August 23, 2015

Top News Stories –

Usain Bolt beats Justin Gatlin to win world 100m title –
Usain Bolt produced perhaps his greatest performance of all as he put a troubled build-up behind him to beat two-time doper and clear favourite Justin Gatlin to retain his world 100m title. The controversial Gatlin came into the final on a 28-race unbeaten run and apparently relishing his role as the sport’s bad guy. But at the same Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing where Bolt announced himself to the world with two Olympic golds and two world records in 2008, the Jamaican superstar came past a faltering Gatlin at the death to snatch victory by one hundredth of a second. Bolt’s 9.79 seconds was more than two tenths off his world record, but this was a night for athletics to celebrate victories rather than times. [BBC] See List of the Day
Usain-BoltUsain Bolt

Banksy’s ‘Dismaland’ in England: It’s a Strange World, After All –
WESTON-SUPER-MARE, England — Rain pelted down for much of Sunday afternoon on this drooping beachside resort town where “Dismaland,” the gloomy anti-Disneyland created by the artist Banksy, opened this weekend. “Dismaland,” a satirical take on a theme park, features grumpy guards, funereal theme park games and art by about 60 artists — including Banksy, Damien Hirst and Jenny Holzer. The exhibition had a “locals” day on Friday and opened to the public on Saturday; it runs through late September. The exhibition came largely as a surprise: Members of the British news media had spotted construction at the exhibition site — the abandoned grounds of a former family swimming pool — early last week, and had begun to speculate on what was taking place there. The exhibition includes new and old artwork by Banksy, including a pool with mobile boats full of figurine immigrants in what apparently is the English Channel, and a mural-style work in the his signature silhouette style, which shows a fat cat in a suit gorging himself while a gaunt woman with children stands across from him. [NY Times]
Logo-of-DismalandLogo_of_Dismaland

Met Office loses multi-million pound BBC weather contract –
The Met Office has lost its lucrative weather forecasting contract with the BBC after nearly a century of providing the service. Negotiations to renew the deal hit a dead end and a new firm is expected to take over next year. The BBC said it was legally required to open up the contract to outside competition and secure the best value for money for licence fee payers. Dutch and New Zealand firms are said to be in the running for the contract, which is believed to make up a sizeable share of the £32.5 million a year the Met Office receives from commercial organisations, according to the Mail on Sunday. [Daily Telegraph] See Top Twitter Trends

Mel Gibson accused of pushing female photographer –
Oscar-winning actor Mel Gibson has been accused of pushing a female photographer in Sydney. The Daily Telegraph’s Kristi Miller told Australian media she was pushed and verbally abused while taking pictures of Gibson and his girlfriend. She alleges Gibson’s tirade ended when his partner, 24-year-old US equestrian vaulter Rosalind Ross, intervened. “I thought he was going to punch me in the face,” Ms Miller said. “He was spitting in my face as he was yelling.” Police confirmed they are investigating reports a female photographer was pushed outside a cinema on Sunday night. [BBC] Gibson swore at a TV journalist in February 2010.
Mel-GibsonMel Gibson

Video of the Day –

Subway Love

Subway Love from Max Stossel on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Usain Bolt international competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2002 World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 1st 200 metres 20.61
2nd 4×100 metres relay 39.15 NJR
2nd 4×400 metres relay 3:04.06 NJR
2003 World Youth Championships Sherbrooke, Canada 1st 200 metres 20.40
2003 Pan American Junior Championships Bridgetown, Barbados 1st 200 metres 20.13 WYB
2nd 4×100 metres relay 39.40
2004 CARIFTA Games Hamilton, Bermuda 1st 200 metres 19.93 WJR
2005 Central American and Caribbean Championships Nassau, Bahamas 1st 200 metres 20.03
2006 World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 3rd 200 metres 20.10
2006 IAAF World Cup Athens, Greece 2nd 200 metres 19.96
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 2nd 200 metres 19.91
2nd 4×100 metres relay 37.89
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 1st 100 metres 9.69 WR OR
1st 200 metres 19.30 WR OR
1st 4×100 metres relay 37.10 WR OR
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 1st 100 metres 9.58 WR
1st 200 metres 19.19 WR
1st 4×100 metres relay 37.31 CR
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea DSQ[226] 100 metres
1st 200 metres 19.40 WL
1st 4×100 metres relay 37.04 WR
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 1st 100 metres 9.63 OR
1st 200 metres 19.32
1st 4×100 metres relay 36.84 WR
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 1st 100 metres 9.77
1st 200 metres 19.66
1st 4×100 metres relay 37.36
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, Scotland 1st 4×100 metres relay 37.58 GR
2015 World Relay Championships Nassau, Bahamas 2nd 4×100 metres relay 37.68
World Championships Beijing, China 1st 100 metres 9.79

