Category Archives: 2014-11

November 9th 2014

Top News Stories –

Bob Geldof to record Band Aid 30 –
Plans are under way to pull together a host of music stars to create the fourth incarnation of the Band Aid charity single. The men behind Do They Know It’s Christmas are expected to announce the line-up on Monday for Band Aid 30. Bob Geldof and Midge Ure first gathered a group of musicians together in 1984, raising £8m for famine relief in Ethiopia. Do They Know It’s Christmas was recorded again in 1989 and 2004. Geldof and Ure will be hoping to gather some of today’s most popular music acts including One Direction, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. It is thought the money raised will go towards the fight against Ebola in West Africa. [BBC]
Bob-GeldofBob Geldof

Bubbles the chimp delayed Jacko and Freddie’s duet by nearly 30 years… as he drove the Queen frontman ape –
It has been billed as a rare moment in music history – the release of the only song ever recorded by Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson together. The unfinished track, which is going on sale tomorrow, was discovered only by chance after languishing for nearly 30 years at the bottom of a vault – and has been reworked by the surviving members of Mercury’s band Queen. There Must Be More To Life Than This, was never completed back in the 1980s due to the increasingly erratic behaviour of Jackson and the antics of his pet chimp Bubbles. Mercury, then at the height of his powers as a performing artist, complained that Bubbles was a bizarre distraction because Jackson insisted on bringing the animal into the studio and asking for its views on their singing. The Queen frontman, who was famed for his tempestuous nature, finally stormed out of the recording after telling friends: ‘I’m not performing with a f****** chimp sitting next to me each night.’ [Daily Mail]
Freddie Mercury performing in New Haven, CT, November 1978

Video of the Day –

Do They Know It’s Christmas (1984)

List of the Day –

Artists on Do They Know It’s Christmas (1984)

Vocalists:

Additional spoken messages on B-side:

Musicians:

  • Phil Collins – drums
  • John Taylor – bass
  • Midge Ure – keyboards and programming

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #WECANJUSTIN Too Many Cooks Lee Nelson
2 #FOURHANGOUT #5SOSFamVotingHour #webackEd
3 #AdmitoQue #WhatIWant #RemembranceSunday
4 #YaMeCanse #FOURHANGOUT Phil Neville
5 #5SOSFamVotingHour #EMA2014 #talktomematt
6 #RemembranceSunday #votw5sos Christmas
7 #WhatIWant #vote5sosᅠ John Lewis
8 #OmplimLesUrnes Christmas #askjames
9 #jojahevotat Interstellar #5SOSFamVotingHour
10 #ARealMan Bama #FOURHANGOUT

Other News Stories –

Arts and culture
Disasters and accidents
Health
Politics and elections

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November 12, 2014

Top News Stories –

Ecstatic reaction as Rosetta spacecraft mission lands on comet –
The Rosetta spaceship, which was launched in 2004, has landed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in a mission which could reveal the origins of life on Earth. The spacecraft’s thrusters failed to work during the mission prompting fears that the lander could simply bounce off the comet and back into space. But the Philae landing craft managed to land safely. The small probe took pictures as it descended as well as monitored chemical levels. The European Space Agency’s ground-breaking £1 billion mission to chase, orbit, and execute a soft landing on a moving comet has been called one of the most extraordinary achievements in space history. [Daily Telegraph] See Video of the Day
Artist's impression of the Philae landerArtist’s impression of the Philae lander

Video of the Day –

Philae Lands On Comet! – Mission Control Celebrates | Video

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #HomeToMama #BreakTheInternet Dapper Laughs
2 #WishKoSaPasko #CometLanding #CometLanding
3 Weather Update #WeCanLandOnACometButWeCant Christmas
4 Happy Veterans Day #RejectedMuppets Ched Evans
5 #MeCambiaElDiaSi Zoboomafoo Jalen McMillan
6 #Supernatural200thEpisode Gruber #HousingDay
7 Carol Ann Susi #Supernatural200thEpisode #HomeToMama
8 #HariAyah Christmas Warren Clarke
9 99 iPhones Too Many Cooks #BreakTheInternet
10 #CometLanding Kim K Newsnight

