January 9, 2015

Top News Stories –

Paris gunmen killed after 2 sieges –
The 2 gunmen who carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre on January 7th 2015 have been killed by French police after a brief siege at a warehouse in Dammartin-en-Goele, 35km (22 miles) north of Paris. Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi were shot dead as they came out of a warehouse building firing at police. Two officers were injured. Simultaneously, Amedy Coulibaly, the man who killed a policewoman on 7th January, was shot dead at a kosher supermarket in Paris after he had killed 4 hostages – 15 hostages were rescued. Coulibaly knew one of the brothers and their respective partners had spoken on the phone more than 500 times. A total of 17 people plus the 3 gunmen have died in the 3 days.

Brand and Rascal to be studied –
The exam board Oxford, Cambridge and Royal Society of Arts (OCR) plan to include evidence given by Russell Brand to a Commons select committee inquiring into drugs and an interview between Dizzee Rascal and Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman as part of the English A-level syllabus as from this September. The plans have been approved by exams regulator Ofqual amongst 37 new specifications for GCSEs and A-levels put forward by the exam board.
13-06-09 RaR Dizzee Rascal 10Dizzee Rascal

AirAsia tail section recovered –
The tail section of AirAsia flight QZ8501 that crashed while flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore has been recovered from the seabed using inflatable devices. Although the flight recorders are positioned in the tail it appears that the “black boxes” have been separated from it and the search continues.
The Indonesian navy has retrieved from the seabed the tail of the AirAsia plane that crashed two weeks ago.

Lucky he was a Dolphin –
Former Miami Dolphins running back Rob Konrad swam nine miles to shore after falling off his boat while fishing and his boat, which was on auto pilot, drifted away from him off the South Florida coast. Konrad, who played 82 games for the Dolphins between 1999-2004, was treated for hypothermia after it took 12 hours to swim to shore.

Saturn centre pinpointed –
Scientists have located the centre of the planet Saturn to within just 2 miles using ten antennae, known as the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), spread over an area from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands. The antenna assembly uses signals sent by the Cassini probe to monitor the position of the gas giant. Previously estimates of the positions of Saturn and its satellites used data received by tracking Cassini’s radio signal during its communications with Earth but the new calculations are about 20 times more accurate.
Saturn PIA06077

Video of the Day –

Horsepower –

Horsepower | Brett Rheeder from Mind Spark Cinema on Vimeo.

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January 10, 2015

Top News Stories –

France remembers gunmens’ victims –
Nearly a quarter of a million people held marches in France on Saturday to condemn the attacks by extremist gunmen on France that took place on Wednesday 7th January 2015 killing 17 people including 12 at the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo. Large crowds gathered in Paris, Orleans, Nice, Pau, Toulouse and Nantes, with people holding banners that read “I am against racism”, “unity”, or “Je suis Charlie” – the latter a reference to the magazine.

#JeSuisCharlie top hashtag –
#JeSuisCharlie has become one of the most popular hashtags ever used on Twitter with between 4 and 5 millions tweets containing the phrase in 4 days.
Je suis Charlie

Dart attack –
Rioting fans in fancy dress brawled and threw chairs and tables, stopping play at an Australian darts competition. Dutchman Michael ‘Mighty Mike’ van Gerwen was playing Australia’s Simon ‘The Wizard’ Whitlock in an invitational tournament at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne when chaos broke out. Images show a man dressed as Batman’s sidekick Robin wrestling with an English knight, while security guards try to calm the situation down.
Simon Whitlock

Video of the Day –

Gold and Grey from Kyle Camarillo on Vimeo.

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January 21, 2015

Microsoft launch Windows 10 and the HoloLens-
Microsoft reveals the HoloLens holographic headset that will project the new Windows 10 OS over views of the real world. Windows 10 will also introduce its voice-controlled assistant Cortana to PCs. The OS upgrade will be offered free of charge for devices running Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Phone in its first year of release. The Internet Explorer web browser will be replaced by a new program codenamed Project Spartan.
copyright MicrosoftThe HoloLens

Most dangerous sexual position –
Researchers in Brazil report that the woman-on-top position during intercourse is responsible for half of all penile fractures sustained during sex in cases recorded at three hospitals. Positions involving the woman on all fours was involved in 29 per cent of fractures and the safest position in the bedroom is the man-on-top ‘missionary position’. See List of the Day below.

No s**t Sherlock –
Australia’s National Rugby League has apologised after publishing players’ favourite swear words on its website. Shaun Johnson, Kurt Gidley and Sam Thaiday were among those asked to reveal their chosen profanities as part of their player profiles, but they were quickly removed.
Shaun Johnson 2013 (cropped)Shaun Johnson

Liam Neeson criticised by gun company –
PARA USA the firearms company that provided the guns for Liam Neeson’s movie Taken 3 has said they have “regrets” about working with him after he said that there are “too many… guns out there, especially in America.” The company will cut ties with the Taken franchise and recommended other companies to do the same. Leeson also said the gun problem was not connected to Hollywood’s action movies.
Liam Neeson Deauville 2012 2Liam Neeson

Madonna hacking arrest –
An Israeli man who appeared on one of the country’s talent shows has been arrested on suspicion of hacking into singer Madonna’s computers and selling unreleased songs online. Madonna had to release some new songs early in December 2014 after demos from her new album Rebel Heart were discovered online.
Madonna à Nice 17 edit

Shazam worth $1 billion-
Shazam, the mobile music recognition service, has raised $30m in a funding round that pushes its valuation to $1bn. The $30m investment takes equity raised to $125m over the past eight years, during which its revenue has risen from £2.5m in 2007 to £31m in 2013. But the company has not made a profit in that period and in 2013 it lost £2m.

Video of the Day –

Shazam Top 20
X Factor Winner Marlisa Sings Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud

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