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  • Britain and Iran reopen embassies in each others’ capitals that had been closed after Iranian protesters stormed the British embassy on November 29, 2011. (Reuters)
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August 27, 2015

Top News Stories –

Facebook sets user record as more than 1bn people log on in single day –
Facebook has revealed that more than 1bn people used the site on Monday – the first time the social network has hit the milestone. Mark Zuckerberg, who founded the company in 2004 while studying at Harvard, said he felt “proud” that one-in-seven people on Earth logged on to the website during the day. The 31-year-old wrote in a post on Facebook:

Mark Zuckerberg tweet Mark Zukerberg tweet
Although Mr Zuckerberg did not specify what had caused the rise in the number of users, the website has consistently attracted more followers. Last month Mr Zuckerberg revealed Facebook had 1.49bn monthly active users, up 13pc from a year earlier. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

LEVEL from joe pease on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

The top ten most unexpected words added to the online Oxford dictionary [according to the Daily Telegraph]
1. manspreading (noun): the practice whereby a man, especially one travelling on public transport, adopts a sitting position with his legs wide apart, in such a way as to encroach on an adjacent seat or seat

2. awesomesauce (adjective): extremely good; excellent

3. bants (noun): playfully teasing or mocking remarks exchanged with another person or group; banter

4. fat-shame (verb): cause (someone judged to be fat or overweight) to feel humiliated by making mocking or critical comments about their size

5. Brexit (noun): a term for the potential or hypothetical departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union

6. bruh (noun): a male friend (often used as a form of address)

7. cakeage (noun): a charge made by a restaurant for serving a cake they have not supplied themselves

8. fatberg (noun): a very large mass of solid waste in a sewerage system, consisting especially of congealed fat and personal hygiene products that have been flushed down toilets

9. Grexit (noun): a term for the potential withdrawal of Greece from the eurozone (the economic region formed by those countries in the European Union that use the euro as their national currency)

10. hangry (adjective): bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger

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10 コミュニケーショ��… #ShesKindaHotEP Kevin Nolan

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August 29, 2015

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World Athletics Championships: Ashton Eaton sets new decathlon world record in Beijing –
Ashton Eaton’s world record in the decathlon has stolen the limelight from Mo Farah and Usain Bolt on the penultimate night of the world athletics championships in Beijing. Farah completed the long distance double for a second consecutive occasion at a world titles with victory in the men’s 5,000 metres final, while Usain Bolt captured his third gold in the Bird’s Nest in the last seven days when he anchored Jamaica to a win in the men’s 4x100m relay. But it was Eaton who deserved top billing, after the American dipped under his world mark to post a two-day total of 9,045 points. Eaton, the defending champion, collected 829 points in running four minutes and 17.52 seconds in the final event, the 1,500m, enough to beat his previous record by six points. [ABC]
Ashto Eaton tweet Ashton Eaton tweet

 

Mo Farah completes the ‘triple-double’ with 5,000m at the athletics world championships in Beijing –
Mo Farah is the first athlete to win the 5,000 and 10,000m races at successive world championships. The ‘triple-double’: it is a coinage usually confined to basketball, but in Beijing it belongs to the extraordinary Mo Farah, who for a record third successive global championships has completed twin triumphs over 5,000 and 10,000 metres. None of the distance icons – not Emil Zatopek, not Lasse Viren, not Kenenisa Bekele – managed it, but Farah streaked into history at the Bird’s Nest stadium with another exquisitely controlled perfor­mance over 12½ laps. [Daily Telegraph]
British Athletics tweet - Mo Farrah

