June 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

Apple reveals new Music app to rival Spotify –
Apple has announced [at their Worldwide Developers Conference (#WWDC15 – see Top Twitter Trends)] a new app that combines a streaming song and music video library, an internet radio station and a way for artists to share unreleased tracks and other material. It includes a recommendation system that uses both human curators and computer algorithms to suggest songs. The [Apple Music] service is set to challenge Spotify, Tidal and other music apps. Apple also announced several new features that will appear in the next version of its Mac operating system, called OS X El Capitan. [BBC]

Fifa film flops at the box office –
A vanity film about the history of Fifa has flopped in the US, taking just $607 (£397) in its opening weekend. United Passions was funded by about £17m of Fifa cash, and was completed before corruption charges were made against 14 of its officials in May. Starring Tim Roth as Sepp Blatter and Gerard Depardieu as Jules Rimet, the hagiography of football’s governing body has had damning reviews. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the FilmBar cinema in Phoenix reported takings of just $9, meaning only one person bought a ticket. [BBC] See List of the Day
Tim-RothTim Roth

Video of the Day –

Ares 3: Farewell

List of the Day –

Biggest film losses adjusted for inflation (according to Wikipedia)

Biggest box office bombs adjusted for inflation
Rank Title Estimated losses
(constant $)
Year
1 The 13th Warrior $97,896,514—182,838,584 1999
2 47 Ronin $151,923,973 2013
3 Cutthroat Island $137,346,554 1995
4 Mars Needs Moms $136,816,444 2011
5 The Adventures of Pluto Nash $126,461,993 2002
6 The Fall of the Roman Empire $126,417,784 1964
7 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within $125,776,050 2001
8 The Lone Ranger $95,926,537—121,237,251 2013
9 Sahara $121,194,169 2005
10 Heaven’s Gate $120,953,664 1980

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #confessionnight #NationalBestFriendsDay #MondayMotivation
2 #NationalBestFriendsDay #WorldOceansDay #WorldOceansDay
3 PREP #WWDC15 #CarersWeek
4 #BuSeçiminSonucu #MondayMotivation Kate Moss
5 #TonyAwards #USWNT Sol Campbell
6 El FMI #DADDYDALLASLAX #McKinney
7 #WWDC15 Alex Morgan #NationalBestFriendsDay
8 #اين_كنت_الساع�… #HAPPYBIRTHDAYMAMAWHITESIDES #WWDC15
9 #BuenLunes #confessionnight #confessionnight
10 iOS 9 #YoureNotInvitedBecause Ten Walls

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September 21, 2015

Top News Stories –

Apple ‘sets shipping date for electric car’ –
Apple has designated building an electric car as a “committed project” and has set a target shipping date for 2019, according to reports. The project has been codenamed Titan and its leaders have been given permission to triple the 600-person team, the Wall Street Journal claimed. For Apple, a “ship date” doesn’t necessarily mean the date that customers receive a new product; it can also mean the date that engineers sign off on the product’s main features. Reports in August revealed that Apple was developing a car and studying self-driving technology, but it was unclear if the iPhone maker was designing a vehicle that could drive itself. [Daily Telegraph]

Foo Fighters ‘kicked off’ performing at Emmys after disagreement with Fox –
Dave Grohl says Foo Fighters were “kicked off” performing at the Emmy’s after a disagreement with Fox. The singer said that the band had been approached to play at the ceremony. But he says their spot was pulled after they refused to play half of Sonic Highways and half of Learning To Fly. “The band and the Academy were extremely happy and excited to have Foo Fighters play as the first ever rock band on the Emmys,” the Foos said in a statement to Rolling Stone magazine. “Fox then refused to allow the band to play a full song from the Emmy-winning Sonic Highways. [BBC Newsbeat]
Dave_GrohlDave Grohl

Video of the Day –

Movie Phone Super Call from Burger Fiction on Vimeo.

