December 26, 2015

Top News Stories –

Nudists rescue sinking yacht at start of Sydney-Hobart race –
A group of struggling sailors in Sydney were given a surprising rescue when they found themselves being hauled to shore by a nudists. A small wooden boat had sailed out to watch the start of the annual Sydney to Hobart race, which sees 100 vessels set out on Boxing Day every year. But as spectators were walking back along the coast, they saw a boat get in to trouble near Lady Bay Beach – a popular site for nudists. “The boat came angling into the shore, which was a bit weird,” said Chris Pearce, a photographer with Getty agency. Mr Pearce said that a crowd of people swimming in the sea came to their rescue, in waters around three feet deep. After the woman and child were rescued from the boat, those left on board started to see the funny side of the situation. Photographs of the rescue show at least one man on board grinning as nude men surrounded the boat, ready to lend a hand. [Daily Telegraph]

Twitter is winning war on trolls and extremists, says its Europe chief –
The social media giant, which is 10 years old in March, has amassed 320 million users and a valuation of more than $33bn (£22bn). But it desperately needs to turn back waves of negative headlines and to find ways to engage more deeply with the margins of its audience. But Twitter is fighting back. Boosted in October by the return of its founder Jack Dorsey, now permanent chief executive, it believes it is winning its war on trolls and clearing its decks of violent extremists. Speaking to The Independent ahead of the company’s tenth anniversary, Bruce Daisley, head of Twitter in Europe, said: “We have spent longer and put more effort into user safety than any other issue. The measures we’ve taken correlate directly with a reduction in the amount of bad behaviour on the platform.” [The Independant]

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BEST WISHES from Jeroen Houben on Vimeo.

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Google Trends 2015 –
Top Searches – Global

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #SabadoDetremuraSdv #SabadoDetremuraSdv #HappyBirthdayJade
2 #WeAreProudOfYou5SOS #WeAreProudOfYou5SOS Rolling Stones
3 #زد_رصيدك43 #زد_رصيدك43 #WeAreProudOfYou5SOS
4 #BeautyAndTheBestieDay2 #BeautyAndTheBestieDay2 #flooding
5 #SintoFaltaDaEpocaQue #SintoFaltaDaEpocaQue #DowntonAbbey
6 #WeAllAreJustinBieber #WeAllAreJustinBieber #gogglesprogs
7 #RewindBr #RewindBr #20thingsiwantfor2016
8 #بلغ_عن_من_تكشف… #بلغ_عن_من_تكشف… #Barfest2016
9 #AUSvWI #AUSvWI #wankpuffin
10 #20thingsiwantfor2016 #20thingsiwantfor2016 #EastEnders

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December 27, 2015

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Eiffel Tower joins Twitter and receives a warm welcome from Statue of Liberty and Taj Mahal –
When a 126-year-old woman took to Twitter for the first time this week, the Taj Mahal and the Statue of Liberty were so impressed that they sent her tweets to congratulate her. But this was no ordinary old lady – it was the Eiffel Tower, the world’s most visited monument, taking its first steps on the wildly popular microblogging site. “Parisian since 1889, now I am sparkling on Twitter!” said one of the first tweets, in both English and French, on the official account of the 1,063 ft-high tower nicknamed La Grande Dame by its creator, Gustave Eiffel. The tower that each year attracts more than seven million visitors from across the globe, already has around 1.7 million fans on its Facebook account but until this week had kept away from Twitter. Its arrival there this week, under the username @LaTourEiffel, was quickly hailed by direct tweets from the official accounts of other world-renowned monuments. [Daily Telegraph]
Staue of Liberty Tweet

Star Wars: The Force Awakens becomes fastest to take $1bn –
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has become the fastest film to take $1bn (£674m) at the global box office. JJ Abrams’ film achieved the feat in 12 days, beating the previous record of 13 days set by Jurassic World in June.
But while Jurassic World had the benefit of record takings in China over the period, The Force Awakens has yet to open there. Star Wars also scored the biggest US Christmas Day box office takings in history with $49.3m (£33.2m). The film took $153.5m (£103.5m) in the US in its second weekend, bringing its total domestic haul to $544.6m (£367m). [BBC]

