Sinlung

They live on in cyberspace

2012-02-05T17:43:00.001-08:00

Shubhi Tandon

THE INITIATOR: Deepika Thathaal.Memini, a new website is a memorial to women who lost their lives to ‘honour' violence.

According to the United Nations and The International Campaign Against Honour Killing at least 5,000 women and girls worldwide are murdered each year to preserve ‘family honour'. Many of these women are killed for making personal choices that don't match the limits placed on them by their families and local society.

Personal choices come in conflict with a family's ‘honour' when a young woman begins to ask – Who do I want my life-partner to be?; What if I don't want an arranged marriage?; How do I want to dress in public?; What music do I want listen to?; How can I own my own business?; Can I attend a university of my choice?; When will I be able to sing in public, or go dancing?; Can I ask for a divorce if my husband beats me?; Can I attend school?

Judged ruthlessly for exercising such basic freedoms like making personal career or educational choices, deciding styles of dress, choosing one's friends and even the number of children one wishes to have, women who have become victims of ‘honour' violence are trapped in a never-ending cycle of self-denial.

Providing a digital memorial to the victims of ‘honour' crimes worldwide is a new website called Memini, which means ‘remembrance' in Latin. It outlines the lives of 25 women who have been murdered because of ‘honour' violence. Created by award-winning Norwegian filmmaker, composer and celebrity pop singer Deepika Thathaal, known as Deeyah by her fans, each face on Memini shows a haunting desire to live. Born in Norway to immigrant parents of Pashtun and Punjabi descent, Deeyah knows that dangers exist for women who step outside their society's ‘cultural norm'. “Honour Killings represent the ultimate in control and oppression of women,” she says. Family members – or friends of the family – are often the ones who carry out the killing in these murders. ‘Honour' crimes happen worldwide, but they are more common in countries such as Syria, Egypt, Morocco, India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Jordan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. Women belonging to immigrant communities in developed nations like the United States, Canada, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Norway and the UK, are also very vulnerable. “The perpetrators of these ‘honour' motivated crimes want all signs of the lives of these young women to be completely wiped out – it's almost as if these young women had never existed in the first place,” explains Deeyah.

Turkish-born Kurdish immigrant to Sweden, Fadime Sahindal, is one such victim. Talking about the first time she reported to the police personal threats against her mounted by family members during a formal meeting of Sweden's parliament on November 21, 2001, she had said, “I reported the incident to the police, but they didn't take me seriously.”

Less than two months after her speech in Parliament, Sahindal was shot dead by her father, an illiterate Kurd farmer who had moved to Sweden in 1980. She had dared to travel against her father's wishes to visit the grave of an ‘unapproved' Swedish boyfriend who had been killed in a car accident.

Facebook's secret message

2011-10-27T07:37:00.001-07:00

Via Flickr.

Carving the classics: Literary jack-o-lanterns

2011-10-27T07:35:00.001-07:00

Mark Twain
For most of us, creating a jack-o-lantern without a trip to the emergency room is satisfaction enough, but there’s always that one smart-aleck neighbor who has to blow the Joneses right out of the water. This post is to knock them off their perch. All right, not really, but Flavorwire has collected a whole patch of literary-inspired pumpkins that will put most of our triangles to shame.
Homer’s Odyssey

Edgar Allan Poe

Herman Melville’s Moby Dick

Full story at Flavorwire via Neatorama.

Vampire identification guide

2011-10-24T06:56:00.001-07:00

Via Ben Douglas.

And the Great Wall came a’ tumblin’ down

2011-10-24T06:47:00.001-07:00

The struggle between old and new is once again rearing its head in China, this time making its appearance on its most iconic landmark.
"The Great Wall of China may have survived the Huns and Mongol hordes, but widespread neglect, underfunding, and mining means that it is now falling down,"The Telegraph reported earlier this month, citing photographs that show "huge holes...punched through the wall in some areas" and entire sections up to 100 miles long in ruins.
Sections popular with tourists have been maintained, but legal and illegal mining operations for copper, iron and nickel have left long stretches in more remote areas ruined despite a law passed in 2006 to protect it. The monumental task of enforcement might not be able to repel the hordes of time or modern industry, though, before it’s too late.
Full story at Treehugger.

Real-life 'Paranormal Activity:' are ghosts real?

2011-10-22T21:07:00.001-07:00

The new horror film "Paranormal Activity 3" features another set of amateur ghost hunters trying to document evidence of paranormal activity through the use of home video cameras. It's all good fun for spooky cinematic scares. But what about in the real world?
Between one-third and one-half of Americans believe in ghosts, and that belief motivates many to look for evidence of the paranormal. Researcher Sharon Hill of the Doubtful Newsblog counted about 2,000 active amateur ghost hunting groups in America. Almost all of them are patterned directly after the hit SyFy TV show Ghost Hunters, which is now in its eighth season of failing to find good evidence of ghosts.
Full story at Discovery News.

'Doomsday' Comet Passing by Earth

2011-10-16T00:16:00.001-07:00

Online theorists saw armageddon

A comet passing by Earth will fail to bring about the end times, one astronomer says. (AP Photo/National Optical Astronomy Observatory/ Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy/National Science)
A comet touted as the bringer of Armageddon will fly past Earth tomorrow night in a knot of icy fragments, Space.com reports.

At least one astronomer, however, does not foresee earthquakes and tsunamis. The so-called "doomsday comet," Elenin, "was a second-rate, wimpy little comet that never should have been noted for anything, really," astronomer Don Yeomans says. "It was not even a bright one."
But doomsayers on the Web saw correlations between Elenin and world events; one anointed the comet "planet Nibiru," and called its arrival an "Extinction-Level Event."

Chuckled Yeomans: "Just driving to work every day ... is going to have far more of a gravitational effect on Earth than this comet ever will." In fact, the splintered comet may be hard for night-watchers to spot. "It's time to move on to the next Armageddon," Yeomans says.

Hot tub party...600 feet in the air

2011-10-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

A group of Swiss hot tub adventurers (sounds like the plot of a bad movie) recently took a dip while suspended off the 600 foot high Gueuroz Bridge in western Switzerland. Par-tay time--who brought the boombox and wine coolers?

Via LikeCool.

Photographing generation gaps

2011-10-12T05:36:00.001-07:00

German photographer Frauke Theilking snapped stripped down photos of parents and their children for a poignant collection titled “Generation.” The series, staged without any distracting backgrounds or clothing, illustrates the differences and similarities connecting generations.

Via My Modern Met.

Alzheimer's: can you catch it?

2011-10-12T05:35:00.001-07:00

What causes Alzheimer's disease remains a mystery to scientists and doctors. But a recent experiment in mice suggests that the layering of beta amyloid deposited in neurons, a key sign of Alzheimer's, can be recreated in animals.
The study opens the door to the possibility that Alzheimer's might spread in a similar way to other illnesses caused by prions, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Mad Cow disease) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. So far, prions are also known to cause the fatal neurological condition Kuru in humans and chronic wasting disease in deer, among others.
Full story at Discovery News.

7 NASA corn mazes

2011-10-10T07:14:00.001-07:00

Taking a page out of the alien crop circle handbook, NASA partnered with farmers around the country to celebrate the agency’s achievements as well as American agriculture. The participating farms have created intricate mazes that are fun to see from space and great to explore on the ground.

“You don’t always see an astronaut in a corn field,” said Adam Pugh from The Rock Ranch in Georgia, who approached NASA last year with the idea, “and there’s not an obvious connection between corn and NASA. But I thought it would be cool if we could work with NASA and highlight some of the NASA anniversaries going on and use our cornfield as an outdoor classroom to re-enthuse the new generation of youth about space exploration and get them fired up about looking towards the stars.”

Full story at Universe Today via Neatorama.
Fun with NASA.

TV says Knox claimed sexual harassment in jail

2011-10-08T01:06:00.000-07:00

Amanda Knox arrives in court before the start of a session of her appeal trial in Perugia's courthouse - AFP
Amanda Knox claimed she was sexually harassed by a prison official in Italy during her four years behind bars, according to a TV program to be aired this weekend.
Knox, who has returned home to Seattle after being acquitted of murder and sexual assault, said the "high-ranking prison administrator" ordered her into his office, alone at night, to talk about sex.
"He was fixated on the topic of sex, with whom I'd done it, how I liked it, if I would like to do it with him," said a letter from Knox, quoted by the "48 Hours Mystery" show which airs Saturday on CBS.
"When I realized that he really wanted to talk to me about sex I would try to change the subject," she added, the program's makers said in a description of the show ahead of broadcast.
Knox, now 24, wrote: "I realize that he was testing me to see if I reacted badly, to understand me personally. He wanted to get a reaction or some information from me. I did not get the seriousness of the situation."
A court in Perugia on Monday freed Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito after acquitting them over the gruesome 2007 killing of British student Meredith Kercher, allegedly after a violent sex game.
Knox, who was dubbed "Foxy Knoxy" by some tabloid newspapers, hopes to return to her studies after settling back at home, although experts say she could make a fortune by selling her story as a book, or in TV or film rights.
It was not clear when the letter cited by the TV show was written, or to which prison official it might refer.

Man with world's largest feet finds fame

2011-10-08T01:05:00.001-07:00

The first thing that people notice about Brahim Takioullah is not his feet, which he hopes will make him famous but his enormous height. He stands more than eight foot (246 cm) tall.

As he strolls through downtown Paris people gasp, stare, take his picture and ask: ‘Are you the tallest man in the world?’ He's not, not quite, but he does have the biggest pair of feet on the planet and that's official.

Judges from Guinness World Records came to France to measure him and confirmed his suspicion that he had record-breaking feet, his left measuring one foot three inches (38.1 cm) in length and his right, one foot 2.76 inches.

Takioullah cannot stand up straight in the small flat he shares with his mother in the Paris suburbs, has difficulty getting into a taxi or the Metro, and can never move around without attracting attention.

But he is surprisingly good humoured about his situation, smiling and posing for cellphone snaps and politely answering questions about his condition, a rare medical problem that he hopes to cure through surgery.

Takioullah is from Morocco, and grew up in a small village, grew up fast. In one year in his teens he put on more than three feet (one metre) in a spurt. He contacted Guinness himself to challenge for the record, and says he is proud to have it recognised, though daily life is not without its problems.

He hopes one day to have a specially built car he could drive himself, but for now even getting a pair of shoes stretches his budget -- he takes a European size 58, which no shop has ever stocked.

"I always need them made-to-measure and they're very expensive. I once asked a cobbler to make me some shoes and he said it would cost 3,500 euros (5,270 dollars)," he sighed.

This week he met an orthopedic podiatrist to be fitted with a specially made pair designed to support his huge weight.

"The thing is, when you have a very very large foot, even the machine to make the components isn't necessarily big enough. So we really had to work right on the edge of the machinery." said Jerome Liegeon.

French doctors are working to reduce Takioullah's brain tumour, and he hopes his newfound fame will help him find the specialist treatment he needs.

Now 29, no-one thought to investigate his unusual size until he was 18.

"The school doctor noticed that I was this enormous size and asked me to get some blood tests. I did that, and I was diagnosed with a very rare condition called acromegaly," he told the media.

Kids band become internet sensation

2011-10-07T02:19:00.000-07:00

The Mini Band's cover of Metallica's Enter Sandman goes viral on Youtube.

The Mini Band: Zoe Thomson, Harry Jackson Kieran Fell and Archie Zolotuhin (guitars), Harrison Read (lead singer) and Charlie Emmons (drummer). Photo: http://theminiband.com
A children's band from Thatcham, in Berkshire, have become an internet hit with a cover of Metallica's Enter Sandman.
The Mini Band – made up of eight and 10-year-olds - were performing at the Bucklebury Beer Festival and a video of the song on Youtube attracted 350,000 hits in its first four days.
The Band is comprised of Zoe Thomson, Harry Jackson Kieran Fell and Archie Zolotuhin (guitars), Harrison Read (lead singer) and Charlie Emmons (drummer).

How dodgy DNA freed Amanda Knox

2011-10-06T07:09:00.001-07:00

The poor handling of DNA evidence played a starring role in the appeal of American student Amanda Knox this week and led to her release from a prison in Perugia, Italy.
The validity of the main forensic evidence, microscopic amounts of DNA on the murder weapon and on a bra clasp, was thrown into doubt. Amanda Knox's appeal, which began last November, was dominated by the re-examination of the DNA evidence. In 2009, American forensic experts sent a letter to the Italian judge outlining their concerns over the mishandling of evidence.
Full story at Discovery News.

'Sexy chicken' irks PeTA

2011-10-05T00:27:00.001-07:00

'Sexy chicken' ruffles feathers

By: Agencies
Date: 2011-10-05
Place: New York

PeTA all riled up over a newspaper photograph featuring a provocatively positioned chicken, calls it ghastly
A photo of a chicken published in The New York Times has sparked a debate between animal welfare groups.
PeTA has spoken out about the photo of a fresh whole chicken lying in a controversial pose.

Hot chick: PeTA has called the advert sickly and downright offensive not
only to vegetarians but to everyone and accused New York Times of
necrophilia.
The image, which featured on the front page of the broadsheet's Dining and Wine section, outraged extreme vegan organisation PeTA.
Offensive
"When I saw it I just couldn't believe that an editor of The New York Times would find it acceptable," said PeTA founder and president Ingrid Newkirk.
"It's downright offensive, not just to people who care about animals but almost to everyone. It's [a] plucked, beheaded, young chicken in a young pose. It's necrophilia. It's not amusing. It's just ghastly and sickly."
Rather than weighing in on the argument, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) instead drew attention to PeTA's hypocritical stance.
PeTA is the organisation that encourages celebrities like Eva Mendes, Khloe Kardashian and more recently, Australian Ruby Rose, to strip down to promote their anti-fur message, Fur? I'd Rather Go Naked.
"While PeTA chooses to use celebrities and images of scantily clad young women to publicise many of their campaigns, the RSPCA is an animal welfare organisation which bases its policies on science and common sense," said RSPCA spokesman Tim Mayne.
PeTA is no stranger to the sex sells message.
The organisation is now in the process of launching an adult's only site containing X-rated images alongside messages regarding the cruelty involved in the slaughtering of chickens.
Meanwhile, a Twitter account called @NYTchicken, also known as Sexy Chicken, appeared, mocking the controversy between PeTA and the newspaper. Tweets from the so-called Sexy Chicken include messages like "Yes. They're real. Now, stop staring at them" and "I know you've been checking me out and asking about me.
There's no need to be shy. Yes, I'm organic. And, yes, I am single." The account now has risen to viral fame with around 1,600 followers, but is currently only following the Twitter accounts of Chickens on Camera, Kentucky Fried Chicken and New York Times Dining Editor Pete Wells.
The chicken also added that she felt like Scarlett Johansson.
1,600
The number of followers Sexy Chicken has on Twitter

Soccer halves risk of early death among homeless

2011-10-03T09:09:00.001-07:00

Playing soccer on streets twice or thrice a week could halve the risk of early death in homeless men.