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 Happy Dhanteras #StopTheGOP #ThingsLongerThanOscarsSen…
2 #ThingsLongerThanOscarsSen… #PLLHalloweenSpecial Renee Zellweger
3 #NoMeSale Renee Zellweger #HurricaneGonzalo
4 #ZaynMalikSexiest #ZaynMalikSexiest Mike Read
5 Christophe de Margerie Monica Lewinsky #WelcomeToNewYork
6 Gough Whitlam Christmas Orton
7 Renee Zellweger #ExplainAnAnimePlotBadly #HIAC
8 #RIPOscarDeLaRenta #RIPOscarDeLaRenta #RAWKansasCity
9 #KwentongJEEPNEY #ImprovedBaseball BMTH
10 #marry RIP Oscar de la Renta Halloween

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  • In Auckland, New Zealand, an extradition hearing for Kim Dotcom, former owner of a file sharing website, for alleged copyright infringement, racketeering, and money laundering begins, seeking to bring him to the U.S. (BBC)
  • At least eight people are killed and 45 wounded in shootings over the weekend across Chicago. (Fox Chicago)
  • A Denver, Colorado federal jury convicts Harold Henthorn of murder in the death of his wife Toni Henthorn, who fell off a cliff as they hiked in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park to celebrate their wedding anniversary. His previous wife had died in suspicious circumstances also. (AP)
  • Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell is sentenced to 28 years for Salmonella typhimurium-tainted peanut butter, the most severe punishment ever handed out to a producer in a foodborne illness case. In late 2008 and early 2009, nine people died and at least 714 people in 46 states, half of them children, fell ill. Parnell and his brother were convicted in September 2014 of 71 criminal counts. His brother Michael Parnell is sentenced to 20 years, and the plant’s former quality control manager Mary Wilkerson is sentenced to five years. (LA Times), (USA Today)
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October 17, 2015

Top News Stories –

Apple loses patent lawsuit to University of Wisconsin, faces hefty damages –
Apple Inc could be facing up to $862 million in damages after a U.S. jury on Tuesday found the iPhone maker used technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s licensing arm without permission in chips found in many of its most popular devices. The jury in Madison, Wisconsin also said the patent, which improves processor efficiency, was valid. The trial will now move on to determine how much Apple owes in damages. WARF used the patent to sue Intel Corp in 2008, but the case was settled the following year on the eve of trial. Last month, WARF launched a second lawsuit against Apple, this time targeting the company’s newest chips, the A9 and A9X, used in the just-released iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, as well as the iPad Pro. [Reuters]

Volkswagen faces €40bn lawsuit from investors –
Volkswagen is set to be pushed deeper into crisis after it emerged that the carmaker is facing a record-breaking €40bn (£30bn) legal attack spearheaded by one of the world’s top law firms. Quinn Emanuel, which has won almost $50bn (£32bn) for clients and represented Google, Sony and Fifa, has been retained by claim funding group Bentham to prepare a case for VW shareholders over the diesel emissions scandal, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. Bentham has recently backed an action by Tesco shareholders over the retailer’s overstating of profits. The pair are attempting to assemble a huge class action following what they call “fundamental dishonesty” at the German auto giant, which plunged the carmaker into crisis after it admitted using “defeat devices” to cheat pollution tests. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Jupiter in 4K

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #ALDUBTheBigSurprise #1980sIn4Words #LFC
2 #telethon7 #telethon7 #1980sIn4Words
3 ICFES #MSUvsMICH #juniorcontract
4 FlyNoRaulGil Ole Miss Howard Kendall
5 Howard Kendall #FallBakingWithAlly #RSAvWAL
6 #ShowtimeLovesCebu #LFC #BBC4
7 #FPtauromaquia #MakeAMovieDeadly #MakeAFilmPrimAndProper
8 #ATodosNosPasoEsoDe Boise State Oasis
9 #FindConfidentBR Howard Kendall #telethon7
10 #FallBakingWithAlly #ALDUBTheBigSurprise Watford

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  • Ardit Ferizi, a 20-year-old hacker from Kosovo and computer student in Malaysia, is arrested for hacking into a Phoenix, Arizona computer system and stealing the names and personal information of thousands of U.S. military personnel. Ferizi is accused of giving the information to ISIS. The U.S. is seeking Ferizi’s extradition. (CNN)
  • A shooting just before midnight at the ninth annual Fort Myers, Florida, Zombicon kills one person and injures four others, none with life threatening injuries, and causes pandemomium on the city’s downtown streets. Police ask attendees to share smartphonevideo from the incident. (USA Today) (Reuters)
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November 20, 2015

Top News Stories –

Indian Railways holds disabled recruitment drive on top floor – with no lifts –
A bid to recruit more disabled employees to work on India’s railways has ended in farce after test centres were set up on the top floors of buildings with no lifts or ramps. Many candidates who arrived at recruitment offices across India on Thursday either had to be carried or drag themselves up the stairs to their designated computers. Some were forced to abandon their applications entirely. [Daily Telegraph]

