South African Runner Makes History With Fifth Consecutive Olympic Nod
South African long distance runner, Hendrick Ramaala, made history this morning by becoming the first South African to qualify for five consecutive Olympic Games.
Fantastic 90’s Megamix Played On A Mouth Piano [VIDEO]
You remember those little piano’s that you blow with your mouth to make a sound? Remember the music of the 90’s? Both are pretty awesome. Here is a great little video of a guy playing all the greatest hits from the 90’s on just such a little organ. It’s a whole lot of awesome. Full video after the jump.
Amazing New High-Definition Photo Of Earth
Looks like the iPhone is going to have to update its default lock-screen. A new 64-megapixel, high-definition version of the “Blue Marble” has been taken from the newest Earth observation satellite, Suomi NPP, 824 kilometres above the earth. It’s a stunning photo of the planet, built out of several composite “swaths.”
Science Says Sorry, There Is No G-Spot
A brand new study has revealed there really is no such thing as the female G-spot. So that’s disappointing. But scientists have been trying unsuccessfully to find the mysterious sexual hot button for so long now that we were all getting bored anyway. (Right?)
Samsung Posted A Record $4,7 Billion Quarterly Profit
The South Korean firm isn’t going to bat an eyelid at Apple’s massive figures released earlier this week because Samsung already makes mobile processors that power Apple’s iPhone and iPad anyway.
Intense Footage Of Australian PM Chased By Violent Mob [VIDEO]
The lady in white clinging on for dear life to a security guard in this image is actually the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Riot police had to force a path for her through a crowd of angry protesters following a ceremony to mark Australia’s national day yesterday. Intense video footage of the incident after the jump.
Pythons To Reunite For Animated 3D Feature
All the surviving members of Monty Python are set to reunite for the first time in over a decade to provide voice talents for a film to be directed by fellow Python alumnus, Terry Gilliam.
Twitter Can Now Censor Tweets By Country
Over the past few years social media has transformed the proliferation of information, particularly mainstream news. It’s now almost more likely that you’ll first learn about breaking news on your Facebook feed or Twitter account than from a legitimate news source. That’s all about to change.
Limpopo Farmer Bust With Rhino Horns
It’s good to see that the law is at least making the news when it comes to South Africa’s current problem with rhino poaching. Another arrest has been made, this time a 58 year old farmer in Limpopo, who was busted with rhino horn and illegal firearms on the farm that he manages.
Vanilla Ice Is A Hipster Now [VIDEO]
White rap’s favourite son, Vanilla Ice, has dropped his bass for a ukulele and channelled his inner hipster. He’s moved to Echo Park, Los Angeles – an area notoriously populated by hipsters – to take up indie rock and the wearing of plaid shirts and thick-rimmed reading glasses. But has he?
Google’s New ‘Emergency Alerts’ Feature
Google has been saving up a tonne of creepy private information about you lately, which is unfortunate, but the company’s philanthropic arm just launched a new crisis response project to win back our hearts and personal data: emergency alerts on Google Maps.
Check Out This Die Antwoord Parody, It’s Red Hot! [VIDEO]
As the world anxiously awaits the release of Ten$ion, the next Die Antwoord album, check out this timely reminder, via a homage to the enfants terribles of Afrikaans hardcore, that gingers are people too.
Angry Birds Is Coming To Facebook
Angry Birds is quite possibly the most successful phone game in recent history. It’s available for just about every kind of smart phone, tablet, and even browsers such as Google Chrome. Soon you’ll be able to fling wingless birds right from your favourite social network – Angry Birds is coming to Facebook.
Somalia Hostages Rescued By Team That Killed Bin Laden
The American woman and Danish man who were held hostage in Somalia were rescued this week by the same guys who killed Osama Bin Laden. They sure have been busy. *Cue fist pump from Barack Obama.*
Cosatu Is Really Unhappy With That DA Poster, Drops “White Supremacy” Slur
Cosatu has come out guns blazing at that DA Students’ Organisation poster that has raised a few eyebrows this week. Speaking in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday, Zet Luzipo, provincial secretary for Cosatu, and no stranger to speaking his mind, slammed the poster saying: “It entrenches white supremacy that we fought against during the liberation struggle.”
Joan Rivers Undergoes Her 734th Plastic Surgery Operation
“My body is a temple, and my temple needs redecorating.” Well-know American comedienne, Joan Rivers, has just undergone her 734th plastic surgery operation at the age of 78. This time she went for a to “tune-up” on her neck, and allowed a TV crew to film the process.
