Mexican Drug War - The 2010s

April 30, 2015

Top News Stories –

Apple says tattoos can cause watch problems –
Apple has said some of the functions on its new smartwatch may not work properly when its worn over tattoos. Darker-coloured artwork and even changes in darker coloured skin types can fool the light sensors on the back of the watch. The problem is not exclusive to the Apple Watch, which performed well in independent tests. But it does show the manufacturer has not solved the sensor problem. “Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can… impact heart rate sensor performance,” Apple said on a support page on its website. “The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings.” [BBC]
The Apple Watch range

Tesla’s $3,000 Powerwall Will Let Households Run Entirely On Solar Energy –
Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk unveiled ‘Tesla Energy’ — a new business arm that is focused on ending our dependence on grid power and switching instead to solar energy. The first Tesla Energy product is ‘Powerwall Home Battery,’ a stationary battery that can power a household without requiring the grid. The battery is rechargeable lithium-ion — it uses Tesla’s existing battery tech — and can be fixed to a wall, removing much of the existing complexity around using a local power source. For one thing, the company’s batteries cost $3,500 for 10kWh and $3,000 for 7kWh. They are open for pre-orders in the U.S. now; the first orders will be dispatched “in late summer.” [Techcrunch.com] On March 31 2015, Musk tweeted about a new product and shares in the electric car jumped to nearly 4 percent in just 10 minutes – adding a staggering $900 million (£600 million) to the company’s market cap in just 115 characters.
Elon Musk

Messenger’s Mercury trip ends with a bang, and silence –
Nasa’s Messenger mission to Mercury has reached its explosive conclusion, after 10 years in space and four in orbit. Now fully out of fuel, the spacecraft smashed into a region near Mercury’s north pole, out of sight from Earth, at about 20:00 GMT on Thursday. Mission scientists confirmed the impact minutes later, when the craft’s next possible communication pass was silent. Messenger reached Mercury in 2011 and far exceeded its primary mission plan of one year in orbit. That mission ended with an inevitable collision: Messenger slammed into our Solar System’s smallest planet at 8,750mph (14,000km/h) – 12 times quicker than the speed of sound. The impact will have completely obliterated this history-making craft. And it only happened because Mercury has no thick atmosphere to burn up incoming objects – the same reason its surface is so pock-marked by impact craters. [BBC]
Artist’s rendering of the MESSENGER spacecraft orbiting Mercury Date Source

Video of the Day –

Biggest Trick In Action Sports History – Triple Backflip – Nitro Circus – Josh Sheehan

CLICK TO SEE MORE STUFF FROM THIS DAY…

May 22, 2015

Top News Stories –

One Direction, Robert Pattinson help out in first Red Nose Day in America –
One Direction, Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Pattinson were among British stars who helped raise money for the first Red Nose Day in America.
The three-hour TV show opened with a monologue from host Seth Meyers. He announced his plans to trump the UK version of the fund-raising marathon.
“I don’t want the British doing anything in front of the cameras,” said the late night talk show host. “They are famously terrible actors so they are all working backstage.” Cameras cut to Simon Cowell in the director’s chair, Orlando Bloom at the sound board, Naomi Campbell operating a camera, Sir Ian McKellen working the teleprompter, Cumberbatch struggling with cue cards and Dame Helen Mirren making tea. Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne was left with the task of wishing people good luck while Pattinson struggled with valet parking and crashed the first car given to him.[BBC]
Highlight of the night was Cold Play creating a musical version of Game of Thrones with many of the cast appearing including John Snow (Kit Harrington). See Video of the Day.
Kit Harrington

Thousands of new words added to Scrabble dictionary –
Thousands of new words – including slang terms lolz, shizzle and obvs – have been added to the latest Scrabble word list, its publisher has said.
About 6,500 words have been added to the latest Collins Scrabble Word List, including a number of slang terms used on social media and in text messages. New words include twerking, emoji, bezzy and ridic – short for ridiculous. One the highest scoring new entries is quinzhee – an Inuit snow shelter – which scores 29 Scrabble points. Other new words now acceptable in the board game include onesie, devo – short for devolution – vape, and shootie, meaning a fashionable shoe that covers the ankle. [BBC]