Vengeful surfer vows to eat the shark that bit him –
Don’t get on the wrong side of Allen Engelman – he has exacted the ultimate revenge on a shark that bit him. The Florida surfer was bitten by a shark, so the next day went out on a vengeful hunt. He killed a shark which he believes to be the same one that bit him. Not only did he kill it, but he now vows to eat it in order to punish the animal for the bite inflicted upon him. The surfer received 15 stitches, and from then on he was hell-bent on revenge. Him and his five-year-old son went back to the beach the following day and caught a shark with the same markings as the one which bit him. [Daily Telegraph]

New York follows UK in banning ‘hoverboards’ in public places –
New York has become the latest city to ban self-balancing scooters, known as “hoverboards”, warning that anyone caught riding them in public places could face a fine of up to $500. The two-wheeled electric vehicles, which use gyroscope technology to keep the rider upright, have exploded in popularity over the last few months – with celebrities including Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Lily Allen and Jamie Foxx all spotted riding them. However, according to the the New York City Police Department, hoverboards are prohibited by New York state law since they are considered “motor vehicles that cannot be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles”. [Daily Telegraph] October 21 2015 was the Back to the Future Day that featured real hoverboards

Video of the Day –

Blue Hue
Blue Hue

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #LatinGrammys2015 #Adele25 #HappyBirthdayMichael
2 #BuenViernes Mali #FridayFeeling
3 #HTGAWM Phuc Dat Bich #Adele25
4 Corinthians #PerfectMomentIn4Words #Mali
5 基本給 #ThanksgivingIn5Words Blac Chyna
6 1 in the UK #JessicaJones #bbcqt
7 #HappyBirthdayJaxonBieber Woodrow Wilson 1 in the UK
8 #Mali #HappyBirthdayMichael Eddie Jones
9 Hayırlı Cumalar #TDOR Katie Hopkins
10 #DosPalabras Tyga Baker Street

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Britain’s National Union of Journalists announces a strike against the Financial Times, protesting the changes in pension arrangements since the acquisition of the FT by a Japanese media group, Nikkei. (BBC)

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January 22, 2016

Top News Stories –

It Cost Google One Billion Dollars to Keep its Search Bar on iPhones –
Google’s search bar has been a fixture on Apple devices for years, something that’s always seemed counter-intuitive, what with Android being iOS’s only real competitor. According to Bloomberg, Google’s search engine is only exists there because of a $1 billion payment made to Apple in 2014. Bloomberg found the details in court proceedings from an Oracle vs Google lawsuit. Oracle has been fighting Google since 2010 over the search giant’s use of Oracle’s Java software in the development of Android. Somewhere along the way, Oracle’s lawyers got their hands on internal Google finances, which were brought up in open court, before Google’s attorneys pleaded to have the transcript redacted and sealed. According to Oracle’s lawyers — and neither confirmed nor denied by Google’s side — Google paid Apple $1 billion (that equates to around £701,000,000) in 2014 to keep its search bar on Apple devices. The two companies then have a revenue-sharing agreement to split any profits Google makes from Apple’s devices, although the breakdown is not known. [Gizmondo]

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Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #SextaBoaPraSdvDetremura White Privilege II #AsAChildIUsedToThink
2 #ま行の後に監禁し�… #FlashbackFriday #ImFamous
3 #WelcomeBabyTomlinson Macklemore Macklemore
4 #زد_رصيدك70 #blizzard2016 #WelcomeBabyTomlinson
5 #ALDUBShareTheLOVE #WelcomeBabyTomlinson #FridayFeeling
6 #NoEs14DeFebreroPero #BroadwayCon #SAvsENG
7 #PraNamorarComigoÉPreciso #DevuelvanLosReales #SquirrelAppreciationDay
8 #BuenViernes #Roe43 #DateMyMum
9 #يوم_الجمعه #ChaseTheDay #FlashbackFriday
10 #AsAChildIUsedToThink Jalen Rose #10000BC

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February 19, 2016

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EU deal gives UK special status, says David Cameron –
David Cameron says a deal struck with EU leaders will give the UK “special status” and he will campaign with his “heart and soul” to stay in the union. The agreement, reached late on Friday after two days of talks in Brussels, gives the UK power to limit some EU migrants’ benefits. It also includes a treaty change so the UK is not bound to “ever closer union” with other EU member states, he said. EU exit campaigners said the “hollow” deal offered only “very minor changes”. [BBC]
David_CameronDavid Cameron