Posh Gauteng School To Make iPads Mandatory
With the news that Apple looks set to revolutionise school learning with its textbook initiative, comes another report that a Johannesburg private school is going to make iPads compulsory this year, at parents’ cost. How long until other schools follow suit?
3D Printing, The Next Front Of The Copyright War [VIDEO]
Since the advent of digital media and file-sharing on the internet there have been concerns over digital piracy, however there’s a new development on the horizon which is going to affect a lot more than just the entertainment industry. Soon it may be possible to ‘download’ just about anything.
Wine And Fine Braaing
It is summer, and here in the Cape the long evenings nudge one in the direction of that most South African past time: the braai. Growing up, however, it was always beer around the braai and wine (white, nondescript, loaded with ice) in the kitchen. There was, of course, the exception in my French uncle for whom a glass of red wine is never far away. But beer was the norm. Beer dominates the braai. Is it some form of magnetic alliteration? Is beer that much better designed for smoke and charred meat? Do we still hold some outmoded idea that wine is for girls and beer is for boys? Or, possibly, is there some emasculation going on when a can is taken from the chief steak flipper and an elegant riedel glass subbed in?
Schools Set To Axe Zulu And Xhosa – Nandos Strikes Back
You may have heard recently that former Model C schools – with English as the medium of instruction – may be scrapping African languages. Naturally, Nandos had something to say about this malarky. The headline reads: “Respect your (mother) tongue” While the body copy reads: “Give it a taste of our delicious Peri-Peri, flame-grilled chicken.” […]
Beautiful HD Video Of Yosemite National Park Goes Viral [VIDEO]
The ability to record footage in high definition (HD) has literally changed the way we look at digital media. And when used to bring out the best of nature’s inherent beauty, the results are simply jaw-dropping.
Full Gallery Of Pics From Yesterday’s Solar Storm
There was a lot of media coverage of the biggest solar storm in 6 years yesterday. Doomsayers were claiming the world’s electricity would be knocked out and that we’d all be burned to death by radiation. This all turned out to be a lot of hot air. What did happen though, thanks to the storm, was a spectacular display of the Northern Lights. Full gallery after the jump.
Facebook Timeline Will Be Compulsory Shortly
Facebook’s new Timeline feature, that up until now has been an optional switch for its more than 800 million users, will very shortly become compulsory for everyone using the social networking platform. Facebook began the forced switch in some regions yesterday, and will continue to do so in the next few weeks.
Ralph Fiennes Reading Erotic Harry Potter Fan Fiction [VIDEO]
Ralph Fiennes, the actor who plays Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, recently appeared on a US talk show. The host asked him to read an extract from a piece of fan fiction, titled “Harry Squatter and the Sorcerer’s Bone”. Hilarity ensued.
Limpopo So Broke That Hospitals Don’t Even Have Food
This is both embarrassing and a little worrying. It’s been a while since the province of Limpopo was declared bankrupt and placed under national administration, but now there isn’t even food in the hospitals. Which, when you’re dealing with very sick people, is probably not a good thing.
Video Of Runway Acrobatics At Düsseldorf Airport Goes Viral [VIDEO]
Here’s some frightening footage that’s spent the month going viral on the interwebs. Pilots will tell you that the most statistically dangerous time during a flight is during take-off or landing, and now you can see why. Watch some goosebump inducing plane landings after the jump.
Rooibos Researchers Given R2M To Reveal Tea’s Benefits
Weight loss? Disease prevention? Anti-aging? Cup of tea? A very sizeable chunk of change has just been granted to researchers who are eager to show the world the plethora of health properties attached to South Africa’s favourite tea, our humble rooibos.
The iPad Outsold Desktop PC’s During The Last Quarter Of 2011
Apple announced some massive fourth quarter sales numbers yesterday. For instance, they sold virtually as many iPhones as there are people in South Africa during that period. Apple also doubled both revenue and profit year-on-year too.
Violist Interrupted By Nokia Ringtone, Brilliantly Incorporates It Into Recital (VIDEO)
It is weird to think that there are still people in this world who forget to turn their cell phones off during concerts. This happened during a recent performance by Slovakian violist Lukas Kmit, when a concertgoer’s Nokia ringtone suddenly interrupted the show. But the violinist responded by cleverly incorporating it into his performance, and the video has since gone viral. See it after the jump.
Google Changes Privacy Settings Across Board – Users Can’t Opt Out
Whoops. Looks like somewhere between Eric Schmidt and Larry Page, Google forgot their ‘don’t be evil’ rule and turned into the creepy uncle of the internet. Well, the other creepy uncle of the internet. It now follows users’ activities across YouTube, Gmail, Google Plus and Google Search, among others. Everybody, clear your history.