Twitter bans 370 passwords

Twitter’s embarrassing security breach earlier this year taught the Twittosphere a valuable lesson: don’t choose easy-to-crack passwords. Now the site is helping users prevent hacker attacks by creating a list of 370 passwords that it bans members from using when they sign up for an account.

The prohibited passwords list includes everything from the obvious (password, twitter, 12345678) to the more peculiar (butthead, nipple, shaved), but curiously doesn’t include “happiness,” the infamous password of the hacked Twitter employee.

Besides your username and password cannot be the same.

The full list of banned Twitter passwords is as follows:

1. 111111

2. 11111111

3. 112233

4. 121212

5. 123123

6. 123456

7. 1234567

8. 12345678

9. 131313

10. 232323

11. 654321

12. 666666

13. 696969

14. 777777

15. 7777777

16. 8675309

17. 987654

18. aaaaaa

19. abc123

20. abc123

21. abcdef

22. abgrtyu

23. access

24. access14

25. action

26. albert

27. alexis

28. amanda

29. amateur

30. andrea

31. andrew

32. angela

33. angels

34. animal

35. anthony

36. apollo

37. apples

38. arsenal

39. arthur

40. asdfgh

41. asdfgh

42. ashley

43. august

44. austin

45. badboy

46. bailey

47. banana

48. barney

49. baseball

50. batman

51. beaver

52. beavis

53. bigdaddy

54. bigdog

55. birdie

56. bitches

57. biteme

58. blazer

59. blonde

60. blondes

61. bond007

62. bonnie

63. booboo

64. booger

65. boomer

66. boston

67. brandon

68. brandy

69. braves

70. brazil

71. bronco

72. broncos

73. bulldog

74. buster

75. butter

76. butthead

77. calvin

78. camaro

79. cameron

80. canada

81. captain

82. carlos

83. carter

84. casper

85. charles

86. charlie

87. cheese

88. chelsea

89. chester

90. chicago

91. chicken

92. cocacola

93. coffee

94. college

95. compaq

96. computer

97. cookie

98. cooper

99. corvette

100. cowboy

101. cowboys

102. crystal

103. dakota

104. dallas

105. daniel

106. danielle

107. debbie

108. dennis

109. diablo

110. diamond

111. doctor

112. doggie

113. dolphin

114. dolphins

115. donald

116. dragon

117. dreams

118. driver

119. eagle1

120. eagles

121. edward

122. einstein

123. erotic

124. extreme

125. falcon

126. fender

127. ferrari

128. firebird

129. fishing

130. florida

131. flower

132. flyers

133. football

134. forever

135. freddy

136. freedom

137. gandalf

138. gateway

139. gators

140. gemini

141. george

142. giants

143. ginger

144. golden

145. golfer

146. gordon

147. gregory

148. guitar

149. gunner

150. hammer

151. hannah

152. hardcore

153. harley

154. heather

155. helpme

156. hockey

157. hooters

158. horney

159. hotdog

160. hunter

161. hunting

162. iceman

163. iloveyou

164. internet

165. iwantu

166. jackie

167. jackson

168. jaguar

169. jasmine

170. jasper

171. jennifer

172. jeremy

173. jessica

174. johnny

175. johnson

176. jordan

177. joseph

178. joshua

179. junior

180. justin

181. killer

182. knight

183. ladies

184. lakers

185. lauren

186. leather

187. legend

188. letmein

189. little

190. london

191. lovers

192. maddog

193. madison

194. maggie

195. magnum

196. marine

197. marlboro

198. martin

199. marvin

200. master

201. matrix

202. matthew

203. maverick

204. maxwell

205. melissa

206. member

207. mercedes

208. merlin

209. michael

210. michelle

211. mickey

212. midnight

213. miller

214. mistress

215. monica

216. monkey

217. monkey

218. monster

219. morgan

220. mother

221. mountain

222. muffin

223. murphy

224. mustang

225. naked

226. nascar

227. nathan

228. naughty

229. ncc1701

230. newyork

231. nicholas

232. nicole

233. nipple

234. nipples

235. oliver

236. orange

237. packers

238. panther

239. panties

240. parker

241. password

242. password

243. password1

244. password12

245. password123

246. patrick

247. peaches

248. peanut

249. pepper

250. phantom

251. phoenix

252. player

253. please

254. pookie

255. porsche

256. prince

257. princess

258. private

259. purple

260. pussies

261. qazwsx

262. qwerty

263. qwertyui

264. rabbit

265. rachel

266. racing

267. raiders

268. rainbow

269. ranger

270. rangers

271. rebecca

272. redskins

273. redsox

274. redwings

275. richard

276. robert

277. rocket

278. rosebud

279. runner

280. rush2112

281. russia

282. samantha

283. sammy

284. samson

285. sandra

286. saturn

287. scooby

288. scooter

289. scorpio

290. scorpion

291. secret

292. sexsex

293. shadow

294. shannon

295. shaved

296. sierra

297. silver

298. skippy

299. slayer

300. smokey

301. snoopy

302. soccer

303. sophie

304. spanky

305. sparky

306. spider

307. squirt

308. srinivas

309. startrek

310. starwars

311. steelers

312. steven

313. sticky

314. stupid

315. success

316. summer

317. sunshine