John McAfee offers to unlock killer’s iPhone for FBI –
Anti-virus software creator John McAfee has said he will break the encryption on an iPhone that belonged to San Bernardino killer Syed Farook. Mr McAfee made the offer to the FBI in an article published by Business Insider. Apple has refused to comply with a court order asking it to unlock the device, dividing opinion over whether the firm should be compelled to do so. Mr McAfee said he and his team would take on the task “free of charge”. The offer came as Mr McAfee continues his campaign as a US presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party. “It will take us three weeks,” he claimed in his article. Security expert Graham Cluley cast doubts on Mr McAfee’s idea that he could use “social engineering” to work out the pass-code of Farook’s locked iPhone. This is a process by which hackers try to find out login credentials by tricking people into giving them away. “In a nutshell, dead men tell no tales,” said Mr Cluley. “Good luck to Mr McAfee trying to socially engineer a corpse into revealing its pass-code.” “The FBI isn’t interested anyway, they want to set a precedent that there shouldn’t be locks they can’t break,” he added. [BBC]
John_McAfeeJohn McAfee

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Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #TypeOfPeopleIAvoid #FlashbackFriday #EUSummit
2 #FelizCumpleCFK #TypeOfPeopleIAvoid #FreeKesha
3 #Clausnitz #FreeKesha #FridayFeeling
4 #BuenViernes #MakeAnActionFilmTedious #TypeOfPeopleIAvoid
5 #SLFLNagoya #SLFLNagoya #MakeAnActionFilmTedious
6 #ComandoTagSegueVc #NewMusicFriday Marc Jacobs
7 #MakeAnActionFilmTedious #Indy500 #bbcqt
8 #FreeKesha #AmericaTogether #BUCSNationals
9 #FacebookMelhorQueTwitter #BlackMenGreetings #askjessica
10 #DeMexicanoEs Tila Tequila #SLFLNagoya

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March 28, 2016

Top News Stories –

Harrison Ford auctions Han Solo Star Wars jacket in honour of daughter with epilepsy –
Harrison Ford is auctioning his Star Wars: The Force Awakens jacket for charity. The 73-year-old actor – who reprised his role as Han Solo in the latest installment of the sci-fi franchise – donated the iconic garment which he wore in his first scene in the 2015 movie to raise money for epilepsy research. The signed garment will benefit the NYU Langone Center and FACES (Finding A Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures), with bidding starting at $18,000 on ifOnly. But the actor – whose 26-year-old daughter Georgia suffers from the condition – joked the director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at the New York clinic, Dr. Orrin Devinsky, had taken a shine to the jacket. [Daily Mirror] In February 2016 the production company behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens was being prosecuted over a filming incident in which Harrison Ford broke his leg.
Harrison-Ford Harrison Ford

FBI finds method to hack gunman’s iPhone without Apple’s help –
The FBI has managed to unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino gunman without Apple’s help, ending a court case, the US justice department says. Apple had been resisting a court order issued last month requiring the firm to write new software to allow officials to access Syed Rizwan Farook’s phone. But officials on Monday said that it had been accessed independently and asked for the order to be withdrawn. Responding to the move, Apple said: “From the beginning, we objected to the FBI’s demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the government’s dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought.” [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

We’ve hit peak lens flare. Here’s how it started.

Top Twitter Trends –

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1 #SegundaQSonoDTremuraSdv #MondayMotivation #StormKatie
2 #MeGustariaQue #MusicMonday #HappyBirthdayZoe
3 #FelizLunes #My5WordRomanceNovel #election66
4 #سربوت_يصور_طا�… #HappyBirthdayLadyGaga #EasterMonday
5 #JustinPagaPauDoMcGui #ThingsThatDidntBreakMe #GetWeirdTourLondon
6 #secretsMW #DyngusDay #TheNightManager
7 #اختار_مغرد_وت�… Jon Lovitz #BoatRace2016
8 #HappyBirthdayLadyGaga #instagramupdate #My5WordRomanceNovel
9 #My5WordRomanceNovel #EasterEggRoll #ontopictalkshow
10 #insanlık #Happy3YearsOnVineMatt #Thirteen

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