Top Story –
Avatar becomes the fastest movie ever to achieve $1bn (£625.6m) in ticket sales around the world according to 20th Century Fox and it’s done it in just 17 days. Apparently it is the most expensive film ever made. The film Lord of the Rings – The Return of The King was the highest grossing film in the last decade only making $1.12bn in total.
Avatar Poster (copyright 20th Century Fox)
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Monogrenade: Ce soir from Monogrenade on Vimeo.
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Not like clockwork –
A Swiss millionaire is given a record speeding fine of $290,000 (£180,000) after he caught driving a red Ferrari at 137km/h (85mph) through a village. The penalty based on the unnamed motorist’s wealth – assessed by the court as $22.7m (£14.1m) – and because he was a repeat offender.
New Brand for Perry –
It’s revealed that Russell Brand and Katy Perry got engaged when on holiday in India.
Katy Perry and Russell Brand
Top Video –
Making a designer font using a car
iQ font – When driving becomes writing / Full making of from Tom Galle on Vimeo.
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Democrat, see? –
Scott Brown, a little-known Republican state senator, defeated the Democrat, Martha Coakley, in the race to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat long held by Edward M. Kennedy
Scott Brown
Snug as a bug –
Orlando Bloom’s model girlfriend Miranda Kerr appears naked in the US edition of GQ magazine. Not news but a great picture.
Miranda Kerr
My password is “PleaseHackMe” –
According to a new analysis by Imperva, which makes software for blocking hackers, one out of five Web users still decides to leave the digital equivalent of a key under the doormat: they choose a simple, easily guessed password like “abc123,” “iloveyou” or even “password” to protect their data.
Top Video –
Acceleration from Odwick on Vimeo.
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Hope for Haiti raises $57 million –
Organisers of last nights “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon say it has raised more than $57m (£35m) for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
The event set a new record for disaster relief telethons, according to Lisa Paulsen, head of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Many stars donated including Madonna who gave $250,000 (£155,000), Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie gave $1m (£620,000) and supermodel Giselle Bundchen gave $1.5m (£0.93m). George Clooney who organised the event donated $1m during the telethon.
Giselle Bundchen
Itchy and scratchy –
Research carried out by the University of Worcester has discovered that Britons are likely to be sleeping under duvets which are full dust mites and dead skin. Tests carried out on 10 duvets at the University of Worcester found they held up to 20,000 live house dust mites.
House dust mite – dermatophagoides pteronyssinus
One in the eye –
The Black Eyed Peas were the victims of an error when they were mistakenly named best international group at France’s top music awards, the NRJ Awards in Cannes. The stars were originally declared winners but it was later revealed that an error had been made and German band Tokio Hotel were announced as the real victors.
The Black Eyed Peas
Tokio Hotel
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Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
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Haiti man alive after being buried for 14 days –
14 days after the devastating earthquake that has killed tens of thousands in Haiti, Rico Dibrivell, has been pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building the capital. U.S. troops rescued the 35-year-old from the ruins in Port-au-Prince.
Avatar mountain in China –
A Chinese mountain has been renamed in honour of the film Avatar, after it apparently inspired scenery in the movie. The Southern Sky Column in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, will now be known as the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain. Avatar has become the most popular film ever in China, making $80m (£50m) at the box office so far.
Top Video –
Avatar movie trailer
Top News Stories –
Banker viewing topless women caught out on Australian TV –
A banker was caught logging on to look at pictures of topless women in his office – not realising a television news reporter was speaking live to camera just a few feet away. The worker was sat at his desk at Australia’s Macquarie Bank with his back to the camera as he looked at the images, apparently totally oblivious to the business analyst breaking news about interest rates in front of him. One of the pictures has been identified as actor Orlando Bloom’s model girlfriend, Miranda Kerr. (See Video of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Miranda Kerr
CIA allows agents to moonlight –
The CIA is allowing operatives to moonlight by selling their espionage expertise to financial firms, according to a new book. In one instance, agents worked at a New York hedge-fund consulting firm that wanted to draw on their skills in “deception detection” – the art of picking up clues in body language and conversation to ascertain when executives might be lying. Officials said that the out-of-hours work did not compromise national security and was only allowed once CIA officers had submitted full details of the work and been granted permission. [Daily Telegraph]
Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter –
Punxsutawney Phil has emerged on Groundhog Day to see his shadow – meaning winter will last another six weeks. German tradition holds that if the hibernating animal sees its shadow in Pennsylvania on Feb 2 – the Christian holiday of Candlemas – winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early. The Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club annually announces Phil’s forecast at dawn on Gobbler’s Knob, about 65 miles (105 kilometres) northeast of Pittsburgh. Phil’s announcement came before hundreds of onlookers who huddled as temperatures hovered around 15 degrees (-9 Celsius). The Groundhog Club says since 1887 Phil has predicted more winter weather by seeing his shadow nearly 100 times, but there are no records for nine years. (See List of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day –
Macquarie Bank Employee busted looking at nude photos of Miranda Kerr live on TV
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Mel Gibson swears at television reporter –
Mel Gibson swore at a television reporter who questioned him about his controversial past, referring to him as an ——–. The actor and director snapped while being interviewed on Chicago-based station WGN about his alcohol addiction and anti-Semitic rant towards a police officers four years ago. Gibson, 54, aimed his comment at entertainment reporter Dean Richards, thinking that his microphone had been switched off. [Daily Telegraph]
Mel Gibson
James Cracknell and Ben Fogle to cross Australia on foot –
James Cracknell and Ben Fogle are to embark on their latest risky adventure, retracing a Victorian expedition to cross Australia which ended in death. After rowing the Atlantic and walking to the South Pole, this time they are planning on walking 4,000 miles across the heart of Australia in the height of summer. They will be following in the footsteps of Irishman Robert Burke and Englishman William Wills, who set out in August 1860 to cross from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north. The pair made the 2,000 mile south-north leg across what was called the “ghastly blank” without too much trouble, heading an entourage that comprised 19 men, 23 horses, 26 camels and 12 tons of equipment, which included four enema kits and 12 dandruff brushes. But on the way back they perished as their support team deserted them. [Daily Telegraph]
Ben Fogle and James Cracknell just before the start of the Atlantic Rowing Race 2005
Video of the Day –
MK12 // Swiss International Air: LX Forty English from MK12 on Vimeo.