Christmas time storms, tornadoes kill at least 43 in U.S. –
Storms hit the U.S. South, Southwest and Midwest over the Christmas holiday weekend, unleashing floods and tornadoes that killed at least 43 people, flattened buildings and snarled transportation for millions during a busy travel time. The bad weather, or the threat of it, prompted the governors of Missouri and New Mexico to declare a state of emergency for their states. Flash floods killed at least 13 people in Missouri and Illinois. In Missouri, emergency workers have evacuated residents from their homes and conducted dozens of water rescues, Governor Jay Nixon said on Sunday. He said at least eight people had been killed and numerous roadways had been closed. [Reuters]

British soldiers aid evacuation in flood-hit northern England –
British soldiers helped evacuate hundreds of people from rising floodwaters in the historic city of York on Sunday, after heavy rainfall inundated towns and cities across northern England. Prime Minister David Cameron pledged more military help for the region as the army was deployed to move 300 to 400 people from their homes in York, where the River Ouse was expected to continue rising until Monday, the local council said. Some 100 soldiers were also helping emergency services in the hardest hit areas of West Yorkshire, including Leeds, police said, after the region suffered its worst flooding in 70 years. [Reuters]

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The Christmas Human – Wishing you a very Christmas merry! from Andre Maat on Vimeo.

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Google Trends 2015 –
Top Searches – Global News

Isis

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Worldwide USA UK
1 #زد_رصيدك44 Peyton Manning #yorkfloods
2 가요대전 #DepressABeatlesSong #RecipeWizard
3 #ANECUP #GBvsAZ #AndThenThereWereNone
4 #ÚltimoDomingoDoAnoSdvDTr #MichaelIsOurSafetyPin #BigGame8
5 #FelizDomingo #mattylovesya #DepressABeatlesSong
6 #TeamBernardoFordGoesToJapan Chyna #SAvENG
7 #MyBebeLoveDay3 #5SOSIsDeadParty #2015bestnine
8 #حكمه_انت_ماشي_… #PlatonicActivity #5SOSIsDeadParty
9 #علمتني_الرياض… #2016PopCulturePredictions Lynton Crosby
10 #5SOSIsDeadParty #ThinkBIGSundayWithMarsha COBRA

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December 28, 2015

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Man dies after blowing up condom machine, says German police –
A man died on Christmas Day in Germany after he was hit in the head by a flying piece of metal from a condom machine that he and two accomplices blew up in an apparent robbery attempt, police said on Monday. The 29-year-old man was taken to hospital in the western town of Schoeppingen, near the Dutch border, by the two other men who fled the scene of the explosion in a car, leaving behind condoms and money scattered around the gutted vending machine. The two men told hospital officials that their friend had fallen down the stairs, injuring his head. Suspicious of their story, the officials called the police. During questioning, police said, one of them admitted that the three had blown up the condom machine. Police said the three men apparently got into a car after triggering the explosion, but the 29-year-old did not close his door and was hit by debris when the machine exploded. [Daily Telegraph]

Lemmy, Motorhead frontman, dies aged 70 after cancer diagnosis –
Motorhead frontman Lemmy has died aged 70, two days after learning he had cancer, the British band has announced. Lemmy formed the rock group in 1975 and recorded 22 albums, including Ace of Spades, as he became one of music’s most recognisable voices and faces. The band said on its Facebook page: “Our mighty, noble friend Lemmy has passed away after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer.” Lemmy was born Ian Fraser Kilmister in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in 1945. He lived in Anglesey, Wales, as a child and acquired the nickname Lemmy while at school, although he claimed to have had no idea where it came from. [BBC]
Lemmy-MotorheadLemmy in 2005

Game of Thrones tops list of 2015’s most pirated shows –
For the fourth year running, fantasy series Game of Thrones has topped a list of the most pirated TV shows. According to Torrentfreak, the season five finale was illegally downloaded 14.4m times. More than half of those came in the week after its US premiere. The Walking Dead and The Big Bang Theory rounded up the top three, with 6.6m and 4.4m downloads respectively. Earlier this year, Game of Thrones broke a record when more than 258,000 users shared the show simultaneously. The HBO drama was mainly downloaded on BitTorrent. [BBC] Last year Game of Thrones was only downloaded 8.1 million times.
Sophie-TurnerSophie Turner (Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones)

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FINAL from Carmel Joy on Vimeo.