Playing soccer on the streets twice or thrice a week could halve the risk of early death in homeless men.
Research led by the Universities of Exeter and Copenhagen shows the positive impact of such football on the fitness of homeless people, a group with typically poor health and low life expectancy.
Homeless people face a much lower-than-average life expectancy, usually as a result of cardiovascular disease, according to a Copenhagen statement.
University of Exeter's Peter Krustrup, who led the study, said: "Street football for homeless men is very intense and 12 weeks of training significantly improves the fitness and cardiovascular health profile of these men."
While homeless people tend to undertake large amount of low-intensity physical exercise through more than 10,000 daily steps of walking, most do not take part in more intensive exercise.
For this study, 55 homeless men living in Copenhagen were included in a control group or invited to attend four-a-side football training sessions two to three times a week for 12 weeks.
By the end, the aerobic fitness of the football-playing group was improved and their cholesterol, body fat and blood pressure reduced.

Man allowed to have sex with Viet brides only if wife gets to watch!

2011-10-03T09:08:00.001-07:00

A 60-year-old man from Singapore has been allowed by his wife to take home young Vietnamese brides on a condition that she gets to watch them during the ‘child making process’.
According to China Press, a bride agency’s owner said that he had recommended women to the couple in the past and also a few months ago, and that the condition scared off three young Vietnamese women.
“The childless couple approached my agency and shortlisted the candidates. Each woman tried to live with them but the first two did not even make it past two weeks,” Star Online quoted Marco Lim as saying.
“They left and returned to Vietnam,” he stated.
Lim revealed that he had to persuade the women to tell him the reason behind the failed relationships.
“They must have felt pressured because the wife would watch them carefully each time they had sex with the man. I was told that the wife would even set the schedule for the man to have sex with the women.
“She also held on to their passports and forbade them from making calls,” he added.

The webcam at the top of the world

2011-10-02T22:47:00.001-07:00

If fighting climate change appears to be about as easy as moving a mountain, take heart that the world’s biggest bad boy is now in on the action. Climate researchers have teamed up with surveillance company Mobotix to equip Mount Everest with a solar-powered web cam that interested parties can follow here between the hours of 6 am and 6 pm Nepalese time.

The webcam is powered by solar cells and is situated on the Kala Patthar mountain at a height of 18,514 feet, as it gives one of the best vantage points of Everest in the world. Thankfully not of its "Death Zone", though. While enduring sub-zero temperatures and high winds, the camera will stream images between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Nepalese time down to the Ev-K2-CNR Pyramid Laboratory/Observatory nearly 2,000 feet below. From there, the photos will be sent back to Italy for further study.

It’s also the perfect way to see through the eyes of an adventurer without having to mess with freezing temperatures, fatal equipment failures or your insurance company.
Full story at Share Everest via Gizmodo.

Allergens at home

2011-09-28T22:58:00.001-07:00

Full story at Allergy Be Gone via Daily Infographic.

The perfect laptop for kids

2011-09-28T22:56:00.001-07:00

Apple fanatics (who also happen to be parents) will inevitably want to brainwash their children with i-Products at a very early age, but might not want to deal with drool on the keyboards or sticky fruit juice fingers on the touch screen. The solution? This wooden chalkboard “laptop”, aptly named i-Wood.

Via LikeCool.

The anatomy of walking

2011-09-28T22:53:00.001-07:00

Via Everybody Walk.

Check your emotional baggage, receive a song to help you cope

2011-09-28T22:50:00.001-07:00

Life got you down? Fret not - no matter what problem your facing, Emotional Bag Check can help. Whether your relationship has ended, school’s stressing you out, or your boss doesn’t respect you, you can upload your drama to the site and receive insightful advice in the form of a hand-picked song. Sure, it’s being picked by a stranger, but who better to view your issues in a new light?
And if you’re in a much happier place and feel like helping someone going through a tough time, you can choose to carry someone else’s baggage, and be the stranger recommending the songs.
The site plugs into GrooveShark’s API, so any song in their gigantic library can be used.
Full story at GOOD.

Famine in Somalia [infographic]

2011-09-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

Full story at Washington Post. (H/T eLocal)

Riot etiquette [comic]

2011-09-24T22:07:00.001-07:00

Full story at NY Times via Good.is.

'Forty per cent of men visit Philippines for sex' - US ambassador

2011-09-23T00:35:00.000-07:00

US ambassador slams sex tourism
Claims "40 per cent of men visit for sex"

A tourism department spokesman emphasised that sex tourism was not part of the government's marketing campaign. Picture: Supplied
FORTY per cent of foreign men visiting the Philippines are sex tourists, the US ambassador on Manila said today in comments that were quickly disputed by the government.
US ambassador Harry Thomas told a forum of Filipino judges and officials that corrupt officials were involved in a very visible sex trade, and challenged the legal profession to eliminate the "scourge".
"We know that 40 per cent of foreign men who come to the Philippines, including from the US, come for sexual tourism. That is not something I'm proud of. That's not something you should be proud of," Thomas said.
He highlighted a high profile string of karaoke bars and clubs along Roxas Boulevard, one of Manila's main roads on which the US embassy is also located, alleging they were infamous sex establishments.
"Corruption allows these notorious establishments to continue to operate. Local officials will look the other way or accept favours. These officials are doubly guilty," he said without naming any specific officials.
Thomas praised the Philippines for boosting efforts recently against human trafficking, but stressed more had to be done and pledged US help.
"Any American caught engaged in any of these crimes or cybersex should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and we will assist (you)," Thomas said he told Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.
Prostitution is illegal in the Philippines, Asia's Roman Catholic outpost, but the sex trade flourishes openly in many urban areas, including Manila.
Nevertheless, the government immediately sought to downplay Thomas's remarks.
"Certainly that is something we would like to dispute. We are not sure where his statistics are coming from," Tourism assistant secretary Domingo Enario told AFP.
Tourism department spokesman Benito Bengzon also emphasised that sex tourism was not part of the government's marketing campaign.
The ambassador's statements come amid Philippine government attempts to revitalise the country's tourism industry, which for years has lagged behind other Asian countries.
The Philippines recorded an all-time high of 3.52 million visitors last year and the government is aiming for tourist arrivals of six million by 2016.

Meet Medusa the world's largest snake

2011-09-22T23:26:00.001-07:00

She weighs more than 300lbs, is 25-feet long and it takes 15 people to hold her up and now Medusa is set to slither into the record books as the world's largest snake living in captivity.
The massive reptile, who will be on display at the Edge of Hell haunted house attraction in Kansas City, eats a 40 pound animal about once a week but could easily eat something over 100 pounds.
She will soon be visited by representatives from the Guinness Book of World Records who are coming to verify her new title.

Record breaker: Medusa, seen here cosying up to her new colleagues, will be on display at the Edge of Hell, a haunted house attraction in Kansas City
Snake trainer Larry Elgar told NBC Action News he isn't intimidated by the monster python: 'They've actually cut people out of them, they are man eaters.
'Fear is just a lack of understanding. I have no fear. I understand that she can kill me. I've been wrapped up and put unconscious by a reticulated python that was only 18 feet long.
'I understand the repercussions, but that's no reason to fear. That car you drove in has killed more people than anything else in the world. But you're not scared when you put your keys in it, are you?'

Not so scary: She may weigh 300lbs and could easily kill a human but Medusa's handler says he is not afraid of the giant snake
Medusa is set to bump Fluffy, a reticulated python, off the top spot. At 24-feet long she held the record for longest snake living in captivity until she died at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, Ohio in October last year.

Going out with a bang: Porn studio constructions 2012 apocalypse bunker

2011-09-16T00:45:00.001-07:00

Pink Visual, Valley Porn Studio, to Construct 'Coolest Underground Bunker Known to Man' for 2012 Apocalypse

By Simone Wilson

Which one of you lucky ladies wants to save the human race?
Updated after the jump with a detailed layout of the bunker's different rooms, including "co-ed glass shower inclosure decontamination units." Aww yeah.
Originally posted September 8 at 12:15 p.m.
The May 21 "Rapture" passed without incident -- mostly just an excuse to party and make fun of religious extremists. And the December 21, 2012 apocalypse, the second leg of Harold Camping's predictions, is promising much of the same.

One L.A. porn studio in particular, Pink Visual in Van Nuys, is taking a giant leap of faith -- or, more likely, a giant leap of PR genius -- in hopes of "riding out the 2012 apocalypse in style."
Spokesman Quentin Boyer tells the Weekly that 1,200 to 1,500 very important persons will be allowed into an "enormous underground bunker" beneath the studio on the night in question. It will include, according to the company's zany presser, "multiple fully-stocked bars, an enormous performing stage and sophisticated content production studio."
But from there, says Boyer, anything goes.
"If nothing else, it'll be a fantastic one-night party, after which well emerge from underground, red-faced, to go home, and the company will be left behind with the coolest bunker known to man."

Vice
Way ahead of you: Apocalypse porn "Final Flesh" was released in 2009.
Can guests have crazed, last-man-and-woman-on-Earth sex, right out in the open?, we ask. (You're welcome.)
"Inevitably, I suppose, that will happen," he answers. "It's hard to say how people would respond to an actual apocalypse. [But] we're not ones to tell people not to have sex."
Boyer adds that Pink Visual is still debating how to select the chosen few invitees. "It's probably going to be a combo of merit-based -- what sort of skill set can you bring down with you? -- and a lottery that favors our fans and members," he says. Probably also biased toward applicants sans HIV.
But we can assure you: Jesus does not necessarily have to be your savior. In fact, a
Baby Jesus butt plug might position you best for survival, in the freaky confines of this alterna-Doomsday.
In addition to commonfolk, Pink Visual is working on recruiting professional talent. "We've talked to a couple people," says Boyer. "They responded with, 'Really?' We have some convincing to do."
Camping is no doubt rolling over in his hospital cot right now. The sacrilege! Out here in Porn Capital USA, though, we're loving this new approach to adult-video PR; we were admittedly getting a little tired of the constant celebrity offers by Vivid. (And Pink Visual has been guilty of the same. Ahem, "Conan the Boobarian"?)
Updates to come as we get more details about the architecture of the bunker party. "We're still working on oxygen, that kind of thing," says Boyer. Details, details!
Update: CBS LA reports that construction has begun. Without further ado, here's the bunker's floor plan so far (click to enlarge):

Pink Visual
Pink Visual has some more flowery press-releasage on its own site, e.g.: "Our goal is nothing less than to survive the apocalypse to come in comfort and luxury, whether that catastrophe takes the form of fireballs flung Earthward by an all-seeing deity, extended torrential rainfall, Biblical rapture, an earthquake-driven mega-tsunami, radioactive flesh-eating zombies, or some combination of the above."
And yada yada. Given last night's creepy falling fireball thing, though, those Village People construction-worker strippers (at least, that's how we prefer to imagine them) might want to start digging faster.
[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]

Humans and Neanderthals had sex, but not very often

2011-09-16T00:43:00.001-07:00

Tens of thousands of years ago, our ancestors spread across the world, having sex with Neanderthals, Denisovans and other groups of ancient humans as they went. Today, our genes testify to these prehistoric liaisons. Last year, when the Neanderthal genome was finally sequenced, it emerged that everyone outside of African can trace 1 and 4 percent of their DNA from Neanderthals.
The discovery was a vindication for some and a surprise to others. For decades, palaeontologists had fought over different visions of the rise of early humans. Some championed the “Out of Africa” model, which says that all of us descend from a small group of ancestors who came out of Africa, swept the world, and replaced every other group of early humans. The most extreme versions of this model said that these groups never had sex, or at least, never bred successfully. The alternative – the multiregional model – envisages these prehistoric groups as part of a single population that met and mated extensively.
To an extent, these are caricatured versions of the two models, and there are subtler variants of each. Still, early evidence seemed to support the extreme Out of Africa version. When scientists sequenced the mitochondrial genome of Neanderthals (a small secondary set of genes set apart from the main pack), they found no evidence that any of these sequences had invaded the modern human genome. The conclusion: Neanderthals and humans never bred.
The full Neanderthal genome disproved that idea, but it also shifted the question from whether humans had sex with Neanderthals to just how much sex they had. As I mentioned in New Scientist earlier this year, modern humans were spreading into areas where Neanderthals existed. “It doesn’t necessarily take a lot of sex for genes from a resident population to infiltrate the genomes of colonisers. When an incoming group mates with an established one, the genes they pick up quickly rise to prominence as their population grows.”
Now, Mathias Currat from the University of Geneva and Laurent Excoffier from the University of Berne have weighed into the debate. They simulated the spread of modern humans from Africa and their encounters with Neanderthals throughout Europe and Asia, to work out the levels of sex that would have transferred Neanderthal genes to modern genomes at their current level.
The duo concluded that sex between the two groups was somewhat of a fringe activity. Fewer than 2 percent of the possible sexual encounters at the time happened between a human and a Neanderthal and produced a fertile, healthy hybrid child. That’s a conservative estimate – the true odds might have been even lower. “Such interbreedings were strongly prevented or very rarely successful,” says Excoffier.
Even if the odds of successful interbreeding were just 5 percent, Neanderthal genes would make up the majority of the human genome today. As it is, a lack of viable sex explains why none of the Neanderthals’ mitochondrial DNA made its way into modern humans, and why so little of their main genome did.
Currat and Excoffier suggest that either modern humans and Neanderthals didn’t have sex very often, or their hybrids weren’t very fit. They favour the first idea. According to their model, it would only have taken between 197 and 430 liaisons between ancient humans and Neanderthals to fill 1-3 percent of modern Eurasian genomes with Neanderthal DNA. Considering that they two groups probably interacted for 10,000 years or so, it would have been enough for one human to sleep with one Neanderthal every 23 to 50 years.
David Reich, one of the leaders of the Neanderthal sequencing effort, is not surprised. “People today mix with people who speak their language and share similar traditions, and these groups were more diverse than modern ones,” he says. “This says to me that where modern humans and Neanderthals were in the same area of the world, Neanderthals would tend to mix with Neanderthals and humans would tend to mix with humans. I would be shocked if they mixed randomly.”