Top News Stories –
Philae comet lander wakes up, says European Space Agency –
The European Space Agency (Esa) says its comet lander, Philae, has woken up and contacted Earth. Philae, the first spacecraft to land on a comet, was dropped on to the surface of Comet 67P by its mothership, Rosetta, last November. It worked for 60 hours before its solar-powered battery ran flat. The comet has since moved nearer to the Sun and Philae has enough power to work again, says the BBC’s science correspondent Jonathan Amos. An account linked to the probe tweeted the message, “Hello Earth! Can you hear me?” On its blog, Esa said Philae had contacted Earth, via Rosetta, for 85 seconds on Saturday in the first contact since going into hibernation in November.
Artist’s impression of the Philae lander
Jurassic World takes $511m in record opening weekend –
The fourth instalment in the Jurassic Park series has become the first film to take more than $500m at the box office on its opening weekend. Jurassic World was the most popular screening in all 66 countries where it was released. The film made $204.6m (£131.4m) in the US, according to the firm Exhibitor Relations. It took $100m in China and $29.6m (£19m) in the UK and Ireland as part of the record global total of $511.8m. The Universal Pictures release had the second-highest grossing opening weekend in the US. The record is held by Marvel’s The Avengers, which took $207.4m in 2012. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Video of the Day –
Jurassic World – Official Global Trailer
List of the Day –
Biggest Worldwide film openings since 2002 [from Wikipedia]
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Twitter closer to allowing longer tweets of up to 10,000 characters –
Twitter is considering ditching its 140-character limit in tweets. After 24 hours of speculation it seems the the social media company is considering a new 10,000 character limit – the same as for Direct Messages. It’s the latest effort by the firm to appeal to a wider audience. Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey has said he isn’t definitely set on sticking with 140 characters. [BBC] See Top twitter Trends
Netflix extends its service to almost all the world –
Netflix has gone live in nearly every country in the world. The firm announced it had switched on its service in 130 additional countries. It said it was still trying to expand to China. The other exceptions are North Korea, Syria and Crimea, where it is banned from operating by US law. The announcement was made by the firm’s chief executive Reed Hastings at his keynote speech at the CES tech show in Las Vegas. He also confirmed that Netflix would begin offering HDR (high dynamic range) content later this year. The company’s shares jumped to about 8% over their opening price following the announcements. [BBC]
‘Star Wars: Force Awakens’ Tops ‘Avatar’ to Become No. 1 Film of All Time in North America –
J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the highest-grossing film of all time in North America, not accounting for inflation. On Wednesday, the Disney and Lucasfilm mega-blockbuster overtook the $760.5 million earned by James Cameron’s Avatar. Force Awakens — which grossed $8 million on Tuesday for a domestic total of $758.2 million — achieved the milestone in only 20 days in release, a remarkable feat. [Hollywood Reporter]
Video of the Day –
Bei Hai / 北海 (animation Rob Jabbaz. music Howie Lee) from Rob Jabbaz on Vimeo.
List of the Day –
People’s Choice Television Award winners:
Favourite show: The Big Bang Theory
Favourite network comedy: The Big Bang Theory
Favourite comedic actor: Jim Parsons
Favourite comedic actress: Melissa McCarthy
Favourite network drama: Grey’s Anatomy
Favourite dramatic actor: Taylor Kinney
Favourite dramatic actress: Ellen Pompeo
Favourite cable comedy: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Favourite cable drama: Pretty Little Liars
Favourite cable actor: Kevin Hart
Favourite cable actress: Sasha Alexander
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Glass bridge: China opens world’s highest and longest –
The much-heralded “world’s highest and longest” glass-bottomed bridge has opened to visitors in central China. It connects two mountain cliffs in what are known as the Avatar mountains (the film was shot here) in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province. Completed in December, the 430m-long bridge cost $3.4m (£2.6m) to build and stands 300m above ground, state news agency Xinhua reported. It has been paved with 99 panes of three-layered transparent glass. And according to officials, the 6m-wide bridge – designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan – has already set world records for its architecture and construction. [BBC]
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“Avengers: Endgame,” the Disney and Marvel blockbuster, will move past “Avatar” on the list of all-time highest grossing films on Sunday in its 13th weekend of release, Disney reported Saturday night.”Avatar,” James Cameron’s science fiction film set on the planet of Pandora, held the record for 10 years.
The latest “Avengers” film, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, has made more than $2.789 billion worldwide.”A huge congratulations to the Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios teams, and thank you to the fans around the world who lifted ‘Avengers: Endgame’ to these historic heights,” Alan Horn, co-chairman and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Studios, said in a statement.
To get to the top spot, “Endgame” passed some of the biggest blockbusters in film history such as “Titanic,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and its predecessor, “Avengers: Infinity War.””
‘Endgame’ has cemented the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a cornerstone of modern mythos that will be passed down to generations of fans,” Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com, told CNN Business. “That would have been true regardless of its monetary position relative to ‘Avatar.'”Robbins added that the title of highest-grossing film of all time is “the cherry on top for Marvel’s first decade.”
Twitter trends [from Trendinalia] – today from USA
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