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Google Trends 2015 –
Top Searches – People

Sia

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Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #SegundaComOClubeSDV #HappyBirthdayNash #AndThenThereWereNone
2 #زد_رصيدك45 #DiaDeLosInocentes #ontopictalkshow
3 #DiaDeLosInocentes #mondaymotivation #MissYouNash
4 #PSYMadamIsBack Meadowlark Lemon #OLIC2
5 #FelizLunes #MusicMonday Ellsworth Kelly
6 #من_اسباب_سعادتي #OhNoHarrysHair #mondaymotivation
7 #OhNoHarrysHair #SOOMPIAWARDS2015 #HarryPriceGhostHunter
8 #DinahIsOurQueen #MilitaryBowl #ProductPlacementFilms
9 #ALDUBBestOf2015 #UAALLAMERICA #dragonsden
10 #НасосДляИнст�… #DoctorStrange #Homeland

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December 29, 2015

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Russia: Book of Putin quotes ‘given to officials’ –
Officials across Russia have been given a 400-page book of “prophetic” quotes by President Vladimir Putin as a new year gift, it’s reported. The collection, entitled Words That Change The World, was sent to as many as 1,000 people by one of Mr Putin’s top aides, Vyacheslav Volodin, according to the business newspaper RBK. Recipients include MPs, regional governors and civil society representatives. In an accompanying letter, Mr Volodin says the book should be seen as a guide to the Kremlin’s “values and guiding principles”. He’s also reported to have recommended it to a recent meeting of officials as “required reading for any politician”. [BBC]
Vladimir-PutinVladimir-Putin

Russia ‘unlikely’ to return by Rio Olympics –
Russia are unlikely to return to international competition in time for next year’s Rio Olympics, says European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen. Russia’s athletics federation was banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations for alleged involvement in widespread doping. An IAAF inspection committee is due to visit Russia in January. “For the moment they have to fulfil the conditions, but I cannot really see them competing in Rio,” Hansen said. [BBC]

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VertiGo – A Wall-Climbing Robot Including Ground-Wall Transition

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Google Trends 2015 –
Top Searches – Global Sporting Events

Source: Google

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #زد_رصيدك46 #MessageForMyCrush Dappy
2 #ConEsteCalorYo #TWUG #LHHNY
3 #FelizMartes #1YearWithoutO2L Lemmy
4 #TercaDetremuraSdv #IdGiveYou #MessageForMyCrush
5 #MessageForMyCrush #TravelTuesday Cellino
6 #ALDUBFLASHBack2015 #AndThenISaid #IWantToBeSoRich
7 #MentirasMasUsadas Ethan Couch #MOTD
8 #YoTeDigo #KidQuestionsForHillary #TamirRice
9 #닉네임의_받침을_��… #ARMYSelcaDay #StormFrank
10 #НасосДляИспо�… #TWDMarathon #TravelTuesday

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December 30, 2015

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Freak storm pushes North Pole 50 degrees above normal to melting point –
A powerful winter cyclone — the same storm that led to two tornado outbreaks in the United States and disastrous river flooding — has driven the North Pole to the freezing point this week, 50 degrees above average for this time of year. From Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning, a mind-boggling pressure drop was recorded in Iceland: 54 millibars in just 18 hours. This triples the criteria for “bomb” cyclogenesis, which meteorologists use to describe a rapidly intensifying mid-latitude storm. A “bomb” cyclone is defined as dropping one millibar per hour for 24 hours. NOAA’s Ocean Prediction Center said the storm’s minimum pressure dropped to 928 millibars around 1 a.m. Eastern time, which likely places it in the top five strongest storms on record in this region. [Washington Post]

Uber claims one billion journeys in five years since launch –
Uber claims to have made one billion journeys since its launch in 2010, underlining the massive growth of the ride-sharing service and its challenge to the traditional taxi industry. The company said its billionth trip was completed in London on Christmas Eve – five and a half years after its first journey in San Francisco. The figure suggests that Uber has averaged more than 600,000 rides a day since its driver-hailing app went online, although the figure today is much higher. Uber said last year that it was arranging 1 million trips per day, and has since expanded in dozens of new cities around the world. [Daily Telegraph]