Reich is more interested by the duo’s other conclusion: that Neanderthals and humans continued to mate, albeit rarely, throughout Europe and Asia, all the way from Spain to the Himalayas. This contrasts with Reich’s own work. When he published the Neanderthal genome with Svante Paabo, they suggested that the two groups only bred when humans moved out of Africa and encountered Neanderthals somewhere in the Middle East. This explains why everyone in Europe and Asia has the same level of Neanderthal genes in their DNA – their ancestors picked up those genes only once and spread them to all their descendants.
Currat and Excoffier’s conclusions are clearly different. Paradoxically, they suggest that Neanderthal-human sex was less successful and probably rarer, but also more widespread. There’s an easy way to find out which idea is correct. If Currat and Excoffier have it right, then Europeans and Asians should have picked up different Neanderthal genes. That’s exactly what John Hawks found. In his own analysis of the Neanderthal sequences, he saw that Europeans and Chinese people seem to carry different Neanderthal genes.
This is a fantastic time to be interested in human origins. We went from humans replacing Neanderthals, to humans mating with them and picking up their genes. We learned that this happened with the Denisovans before humans spread throughout the Pacific. We learned that inter-group sex happened in Africa before we even left our birth continent. Every passing month complicates the previous picture.
It’s likely to become more complicated still. Chris Stringer says that Currat and Excoffier’s study is an “important bit of work.” However, he thinks that their simulations are too simple. They assumed that modern humans spread from Africa to Eurasia in a single expanding wave. But Stringer says, “In my new book The Origin of Our Species I suggest that there were several waves of modern dispersal into Europe and no doubt several to the East as well.”
In the first waves, small groups of modern humans would have met large groups of Neanderthals. In later waves, the situation was reversed. The encounters between the two groups would have been very different across many thousands of years. Stringer asks, “The remaining question is whether those earliest modern waves survived to contribute their genes (including Neanderthal ones) to the succeeding waves, or was the slate essentially wiped clean each time?”
Reference: Currat & Excoffier. 2011. Strong reproductive isolation between humans and Neanderthals inferred from observed patterns of introgression. PNAS http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1107450108

It DOESN'T take a village to raise a child, just good parents and grandparents

2011-09-16T00:42:00.001-07:00

Raising a child doesn't take a village, research shows

By Diane Swanbrow
It doesn't take a village to raise a child after all, according to University of Michigan research.
"In the African villages that I study in Mali, children fare as well in nuclear families as they do in extended families," said U-M researcher Beverly Strassmann, professor of anthropology and faculty associate at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). "There's a naïve belief that villages raise children communally, when in reality children are raised by their own families and their survival depends critically on the survival of their mothers."
Strassmann's recently published studies provide the first empirical data on two theoretical pillars of the belief that it takes a village to raise a child. One of these is the grandmother hypothesis—the idea that a child is more likely to survive if a grandmother is nearby.
The other is cooperative breeding theory, based on animal behavior studies that have shown that in a wide variety of birds, including scrub jays, and many mammals, such as the mongoose, adults may delay their own reproduction to help raise the offspring of others.
"Some researchers have suggested that humans may also be a cooperatively breeding species," said Strassmann, who views human behavior from the perspective of evolutionary biology. "But the evidence I found shows that this is not always the case and there can be quite a lot of competition and coercion within families."
In a study published this summer in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Strassmann analyzed data on child survival in various family structures from her ongoing, 25-year study of the Dogon people of Mali, West Africa, a traditional, agricultural society in which resources are scarce and mortality is high. Like many human groups in the past, Dogon society is patrilineal, with a tight-knit web of kinship established through fathers. The Dogon practice polygyny and do not use contraception; Dogon women give birth to 9 children, on average, over their lifetimes.
Strassmann's study is the only research on the subject to date that is both prospective in nature and that controls for confounding variables, such as family wealth and family structure, that could affect child survival.
In the 1,700 Dogon children she followed, Strassmann found that children were over four times more likely to die by age 5 if their mothers were dead.
"In the Dogon, it is mothers alone who are critical for getting children past the early-life bottleneck in survival," Strassmann said. "Adding an extra adult to the family did not improve a child's survival. Although it's important to note that these findings are about child survival up to age 5, they don't speak to the value of having grandparents later on.
"Children were 52 percent less likely to die if their paternal grandparents were dead. Why? Because in a patrilineal society, the paternal grandparents are likely to live with the child, competing for scarce resources."
In another study, published this summer in Human Nature, Strassmann and ISR researcher Wendy Garrard further investigated the validity of the grandmother hypothesis. This study involved a meta-analysis of published studies done over several centuries in 17 patrilineal societies in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.
"Our analysis showed that the grandparents who actually lived with their grandchildren did not have a beneficial effect on the grandchildren's survival," Strassmann said. "Grandparents who did not live with the grandchildren sometimes did have a positive effect because they were not competing for scarce resources.
"Cooperative breeding is not the universal, evolved pattern. Instead there is huge diversity in the array of successful family systems in humans. For example, in the U.S., there are a huge proportion of nuclear families and single moms. Certainly many children of single mothers not only survive but thrive. Look at Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
"Cooperative breeding does help to understand 19th century European societies, for example, in Ireland, where marriage was postponed to the late 20s or even 30s due to the scarcity of farms to inherit. In these societies, celibate individuals often worked on the farms of siblings as helpers and can be compared to cooperatively breeding birds that delay reproduction and act as helpers at their parents' nest when the habitat is saturated and all nest sites are taken. However, cooperative breeding does not fit many other societies, such as the one I study in Africa."
In her study of the Dogon, Strassmann found that children's risk of death is higher in polygynous than in monogamous families. This reflects the hazard of living with unrelated females whose own children are competing with the children of co-wives for limited resources.
Supporting this finding, Strassmann cites "Hamilton's Rule," established by British evolutionary biologist W.D. Hamilton in the 1960s. It is the first formal, mathematical description of kin selection theory, the idea that the degree to which we are willing to invest our resources in another person depends, in part, on the degree of genetic kinship we share with them.
But kinship cuts both ways, according to Strassmann.
"Our results also suggest that kin competition is an important aspect of human family systems," she said. "Genetic conflicts of interest occur even within the family. This competition starts before birth, with maternal genes allocating resources strategically between present and future offspring. The competition extends throughout childhood with sibling rivalry.
"At reproductive maturity, kin compete for the resources needed for mating and parental effort. And finally, in old age, net producers eventually become net consumers who compete with other family members for food and shelter.
"The grandmother hypothesis does not take into account that grandmothers may need help themselves, not just among the groups like the Dogon but in societies like our own."
Provided by University of Michigan (news : web)

Judaism thrives in Berlin, home of the Holocaust

2011-09-16T00:39:00.001-07:00

In this picture taken Aug. 30, 2011, Rabbi Yitzhak Ehrenberg talks to the AP during …
BERLIN (AP) — When Rabbi Yitshak Ehrenberg moved to Berlin some 15 years ago, he found it almost impossible to keep a kosher lifestyle.
There were barely any grocery stores offering food prepared in accordance to Jewish dietary law, no hotels catering to the needs of devout customers on Shabat and no kosher catering services capable of hosting big community celebrations.
When Ehrenberg was invited to a Bar Mitzvah, the Jewish coming of age ceremony, he would often bring his own food just to make sure he wasn't eating any non-kosher dishes.
But today kosher food is more and more widely available — even in non-Jewish stores — in another sign that Berlin's Jewish community is thriving some 70 years after it was obliterated by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
"Now everyone can live a glatt kosher life in Berlin," the Orthodox rabbi said proudly. "And it is affordable too."
That, to no small degree, is to Ehrenberg's own credit. He oversees the preparation of much of the kosher food in the German capital and beyond, gives out "Kashrut" certificates that mark food as safely kosher and encourages big and small food businesses to apply for the coveted stamp.
"The Jewishness has become very strong again in Berlin," Ehrenberg, who is originally from Jerusalem, told The Associated Press. "A lot of young people are finding their way back to religion and the city is still one of the fastest growing Jewish communities in the world."
While the Berlin Jewish community has some 10,000 officially registered members, experts estimate that around 50,000 Jews call the city their home. That's still a far cry from the 120,000 Jews who lived in Berlin before the Nazis came to power in 1933 or today's flourishing diaspora communities of New York, Toronto or London.
The increasing availability of kosher food is part of an overall resurgence of Jewish life due largely to the influx of some 200,000 ex-Soviet Jews who were let into the country after the German government relaxed immigration laws for Jews following reunification in 1990.
Berlin has also become a magnet of sorts for many young Israelis, with unofficial estimates suggesting that 10,000 to 15,000 have moved here in the last few years.
Jewish kindergartens, elementary schools and religious schools — a yeshiva for boys and a midrasha for girls — have sprung up across Berlin as well as Hebrew language schools, and Israeli or Russian food businesses that cater to the growing and diverse demands of the Jewish community.
Just last month, the upscale grocery store "Nah und Gut" — "Close and Good" — in Berlin's Wilmersdorf neighborhood opened a kosher section with some 300 products including fresh beef from Poland, dairy products from France, two kinds of canned gefilte fish, soup powder, instant coffee and halva-filled cookies from Israel. Two big signs above the entrance advertise both fresh-baked suckling pig and fresh original bagels, appealing to both Jews and non-Jews.
"The whole point is to have normalcy again, normal prices, normal opening hours — a neighborhood store where you can get a lot of good things," Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal of the Chabad Lubavitch community, who supervises the kosher section of the supermarket, said in an interview earlier this week.
Beyond the basics, there are now also kosher bakeries — offering Challah, the braided bread for Shabat — cafes, several catering services and a few restaurants — including one that even prepares kosher sushi. There's also a hotel, the Crowne Plaza, which offers rooms that can be used in accordance with strict rules observed by Orthodox and some Conservative Jews on Shabat, the Jewish day of rest, and which will soon open a full kosher hotel kitchen.
The next step, according to Rabbi Ehrenberg, is to also entice non-Jews to buy kosher products.
"In America, a lot of health-conscious people buy kosher because they know it undergoes strict controls, not just in a religious but also in a hygienic way," Ehrenberg said.
"It is my dream that at some point even popular German brands like Ritter Sport or Storck chocolate will print the kosher stamp they received from me well-visibly on the packages — not just for export to Israel, but also when they sell it in Germany."

Internet troll jailed for posting abuse

2011-09-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

Internet troll Sean Duffy jailed for posting abuse about dead teenagers

Duffy posted sick photos, videos
Mocked up pics of teens' dead bodies

Natasha MacBryde killed herself after suffering bullying. Sean Duffy mocked her death. Picture: Supplied
AN internet troll who targeted the grieving families of dead teenagers has been jailed.
Sean Duffy, 25, targeted Facebook tribute pages and posted videos on YouTube taunting the dead and their families.
One of his targets was Natasha MacBryde, 15, who threw herself under a train after suffering bullying.
Duffy, who is unemployed and did not know any of his victims, posted an anonymous video on YouTube called Tasha the Tank Engine, which her family said left them feeling "shocked, outraged and physically sick".
He pleaded guilty to two counts of sending malicious communications relating to Natasha.
He asked for three other cases of Facebook trolling to be taken into consideration when he appeared before magistrates in Reading, southern England.
Joanne Belsey, prosecuting, said Duffy's attacks began after the death of 16-year-old Hayley Bates, who died in a car crash in September 2010.
He defaced pictures of her and wrote underneath a picture of flowers at the crash site: "Used car for sale, one useless owner."
He also created a Facebook page entitled RIP Lauren Drew after the 14-year-old died from an epilepsy attack. He posted images called "Lauren's epifit" and "Lauren's rotting body". For Mother's Day he created a YouTube video with a picture of a coffin saying "Happy Mothers Day".
His final target was Jordan Cooper, 14, who was stabbed to death. He created a group called "Jordan Cooper in pieces" that had a profile picture of a bloodied knife.
Jailing Duffy for 18 weeks, the maximum possible sentence, the chair of the bench, Paul Warren, said: "You have caused untold distress to already grieving friends and family.
"The offences are so serious only a custodial sentence could be justified."
He went on to say that the case served as an illustration of the "harm and damage" that malicious use of social networking sites could do.
Duffy was banned from social-networking sites for five years. He will also have to inform police of any phone he has or buys that comes with internet access.
Lauren Drew's father, Mark, spoke outside court and described the family's pain.
"We were already having a hard time," he said. "These children live on Facebook and they are so vulnerable. Even after Lauren died, she was still vulnerable."
Tthe court heard that Duffy has Asperger's syndrome and suffers with alcohol problems.

Aussie Sex Party takes the whip to .xxx domains

2011-09-14T05:08:00.000-07:00

Gives ICM Registry a dressing-down

By Richard Chirgwin

The Australian Sex Party has joined a growing international chorus of voices accusing ICANN and ICM Registry of a shakedown over the .xxx domain space.

Companies that don’t want their domain names appearing in front of the already-notorious dot-triple-x are facing an October 28 deadline to register with ICM, the sole contractor of the domain with ICANN.

The approaching “sunrise” deadline has inspired wild estimates of the cost to Australian businesses, with News Limited outlets multiplying the number of registered businesses in Australia (two million) by the price of a defensive registration ($US199) to arrive at a national "pornageddon" cost of $US400 million (NineMSN later paraphrased the report to conclude that there are two million Australian businesses operating online, which is plain silly. The actual number of active, employing businesses in Australia is in the order of about 800,000, most of which probably lack brands that would be of interest to cybersquatters).
Fiona Patten, convenor of the Australian Sex Party, is on the attack, saying that ICM Registry is “selling off other peoples’ trademarks”.
“It’s a pretty brilliant money-making venture,” she told the Herald Sun.
It’s not the first time Patten has taken the stick to the .xxx idea; she also believes it could offer censorship via the back door, so to speak. Back in March, she noted that opposition to the creation of the top-level domain was “probably the first and only time we will ever see sex industry, government, and morals groups all lining up to agree on Internet censorship”.
As previously reported in The Register, ICM Registry has kindly blocked various celebrity names – about 15,000 – from registration in its private playground, but didn’t extend that courtesy to corporate brands. ®

1-yr-old girl is pregnant

2011-09-13T21:14:00.001-07:00

Chinese girl carrying fetus in her bloated belly: report

Chinese doctors detected fetus in the bloated belly of a one-year-old baby girl, which was believed to be her parasitic twin, media reports here said on Tuesday.

Medical scan reports showed that the girl from a small village in Luohe City, in central Henan Province, carried a baby inside her, Shanghai Daily reported quoting People's Hospital in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou.

The report said doctors have discovered a fetus inside the girl's stomach, which is believed to be her parasitic twin, the result of one embryo not fully separating.

Doctors are mapping out a plan on a surgical removal of the fetus, it said.

The hospital's chief anesthetist Meng Fanmin and chief surgeon Zhang Xuedong said it was a challenge the girl named Kang faced high risk.

Kang was reported to have been picked up by her adoptive parents in a rye crop in Luohe's Zhaoling District.

Her adoptive parents took her to a hospital in Luohe after her belly started to swell.

The family cannot afford medical treatment and Kang is not covered by a local medical insurance policy because the procedure for her adoption is still undergoing, the report said, adding that the provincial health authority has decided to help the girl.

Filming sexual conquests 'very common' at Oz navy training base

2011-09-12T23:52:00.001-07:00

Place: Melbourne

A Royal Australian Navy sailor, who filmed himself raping a female colleague, has revealed a culture of recording sexual conquests existed at his Victorian navy training base

Keith Eric Calvert was found guilty last month of two counts of digitally raping the woman after a drunken night out at Crown Casino on January 23, 2009.

He filmed the incident on his mobile phone and at one point turned to the camera and gave the thumbs up gesture.

Calvert, 24, has argued during his pre-sentence hearing that bragging about sexual exploits and capturing them on video was common at HMAS Cerberus, south of Melbourne, where he was based as a trainee at the time.

His barrister David Sexton said the culture was one of "work hard, play hard" and heavy drinking.

He said his client had joined the navy to make friends as he had been a loner growing up and was determined to fit into his new environment.

