32
100s/50s 0/0 48/137 11/79
Top score 14 246 169
Balls bowled 138 48628 17738
Wickets 2 930 517
Bowling average 57.00 22.49 22.63
5 wickets in innings 0 23 6
10 wickets in match n/a 1 n/a
Best bowling 1/46 7/62 6/18
Catches/stumpings 0/- 401/- 175/-
Source: CricketArchive, 18 January 2008

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #ExcusasCuandoLlegoTarde #CecilTheLion Ribena
2 Diego Barisone #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter
3 #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter Reyes #RuinAWestern
4 #شي_حلو_بحرف_ال… Tulo #unexcitingmovies
5 #فريق_متسحيل_ت�… #RuinAWestern #CecilTheLion
6 #ruinawestern #UnexcitingMovies #GetCalibraskaOniTunes
7 #AmoFuertementeQue Tom Brady #AskLydia
8 #nochedeconfesiones Safaree #GBBO
9 Safaree #BatmanDatingProblems #TechTuesday
10 Hot 97 #CaliforniaMusicVideo House of Lords

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July 29, 2015

Top News Stories –

Windows 10 launch: Microsoft releases new operating system –
Microsoft starts rolling out its new operating system, Windows 10, to customers around the world today, with members of its ‘Insider’ programme being the first to receive the free upgrade. Following a hostile reception to Windows 8, which launched in 2012 and introduced the concept of ‘live tiles’ for touch-based computing, Microsoft decided to bypass Windows 9 and jump straight to Windows 10, combining what it describes as the “best elements” of Windows 7 and Windows 8. Live tiles still feature in Windows 10, offering shortcuts to the user’s favourite applications, but are far less obtrusive than in Windows 8. Microsoft has also brought back the Start menu from Windows 7, allowing users to browse through a list of their most-used programs. [Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day
Windows 10 logo

Gerard Depardieu banned from Ukraine for supporting Russia over Crimea –
Gerard Depardieu has been banned from Ukraine for five years for making public comments suggesting he supported Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The Ukrainian Security Service, the country’s main successor agency to the KGB, said the 66-year old French film star had been added to a blacklist of public figures considered hostile to Ukraine in its on-going confrontation with Russia. “The SBU has decided to ban Mr Depardieu for 5 years on the recommendation of the ministry of culture,” agency spokesman Elena Gitlyanskaya said. [Daily Telegraph]
Gérard_DepardieuGerard Depardieu

Video of the Day –

1 Man + 12 Hairstyles

List of the Day –

Windows Operating Systems history [from Wikipedia]

Date Title Architecture
20 November 1985 Windows 1.0 x86 – 16-bit
9 December 1987 Windows 2.0 x86 – 16-bit
27 May 1988 Windows 2.10 x86 – 16-bit
13 March 1989 Windows 2.11 x86 – 16-bit
22 May 1990 Windows 3.0 x86 – 16-bit
20 October 1991 Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions x86 – 16-bit
6 April 1992 Windows 3.1 x86 – 16-bit
27 October 1992 Windows for Workgroups 3.1 x86 – 16-bit
27 July 1993 Windows NT 3.1 IA-32, DEC Alpha, MIPS
8 November 1993 Windows for Workgroups 3.11 x86 – 16-bit
21 September 1994 Windows NT 3.5 IA-32, DEC Alpha, MIPS
30 May 1995 Windows NT 3.51 IA-32, DEC Alpha, MIPS, PowerPC
24 August 1995 Windows 95 IA-32
24 August 1996 Windows NT 4.0 IA-32, DEC Alpha, MIPS, PowerPC
25 June 1998 Windows 98 IA-32
5 May 1999 Windows 98 SE IA-32
17 February 2000 Windows 2000 IA-32
14 September 2000 Windows ME IA-32
25 October 2001 Windows XP IA-32
25 October 2001[1] Windows XP 64-Bit Edition (v2002) Itanium
31 October 2002 Windows XP Media Center Edition IA-32
28 March 2003[2] Windows XP 64-Bit Edition (v2003) Itanium
24 April 2003 Windows Server 2003 IA-32, x64, Itanium
30 September 2003 Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 IA-32
12 October 2004 Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 IA-32
25 April 2005 Windows XP Professional x64 Edition x64
6 December 2005 Windows Server 2003 R2 IA-32, x64, Itanium
8 July 2006 Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs IA-32
8 November 2006 Windows Vista for Business use IA-32, x64
30 January 2007 Windows Vista for Home use; released in fifty countries IA-32, x64
7 November 2007 Windows Home Server IA-32, x64
27 February 2008 Windows Server 2008 IA-32, x64
22 October 2009 Windows 7 IA-32, x64
22 October 2009 Windows Server 2008 R2 x64
6 April 2011 Windows Home Server 2011 x64
4 September 2012 Windows Server 2012 x64
26 October 2012 Windows 8 IA-32, x64
26 October 2012 Windows RT ARM
18 October 2013 Windows 8.1 IA-32, x64
18 October 2013 Windows RT 8.1 ARM
18 October 2013 Windows Server 2012 R2 x64
29 July 2015 Windows 10 IA-32, x64, ARM