 

Video of the Day –

Wirecutters

Wire Cutters from Jack Anderson on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Decathlon world record progression [As of August 29, 2015 – Wikipedia]

Points Adjusted
points
Athlete Nation Date Place
7,485.61 6,087 Aleksander Klumberg  EST 1922-09-22 Helsinki[1]
7,710.775 6,476 Harold Osborn  USA 1924-07-12 Paris[1]
7,820.93 6,460 Paavo Yrjölä  FIN 1926-07-18 Viipuri[1]
7,995.19 6,566 Paavo Yrjölä  FIN 1927-07-17 Helsinki[1]
8,053.29 6,587 Paavo Yrjölä  FIN 1928-08-04 Amsterdam[1]
8,255.475 6,865 Akilles Järvinen  FIN 1930-07-20 Viipuri[1]
8,462.235 6,736 James Bausch  USA 1932-08-06 Los Angeles[1]
8,790.46 7,147 Hans-Heinrich Sievert  GER 1934-07-08 Hamburg[1]
7,900 7,254 Glenn Morris  USA 1936-08-08 Berlin[1]
8,042 7,287 Bob Mathias  USA 1950-06-30 Tulare[1]
7,887 7,592 Bob Mathias  USA 1952-07-26 Helsinki[1]
7,985 7,608 Rafer Johnson  USA 1955-06-11 Kingsburg[1]
8,014 7,653 Vasili Kuznetsov  URS 1958-05-18 Krasnodar[1]
8,302 7,989 Rafer Johnson  USA 1958-07-28 Moscow[1]
8,357 7,839 Vasili Kuznetsov  URS 1959-05-17 Moscow[1]
8,683 7,981 Rafer Johnson  USA 1960-07-09 Eugene[1]
9,121 8,010 Yang Chuan-kwang  ROC 1963-04-28 Walnut[1]
8,230 8,120 Russ Hodge  USA 1966-07-24 Los Angeles[1]
8,319 8,235 Kurt Bendlin  FRG 1967-05-14 Heidelberg[1]
8,417 8,310 Bill Toomey  USA 1969-12-11 Los Angeles[1]
8,454 8,466 Mykola Avilov  URS 1972-09-08 Munich[1]
8,524 8,420 Bruce Jenner[a]  USA 1975-08-10 Eugene[1]
8,538 8,454 Bruce Jenner[a]  USA 1976-06-26 Eugene[1]
8,618 8,634 Bruce Jenner[a]  USA 1976-07-30 Montreal[1]
8,622 8,648 Daley Thompson  GBR 1980-05-15 Götzis[1]
8,649 8,667 Guido Kratschmer  FRG 1980-06-14 Filderstadt-Bernhausen[1]
8,704 8,730 Daley Thompson  GBR 1982-05-23 Götzis[1]
8,723 8,741 Jürgen Hingsen  FRG 1982-08-15 Ulm[1]
8,743 8,774 Daley Thompson  GBR 1982-09-08 Athens[1]
8,779 8,825 Jürgen Hingsen  FRG 1983-06-05[3] Filderstadt-Bernhausen[1]
8,798 8,832 Jürgen Hingsen  FRG 1984-05-09 Mannheim[1]
8,798 8,847 Daley Thompson  GBR 1984-08-09 Los Angeles[1]
8,891 8,891 Dan O’Brien  USA 1992-09-05 Talence[1]
8,994 8,994 Tomáš Dvořák  CZE 1999-07-04 Prague[1]
9,026 9,026 Roman Šebrle  CZE 2001-05-27 Götzis[1]
9,039 9,039 Ashton Eaton  USA 2012-06-23 Eugene[4][5]
9,045 9,045 Ashton Eaton  USA 2015-08-29 Beijing