"There was a culture of reporting, of bragging, of sexual exploits, that extended to revealing one's exploits by way of mobile phone footage," the Age quoted Sexton as telling the hearing at the Victorian County Court.

Sexton said the filming was not so much a "frolic of his (Calvert's) own, but an alcohol-fuelled product of the environment that he experienced".

He said the incident at the East Brunswick home was opportunistic rather than planned or premeditated.

Calvert, of Thomastown, had pleaded not guilty to one count of indecent assault and four counts of rape.

The jury found Calvert guilty of two counts of rape but not guilty on the other rape and indecent assault charges.

Mile-high romp prompts report of emergency

2011-09-12T04:17:00.001-07:00

POLICE and FBI agents met a flight at a Detroit airport today after a pilot reported a security issue on board that turned out to be a couple having sex in the plane's restroom. The pilot of Frontier Airlines Flight 623, from Denver to Detroit, alerted the airport tower at Detroit Metro Airport to an emergency on board, WXYZ-TV reported.
Witnesses told myFOXdetroit.com that three passengers on board the plane - two men and one woman - were making multiple trips to the restroom and behaving suspiciously.
Two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to shadow the plane as it headed toward Detroit, FOX News Channel reported.
The plane landed at Detroit Metro at 4.22pm local time, where it was met by police and escorted to a remote inspection area.
Sources told WXYZ that two of the passengers were having sex in the restroom.
Federal law enforcement officials were questioning several people today, but no arrests have yet been made.
Read more here.

Digest this: Veganism myths debunked [infographic]

2011-09-10T00:04:00.001-07:00

Via Column Five for Ethical Ocean

Shop with your smartphone in this virtual grocery store

2011-09-09T23:52:00.001-07:00

The world’s first virtual store has opened in Seoul, South Korea. It looks a lot like your average grocery store from afar, but upon further inspection you can see that there are no real items in the store - just life size images of them. In order to shop, customers must scan barcodes of products displayed using a special downloadable app.
The app allows customers to fill their bag with virtual goods, pay for them with a credit card, and will ensure your purchases get delivered to your home by day’s end. Pretty handy!

Full story at Amusing Planet.

Putting life in perspective

2011-09-06T22:32:00.001-07:00

Via Stumble Upon. (H/T @tomkrieglstein)

Australia's next top controversy - size 8 model bullied for being too fat

2011-09-06T03:44:00.000-07:00

Size 8 model told she's too fat
Model says it sends a bad message

Australia's Next Top Model contestant Alissandra Moone (from WA) was likened to "overstuffed luggage" by judge Alex Perry. Picture: Foxtel
A SIZE eight teenage model said being bullied for being too fat on Australia's Next Top Model sent a dangerous message to vulnerable young viewers.
Alissandra Moone, 18, who at 57kg is considered underweight on the Australian body mass index, was "stunned" when her size became an issue on Foxtel's top-rating show.
Judge Alex Perry has openly criticised Moone's body, likening it to "overstuffed luggage", and the clash is set to reach a head on tonight's episode.
Perry this morning took to Twitter and Channel Nine's Mornings with Kerri-Anne to answer his critics, saying it was "incorrect reporting".
The Minister for Youth Peter Garrett said the statement's were outrageous.
"Comments like these send the wrong message to young people who watch the program and I find them very concerning - what planet is he on?" Mr Garrett told News.com.au.
"Promoting positive body image has been one of my priorities as Youth Minister. In July we sent every school in the country a poster and information pack as part of our ‘Respect Every Body’ campaign, and we’ve also given funding to the Butterfly Foundation for its ‘Free to BE’ body esteem resources.
"Everyone has an ideal weight for their body and that’s what we should all aspire to."
Responding to people tweeting their anger over his comments, Perry said:
The model at the centre of the controversy, Alissandra Moone, yesterday said: "It's a very bad message to be sending to young girls who watch the show.
"It's harsh. It's stupid. And it's out of touch. I understand it's a reality of the (modelling) industry but this is a TV show and they should have a responsibility to censor that kind of thing.
"I know this has happened to other girls in the past but I was shocked when he (Perry) said I was too fat.
"I'm only a size eight. There's going to be a lot of young girls watching this who are bigger than me, and how's this going to make them feel?"
The average dress size for most Aussie women is a 12 to 14, while the most recent Mission Australia youth survey showed body image was the most serious concern facing young people between 11 and 24 -- above bullying, drugs and family conflict.
"I understand it's probably a reality of the industry but no one likes to be told they look fat - regardless of what job you are in," Moone said. "I have never thought of myself as fat. I am a health freak. I go to the gym and eat well."
A spokeswoman for the ButterFly Foundation, which is aimed at educating and supporting people with eating disorders, said: "The (fashion) industry has a responsibility for portraying women of all healthy sizes and in playing a strong educated role in the contribution they make to the serious issue of negative body image.
"We encourage Top Model to be conscious of the example they set to their impressionable viewers."
The critique of Moone's size is in stark contrast to Melbourne Spring Fashion Week organisers' decision this year to only use models with a healthy BMI. Models will be vetted by casting agents to ensure they are not too thin before they are signed up.
The face of this year's festival Sophie van den Akker - a former ANTM contestant herself - is also a size eight.
"As a role model, I think an eight to 10 is more realistic. I think people are more attracted to that than seeing skin and bone," van den Akker has said.

Jesus Page Attracts 'Divine' Facebook Traffic

2011-09-06T03:23:00.000-07:00

'Jesus Daily' tops Justin Bieber for weekly comments and 'Likes'

A Facebook page called Jesus Daily may only have 8.2 million fans to Justin Bieber's 35 million, but it sparks far more comments and "Likes" every week.

Move over, Justin Bieber. Jesus Christ is here. The New York Times reports that a Facebook page called Jesus Daily is generating more "Likes" and comments than Bieber's page simply by posting the words of Jesus four or five times a day.

Last week it racked up 3.4 million interactions to Bieber's 630,000, but who's counting. The man behind it, North Carolina doctor Aaron Tabor, says he only started it as a hobby about two years ago. "I wanted to provide people with encouragement," he says.

And Jesus Daily is not alone. Facebook's top-20 traffic pages include Joyce Meyer Ministries, another Jesus page, and Dios Es Bueno (or "God is Great").

What's more, a reverend and a rabbi tell the Times that Facebook is helping houses of worship attract more congregants and online worshipers. But others warn that Internet prayer is no replacement for the real thing.

Says one reverend: "They can never replace the importance of people being together physically in the service of worship."

Cow in court!

2011-09-06T03:16:00.001-07:00

By: Amit Singh
Date: 2011-09-06
Place: Delhi

Judge orders owner to get licence or release calf outside Delhi after MCD fails to produce its mother. The latter had taken the cow to a shelter on July 2
The petitioner was seeking the reunion of a three-month old calf with her mother, who was picked up by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials from Shahdara. But on Monday, a city court dismissed the application moved by Ved Prakash, owner of the cow. The court asked the petitioner to either get a licence for the calf or to move it out of Delhi.

Mum's the word: Ved Prakash (right), owner of the unfortunate calf
whose mother was picked up by MCD in July. PIC/Imtiyaz Khan
Citing an order passed by Justice Sanjeev Khanna of Delhi High court last year, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Tees Hazari court Vinod Yadav said, "In October, the high court had said that stray cattle cannot be released and be put under different cow shelters run by Delhi government. Therefore, the mother of the calf who was taken away on July 2 cannot be released."
Kiran Pal Singh, lawyer of the petitioner said, "There were no licences issued either for the cow or the calf. However the mother was tied in an area which falls out of the jurisdiction of the MCD. Even then they picked her up and moved her to a cow shelter at Bawana in outer Delhi. Now that the application has been dismissed, we will be appealing in Delhi High Court."
It has been almost two months to this incident and the owner is in a fix now. He alleges that MCD officials were demanding money from him for the release of the cow. However, when denied, they refused to release her. "Earlier we had gone to the police station and filed a police complaint against MCD officials. Noticing no development in the case, we moved to court and filed an application. There were some positive developments in the first hearing, but ultimately the application was dismissed," said 60-year-old Prakash.
Prakash also feels that the calf might die without its mother if they are not united soon. Also, it is still too young and has to be fed forcefully. "We were asked to bring it to court twice to identify her mother. But on both occasions, MCD officials failed to produce the cow in the court."
Earlier, the court had reprimanded the attitude of MCD officials for failing to produce the cow in court. Officials at MCD Shahadara North Zone had said that their work is to catch stray cattle, after which their role is over. The court had also asked the owner to go to the cow shelter and identify the mother, but the animal husbandry department did not allow him to enter.
Speaking to MiD DAY, DP Ture, Deputy Commissioner, MCD Shahdara North Zone, said, "This was not a unique case. We often come across issues like this. The matter is very simple. One can't keep cattle in Delhi residential colonies. It was clear violation of rules and we were forced to do the needful."

The 500 year evolution of the résumé [infographic]

2011-09-05T21:58:00.001-07:00

Via rezscore.

Man arrested for biting pet python

2011-09-03T22:52:00.001-07:00

California man arrested for biting pet python

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A California man is in custody after being accused of biting a python in what police said was apparently an unprovoked attack on the pet snake of an acquaintance.
The suspect, David Senk, 54, was arrested on Thursday evening on suspicion of unlawfully maiming or mutilating a reptile, Sacramento police Sergeant Andrew Pettit said on Friday. The badly injured snake underwent surgery.
In a jailhouse interview aired on KOVR-TV in Sacramento, Senk said he had no recollection of the incident after having blacked out from drinking but felt "horrible as hell about it."
Asked why he might have bitten the snake, Senk replied: "I get drunk, I get crazy. I don't know. I've been an alcoholic for a long time."

Senk was taken into custody after police, responding to a report of an assault, found him lying on the ground with blood on his face. Officers were then approached by another man and a woman who told them Senk had just taken two large bites out of their python when they let him hold the snake, Pettit said.
"There was nothing to indicate that the snake provoked him at all. He (Senk) just out of the blue took a bite," the police spokesman said. "From what I understand, he didn't say anything. He was pretty incoherent."
The beige- and brown-colored snake, measuring 3 to 4 feet in length, was reported to be recovering after a veterinarian stitched up the reptile, Pettit said.
Senk said in the interview he was "not too fond of snakes (but) I try not to bite them."
"It's the other way around usually," he added. They bite me."

The Dutch contemplate a DIY mountain

2011-09-03T21:23:00.001-07:00

Folks in the Netherlands have a long history of doing it themselves when you consider that they reclaimed their country from the sea, created a far-flung colonial empire, and practically invented capitalism, but lately things have been a little slow what with the world economy going to pot and, well, the government cracking down on pot. Enter the brilliant idea of building a mile-high mountain to call their own.
Sports writer Thijs Zonneveld floated the idea in his column as a joke, yet his readers – and a growing number of people – are taking the idea quite seriously. Despite the incredible cost and risk involved, engineer Pol Tummers think it’s something the Dutch people simply have to do:

“God created the Earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands.
"We created our own country,” Tummers says. “We created our lakes. We planted our woods. The only thing we haven’t done yet, is a mountain.”
“When we finish this, we can lay down and relax.”

Hmmm, maybe they haven’t been cracking down on the weed as much as we’d thought.
Full story at The World.

1 in 25 bosses a psychopath: Research

2011-09-02T01:21:00.001-07:00

Place: London

Researchers have revealed that one in 25 company bosses are psychopaths.

The pioneering study led by New York psychologist Dr Paul Babiak revealed that bosses disguise their psychopathy by using their status, charm and manipulation.
According to them, positive experiences such as happy childhoods are what really stop these bosses from turning into potential serial killers.
The callous corporate world helps these psychopaths by rewarding ruthlessness and disregard of people's feelings.
The worst part is that these bosses are in actuality rubbish at their jobs, but keep climbing the ladder by charming people to cover up their failings, they said.
"Psychopaths really aren't the kind of person you think they are," the Mirror quoted Babiak as saying.
"You could be married to one for 20 years and not know it," he stated.
Fellow researcher Professor Bob Hare said: "A psychopath can tell what you're thinking but what they don't do is feel what you feel. These are people without a conscience."
The findings of the research conducted will be revealed in detail in a BBC2 Horizon documentary, showing that bosses are four times more likely to be psychopaths than the general population, with scientists believing 1 percent of the public are psychos.

Man chases out wife for refusing to wear skirt while having sex

2011-09-01T00:45:00.001-07:00

A man is said to have kicked out his wife for refusing to wear a skirt while having sex with him.

According to Sin Chew Daily, Wang Wen Yaun from Singapore revealed he was introduced to his Chinese national wife by a roast duck shop owner in September last year and got married a month later.

“I fell in love with her at first sight and we got married a month later,” the Star Online quoted Yuan as saying.

The 40-year-old clerk dumped his 27-year-old wife merely two months later because she refused to wear a skirt and have sex with him but the wife returned to his side in May, agreeing to do all he wanted.

“I promised to give her S$100 (RM247) on the first night, and S$300 (RM740) every month after that,” he said.

Sadly, she still failed to meet his ‘skirt sex’ demand and was again chased out of the house two weeks later.

10 tips for how to work better

2011-09-01T00:12:00.001-07:00

This how-to mural by Fischli & Weiss not only makes this office building in Zurich-Oerlikon a whole lot more interesting, but it allows commuters at the nearby Zurich station to remind themselves how to succeed in the workplace. Smart!
Via SwissMiss.

Dog remains loyal to fallen Navy SEAL

2011-08-25T06:51:00.001-07:00

Petty Officer Jon T. Tumilson was one of 30 American troops that lost their lives when Taliban insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter over Afghanistan on August 6. At Tumilson’s funeral earlier this week in Rockford, Iowa, the Navy SEAL’s dog refused to leave his slain owner’s side. According to relatives, Tumilson’s Labrador, Hawkeye, walked up to the casket and laid down in front of it, letting out a sigh as he collapsed on the floor.
Tumilson’s cousin, Lisa Pembleton, snapped a heartbreaking photograph of the loyal dog and posted it to her Facebook page.
“I felt compelled to take one photo to share with family members that couldn't make it or couldn't see what I could from the aisle,” Pembleton wrote.
Via Discovery.

Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO

2011-08-24T22:35:00.000-07:00

This is the end of an era. Steve Jobs has stepped down from his position as Apple’s CEO and suggested Tim Cook to be his successor in a letter addressed to Apple’s Board and Apple Community in general. Developing…

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
Steve

Hit the jump for Apple’s press release.

Day to night in New York in a single photo

2011-08-24T06:48:00.001-07:00

Photograher Stephen Wilkes spent over ten hours taking hundreds of photos of this street in New York without ever moving his camera. He then wove and blended thirty to fifty parts from those shots to create this stunning image of day bleeding into night.

Full story at Amusing Planet.

Muammar Gaddafi: a flair for tyranny: slide show

2011-08-24T06:47:00.001-07:00

It was 42 years ago that Muammar Gaddafi came into power in Libya in a coup against the monarchy on Sept. 1, 1969. As rebel troops stormed into Gaddafi's Tripoli compound on Aug. 23, it looked as if his regime was nearing an end.
Described as "out of touch," Gaddafi's unique personality has defined his authoritarian rule. Here's a look back at Gaddafi's flair through the years.