Canadian Bad Santa pulls Christmas Eve heist, escapes in Hummer –
A man dressed as Santa Claus robbed a small-town Canadian jewelry store at gunpoint on Christmas Eve, before dashing away in a Hummer, police said on Wednesday. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the red-and-white-garbed robber entered a jewelry store in Stettler, Alberta, in late afternoon last Thursday. He demanded jewelry and diamonds from a clerk and left with a bag of them. No one was hurt. An employee at the store declined to comment. [Daily Mail]

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How To Prevent Hangovers (With Science)

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Google Trends 2015 –
Top Searches – Movies

Source: Google

Top Twitter Trends –

Worldwide USA UK
1 #ParaEl2016Prometo #Thanks1DForAnAmazing2015 Oliver Letwin
2 #QuartaComOClubeSDV #NewYearsResolutionIn5Words #SUNLIV
3 #زد_رصيدك47 #baconday Barney
4 #TomaraQueEm2016OCrush #BillClintonSitcoms David Beckham
5 #Thanks1DForAnAmazing2015 Bill Cosby #morrisseykitchen
6 #اشياء_تتمناها… #BlackTwitterTheBestTwitter #SchoolDiscoMemories
7 #FelizMiercoles Cleveland’s Terrible Stain #Thanks1DForAnAmazing2015
8 Página 364 de 365 #BelkBowl Guru Josh
9 #СНаступающим�… #BirminghamBowl Lemmy
10 #あなたに絶対似合�… #WhatItDoByMahone #TylerOakleyThankYouFor

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December 31, 2015

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BBC Website And iPlayer Crippled Following Massive DDoS Attack –
Have you ever seen a dog chase its own tail? That pretty much describes what’s going on at BBC News this morning. The site suffered a pretty large distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack earlier today, one that knocked out the company’s entire network and iPlayer streaming service, causing grief for web visitors who grew impatient with how long it took to restore service. As for the image of a dog chasing its own tail, it’s based on BBC’s reporting of the situation. The site posted a statement on Twitter in the early morning hours saying it was “aware of a technical issue” affecting its website, but declined to elaborate. A BBC News journalist for the site’s Technology section posted an article saying that internal sources blamed the issues on a DDoS attack, then a few paragraphs down notes that “BBC has yet to confirm or deny that such an attack was responsible for the problems.” So there you have it — BBC acknowledged a technical issue (duh) while one of its own journalists heard from people within the organization that it was a DDoS attack, but for some unknown reason the site won’t go on record as saying so. The good news is order has been restored and, despite claims to the contrary on Twitter, this is not the end of the world. [Hot Hardware]
BBC Error 500BBC Error 500

Dubai seeks cause of massive hotel fire at New Year –
The authorities in Dubai are trying to find out what caused a spectacular fire to engulf a 63-storey luxury hotel in the city centre on New Year’s Eve. Firefighters managed to subdue the blaze, but part of the Address Downtown Hotel is still smouldering. A BBC reporter says a significant fire is still visible on the 20th floor, where the blaze apparently started. The tower was evacuated and 16 people were hurt. But a fireworks show went ahead at the Burj Khalifa tower nearby. [BBC]

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Gym Wildlife

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Google Trends 2015 –
Top Searches – Music

Adele

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1 #Adios2015 Page 365 of 365 #Remember1D2015
2 #زد_رصيدك48 #BestMemoriesOf2015 Harry and Kendall
3 Hasan Karakaya #PeachBowl #BestMemoriesOf2015
4 #HappyNewYear Happy New Year #NYE2016
5 #FimDeAnoSrTwitteiroSdv #Feliz2016 Goodbye 2015
6 #2016YılındanBeklentim #ImAlwaysMixingUp Here’s to 2016
7 #امنيتك_في_عام_… #PeopleWhoMadeMyYear #Likely2016Headlines
8 #HojeEuVou #RIZIN #PeopleWhoMadeMyYear
9 #SeFueElAñoYYo Carrot Top #NewYearsResolutionsIn5Words
10 #2015medejo Here’s to 2016 Happy Hogmanay

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