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August 18, 2016

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Olympics 2016: Usain Bolt completes sprint double –
Usain Bolt completed a Rio 2016 sprint double by winning the 200m; he has already won the 100m in Rio. Bolt’s eighth Olympic title came in a time of 19.78 seconds, and the Jamaican has one final chance to win gold in Friday’s 4x100m relay final. Bolt, the overwhelming pre-race favourite, once again dominated a 200m Olympic final. The Jamaican has now won the Olympic sprint double three times, having repeated his exploits from Beijing in 2008 and London four years ago. Bolt said he was not happy with his time and added it was unlikely he would compete in the event at the World Championships in London next year – his career swansong. “I said it would be 100m and that’s it,” he told BBC Sport. “My coach has a way of trying to convince me, but personally I believe this is my last one.” [BBC] See List of the Day

Usain-BoltUsain Bolt

Rio Olympics 2016: USA’s Ryan Crouser breaks 28-year record to win shot put gold –
Ryan Crouser broke a 28-year Olympic record to win gold for the United States in the men’s shot put final. Crouser, 23, threw 22.52m with his fifth throw to break East German Ulf Timmermann’s record of 22.47m set in Seoul in 1988. Joe Kovacs, the 2015 world champion, made it a USA one-two with a best throw of 21.78m, as New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh took bronze with 21.36m. Poland’s Tomasz Majewski, who won gold in 2012, finished sixth with 20.72m. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Man solves Rubik’s Cube faster than Usain Bolt can win 100 meter race

List of the Day –

Usain Bolt International competitions results [Wikipedia]

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2001 World Youth Championships Debrecen, Hungary 5th (semis) 200 metres 21.73
2002 World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 1st 200 metres 20.61 (wind: +0.9 m/s)
2nd 4×100 metres relay 39.15 NJR
2nd 4×400 metres relay 3:04.06 NJR
2003 World Youth Championships Sherbrooke, Canada 1st 200 metres 20.40
Pan American Junior Championships Bridgetown, Barbados 1st 200 metres 20.13 WYB
2nd 4×100 metres relay 39.40
2004 CARIFTA Games Hamilton, Bermuda 1st 200 metres 19.93 WJR
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 5th (heats) 200 metres 21.05
2005 Central American and Caribbean Championships Nassau, Bahamas 1st 200 metres 20.03
2006 World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 3rd 200 metres 20.10
IAAF World Cup Athens, Greece 2nd 200 metres 19.96
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 2nd 200 metres 19.91
2nd 4×100 metres relay 37.89
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 1st 100 metres 9.69 WR OR
1st 200 metres 19.30 WR OR
1st 4×100 metres relay 37.10 WR OR
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 1st 100 metres 9.58 WR
1st 200 metres 19.19 WR
1st 4×100 metres relay 37.31 CR
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea DSQ[260] 100 metres
1st 200 metres 19.40 WL
1st 4×100 metres relay 37.04 WR
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 1st 100 metres 9.63 OR
1st 200 metres 19.32
1st 4×100 metres relay 36.84 WR
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 1st 100 metres 9.77
1st 200 metres 19.66
1st 4×100 metres relay 37.36
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, Scotland 1st 4×100 metres relay 37.58 GR
2015 World Relay Championships Nassau, Bahamas 2nd 4×100 metres relay 37.68
World Championships Beijing, China 1st 100 metres 9.79
1st 200 metres 19.55 WL
1st 4 × 100 metres relay 37.36 WL
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st 100 metres 9.81
1st 200 metres 19.78

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  • Three bombings targeting police and military kill at least 120 people and wound 2190 in Turkey’s southeast. (BBC)
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  • The Obama Administration will phase out the use of privately-owned federal prisons. The move will affect private prisons which house 220,660 federal inmates, out of a total of nearly 2,000,000. (BBC)
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  • Twitter announces 2,035,000 terror-linked accounts have been suspended over the past six months amid increasing pressure on tech companies from the White House to censor extremists from groups likeISIL. (CBS News)

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