The Clothes: From something that looks like it came out of the disco era to the "king of Africa" look to his military uniform, Gaddafi has an assortment of styles for just about any occasion.
The Bodyguards: Gaddafi employed a team of 40 female, "virgin" bodyguards. It is widely speculated that in addition to protection duties they also provided sexual favors to Gaddafi.
The Tent: When Gaddafi hit the road, he didn't bother with hotels. He instead set up camp by having his entourage erect a large tent.

Full story at Discovery News.

Web surfing gives productivity a boost

2011-08-24T06:46:00.001-07:00

Tired of getting dirty looks from the office goodie-goodie whenever they catch you surfing the Internet on company time? Slip this article over to them while they’re strolling over to chat someone up on their break and watch the fumes fly.
A study from the National University of Singapore discovered that those who took a break from work and browsed the Internet were more productive on returning to work than those who rested or worked on some other mundane task. Don’t expect the boss to suddenly let you check that personal e-mail, though, since the effect doesn’t hold.
The only trick is that you do have to get back to work eventually.
Full story at Wall Street Journal via The Daily What.

Top 25 reasons to get running

2011-08-22T21:14:00.001-07:00

Running is one of the best forms of exercise, not only for getting fit but for weight control too. A 30-minute run, three to four times a week, trims your waistline, strengthens the cardiovascular system, improves muscle tone and definition and helps foster a positive mental attitude. Running can also be a great social activity. Here are the top 25 tips on why you should start running today.

1. Running is the quickest way to cardiovascular fitness. You get fitter faster by running regularly.
2. Running is one of the cheapest forms of exercising. You only need a pair of running shoes and shorts and T-shirt to get started.
3. Running is easy to learn. Most people have run at some point in their life, either competitively or at school/college, so there is no steep learning curve involved.
4. Running makes you feel good, not only physically, but mentally as well.
5. Running is excellent for reducing stress levels. There is nothing better than a run to clear your head and concentrate the mind. Many great ideas have been formulated on training runs.
6. Running is one of the most flexible methods of training around. Wherever you are in the world, it is nearly always possible to get out for a run. You can jog, steady run or sprint depending on how you feel that particular day.
7. Running is good for your heart. It not only strengthens the heart but also reduces the actual resting heart rate.
8. Running is accessible to all. As long as you are physically able, you can go for a run virtually anytime and anywhere. There are no race barriers to running.
9. Running helps you to lose weight and tone muscles. The more your train and run, the more weight you will lose. Also by toning up, you are getting rid of the excess fat and converting it to muscle.
10. Running is for people of all ages. Old or young, everyone can benefit from running.
11. It is good for your sex life! By being more physically active you increase your sex drive.
12. When run training, you can get away with eating chocolate and legitimately say it is part of your training program.
13. Running is a great way to recover from a hangover. A run will help clear your head faster than sitting around feeling terrible.
14. Running is a great safety aid. Being able to run away from people puts you in a much better position if you are chased.
15. You can use running to change other people's lives. Run for a charity and raise money to help the needy or less able.
16. Running with friends gives you time to catch up on gossip and get fit at the same time.
17. Running is a time-efficient way to get fit and lose weight so you have more free time after exercising to enjoy yourself.
18. Running is a challenge that can be motivational and bring great personal satisfaction.
19. Running is a great way to see a new place if you have limited time available for sightseeing. Just think how much more of a place you can see when running around it compared to walking.
20. Running improves your concentration as you are forced to concentrate more when running. This in turn improves your concentration when you have to focus in other areas of life.
21. You nearly always work better after a run because you are still on a runner's high and feel ready for anything.
22. Running is a great way to meet people, especially if you join a club or enter a race.
23. There are no monthly subscriptions with running. You just put your running shoes on and go.
24. Endurance built-up through running can be transferred to other sports.
25. If you drink alcohol you can just run a little bit further the next day to work off the extra calories.

Lingerie for 4 year olds causes shock and outcry

2011-08-22T21:12:00.001-07:00

French fashion brand ‘Jours Apres Lunes’ (which translates as Days after Moons) has launched a ‘loungerie’ range for four to twelve year olds, including sets of bras and knickers. The collection is being promoted with pictures of very young girls wearing makeup, their hair in beehives as they pose seductively with sunglasses.
Yes - you did just read that correctly, and yes, we are also genuinely disturbed by this. When Handbag.com first heard about Jours Apres Lunes, we thought the whole thing had been exaggerated for the sake of a good story. But a quick trip to the brand’s website showed us how wrong we were. The photos of the child models look frankly strange – they have been styled like grown ups (and grown-up lingerie models at that), and while their poses are meant to be cute; they’re also pulling coy faces like mini Hollywood starlets. It’s just straight-up creepy. (NB: We are not publishing the pictures here, or linking to the website, for obvious reasons. We've censored the one shot to the left.) In the wake of last week’s scandal surrounding 10-year-old model Thylane Blondeau’s seductive shoot in Paris Vogue , we thought we’d seen it all when it came to young girls and fashion pictures. Maybe we were wrong – at least Thylane was covered up!
As for the collection, lingerie designer Sophie Morin has called the items ‘loungerie’ – a play on loungewear and lingerie – but if that is meant to downplay their adult styling, it doesn’t work. No four-year-old will ever need a triangle bra top, let alone one trimmed with ruffles of black mesh or pink lace. It’s not entirely seedy; there are a few plain vests and crop tops that would be appropriate for a small girl, however even some of those have been inexplicably trimmed with lace.
The fact that worries us most about this strange collection is that someone (presumably designer Morin) thinks that this was actually a good idea: that there really is a corner of the market that’s crying out for lingerie for under 12’s.What we want to know is, who buys this stuff? Is it mothers, who are so enthralled by fashion that they want to dress their daughters in the same things they would wear? Or is it the kids, influenced by their older peers, that are asking for more adult clothes? Either way, there seems to be a worrying trend in fashion at the moment of using sexualised images of children to sell clothes, and as far as we’re concerned, this is something that needs to be addressed, and stopped right now.
What do you think? Are we right to condemn the use of suggestive images of children to sell clothes? Do you know anyone who’d buy lingerie for a child? Or do you think we’re being hyper-sensitive about the whole thing? Leave your comments below.

How to self-promote without being a jerk

2011-08-21T22:20:00.001-07:00

As it turns out, self-promotion is not alway the best self-promotion. On one hand, no one will speak for us if we don't speak for ourselves. On the other hand, boasting can make us sound arrogant, self-involved, or out of touch. So how do you strike the balance and make a good showing? Six Revisions has five great tips:

Create something worthy of promoting
Stick to your guns
Start in listening mode, not promotion mode
The conversation should be about results and outcomes
Don’t try to be someone you’re not

Full story at Six Revisions.

Disturbing anti-smoking ads could backfire

2011-08-20T23:41:00.001-07:00

In a study recently published in the Journal of Media Psychology, researchers from the University of Missouri found that showing viewers a combination of threatening and disgusting anti-smoking public service announcements (PSAs) led to defensive reactions.
Glenn Leshner, a professor of strategic communication, says these types of images could possibly have a “boomerang effect,” meaning the defensive reactions could be so strong that they cause viewers to stop processing the messages in the PSAs.

“We noticed in our collection of anti-tobacco public service announcements a number of ads that contained very disturbing images, such as cholesterol being squeezed from a human artery, a diseased lung, or a cancer-riddled tongue,” Leshner says. “Presumably, these messages are designed to scare people so that they don’t smoke. It appears that this strategy may backfire.”

Full story at Futurity.

Zombie-themed engagement photos

2011-08-20T23:39:00.001-07:00

Juliana and Ben skipped the traditional smoochy face engagement portraits in favor of a more hair-raising theme. The lovey dovey duo enlisted the help of a zombie (probably not a real one) to make their photographs undead-tastic.
Word has it that the duo is considering replacing the usual mystery chicken reception dish with brains. Delicious, delicious brains.
Via mlkshk.

'Vampire' arrest sparks discussion on pop culture

2011-08-19T23:30:00.001-07:00

Houston: The arrest of an American man who broke into a woman's house and tried to suck her blood over the weekend has sparked discussion about the impact of vampire books and movies on youth culture.
Whether pop culture played a role in the attack remains to be seen, as 19-year-old Lyle Monroe Bensley awaits a psychiatric evaluation in jail on burglary charges in Galveston, Texas.
Found growling and hissing in a parking lot and wearing only boxer shorts, the pierced and tattooed Bensley claimed he was a 500-year-old vampire who needed to 'feed', Galveston Police Capt. Jeff Heyse said.

Vampires have been a focal point of literature since Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, 'Dracula'. But fascination, particularly among young people, has peaked in recent years with the popularity of the 'Twilight' books about teenage vampires and the television series, 'True Blood'.
"I think the vampire is a metaphor for the outsider and the predator in all of us," said author Anne Rice, whose Vampire Chronicles series has captured the imaginations of horror fans since the 1970s.
"We're all conscious at times of being alone, of being alienated, of being a secret self that fears exposure to the judgments of others. So we feel like vampires," she told Reuters.
Bensley is now being held in the Galveston County Jail on a $40,000 bond for home burglary with intent to commit a felony.
The woman, who lived near Bensley and did not know him, escaped the attack unharmed, Heyse said.
Kevin Petroff, chief of the Galveston County District Attorney's office, told Reuters no defense attorney has been appointed to date, and if Bensley had hired a lawyer privately, no notice had been filed.
YOUTHFUL FOR ETERNITY
Dr. Thomas Garza, who teaches a course in vampire lore at the University of Texas, said young people might aspire to be like vampires because they cheat death and are able to stay beautiful, powerful, and youthful for eternity.
The modern vampire in popular culture is more attractive, suave, and fashionably dressed than the Old World Slavic vampires, adding to the resurgence of their appeal, he added.
"I would say that it is the Twilight saga in particular that has brought out the younger teen fans. In that connection, Edward is a very 'safe' vampire, a kind of 'starter vamp' for beginners, if you will," Garza said.
"He's pretty, yes, so the seduction's there, but he's more than reluctant to act on his and Bella's sexual desires. He can go out in daylight - and even 'sparkles' in the sun, giving him a completely non-threatening character. He drives a Volvo, for goodness sake."
While Bensley's Texas antics have captured international attention, the delusion of actually being a vampire has been a contributing factor in other criminal cases as well.
In 1996, a 16-year-old Kentucky youth obsessed with the role-playing game, "Vampire, the Masquerade," enlisted three other teenagers to go with him to Florida to help kill the parents of his former girlfriend.
Two years later, a San Francisco man claiming to be a 2,000-year-old vampire was arrested for slashing the necks of four homeless people, one fatally. A serial killer arrested in England in 1949 allegedly drank a cup of blood from each of his six victims.
Rice has interacted with thousands of fans of her Vampire Chronicles novels, but said such intense personal identification with vampires was "quite beyond me."
"My readers are romantics. They're into the poetry and the romance of vampires; they don't think they themselves are vampires," Rice said. "I have never personally met anyone in all these years who claimed to be a vampire."

meanwhile in honkong

2011-08-19T22:50:00.001-07:00

Everything you need to know about art history [photo]

2011-08-19T22:49:00.001-07:00

If you slept through your semester of art history, Grant Snider is here to help. He drew this fun chart that tells you everything you need to know about the evolution of painters —from Georgia O’Keefe to Van Gogh.
Via Neatorama.

Study less, score higher: The issue of grade inflation [infographic]

2011-08-19T22:45:00.001-07:00

Via Masters Degree. (H/T @gvoakes)

Russia and Europe to send man to Mars?

2011-08-19T22:44:00.001-07:00

It's usually the assumption that the first man or woman to first set foot on Martian dirt will be American. After all, the only men to walk on the lunar surface were employed by NASA. This assumption could be turned on its head if a recent announcement by the head of the European Space Agency (ESA) follows through.
Speaking to reporters at an air show near Moscow on Wednesday, Jean-Jacques Dordain said ESA and Roskosmos (the Russian space agency) would "carry out the first flight to Mars together," according to RIA Novosti.
Full story at Discovery News.

Maruti Suzuki Swift to launch online

2011-08-16T22:09:00.001-07:00

Maruti Suzuki wants all its fans and prospective customers to be a part of the mega launch of the all new Swift

The Maruti Suzuki Swift launches tomorrow! While we have already told our readers everything about the 2011 Swift through our Exclusive Road Test of the new Maruti Suzuki Swift, we are still as excited as you are about the launch function that happens tomorrow. Maruti Suzuki is leveraging the social media websites to attract as many people to the launch function as possible. The Swift Facebook fan page, where the new Swift has managed to create quite a buzz already, has more than 1.25 lakh followers in less than a fortnight!

Therefore, to make the most of this fan following and to kick start a lot of new online and offline activities with the new Swift, tomorrow's mega launch will be aired live on the Swift’s official website and other social media that Maruti Suzuki has chosen. Currently the Swift has already managed to garner over 42,000 pre-launch bookings and Maruti Suzuki believes that tomorrow’s launch will bump this number further.

As we tweeted yesterday, there is a word that the top of the line Swift ZDi will attract a price tag of Rs 7.4 to 7.5 lakh (on-road Delhi). However, tomorrow’s launch will make things clear on the pricing front. In the meantime, you can read our Exclusive Road Test of the new Maruti Suzuki Swift to know more about the car.

The American identity according to social media

2011-08-15T07:37:00.001-07:00

Via Hasai.

Deconstructing Barbie

2011-08-15T07:36:00.001-07:00

After fifty-plus years, it’s safe to assume Barbie has had more than a little work done and guess where the spare parts ended up? Rather than assume designer Margaux Lange has a seriously sick streak, we’ll just consider her twist on Barbie accessories a kind of feminist upcycling statement.
The Plastic Body Series is, according to Lange, "meant to examine and celebrate her own, as well as pop culture's relationship with the icon known simply as: Barbie."
No doubt Freud would have plenty to say about this one.

Full story at Margaux Lange via Treehugger.

All about the cowboy hat [infographic]

2011-08-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

Full story at Stetson via Daily Infographic.

How parents use Facebook to spy on their kids

2011-08-13T06:11:00.001-07:00

Via onlineschools.

While Romans burn: Italian sunbathers sizzle on Sicily beach as Mount Etna erupts

2011-08-13T00:19:00.000-07:00

These Italian sunbathers seem to be making the most of their summer holidays
So determined are they to enjoy their time on the beach, they don't even turn their heads to the sight of Europe's largest volcano erupting behind them.
Or perhaps it's just volcano fatigue - after all, this is the sixth time Mt Etna has erupted in the last month.

Relaxing: These sunbathers on a beach in Sicily seems unbothered by the eruption of Mt Etna in the distance

Eruption: This is the sixth time that Etna has gone off in the last month

Spectacle: This group of tourists is transfixed by Etna's activity

But the spectacle clearly still has the ability to attract some, as these pictures show crowds of tourists watching the eruptions on the island of Sicily
And one man is brave enough to get right up close to the action in order to to take photographs.