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 Nuno Silva #ChangeTheWorldIn5Words #Windows10
2 #BackToBack #SamDubose #RIPBuddy
3 #Windows10 Mullah Omar #CaliforniaMusicVideo
4 #قبل_١٥_سنه #DirtyPolitics Sir Peter O’Sullevan
5 #OTRAKansasCity #NationalLipstickDay Calais
6 #MasterChefBR Robert Kraft #BackToBack
7 #RIPBuddy #NationalChickenWingDay #PLLChat
8 Mullah Omar #BackToBack #ChangeTheWorldIn5Words
9 Cristian Castro #HarryPotterAMovie #ManBooker2015
10 #SamDubose #UnplannedParenthood #HarryPotterAMovie

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July 30, 2015

Top News Stories –

Iran city hits suffocating heat index of 165 degrees, near world record –
Wherever you live or happen to travel to, never complain about the heat and humidity again. In the city of Bandar Mahshahr (population of about 110,000 as of 2010), the air felt like a searing 165 degrees (74 Celsius) today factoring in the humidity.
Although there are no official records of heat indices, this is second highest level we have ever seen reported. To achieve today’s astronomical heat index level of 165, Bandar Mahshahr’s actual air temperature registered 115 degrees (46 Celsius) with an astonishing dew point temperature of 90 (32 Celsius). [Washington Post]

Nuns lose court bid to block convent sale to Katy Perry –
Judge says California nuns’ attempt to sell the $15 million property to a restaurateur, instead of the pop star, is “invalid”. A pair of nuns have suffered a major setback in their legal battle to stop the sale of their convent to pop star Katy Perry. Sisters Rita Callanan, 77, and Catherine Rose Holzman, 86, dressed in blue habits, looked disappointed as the ruling was given in the very temporal surroundings of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. The bespectacled Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary had objected to a plan by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose Gomez, to sell the eight-acre property to Miss Perry, purveyor of risque hits like I Kissed A Girl. [Daily Telegraph]See July 1 2015
Katy-PerryKaty Perry

MH370 search: key questions as plane debris ‘found’ –
A metallic object described as six to nine feet long and three feet wide was found on a beach on the east coast of Reunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean. The object had the code number “BB670” on it. Locals said the object had shells on it and appeared to have been in the water for some time. There are two main reasons investigators are confident the part comes from the missing MH370 aircraft. First, aviation experts say the object appears to be from a Boeing 777 – and no other such aircraft is believed to have gone missing in the region. If the object is from MH370, it will mark the first sign of the Boeing 777 since it disappeared on March 8 2014. But such confirmation will come as difficult news for the families of the 239 passengers who were on aboard. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Learn to Fly – Foo Fighters Rockin1000 Official Video
1000 musicians play Learn to Fly by Foo Fighters to ask Dave Grohl to come and play in Cesena, Italy