Kim Jong-un’s ‘brat pack’ brother jets in to London for Eric Clapton concert –
Kim Jong-chol, allegedly passed over as heir to the North Korea regime because he has a weak character, was seen entering the Royal Albert Hall with a female companion and wearing a leather jacket. Wearing a leather jacket, T-shirt and sunglasses, Kim Jong-chol was caught on film by a camera crew from Japan’s TBS channel entering the venue with an unidentified woman. South Korean media reported that Kim was staying at The Chelsea Harbour Hotel and was scheduled to board a flight from London to Moscow on Friday. Rooms at the hotel cost up to £2,184 a night. Mr Kim, 33, was passed over by his father, Kim Jong-il, as heir to the North Korean regime because he has a weak character, according to South Korean intelligence reports. To compensate, he has taken on the mantle of the unofficial leader of the North’s “brat pack” of children of the regime’s elite.[Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Red Nose Day – Game of Thrones, Coldplay’s New Musical (Episode Highlight)

Top Twitter Trends –

	Worldwide	USA	UK
1	#BuenViernes	#MemorialDayWeekend	#BankHolidayWeekend
2	#TeLoConfiesoAsiD1	#VoteYes	#FridayFeeling
3	#NoSoporto	#WhatWouldYouDoFor100dollars	Eric Pickles
4	#Vertigo	Mike Huckabee	#FarewellFearne
5	#تفجير_ارهابي_�…	#ItsNotADateIf	#KentEarthquake
6	#MeCambiaElDia	19 Kids and Counting	#VoteYes
7	Samid	#DisneyPrincessProblems	George Best
8	Hayırlı Cumalar	#WhyImATerribleCookIn5Words	#bbcqt
9	Harden	Hard Knocks	#MadMenFinale
10	#EuAdmitoQue	#AskTOP	#WhatWouldYouDoFor100dollars

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captures the border crossing at Al Waleed (al-Tanf in Syria), the last remaining border crossing between Syriaand Iraq controlled by the Government of Syria. ISIL reportedly advances to within 40 km of Baghdad after their victory in Ramadi. (BBC)
A suicide bomber targeting Shiites at a mosque in Qatif, Saudi Arabia, has killed 19 and injured 28, per Red Crescent authorities. (Irish Independent)
Mexican Drug War
- At least 42 members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and two Federal Police officers are killed in a shootout in the state of Michoacán. The death toll is preliminary and is expected to rise. (Reuters)

Business

Li Hejun, formerly China’s richest man, loses an estimated US$14 billion when his energy shares plunge nearly 50%. (Forbes)

Disasters and accidents

Surrounding areas of Wembley Stadium, London, UK have been evacuated following the discovery by construction crews of a still-live World War II-era 50-kg (110-llb) conventional-explosive bomb, a remnant of the Blitz. (MSN)
The Myanmar Navy rescues two boats carrying 208 migrants as it faces growing international pressure to tackle the Rohingya migration crisis.(AFP via Yahoo! News)

Politics

Voters in Ireland go to the polls to vote on constitutional referendums, including one that would allow same-sex marriage. (BBC)
The Senate of the United States passes legislation to allow President Barack Obama to fast track trade negotiations with other countries. (AP via ABC News America)

Science

Science publishes a series of papers on biodiversity in the deep sea, including tens of thousands of single-celled organisms most of which had not been previously identified. (BBC)

Sports

In cricket, Pakistan plays a Twenty20 match against Zimbabwe at Lahore. This is the first time a test playing nation toured Pakistan for a cricket match since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team. (IndiaTV)

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January 2, 2016

Top News Stories –

Royal Shakespeare Company reveals its high-tech tips: carrots, cereal and tea bags –
The Royal Shakespeare Company is to open up its archives for the first time, sharing the behind-the-scenes secrets that have made their most accomplished productions. Anyone hoping to hear the highest-tech tricks of the trade, however, may be in for a surprise, as they disclose techniques even a schoolboy could master. The RSC’s first permanent exhibition of its own archives will show visitors how the company uses carrot sticks, rice crispies, and glue to pull off specific special effects. It will also how it uses tea bags and water to age the look of ordinary paper to make it appear Elizabethan: a trick used by schools up and down the land. The visitor attraction, called The Play’s The Thing, will open in June 2016, making it the RSC’s first exhibition devoted to the making of Shakespeare plays. It will be part of the restoration of the Swan Wing, built in 1879 and the oldest part of the Stratford-Upon-Avon theatre. [Daily Telegraph]
Swan_Theatre_Stratford

Video of the Day –

Leftfield “Head and Shoulders” from Ewan Jones Morris on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

100 Things we didn’t know last year – by the BBC (34-66)

34. Chewing something can partially excise earworms – songs that stick in the mind.

Find out more (the Times)

35. Former UK Liberal Democrat party leader Lord Ashdown told his successor that he used to eat hedgehogs.

Find out more (Evening Standard)

36. In north-eastern England, Conservative candidates used to wear red, Liberals blue and Labour green rosettes until the 1970s.