Although the eruptions look violent, they tend not to be particularly damaging, as the lava flows safely away in well-worn channels.
But clouds of ash can make life unpleasant for residents and tourists in the picturesque villages crowded around the foot of the volcano.

Intrepid: This man gets up close to the plume of ash to get the perfect picture

Lava: Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, so displays like this come relatively frequently

Tourists: Etna is one of Sicily's major attractions, despite its potentially deadly dangers

However, although some flights have been disrupted over the last few months, there has not been the same large-scale disruption to European airspace that was seen after the explosion of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull last year.
Mt Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world - hardly a year goes by where it does not erupt in some way.
But this constant activity has helped those who live near Etna to adapt to its presence and take its eruptions in their stride, as these photos show.

Huge: But Etna's ash clouds are less disruptive to aircraft than you might expect

Barren: The volcano dominates this deserted landscape

Britain's top street artist will cheer you up with his amazing 3D illusions

2011-08-13T00:16:00.001-07:00

From white-water rafting in a shopping centre to an encounter with the world’s biggest butterfly, these amazing images have all been created using nothing more than chalk and a lot of imagination.
The work of British street-artist Julian Beever, the pictures use a technique known as ‘anamorphia’.
This means they are drawn in two dimensions, but when seen from a particular angle they appear three dimensional.
Beever, who was born in Melton Mowbray, Leics, has been travelling the world for 15 years creating the scenes, which have been collected in a new book, Pavement Chalk Artist.

Taking the plunge: The Montreal steps are real, but the water pouring down them is an illusion

Down the drain: The artist gets himself into the perfect position in this set-up in Brussels so it's hard to spot the hose and water are a drawing

Hold tight: The artist takes a spectator white water rafting, in Charleston, West Virginia

Flight of fancy: The butterfly looks ready to land, even casting a shadow, yet look how far away the crowd have to stand not to step on it

Fall guy: All the scaffolding and even the boards Julian Beever is kneeling on are drawn in challk in this photo from Vienna

Hang on: In 'Barrowford Mill' the boy clings to a real pole in the ground fusing the real world with the image

Something fishy: It all looks real until you notice the lines of the paving slabs. The girl, in Lisbon, IS real

Heavily hyped documentary on Pippa Middleton fails to enthral Royal fans

2011-08-12T23:28:00.003-07:00

Pippa Middleton was the subject of a new documentary that aired on TLC recently, but the only fascinating thing that it revealed was that her extended family are keen to cash in on her newfound fame.
While the documentary was heavily hyped, promising tantalisingly that it would discuss Miss Middleton's relationship with Prince Harry, in reality, the show simply hashed out old stories and roped in a couple of opportunistic ‘cousins’ to spill the beans on their now-famous relative, reports the Daily Mail.
Interestingly, the ‘revelations’ that were promised from ‘those closest to her’ came not from those genuinely in Pippa's social circle, but instead from two very distant cousins, Katrina Darling and Paul Harrison, who had never even met Pippa Middleton or, indeed, any of the Middletons.
Other contributors on the programme also not had any contact with Pippa.
The U.S. porn baron who offered Pippa 5m dollars (3m pounds) to take part in an adult movie leapt at the chance to publicise himself by reading the letter he sent to Pippa in full and reiterating his offer, reminding her that if brother James joined her (in a separate scene of course) he'd be in for a 1m dollar payment.
“I just wanted to put it out there,” he said of the offer.
Millions across the globe are believed to have watched the documentary, but most of them may have just a tiny bit been more entranced by the captivating creature that is Pippa Middleton.

German etiquette group calls workplace greeting kissing ‘a form of terrorism’!

2011-08-12T23:28:00.001-07:00

A German etiquette group has called for a total ban on work colleagues kissing one another as greetings in the office, claiming a peck on the cheek is a form of ‘terrorism’.
The German Knigge Society, which translates as etiquette or correct behaviour said the practice has flourished in offices in recent years.
It claims it received worried calls from workers unsure how to react if someone tries to kiss them in a greeting.
“This is valid immediately. There should be no kissing, at least not in the office,” the Daily Mail quoted Hans Michael Klein, chairman of the group, as saying.
Klein said enquiries had flooded into his offices from varied cities including Berlin, Munich and Duesseldorf.
“The suspicion for many remains that there is, or may be, an erotic component to the kissing,” he said.
“Kissing simply gets on the nerves of many at work. It is a form of terror.
“In business the handshake is considered the correct greeting ritual. Stand apart from one another approximately 60cm and shake,” he added.
Any closer, he said, would injure a ‘socially defined distance zone’.

Sex-addict British woman demands sex four times a day

2011-08-12T23:27:00.003-07:00

A self-confessed sex addict British woman, who claims she has slept with 70 men in 10 years, wants to have sex at least four times a day, a media report said.
Shannon Flynn, a 27-year-old former beautician, last year publicly confessed to being a sex addict who was prone to violence if her boyfriend did not satisfy her in the bedroom, the Daily Mail reported.
Flynn said owning up to her battle with sex and alcohol has helped her turn her life around.
"I had a sex addiction. It's related to alcohol. The sex addiction only came out when I was drunk. But I've calmed down now," she said.
Flynn said she now takes tablets three times a week, which make her sick when she has a drink.
"I go to counselling once a week now. And I've not got a boyfriend. When we were together I think he was more the girl and I was more the guy. I'm staying away from men," she said.
Flynn spoke out about her sex addiction after revelations about Tiger Woods' sex life emerged last year.
She said that even after she had sex with her ex-partner in the morning, she was still hungry for more when he came home at night.
If she was not satisfied, she became moody, and even violent. She even threw a mobile phone at a casual lover after he denied her sex.
"I'm not usually violent, but my desire for sex takes over all my senses. Hardly anyone can understand what I am going through on a daily basis. Every hour of every day, all I can think about is sex," she said.

Canadian tech workers ‘lose jobs but win $7 min in lottery'

2011-08-12T23:27:00.001-07:00

A group of 18 Canadian technology workers won a 7million-dollar lottery this week on the same day ten of them lost their jobs at an Ottawa manufacturing plant.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said one of the ticket holders reported they held the winning numbers for the draw Wednesday, the same day their company announced massive layoffs, reports News.com.au.
The group was employed by Calgary-based SMART technologies, which announced it was laying off 200 of roughly 300 employees at the plant and shifting its manufacturing to Mexico.
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation confirmed the winning ticket was shared by a group of people from Ottawa, but said the winners have to go through a verification process.

The top 5 free zen apps

2011-08-11T05:29:00.001-07:00

In some ways, how technology affects us is what Zen Buddhists might call a koan: It is designed to make our lives easier; but all it seems to make easier is the ability for our lives to become more busy and complex. All is not lost, however, for technology can also be used to initiate truly enjoyable, mind-clearing relaxation.
How can you get a moment of zen on your smart phone? Check out: Buddha Board, Health through Breath: Pranayama Lite, Zen Wisdom, Relaxation Portal HD,and Zen Space
Full story at Discovery News.

‘We're not like normal teenagers': Meet the exorcist schoolgirls who spend their time casting out DEMONS around the world

2011-08-11T01:17:00.000-07:00

Brynne Larson, 16, is one of many newly-qualified teenage demon slayers
Reverend Bob Larson of Spiritual Freedom Churches runs exorcist school
No set protocol for exorcisms but girls carry a Bible, holy water and a cross

By Jeff Maysh
The five teenage girls might look like they’re in a normal class, eagerly reading their textbooks and answering their teacher’s questions diligently.
But the textbooks are Bibles and the girls all have crosses instead of protractors, as they train to become exorcists - real exorcists who fight demons, curses and evil spells.
‘People do look a bit surprised when I arrive,’ admits graduate exorcist Brynne Larson. ‘When people call for an exorcist, they don’t picture a 16-year-old high school girl.’

Bible and cross: Savannah Shurkenback, 19, left, and Brynne Larson, 16, are two teenage exorcists who fight demons, curses and evil spells
But Brynne, from Phoenix, Arizona, is one of a new breed of qualified teenage demon slayers, who answered a call when the Church made the admission of there being a worldwide exorcist shortage.
But despite drastic efforts, supply has still not met demand for the controversial ceremony.
The Vatican’s chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, 85, has revealed that he alone has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession.
‘The Church just can’t keep up with demand. But I have 100 teams of trained exorcists working all over the world, and outbreaks of demonic possession are getting out of control. Our phone lines are ringing constantly - we receive up to 1,000 individual requests monthly, and we travel to countries like Africa, Ukraine, England and even Australia'
Reverend Bob Larson
Spiritual Freedom Churches International
So if the forces of darkness start getting the upper hand, who should you call? Evangelist Reverend Bob Larson of Spiritual Freedom Churches International - and his remarkable school for exorcists.
‘Think of it more of an exorcist franchise,’ Rev Larson tells MailOnline exclusively.
‘The Church just can’t keep up with demand. But I have 100 teams of trained exorcists working all over the world, and outbreaks of demonic possession are getting out of control.
‘Our phone lines are ringing constantly - we receive up to 1,000 individual requests monthly, and we travel to countries like Africa, Ukraine, England and even Australia.’
But while his teams include exorcists aged up to 70, one group of his protégées are causing waves in the religious community. They are teenage girls.
Savannah Scherkenback, 19, and her sister Tess, 16, are Rev Larson’s latest graduates from his school for exorcists.
‘We have found that our female, teenage exorcists are particularly effective at curing the possessed,’ says Rev Larson, whose daughter Brynne is a supernaturally talented exorcist.

Teenage exorcists: Savannah Schurkenback, Jess Shurkenback, Christina Massih, Melanie Massih and Brynne Larson stand brandishing their Bibles and silver crosses
Highly experienced in casting out demons, saving souls, and banishing evil spirits to hell, she is also a student who enjoys styling her hair, shopping and meeting her friends at Starbucks.

'FIVE SIGNS OF POSSESSION'

Feeling suicidal/ self harming
‘Many of the demons we encounter encourage people to hurt themselves,’ says Rev Larson. ‘They can drive you to suicide if they’re not dealt with.
Becoming sensitive to religious material
'The possessed will vomit if they go to a church. They will scream if they come into contact with holy water,’ says Rev Larson. The possessed will reportedly not be able to look at statues of Christ.
Harbouring feelings of murder
Have you suddenly started to feel intense hatred towards colleagues or even family members? It may be a demon inside of you, says Rev Larson. ‘One of the most common demons is called “murder”.’
Sickness/ Tiredness
Having a demon within you is a tiring game. Sleeplessness, anxiety and headaches are common complaints, along with less subtle symptoms like levitation and a 360-degree spinning head.
Speaking in a foreign tongue
The possessed have been known to suddenly start speaking in Latin, Spanish, or even Italian, explains Rev Larson. Watch out for a deepening voice too, he says. ‘I’ve heard that voice all too often. It’s deep and growling.’

Those friends include trainee undergraduate exorcists, Melanie Massih, 16, her sister Christina, 15, also students at Rev Larson’s exorcist school.
They may love hanging out like normal teenagers, but they don’t watch TV like the rest of us.
‘I think Harry Potter and Twilight are instigators of evil,’ Savannah says. ‘They nullify morality and just serve to hook people in with evil.
‘I don’t watch any television at all. I’m much too busy praying and fighting the devil.’
And so on a hot Sunday afternoon, inside a modest three-star hotel in the middle of arid Scottsdale, Arizona, the blinds are mysteriously drawn around a small conference hall, and Rev Larson begins today’s class.
Our trainee exorcists may look to casual observers more like X Factor contestants than exorcists, but this is a serious matter.
The topic is exorcism - the use of prayer to remove the devil or demonic spirits – which has its roots in early Christianity, and is described by the church as ‘the act of driving out, or warding off, demons who infest a person or place’.
Rev Larson is quick to remind his pupils of the tell-tale signs of demonic possession.
‘Speaking a language that the person has never learned,’ he preaches, ‘having a supernatural strength, having a violent aversion to God, the cross and a hatred of holy water.’
While exorcisms have been taught and carried out since the start of the Catholic Church, there has never been a greater demand than today, and for the teenage trainees of the Exorcist school, today’s class is a matter of life and death.
This afternoon, a handwritten sign outside the conference hall reads: ‘Pre-Deliverance Class 4:00pm. Personal ministry by appointment.’
The Pre-deliverance classes are a beginner’s lesson, promising everything you need to know about demons and exorcism.

Cross: Evangelist Reverend Bob Larson of Spiritual Freedom Churches International has an exorcist school
The words ‘Satan,’ ‘Beelzebub’, and ‘Lucifer’ hang in the electrically conditioned air, while the temperature is set to ‘spine-chilling’.
‘There are two parts to an exorcism,’ explains graduate Tess, who clutches an attractive, red leather-bound Bible.
‘I think Harry Potter and Twilight are instigators of evil. They nullify morality and just serve to hook people in with evil. I don’t watch any television at all. I’m much too busy praying and fighting the devil'
Savannah Scherkenback, 19, graduate of Rev Larson's exorcist school
‘Firstly, you must deal with inner healing, to get rid of traumatic experiences from your childhood and beyond, and secondly, deliverance from demons.’
To do this, the girls are taught ‘curse-breaking’: The more experienced exorcists Savannah and Brynne will teach Christina and Melanie how to read from a list of demons, designed to provoke the ‘demon within’, when chanted aloud to possessed folk.
Tess practices reading from the list of curses. ‘Death,’ she says, ominously, raising an eyebrow to the room. ‘Cancer.’ She pauses, dramatically. ‘Murder.’
It is normally after she says ‘murder’, that all hell breaks loose, she says. ‘Many belch on hearing the words, or start weeping,’ she whispers.
‘One woman collapsed and started convulsing, while another man started choking once. I remember I felt excited the first time. “This is it,” I thought to myself.’
She regains her composure, tosses her beautiful bangs from her face and finishes the reading: ‘I break off that curse of murder. Be gone.’

Armed: Jess Shurkenback, 16, left, and Melanie Massih, 16, want to relieve a worldwide shortage of exorcists
While there is no set protocol for each exorcism, the girls carry with them a basic exorcism tool kit: a Bible, holy water and a cross.