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #FriendshipDay #FriendshipDay #FriendshipDay
2 #ماذا_تقول_لمن_… #NationalCheesecakeDay #NewHarryPotterBooks
3 #NewHarryPotterBooks #NewHarryPotterBooks #NationalCheesecakeDay
4 #NecesitoYQuieroQue Tink Stuart Baggs
5 #noconfioenlagenteque #ICONiacMemories Amazon Prime
6 #اختصر_وطنك_في_… Top Gear Ai Weiwei
7 Learn to Fly James Woods #realmusic
8 Pratto Lizzie McGuire #swarm
9 Corinthians Sheldon Richardson #MH370
10 #UsoOTwitterPq #ABDC British Gas

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July 31, 2015

Top News Stories –

Facebook unveils solar-powered drone that can beam the internet down to earth –
Facebook has unveiled a full-scale prototype of its Aquila drone – the high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft that the Californian tech giant wants to use to beam internet to people in parts of the world that are not yet connected. Aquila, which is solar-powered and named after the eagle in Greek mythology that carried Jupiter’s thunderbolts, is based on technology developed by Somerset-based company Ascenta, which Facebook bought in March 2014 for an estimated £12.5m. “Aquila has the wingspan of a 737 but weighs hundreds of times less, thanks to its unique design and carbon-fiber frame,” said Jay Parikh, vice president of global engineering and infrastructure at Facebook, in a blog post. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day

Naomi Campbell guilty of assault on Sicilian paparazzo –
Naomi Campbell was convicted of assault by a Sicilian court on Friday after she scratched the eye of a paparazzo photographer who took pictures of her and her former boyfriend. The incident occurred in August 2009 when the British supermodel and her then partner Russian billionaire Vladimir Doronin moored their yacht off the Sicilian island of Lipari to visit the local town. They had just arrived from St Tropez. A photographer, Gaetano Di Giovanni, took several photos of Campbell as she walked through the narrow streets. Campbell then hit photographer with her handbag, scratching one of his eyes. [Daily Telegraph]
Naomi-Campbell Naomi Campbell

Beijing to host 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics –
Beijing has been chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, beating the bid of Kazakhstan’s Almaty. Having hosted the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese capital will be the first city to host both a summer and winter Games. Beijing and Almaty were considered outsiders when the 2022 bid race opened two years ago. But after a host of European cities withdrew for political or financial reasons, the Chinese bid beat Almaty by 44 votes to 40 with one abstention. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Inside Facebook’s Connectivity Lab

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #MilGanasDe #LiesMenTell #fridayfeeling
2 #DragMeDown #DragMeDown #DragMeDown
3 #حرقوا_الرضيع #GotDumpedBecause #WannaKnow
4 #SiempreMePasaQue #BlueMoon Rickie Lambert
5 #AysunAltay #HappyBirthdayJKRowling #HappyBirthdayJKRowling
6 San Félix Russell Wilson #ChoiceYouTuber
7 永遠の0 Cespedes #LeaveAMark
8 Hayırlı Cumalar Lynn Anderson #HappyBirthdayBeau
9 ブルームーン Roddy Piper #AskMadison
10 #MeVendriaEstupendoQue Supa #LiesMenTell

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August 1, 2015

Top News Stories –

One Direction release surprise single, Drag Me Down –
It’s a good day to be a Directioner. The four boys have surprised fans with their first single since Zayn Malik left the band. The song, Drag Me Down, premiered on iTunes and Spotify at 6.30am UK time. There’s no suggestion of *who* might have been dragging them down. Twitter, the home of any self-respecting One Direction fan, erupted. The hashtag #DragMeDown has been tweeted two million times in the seven hours since its release. [BBC Newsbeat]

Duchess of Cambridge qualifies as advanced diver –
Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, has taken an advanced diving course that means she can keep up with her husband when he goes shark-diving in Mustique. The Duke of Cambridge has been diving for much of his life, encouraged by his father the Prince of Wales, whom he succeeded last year as president of the British Sub-Aqua Club. The Duchess’s pursuit of advanced diving qualifications, to enable her to dive to the same depth as the Duke, has until now remained a secret. Kensington Palace confirmed to The Telegraph that the Duchess has passed a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Advanced Open Water Diver qualification, meaning she can dive to a depth of 30 metres (98ft). [Daily Telegraph]
Catherine-MiddletonCatherine, Duchess of Cambridge

