It’s difficult to get one’s head around the enormous popularity of Eurovision. The pan-European singing contest is the most watched non-sporting event in the world. Even more mind-blowing is the act that has beaten 24 other entrants to represent Russia in this year’s competition. It’s a group of six women aged between 43 and 74, dressed in traditional peasant wear, singing a song called “Party for Everybody”.
North and South Koreas relationship is staid at best. They’ve been taunting each other for all of my life. The Korean War was in 1950 and the vibe hasn’t really improved since. North Korea threatens to blow up South Korea on an almost monthly basis and when you hear that two of their officials (one […]
If there’s one name that carries a lot of weight in naval circles, it’s the “Big E” or U.S.S Enterprise: the US naval fleet’s oldest nuclear powered aircraft carrier, and also the world’s longest, and 11th-heaviest, maritime vessel. After 51 years of service, the Enterprise is to return to port from the Persian Gulf and be decommissioned next year, but not without some amazing stories to tell.
By now most of you will have seen the infamous Kony 2012 video which, as of this morning, has become the most viral video ever. You’ll also have seen the considerable backlash, both from Ugandans and elsewhere. Now, watch how the original video’s creators responded to criticism, live. Click through for the video.
Well this is new, and sort of neat. For the new V40, Volvo is introducing the world’s first pedestrian airbag system, designed to reduce the severity of pedestrian injuries in a car-pedestrian collision. Alternatively it could double as a sweet new inflatable mattress on the hood of your car.
Advertising agency BBH has come under fire for their turning 13 homeless men walking Wi-Fi hotspots at the recent SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. The “Homeless Hotspots” sported shirts saying, “I’m a 4G hotspot,” with an access code for the network.
Nelson Mandela’s former defence lawyer, and veteran human rights lawyer, George Bizos, has written to Parliament stating that the protection of state information bill is unconstitutional on several counts.
A horrifying new report has revealed that over 90 “emo kids” have been stoned to death, allegedly by Shia militants in Iraq. As many as 58 have been killed the last six weeks alone.
Following a recent viral expose by blogger Jonathan Corbett on the potentially serious weaknesses in the TSA’s airport body scanners, multiple journalists have reported receiving emails from the TSA “strongly cautioning” them against covering the story. Corbett is encouraging media outlets to cover the story anyway.
A few hours ago, Reuters blogger, Felix Salmon, recorded an exclusive interview in which it was revealed that CNN will buy social media website, Mashable, for more than $200 million dollars. The announcement is due to be confirmed as early as tomorrow, according to Salmon.
Last week, director James Cameron found the one spot where people wouldn’t ask him about the Avatar sequel – 8km beneath the ocean, off the coast of Papua New Guinea, in a specially designed submarine. He’ll be repeating the trick later this month at the ocean’s deepest point to shoot footage for a couple of documentaries.
What’s hot on TV in China’s Henan Province these days? Just a little show where death row inmates are interviewed moments before they are killed for their crimes. The show is called “Interview Before Execution” and it has China riveted to the tune of nearly 40 million viewers every week.
In a particularly bad case of trigger happiness, an American soldier went on a killing frenzy yesterday. The man opened fire on a group of Afghani civilians, killing a total of 16 people – including nine children. Full details inside.
It’s that time of the year again when thousands of lycra-clad cyclists descend on the Mother City for the Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour. Capetonians, your road closures begin tomorrow, so here is what you need to be aware of.
As the #StopKONY juggernaut continues rampaging across the interwebs and social networks, some reporters have turned to Kony’s fellow Ugandans for comment on the video, and the Invisible Children organisation’s project to bring Joseph Kony to justice. Their opinions? Not positive.
Hey Doomsdayers, guess what? The world isn’t going to end in 2012, or any time soon for that matter. At least that’s according to a NASA astrophysicist, who I’d assume has a library that smells of rich mahogany and is filled with many leather-bound books, and also a degree in astrophysics.
For the first time ever, you’ll be able to watch every single Olympic event live, for free, without having to pirate it through some dodgy online stream. In fact, it’s actually a clever marketing ploy on the behalf of NBC, but still, it’s better than nothing.
That house where Macaulay Culkin got stranded over Christmas in that one movie back in 1990 was sold yesterday, according to real estate agency Coldwell Banker. Which means the buyers – a family new to Winnekta, Illinois – are already having to deal with tourists showing up daily and posing for photos with both hands clapped to their face.
Riaan Cruywagen will release an autobiography at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival this year. It will be available in stores from April 2. The man who knows the news before the news happens, has enjoyed a prosperous 47 years in broadcasting, of which 37 were spent as an Afrikaans newsreader.
To mark International Women’s Day today, SlutWalk Founder Sonya Barnett has designed the Nude Revolutionary Calendar. Featuring topless Iranian woman, this move is both a middle finger to political Islam, as well as a fundraiser towards “supporting women’s rights and free expression.” This promotional video has just been released online.
Yesterday, the internet was all about Invisible Children’s #stopKONY campaign and video, but while Americans get themselves into a froth about a country they don’t even know the location of, and a man they only know through rumours, we take a closer look at the organisation behind the hype. And as a number of commentators look closer, the cracks in Invisible Children’s premise, promises and their presentation become anything but invisible.
English heavy metal band Motörhead has launched a line of bottled alcoholic beverages, because that’s just what you do when you’re a band of a certain age. There’s Motörhead Vodka which, sure, heavy metal, makes sense, and they’ve also released Motörhead Shiraz. Because I guess that’s heavy metal too.
Iron Sky, a long-awaited science fiction spoof about Nazis invading Earth from their secret moon base is about to be released in Europe and internationally. While it has gained much support online and even some plaudits at festivals, some critics are wondering if Germans are ready for such rampant fun to be made of one of the darkest periods of their recent history.
“Probably not,” is the answer. It seems as if things have returned to normal on the Facebook servers around parts of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The outage earlier affected facebook.com, as well as apps for mobile phones and tablets. Facebook has thus far put the incident down to “technical difficulties.”
Formula One race cars are intended for many things – being awesome, making loud noises, giving Germans something to do. Driving on snow is not one of them. In spite of that, Andy Gülden equipped one with snow tires and drove it around the snow-covered race tracks of the famously challenging Nürburgring in Germany. Madness.
This really does look like a scene from a horrific, science-fiction film in which spiders take over the world. Unfortunately for arachnaphobes, and most of Wagga Wagga’s population, it’s very real, and is the result of spiders escaping floodwaters.
This might turn out to be the most inspiring documentary you will watch all year. A serious campaign is underway to bring down Joseph Kony, the infamous leader of the Ugandan guerrilla group: the Lord’s Resistance Army. The LRA is responsible for an unquantifiable number of atrocities across Uganda. Human trafficking, brutal rape, and child soldier deployment are commonplace. This is KONY 2102.
Another alternative to Apple’s iCloud popped up this week, with Google has announcing that it will be combining the Android Market, Google Music and the Google eBookstore into a new cloud-based service called Google Play, allowing users to access all of their media across all of their Android devices.
Oh, good, more things from the future to terrify me. Boston Dynamics, a Pentagon contractor, has broken the speed record for legged robots, with a new four-legged creation – the Cheetah, which can run at 29 kilometres an hour, far outpacing the 20 km/h record set by MIT in 1989.
It would appear that authorities are finally starting to make serious inroads into the rhino horn trafficking underworld. A suspected kingpin, and former Mpumalanga police officer, was arrested on Friday in Hazyview. He was found with four rhino horns, and over R60 000 in his possession.