LETTERS & EMAILS FROM CLIENTS

Below is a selection of genuine calls for help sent to Reverend Bob Larson:

‘My life is a living hell. I practice the occult every night with Lucifer. I signed a pact in my blood and buried it with real human bones. My fingers make the shape of claws. I wake up at night growling. I throw up if I go to church. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!’  ('Lori')
‘I grew up in Satanism. I have a multitude of physical and sexual abuse. I want to die. Can you help me?’ (Name withheld)
‘I have suicidal thoughts and dreams of hurting others. I am fighting something deep within me. Your show forced me to look at the possibility of having a demon inside me.’  ('Adam')
‘I have tried to kill myself and have homicidal thoughts. I even made a list of people I want to kill. I really need some answers.’  (‘Laura’)

Once they reach their possessed person, they will sit them down in a chair, while two strong males hold them down. ‘It can be dangerous,’ admits Brynne.
‘I have performed exorcisms on 300lbs, 6’5” men - and they can get violent,’ she says.
Next the girl will begin reading from the Bible. Once they have raised the devil, they will instruct it to leave, and often the spirit won’t go quietly.
The eyes bulge, the voice becomes a monstrous growl, and then the snarling begins. ‘It’s not unusual to be sworn at, spat at, I’ve even seen projectile vomit,’ says Savannah, firmly.
Rev Larson has had his fair share of evil demons, he says.
‘Last week, I worked with a Uruguayan man, who had grown up being abused by his evil mother. He had the word “cerdo” tattooed on his forearm, meaning “swine”, and he was possessed by a violent demon of murder.’
‘The man’s mother begged Rev Larson for help. She said: “Please help him, before he kills someone”. It was a dramatic battle, but we got rid of the pig demon within him.’
In the last month Rev Larson and his team has rid a wife of an evil curse, after she was cursed by a Nigerian witchdoctor over the Internet that ‘dark demons would attack her in sleep’.
They also cured a young woman who had been raised in a satanic cult, freeing her of demons who instructed her to commit suicide.
And it’s no surprise Rev Larson’s daughter Brynne got into the business. ‘Every day I’d come home from work and she’d ask: “What demons did you find today, Daddy?”’
Brynne began to travel the world with her exorcist father when she just a child, but after years of watching dad performing exorcisms to large crowds at seminars around the world, it wouldn’t be long before it was her turn.
‘There are two parts to an exorcism. Firstly, you must deal with inner healing, to get rid of traumatic experiences from your childhood and beyond, and secondly, deliverance from demons'
Tess Scherkenback, 16, graduate of Rev Larson's exorcist school
‘I performed my first exorcism aged 13, in Africa, on a man possessed by terrible demons,’ she tells MailOnline.
Rev Bob Larson had arrived in deepest Africa to perform an exorcism seminar to a small town rocked with demonic possessions and witchcraft.
In a hot, squalid community hall, with a standing room only crowd of 3,000 locals, a volunteer from the village who claimed he was possessed came to the stage.
‘He was possessed with the demon of murder,’ says Rev Larson. ‘He screamed the house down when we touched the Bible on his head.’
It was then that Rev Larson called forward his petite, red-headed daughter from the back of the hall. There was an audible gasp. The man lurched back in his seat at the very sight of Brynne.
She took out her Bible, and he screamed and convulsed in agony, like a scene from a horror movie.
‘I shouted: “Go to the pits of hell!” and the man screamed even louder,’ she recalls. ‘Then I said: “Out! In the name of God!” and I cast the demon asunder.’
As the demon left him, the man burst into grateful tears, and the crowd erupted into cheers. Brynne had finally become an exorcist - and she remembers how she felt: ‘Exhilarated!’

Shortage solution: Rev Larson teaches exorcism to teenagers and holds classes at his church
Since then, the schoolgirl has performed many more successful exorcisms, but today admits the most important exorcism she ever performed was on her best friend, when they were both 15.
‘She was complaining of terrible headaches, and had all the symptoms of having demons.’
Like Megan Fox in Jennifer’s Body, Brynne’s friend was putting up with high school while possessed by evil demons.

CASE STUDY: 'GET UP, "MURDER"!'

Choon Kim attended one of Reverend Bob Larson’s seminars for an exorcism.
The 33-year-old, who says she was sexually abused by a family friend as a child, explains that demons had tormented her for years.
‘Rage would come out of my being,’ she says. ‘I hated myself, I was really angry inside me.’
During her exorcism, she cried in pain, as Rev Larson pressed the Bible onto her forehead.
‘Who are you? Your name?’ he demanded.
‘Murder,' they say the demon answered.
‘Get up, "murder"!’ Rev Larson shouted, before renounced the demon - and Choon was cured.
‘So Tess and I took her privately, and performed an exorcism. We confronted her demons, and chanted: “She is a child of God”, before instructing her demons, “go to the pit of hell”.’
But there’s no script, insists Tess. ‘With my friend, she was getting a reaction from the curse-breaking. “You have to leave,” I said to the demon, and weirdly, she nodded. It was the demon moving her body.’
Afterwards, Brynne’s friend started crying, claiming she had been relieved of her evil problem. Savannah herself had been exorcised before joining the school.
‘When I was about 18, I was incredibly troubled,’ says the perfect student, who says she suffered from extreme depression, sickness, and was crippled by bad knees.
‘There was something moving around inside of me - I had an awful headache and I felt feel sick to my stomach,’ she says.
But after baffling doctors who could find nothing medically wrong with her, Savannah’s Christian parents took her to the local ministry.
There, home-schooled Savannah was given a deliverance session, where she claims an evil spirit was cast from her. ‘I was relieved I knew the answer,’ she says, with certainty. ‘I was possessed.’

Protégées: Rev Larson's teams include exorcists aged up to 70 - but it's the teenage girls who are causing waves in the religious community
‘My exorcist called out the names of various curses, and whenever certain curses were mentioned, I felt a tingling around my ankles, and a pain in my head. Suddenly I got pains in my eyes, then boom! My demon was gone.’
Savannah claims she was so grateful and amazed at the process that she signed up to become a trainee exorcist herself, along with her sister, Tess.
Together, they are home- schooled, and live far removed from the corrupt teenage scene of downtown Phoenix, Arizona.
‘People do look a bit surprised when I arrive. When people call for an exorcist, they don’t picture a 16-year-old high school girl'
Brynne Larson, 16, graduate of Rev Larson's exorcist school
‘A lot of girls my age are into drinking and other pursuits,’ she admits. ‘That’s just not my path.’
During a classroom break, Tess reveals, ‘My proudest moment was when I was 14, and I led my own curse-breaking seminar.
‘As I walked around the room with a Bible and oil to anoint the sufferers, I was really nervous as I was only 14, and because this is a really important rite of passage for an exorcist.’
But not everyone is suitable to become an exorcist. Rev Larson says that to join the class, ‘you must have had a calling from God.
‘It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, but we do find that young women are incredibly good at exorcisms.’
Once you have proved that becoming an exorcist is your God-given path, intensive training can take weeks and possibly months, says Rev Larson.
‘There is a graduation ceremony, when you pass,’ he explains. ‘Graduating exorcists get a special cross, which is specially engraved with words from the Bible we use in the exorcism.

Cross team: Rev Larson stands with (left-right) Savannah Schurkenback, Jess Shurkenback, Christina Massih, Melanie Massih and Brynne Larson
‘They also get a good Bible, then they are officially what we call “in commission”.’
Due to the worldwide shortage, Brynne and her young colleagues have become part of a network of full-time, professional exorcists who assist Rev Larson on private and public assignments worldwide.
But the girls aren’t just sent out on their own, knocking on the doors of the possessed. They are, after all, teenage girls. ‘I don’t do house calls yet,’ says Savannah.
‘I have a lot to learn, and it’s very dangerous performing exorcisms. The Bible says that a person who is possessed by the devil can have strength seven times more powerful than one man.’

GRADUATE PROFILE: SAVANNAH

Savannah Scherkenback, 19, is one of Rev Larson’s latest graduates from his school for exorcists. Here is how her week pans out...
‘I’m 19 years old and I live for the ministry. I’m in college and that’s hard because I’m devoted to the church.
'On Sunday I go to church 9am to 1pm, then I go home for lunch. Then I’m back at the church again at 9pm.
'Monday I’m at college, but I work with three girls at my college who I help with their demons.
'Tuesday it’s homework and maybe coffee with my friends.
'Then Thursday I’m at school, and I work with a youth group of teenagers, teaching them the ways of the ministry.
'Friday and Saturday I spend all my time at the church, and doing exorcisms where needed.'
The girls, however sweet looking, have witnessed more horrors than should ever be asked of teenage girls. ‘I’ve seen people ripping up chairs before,’ says Savannah.
Her sister joins in, wide-eyed. ‘I’ve seen people crawl like snakes on the floor, I’ve seen people hover off the ground.’
Rev Larson explains it’s a team of people who attend private exorcisms.
‘My parents don’t worry,’ says Savannah. ‘They’re Christians and members of the ministry themselves. They are very proud of us.’
However, the girls all agree real exorcisms are nothing like what you’ve seen in movies like The Exorcist, or The Real Exorcism of Emily Rose. ‘Hollywood sensationalises things,’ says Savannah.
‘But the scenes where the people convulse - that’s real. When you have demonic possession, the demon has what we call a legal right to possess your body. You must break the curse.
‘When we read aloud the words “murder” or “death”, they will yawn. Or maybe belch disgustingly. The demon shows itself.
‘It’s quite easy to tell the difference between genuine cases of possession, and simple cases of schizophrenia or learning difficulties,’ she explains.
‘Although the devil can work in mysterious ways to disguise itself,’ she adds, ominously.
Before Rev Larson and his team can go to work, a 12-page psychological profile must be completed, just to make sure the subject is not ‘just mental’.

Unreal: The girls all agree real exorcisms are nothing like what you may have seen in films such as The Exorcist, pictured, as they are 'sensationalised' by Hollywood
‘The answers vary but common responses to questions are “I see dark shadows” or “I have scratches all over my body”,’ says Rev Larson. ‘Exorcism is not easy and only the trained can do it properly.’
He also explains there is no charge for the service, but says that people do bring ‘an offering’ to seminars held by his exorcists.
‘If it’s an emergency and my team has to travel across the country, or even across the world, we can run up expenses of perhaps $3,000 or $4,000. And we always require an advance appointment.’
‘I don’t do house calls yet. I have a lot to learn, and it’s very dangerous performing exorcisms. The Bible says that a person who is possessed by the devil can have strength seven times more powerful than one man'
Savannah Scherkenback, 19, graduate of Rev Larson's exorcist school
But for his team of teenage exorcists, dedication to the job is paramount. ‘We have about 100 teams, working in teams of five to ten people,’ Rev Larson explains.
‘Sometimes we will have someone complain that their home is haunted, or worse, that there is a demonic possession in the family.
‘But most often we take appointments at churches, apartments or even offices. We do private exorcisms or we do seminars where we can work en masse.
‘Last month I did nine in total, casting out demons,’ says Brynne. ‘I’m not like normal teenagers.’
But for Brynne, who like all of the Reverend’s young exorcists, is a home-schooled, teetotal teenager, her life, she insists is nothing but exciting.
‘We have travelled all over the world performing exorcisms. I have been to Africa, Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia and even the Bahamas, saving souls along the way.’
And Brynne is defiantly single, admitting: ‘I have never had a boyfriend, but I consider myself lucky - I don’t have many of the demons that can be associated with obsession, or desire.’
‘I want to one day get married and have children, for God says in the Bible that we should marry. But while there are people that need exorcisms, people who need help - that is all I’m interested in.’

Vodafone for 20 percent carbon footprint cut by 2015

2011-08-09T21:52:00.001-07:00

New Delhi: Telecom service provider Vodafone Monday said it is planning to reduce its carbon footprint by 20 percent globally by 2015.

"Our target is to take it (carbon emission) down. Globally in the emerging markets, Vodafone has a target of reducing its CO2 emissions by 20 percent by 2015," Samaresh Parida, director stategy, Vodafone Essar, told IANS.
"We are trying out different pilots with different sources of energy, solar energy extra," he added.
Carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organisation, event or product.
However, Parida also said that the company faces a few big challenges, including availability of adequate power and spectrum.
"We are present in the whole country with more than 110,000 towers, everywhere we do not get power. The second challenge which is specific to telecom industry is the fact that spectrum available to an operator in India is limited compared to what is available to the rest of the world," he said.

"We are looking at alternative sources of energy but it is a long journey because we have to make it economically viable and also we are looking at lot of power saving mechanisms, including automatic switch offs."
The company Monday released its first sustainability report for India -- Footprints 2010-11 sharing information on renewable energy initiatives, social inclusion projects, waste reduction processes and health and safety projects at Vodafone.
The report which outlines practices in the supply chain management, ethics, customer service and marketing in the responsible marketing section was released by Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot.
"I am glad to see various initiatives taken by Vodafone India towards sustainability. While India Inc has made us a force to reckon with globally, its equally important to contribute to the community and environment that are an integral part of the overall growth of the nation," said Pilot.

Global NGO Greenpeace has been alleging that major telecom players do not reveal measures taken to lower their carbon emissions.
The report highlights Vodafone's effort of shutting down associated cabinets and extra transmitters during low traffic so as to reduce energy consumption. According to the report, this has resulted in saving nearly 4 million kW of electricity and reduction in CO2 emission by 3,240,000 kg per annum.
The company has also piloted solar powered sites concept at 4 sites in 2010 besides deploying hybrid solutions diesel generator and battery working in alternate mode at 2200 sites that have reduced diesel consumption by 2,628,548 litres in the financial year 2011.
Source: IANS

Skinput: The user interface in the palm of your hand

2011-08-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

The biggest problem with the trend of shrinking technology is our inability to shrink along with it, which calls for a different kind of user interface than the ones to which we’re most accustomed. That’s the problem researchers from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon sought to tackle when developing Skinput, the device where the user becomes the interface.

Skinput works by continuously “listening” for bio-acoustic signals that occur when fingers tap your skin. The differences in bone densities and filtering effects from various tissues and joints throughout your body result in unique signals, and, by using a specialized array of sensors (currently configured as a headband or wristband), Skinput measures these signals and classifies them. One can then control their media players, phones and other personal devices this way, provided that they support Bluetooth.

Though the armband/headband form Skinput currently requires leaves something to be desired as an accessory, we have no doubt that designers would have a field day creating some stylish alternatives if the technology ever comes to market.

Best site for new Google+ members

2011-08-08T06:16:00.001-07:00

This might be the most useful site for a new Google+ user: Recommended Users.
It contains compilations of Google+ users in categories such as photographers, bloggers, artists & designers, journalists, and VCs & angel investors.
I’d love to have conversations with you too. You can follow me here. Google+ is the best social-networking site for back-and-forth conversations.

Round-up of best Wi-Fi names

2011-08-08T06:10:00.001-07:00

When Mashable asked its readers to submit the best names they had seen for a Wi-Fi network, they were overwhelmed with creative responses, many informing freeloaders to get off their network in some not-so-subtle ways but the best requesting guests to bring beverages.
Full story at Mashable via Geeks are Sexy.

Angry teacher cuts hair of 90 students

2011-08-02T21:02:00.001-07:00

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 3 : The Kendriya Vidyalaya at Kanjikode in Palakkad, Kerala, was besieged on Tuesday by parents expressing anger at a plus two teacher who cut their children’s hair as ‘punishment’.

The agitated parents became calm only when School principal Nilayini assured them that departmental action would be taken against Pradeep Ravindran who teaches commerce for 11th and 12th standard students.

The teacher tendered an unconditional apology to the aggrieved students.

On Monday, after the school assembly, Pradeep had pulled out students who had disobeyed his earlier orders to trim their hair, took them into a corner of the school compound and had their hair cut.

Nearly 90 students, between classes eight and twelve, were given this treatment. ‘’The matter has been settled. I have talked to the parents and they have no complaints whatsoever,’’ Nilayini said.

What lives inside your navel?