Video of the Day –

Bill Nye Reading Mean Tweets– The Bill Nye Film

Top Twitter Trends –

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1 Bienvenido Agosto #NationalGirlfriendDay Bin Laden
2 #MePoneDeMalHumor #SaidNoOneEver 1st of August
3 #OTRAIndianapolis #3YearsOfAsLongAsYouLoveMe #YorkshireDay
4 #3YearsOfAsLongAsYouLoveMe Stone Mountain Michelle Mone
5 #قوه_الانثي_في How High #SaidNoOneEver
6 #فوبيا_غريبه_ت�… #Z100Loves1D #BrightonPride
7 몰랑이 Bang 3 #OTRAIndianapolis
8 #TodoDeDiezHastaQue #NBAAfricaGame #3YearsOfAsLongAsYouLoveMe
9 #ZergeleKöyündeKATLİAM ITS AUGUST #BeTheDifference
10 Rombai #OTRAIndianapolis #RIPRoddyPiper

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August 2, 2015

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Cilla Black, singer and TV star, dies in Spain aged 72 –
Singer and TV star Cilla Black, who enjoyed a 50-year showbusiness career, has died aged 72, her agent has said. The 1960s singing star became a popular TV celebrity on such shows as Blind Date and Surprise Surprise. Spanish police said a woman named Priscilla White – Black’s real name – had died in Estepona on the Costa del Sol, where the star had a home. The death appeared to be due to natural causes, but this had not yet been confirmed by tests, police said. [BBC]
Cilla_Black_in_1970Cilla Black in 1970

Hitchiking robot ‘killed’ in Philadelphia –
A hitchhiking robot that captured the hearts of fans worldwide has met its demise in the US.
The Canadian researchers who created hitchBOT as a social experiment say someone in Philadelphia damaged the robot beyond repair on Saturday, ending its brief American tour. The robot was trying to travel cross-country after successfully hitchhiking across Canada last year and parts of Europe. It set out from Marblehead, Massachusetts, two weeks ago in July with the goal of reaching San Francisco, but never made it off the East Coast. The creators were sent an image of the vandalised robot but cannot track its location because the battery is dead. [Daily Telegraph]
Hitchbot_archiehitchBOT displayed at an exhibition

Video of the Day –

Zoolander 2 – Official Teaser

List of the Day –

Cilla Black TV credits

Year Programme Role
1968–76 Cilla Presenter
1977 Cilla’s World of Comedy Actor
1984–01 Surprise Surprise Presenter
1985–03 Blind Date Presenter
1998–01 The Moment of Truth Presenter
2006 Soapstar Superstar Judge
2006-2010 The Paul O’Grady Show Guest Presenter and guest
2007 Room 101 Guest
2009 TV’s Greatest Endings Presenter
2009–14 Loose Women Regular/Guest Panellist
2011 Never Mind the Buzzcocks Guest Presenter
2013 Your Face Sounds Familiar Guest Judge
The One & Only Cilla Black Special Guest

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Worldwide USA UK
1 #ZQUAD #StoryOfMyLifeIn4Words Roy Keane
2 #UFC190 #ZQUAD #UFC190
3 #EnormesGanasDe #SHESKINDAHOTMUSICVIDEO #RideLondon
4 Brian #ThingsShorterThanARouseyF… Cilla Black
5 #ايام_المدرسه_�… #UFC190 #CommunityShield
6 #EstamosEnAgostoYYo Bang 3 #GPITP
7 #NationalGirlfriendDay Chip Kelly #NationalGirlfriendDay
8 #StoryOfMyLifeIn4Words #SundayFunday MY BOYS
9 MY BOYS Cilla Black #StoryOfMyLifeIn4Words
10 #كانت_انثي_حتي American Pharoah #WhatAreYouBecoming

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