Other News Stories –

Armed conflict and attacks
International relations
Law and crime
Science

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November 14, 2014

Top News Stories –

Comet probe Philae shuts down, but not before transmitting valuable secrets –
Controllers have powered down the comet probe Philae after its batteries fell to dangeously-low levels – though the craft still managed to transmit reams of crucial data. The comet probe Philae appears to have reached the end of its historic mission after its batteries ran out of power, but only after it managed to transmit a treasure-trove of scientific data back to Earth. Mission controllers put the European Space Agency (ESA) lander to sleep after the power in its solar-powered batteries fell to dangerously low levels following its landing at a spot in the shadow of a crater wall, shrouded in darkness. An ESA blog post said: “Philae has fallen into ‘idle mode’ – a possibly long silence. In this mode, all instruments and most systems on board are shut down.” [Daily Telegraph]

Rik Mayall ‘Bottom’ bench unveiled in Hammersmith –
A street bench like one that featured in the BBC sitcom Bottom has been officially unveiled in memory of comedy legend Rik Mayall. It followed an online campaign by more than 7,000 of his fans. Mayall, who starred in a string of TV comedies, said before his death, aged 56, in June that he had been saddened by the removal of the bench. It had appeared in the opening credits of Bottom, in which he starred with Adrian Edmondson. [Daily Telegraph]

Rik_Mayall_obit Rik Mayall

Unofficial_blue_plaque_to_Rik_Mayall_taken_in_Hammersmith,_London_June_2014

Video of the Day –

Animator vs. Animation IV from Alan Becker on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 JustinBieber #BreakTheInternet #ChildrenInNeed
2 #MeVendriaRePiola #FailedCharities #ThanksAlex
3 #GubernurAhok #Gruber Christmas
4 Weather Update #rokerthon #WeCanLandOnACometButWeCant
5 #iloveashton2014 Kim K #BreakTheInternet
6 #SonraDedimKi 106 & Park Ched Evans
7 Happy Children’s Day #iloveashton2014 #snp14
8 #AdmitoQue #LouisYouSangGreat #WorldDiabetesDay
9 #BreakTheInternet Dumb and Dumber Jessica Ennis
10 #FailedCharities Too Many Cooks #CIN2014

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks
Arts and culture
International relations
  • Swedish submarine incidents:
    • Sweden releases a sonar image it says is proof that a foreign submarine entered its waters in October. The grainy image shows underwater tracks allegedly left by the vessel. (BBC)
Politics

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November 24th 2014

Sony hit by “Guardians of Peace” hack –
Sony Pictures Entertainment is targeted by computer hackers in an attack when a skull appeared on computer screens with the hashtag #GOP (Guardians of Peace – a hackers group) along with a message threatening to release data “secrets” if undisclosed demands were not met. Sony have shut down it’s corporate network to resolve the issue.

Russian caught defacing Colosseum –
A Russian man has been fined €20,000 (£15,800) for carving his initial into the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. The tourist used a stone to carve a 25cm “K” into a wall inside the amphitheatre and was caught in the act by a guard and arrested by police, before being fined and given a four-month suspended prison sentence.
Colosseum_in_Rome,_Italy_ The Colosseum
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November 26, 2015

Top News Stories –

Angelina Jolie: Ed Miliband’s mansion tax ‘could put me off’ buying home in UK –

Angelina Jolie said she would like to move to England but Labour’s proposed mansion tax could put her off. The actress addressed rumours that she was looking at properties around London and had recently viewed a £25 million Marylebone penthouse close to the Chiltern Firehouse restaurant. But Jolie hinted that Ed Miliband’s plan to levy a tax on people who own houses worth more than two million pounds could discourage her from buying a British home. The actress told Channel 4 News: “I’m quite responsible about money” and that the tax “could put me off” moving to the UK. [Daily Telegraph]
Angelina_JolieAngelina Jolie

Peruvian man gets married to tree for second time on ‘green tour’ –
A Peruvian man has married a tree for the second time in a bid to raise awareness about man-made environmental problems around the world. Serial tree-hugger Richard Torres tied the knot in front of a small crowd at a national park in Bogota, Colombia. After the symbolic ceremony, involving the placing of fruit offerings at the base of the tree, the environmental activist called for rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces to plant trees instead of starting war. The actor also called for Colombians to care more their green surroundings and promised to keep spreading the message in other Latin America countries. Mr Torres married his first tree bride in Argentina in 2013. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Snooze Time from Ivan Barge on Vimeo.