2011-08-02T06:29:00.001-07:00

If you're an innie and not an outie, your belly button is home to at least 60 to 100 or more species of bacteria, fungi and yeasts, according to new research.
The findings, to be presented on August 12 at the Earth Stewardship 96th Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, demonstrate how a belly button can become a haven for complex biodiversity.
"Although we find about 60 or 70 species on the average person, we have found more than 1400 species overall, such that differences among individuals are great," Rob Dunn, assistant professor in the Department of Biology at North Carolina State University, told Discovery News.
Full story at Discovery News.

The most creative yearbook photos ever

2011-08-02T06:27:00.001-07:00

How awesome are these incredible blackboard yearbook photos from a school in Russia? So much more expressive than a yearbook quote you’ll end up regretting.

Full story at Bit Rebels.

Dude, don’t put that there [infographic]

2011-08-01T00:03:00.001-07:00

Full story at Daily Infographic. Created by X-Ray Tech.com.

Democracy goes digital with Iceland’s crowdsourced constitution

2011-07-31T23:59:00.001-07:00

If the founding fathers of the United States were hesitant to let the commoners get their grubby paws on the vote, the men who sweated out the summer of 1776 are spinning in their graves at the making of Iceland’s new constitution written by none other than the social media public.

A group of 25 citizens presented a draft of the constitution to Iceland’s parliament. The group, which is made up of ordinary residents, compiled the document online with the help of hundreds of others. The constitution council posted the first draft in April on its website and then let citizens comment via a Facebook Page. The council members are also active on Twitter, post videos of themselves on YouTube and put pictures on Flickr.

Even more shocking is that the parliament may not even get to touch the document before it goes up for referendum. On second thought, the founding fathers may have enjoyed a little more time to down a few pints and let the rabble take a bit of the load off.
Full story at Mashable.

UK Cops 'duped' into arresting wrong LulzSec suspect

2011-07-28T23:35:00.001-07:00

Will the real Topiary please stand up?

By Dan Goodin

The 19-year-old Scotsman fingered Wednesday as a central figure of the LulzSec hacking crew is a fall guy who was framed to take the heat off the real culprit, according to unconfirmed claims from a rival group.
“We believe MET Police got the wrong guy and it happens because of lot of disinformation floating on the web,” a Thursday post on the LulzSec Exposed blog said. “LulzSec and Anonymous members are Master trolls and they are good at this.”

According to the post, penned by members of a group calling itself the Web Ninjas, the real LulzSec figure known as Topiary is a 23-year-old Swede, who stole the handle from a low-level member after he ran afoul of its parent group Anonymous. The mistaken identity was part of an elaborate ruse to confuse authorities about Topiary's true identity, the speculation claims.

The post comes a day after the Metropolitan Police said a "pre-planned intelligence-led operation" led them to a residential address in the Shetland Islands, off the North Coast of Scotland. That's where they apprehended an unnamed 19-year-old man and transported him to London for questioning. Police said they also questioned a 17-year-old from Lincolnshire and searched his home.
Thursday's post is devoid of any smoking guns, as is the case with almost all claims made in the shadowy world of anonymous people claiming to be elite hackers. For proof it points to this page purporting to contain information, pictures and videos of the real Topiary. The individual portrayed is almost certainly not that of the Scotsman arrested Wednesday.
Additional evidence comes by way of a chat log published near the bottom of this page purporting to show the real Topiary agonizing over the possibility that police are closing in on him.
“If I go hide then people will assume the dox are right,” he says, referring to the information posted on LulzSec Exposed. “So I'll just act like they failed hard.”
Several lines later, referring to the individual he stole his nick from, Topiary says: “I'm hoping someone will go after him and think it's me, then I'll act all scared etc. ANYTHING to divert attention from that fuckign nameshub.”
Of course, the chat log could have been fabricated by just about anyone, including people who want to generate doubt in the minds of Metropolitan Police investigators. With anonymous figures pursuing multiple levels of subterfuge, separating truth from fiction has become a full-time occupation for those trying to unravel this saga.

Planking: Innocent internet fad or racism born of ignorance?

2011-07-28T05:06:00.000-07:00

If you spend time wandering the internet, you might have noticed an awful lot of people laying, face down in random places, aka “planking.” From the supposedly original antics of Gary Clarkson and Christian Langdon of the UK playing the “lying down game” (shocker that didn’t catch on) to Australia’s Sam Weckert and company who coined the term, planking was just a silly thing to do much like stuffing people into phone booths in the 1950s.
There’s a growing resistance to the practice on Twitter, though, stemming from rapper Xzibit and others who say it harkens back to the viciously inhumane manner in which slaves were transported in the holds of ships. Weckert, as an Australian, emphatically denies any connection between the slave trade and his internet antics, though understands how some could be offended by the practice.
Full story at Washington Post.

Islamic extremists set up ‘Sharia zones’ in UK

2011-07-28T03:26:00.001-07:00

London: Islamic extremists in Britain have launched a poster campaign across the country proclaiming areas where ‘Sharia law enforcement zones’ have been set up.
The posters read, ‘You are entering a Sharia-controlled zone – Islamic rules enforced.’

The messages on the posters say that in the ‘zone’ there should be ‘no gambling’, ‘no music or concerts’, ‘no porn or prostitution’, ‘no drugs or smoking’ and ‘no alcohol’.
According to the Daily Mail, hate preacher Anjem Choudary has claimed responsibility for the scheme, saying he plans to flood specific Muslim and non-Muslim communities around the UK and ‘put the seeds down for an Islamic Emirate in the long term’.
“We now have hundreds if not thousands of people up and down the country willing to go out and patrol the streets for us and a print run of between 10,000 and 50,000 stickers ready for distribution,” Choudary said.
“There are 25 areas around the country which the Government has earmarked as areas where violent extremism is a problem. We are going to go to all these same areas and implement our own Sharia-controlled zones,” he said.
“This is the best way for dealing with drunkenness and loutishness, prostitution and the sort of thug life attitude you get in British cities,” he added.
In the past week, dozens of streets in the London boroughs of Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and Newham have been targeted, raising fears that local residents may be intimidated or threatened for flouting ‘Islamic rules’.
Choudary also said he was organising a protest against the Far Right in Waltham Forest this weekend following last Friday’s killing spree in Norway by anti-Islamic gunman Anders Breivik.

The history of advertising on YouTube [infographic]

2011-07-27T09:39:00.001-07:00

Via Mashable.

Periodic table of heavy metal

2011-07-27T09:38:00.001-07:00

Full story at Pop Chart Labs via Laughing Squid.

How to use Google+ to find a job

2011-07-26T05:50:00.001-07:00

Google+’s 20 million strong user base is ripe with tech talent, so why not leverage the social networking platform to crack into the tech scene and score a job? As part of its How To series, Mashable offers four handy tips on using Google+ in your job search.
A sampling to get started:

Make it known that you’re looking for work.
Use Circles to organize contacts.
Host a Hangout.
Craft your shares and follows to reflect your expertise.

Full list of tips, and explanations, at Mashable.

No Woman, No Cry [infographic]

2011-07-26T05:49:00.001-07:00

Full story at Daily Infographic.

Do you have a perfect pair of legs?

2011-07-26T05:32:00.001-07:00

Wearing short skirts and dresses means showing off a lot of leg, and in order to find out if you have the perfect pins, scientists have come up with a formula.

Leggy beauty! Jennifer Aniston on a GQ magazine cover.
Former 'Friends' star Jennifer Aniston's ideal shape and perfect skin was used as an example by scientists, who took her vital statistics and came up with the formula (T / C) x (F + S) = I, the Daily Star reported.
Even though it looks complicated, T/C simply stands for the thigh-to-calf ratio, F is the superfine feel/texture of the skin and S is the semi-gloss sheen.
The formula reveals that 14.67 is the ultimate "pin number". Therefore, the Perfect Pin equation is (1.63) x (5 + 4) = 14.67.
Research from electric shaver manufacturer Braun, also revealed that 70 per cent of Brit men like women to have curvier legs like R 'n' B diva Beyonce Knowles, 29, rather than stick-thin pins like Victoria Beckham, 37.
They also preferred a thigh-to-calf ratio of 1.63-to-1 for a fuller leg. But 62 per cent of weight-conscious women opted for a look like Posh, with a ratio of 1.2-to-1.
Source: ANI

Yahoo! The hack is back in the Bangalore

2011-07-23T00:02:00.001-07:00

It’s time for yet another Open Hack event in the city. The two-day event will be conducted on July 30 and 31 by Yahoo India Research and Development (R&D).
The event will involve 24 hours of hacking using a collection of new web tools, services and APIs from the Yahoo Developer Network (YDN), as well as data from around the web.
It will start off with a series of hack-related presentations, followed by a non-stop 24-hour hacking session at Hotel Lalit Ashok.Over 800 developers are expected to take part in the event.
What started as an in-house event in 2006 in Yahoo’s Sunny Vale-California office has grown into a much-awaited global event among developers. In its fourth year in India, the number of participants has steadily increased, as Open Hack events provide a platform for the developer community to build applications and product ideas from the scratch using market-leading technologies from Yahoo as well as other companies.
“As a premier digital media company, it is critical for us to nurture a vibrant developer ecosystem. Over the years, Yahoo’s Open Hacks have turned into a calendar event for the tech community. We take inspiration from the overwhelming response it has received this year too,” said Shouvick Mukherjee, VP and CEO, Yahoo India R&D.
On day two, Yahoo will host its second ‘Innovation Conference’. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Winning in India - Changing the Game’.
It will include panel discussions on critical topics, such as mobile and tablet experiences, social entrepreneurship, emerging content consumption patterns, and e-commerce and deals space in India.
The entries will be judged on July 31, and the best entries will be invited to attend the ‘Hack All Stars,’ an event that is scheduled to take place on September 13 and 14 in New York, USA.
This event will bring together all the winners of Yahoo’s recent Open Hacks and HackU (University hack events) for a grand final Hackathon.

Lagardere CEO's sexy photo shoot slammed

2011-07-22T01:51:00.001-07:00

Paris: The head of French media group Lagardere has found himself hitting the headlines, after the video of a photo shoot of him posing with his much younger model girlfriend went viral.
The footage and interview, in which the couple talk about how they met and fell in love, have raised eyebrows in France, where the right to privacy of top managers and politicians is seen as sacrosanct.
Arnaud Lagardere, head of the eponymous Lagardere media group, which publishes Elle and Paris Match magazines and has a stake in aerospace and defence group EADS, and Jade Foret, a 20-year-old Belgian model, posed for the photos for Belgian weekly magazine Le Soir.

Footage of the photo shoot, which shows Lagardere, 50, and a scantily clad Foret, kissing and embracing has attracted a flurry of mocking comments on YouTube and references on websites including micro-blogging site Twitter.
One commenter on French newspaper Le Monde's blog wrote: "Pitiful. Bling bling society has really sunk low." Another compared the couple to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his tall, ex-model wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who have also attracted criticism for their lavish, media-friendly lifestyle, as the film shows Lagardere is shorter than his brunette girlfriend.
In an excerpt from the interview published on Le Soir's website, Lagardere said he fell in love quite quickly, but did not believe Foret felt the same way at the time. "Jade is very attractive physically, but what I liked very much about her was her character," he said, adding that physically she reminded him of his mother.
Lagardere took over the helm of the company from his father, Jean-Luc Lagardere, who died in 2003. He is set to become chairman of Airbus parent EADS next year. Lagardere has previously attracted criticism for the group's strategy, coming under pressure from activist shareholder Guy Wyser-Pratte to sell non-core assets.
To view footage of the photo shoot click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ3aQUBoFPs

The highest tennis court in the world

2011-07-21T06:19:00.001-07:00

Behold the world’s highest tennis court. It rests atop the fourth tallest hotel in the world, located in Dubai. When no one is playing, the court moonlights as a helipad. Here’s Roger Federer and Andre Agassi playing a few rounds.

You’d need a lot of balls to play up there (both kinds).
Full story and more pictures at Amusing Planet.

The ticket to next gen space travel: The Galactic Republic Passport

2011-07-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

Sure, we’re all sad to see the space shuttle program come to a close, but in the immortal words of The Sound of Music: “When God closes a door, he always opens a window” (or something like that). It’s time to dry those tears and start preparing for the next step in space travel: intergalactic tourism.
Seeing as one can’t fly to Toledo without identification, there’s no way the creatures of the Galactic Republic are going to let just anyone into their airspace, so Make Me a Passport is here to help:

The Make Me Passport Company were given a permission from the Intergalactic Identity Management to issue the passports of the Galactic Republic to all of the Earth’s inhabitants. Passports are issued only to representatives of humanoid races (listed in the Unified Register of Racial). Information about racial identity and the native star system filled with the words of the purchaser. This document gives its holder the right to reside unlimited time in any part of the Galaxy controlled by the Galactic Republic.

Ah, the perfect stocking stuffer and it’s only July.

Full story at Make Me a Passport via Trendhunter.

New US software to end 'naked' airport scans

2011-07-21T01:13:00.000-07:00

New US software to end 'naked' airport scans - AFP
In the face of an outcry over so-called "naked" body scans at airports, US authorities on Wednesday announced plans for a new scanning system that eliminates "passenger-specific images."
Transportation Security Administration Administrator John Pistole said the agency would begin installing new software on its scanners "designed to enhance privacy."
The new software "will auto-detect items that could pose a potential threat using a generic outline of a person for all passengers," the agency said.
"By eliminating the image of an actual passenger and replacing it with a generic outline of a person, passengers are able to view the same outline that the TSA officer sees," a TSA statement said.
"Further, a separate TSA officer will no longer be required to view the image in a remotely located viewing room."
The news comes after protests and lawsuits over the use of so-called "naked" scanners that take full-body X-ray images that show passengers' genitals. In cases where people refuse such scans, TSA agents manually pat down passengers.
The TSA says the scanners protect fliers following the foiled 2009 Christmas Day plot to down a US jet by a Nigerian traveler who concealed explosives in his underwear.
Critics say the devices and the pat downs are invasive and demeaning.
US President Barack Obama last year said the understood "frustrations" over the measures and had asked the TSA to "constantly refine and measure whether what we're doing is the only way to assure the American people's safety."

World's Steepest Roller Coaster Opens in Japan

2011-07-20T06:31:00.003-07:00

Adrenaline junkies, are you ready for this? A thrilling new ride, dubbed Takabisha, is set to open in just a couple days at the Fuji-Q Highland Amusement Park in Yamanash, Japan.
Set in the shadow of Mount Fuji, Takabisha features seven twists, blackened tunnels and a breathtaking 141 ft vertical freefall at 121 degrees, making it officially the steepest in the world. Riders experience weightlessness as they nosedive down the sharp incline, before later being plunged into darkness. Speeds reach up to 62 mph (100 kmph) and the ride lasts for just 112 seconds over nearly two miles of track. Takabisha cost a whopping $40 million to build and will cost $11.75 (Y1000) to ride, excluding park admission fees.

Where is the world's data being stored? [infographic]

2011-07-20T06:31:00.001-07:00

Via Mozy.