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November 28, 2014

Top News Stories –

Canberra Christmas lights set world record –
A Christmas lights display in the Australian capital, Canberra, has set a new world record. Almost 1.2 million LED lights on 120km (75 miles) of cables have been strung in the shape of three interconnected giant, wrapped Christmas presents. Guinness World Records confirmed it was the largest-ever LED image display. The display in the Petrie Plaza mall was the result of months of planning by Canberra lawyer David Richards and a team of volunteers. [BBC] See Video of the day

Sony’s latest wearable is a watch made of electronic paper –
The Wall Street Journal has uncovered Sony’s clandestine involvement in a smartwatch project. Under the name Fashion Entertainment (FES), the company has thrown an electronic paper watch into the wearable product scrum. All credit to Sony, the watch itself is very slick looking. It overcomes many of the problems existing smartwatches on the market present – namely that they are overly bulky and have naff battery lives. Electronic paper, which is famously used in ebook readers to provide them with long-lasting battery, should ensure that this device can keep running for weeks on a single charge, rather than just a day or two. Sony secretly put the watch on a crowdfunding site in September, not taking ownership of the product until this week. The device surpassed its 2 million yen goal (£108,000), raising 3.5 million yen (£188,000) in total. [Wired.com]
Sony paper watch

Video of the Day –


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November 29, 2014

Top News Stories –

Did North Korea order hack on Sony Pictures computers? –
Sony Pictures Entertainment is said to be investigating whether North Korea was behind a hack of its computer network, over a Hollywood film depicting a plot to assassinate Kim Jong-un. The hermit state’s anger over the comedy about CIA plans to kill its leader may have been behind the attack on the company’s system, according to tech news website Re/code. A group calling itself #GOP (Guardians of Peace) posted a warning on employees computers on Monday saying “If you don`t obey us, we’ll release the data shown below to the world”, giving a deadline of 11:00 the same day and listing five data links. #GOP said Sony Pictures had been warned before but did not detail its demands. North Korea had threatened “a strong and merciless countermeasure” against the US if it released the Sony Pictures’ film The Interview.

Angelina Jolie ‘set to become a peer’ –
The dusty old House of Lords has been considerably enlivened in the past few weeks when a number of half-famous people have been officially sworn in as members of Parliament’s second chamber. But the most excitement came last week when Arminka Helic – best known as a highly-regarded special adviser to former foreign secretary William Hague – was formally welcomed into the House of Lords as Baroness Helic of Millbank. Elderly Parliamentarians dozing off a good lunch were startled to glance up to the public gallery and spot actress Angelina Jolie, an old friend of Lady Helic, gazing down benignly. Now tongues are wagging in Westminster that Miss Jolie is being lined up herself set on a seat in the House of Lords. The idea is not so far-fetched. Last month Miss Jolie was made an honorary dame by the Queen for her campaign work fighting sexual violence and for services to UK foreign policy. And last week it emerged that Miss Jolie has decided to retire from acting and focus her energies on her humanitarian work.[Daily Telegraph]
Angelina_JolieAngelina Jolie

Video of the Day –

Sounds of Paragliding from shams on Vimeo.

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November 30, 2014

Top News Stories –

US boy missing for four years found alive hidden behind fake wall –
A 13-year-old boy reported missing by his mother four years ago was found hidden behind a false wall in his father’s home. After a tip-off police raided a detached suburban house with an immaculately kept garden in Jonesboro near Atlanta, Georgia. They discovered the fake wall behind some towels and it disguised a passage to a space above the garage. The boy’s father Gregory Jean, 37, and stepmother Samantha Joy Davis, 42, and three other people in the house, were charged with obstruction, false imprisonment and cruelty to children. [Daily Telegraph]

‘Hot Selfie’ competition dubbed Facebook’s most narcissistic challenge CANCELLED after one hopeful is ‘intimidated’ after posting their photo –
A ‘hot selfie’ competition where posers paid to enter in the hope of winning $10,000 has been shut down before a winner could be chosen.
The narcissistic photography challenge was abandoned after ‘entrant tampering’, according to the competition’s website.Brisbane-based company Serious Selfie set up the competition which offered a cash prize for the best pout. A statement on the Hot Selfie website said: ‘It was with regret that Serious Selfies PTY. LTD. terminated the Hot Selfie Competition, ahead of its end date, as a result of entrant tampering. ‘Unfortunately, one of our entrants had been contacted and intimidated outside of the Facebook platform.’ [Daily Mail]
Selfie-competition-entrant - copyright Hot Selfie Competition Entrant in the Hot Selfie Competition

Video of the Day –

Lego Star Wars The Force Awakens Teaser Trailer

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