318. superman

319. surfer

320. swimming

321. sydney

322. taylor

323. tennis

324. teresa

325. tester

326. testing

327. theman

328. thomas

329. thunder

330. thx1138

331. tiffany

332. tigers

333. tigger

334. tomcat

335. topgun

336. toyota

337. travis

338. trouble

339. trustno1

340. tucker

341. turtle

342. twitter

343. united

344. vagina

345. victor

346. victoria

347. viking

348. voodoo

349. voyager

350. walter

351. warrior

352. welcome

353. whatever

354. william

355. willie

356. wilson

357. winner

358. winston

359. winter

360. wizard

361. xavier

362. xxxxxx

363. xxxxxxxx

364. yamaha

365. yankee

366. yankees

367. yellow

368. zxcvbn

369. zxcvbnm

370. zzzzzz

Car park for women only: China

A shopping centre in one of China's province has built a car park with wider spaces that it says is designed especially to suit women drivers.

The car park is painted pink and light purple to “appeal to female tastes.”

The parking bays are one metre (3ft) wider than normal spaces.

Female parking attendants have been trained to help guide women drivers into their parking spaces. The bays also have extra lighting.

Is this considered to be demeaning for women?

From BBC

The World's Largest Cruise Ship

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s (RCL) newest vessel, Oasis of the Seas, is to make her debut arrival in Port Everglades, Fla. She is on her way to the US over from a shipyard in Finland. It has 16 decks.

The $1.4 billion megaship--the largest passenger ship ever made, with room for 6,296 guests--is nearly half again as big as the last biggest cruise ship, RCL's Freedom of the Seas.

She's as big as a supertanker or a container ship. Flatten the deck and you could launch F-18s off it. If you were sitting on the 20th floor of a high-rise next to the ship, you'd be able to talk to the sunbathers beside one of the pools.

To build the world's biggest cruise ship RCL also had to build the world's widest one, at 208 ft.

Oasis is a giant leisure machine, with more spas, pools, bars and activities than you could probably hit in a week. Royal Caribbean calls itself the Nation of Why Not--"as in, Why not try rock climbing?"

You don't have to try surfing on the Flowrider, but it's there. You can get certified for scuba diving, take an ice-skating lesson, ride a zip line, play basketball, spar in a boxing ring, have a massage or see a version of the Broadway show Hairspray

The upper decks have been split open in the middle of the ship to create a light-filled atrium with 12,000 plants tended by a full-time horticulturist.

To secure a berth, you'll need to shell out a minimum of $1,529 for a seven-night cruise, which breaks down to $218 a day. Not terrible for food, lodging and a Broadway show, not to mention the jazz revues, pools and aqua theater at your disposal. A luxury suite can put you out $7,609 a week, or $1,087 per day.

For the full story, click here

CCTV Voyeurism

A pregnant mother was horrified to see live pictures of her bed on a travel news website. A camera meant to be monitoring traffic was instead pointing directly at her bedroom.

She accused a mystery worker at Transport for London, which placed the camera outside her home near in Surrey, of deliberately aiming it at her semi.

The camera's antics were exposed by a commuter who uses the TfL website to keep an eye on traffic jams.

TfL blamed the incident on a camera fault, which had now been put right.

Officials say that the incident was being investigated.

For the full story, click here

New York recession claiming fewer murders

There were days upon days in New York City when not a single person was murdered in 2009. Two such stretches, in February and March, lasted nearly a week each.

Since the New York Police Department started tracking homicides (since 1962), there have been rises — the homicide rate peaked in 1990 at 2,245 — and subsequent falls. As of Dec. 27, there were 461 murders; the current record low happened in 2007, when there were 496.

And what's ironic is that with the city facing a $4.1 billion budget deficit, the police force — which has seen its head count reduced by 6,000 officers since 2001 — may have to shrink further.

According to the F.B.I. uniform crime report for the first half of 2009, murders fell 10 percent nationwide compared with the same period in 2008. But New York showed a 19 percent decline in murders, the report said.

In examining the city’s 461 homicides this year, much can be learned about how the New York police count murder victims. For instance, homicides caused by negligence or those deemed justifiable by prosecutors are not counted. In 2008, there were at least five deaths that fit those circumstances and were not included in the murder tally, according to an analysis of department data provided this year.

Nearly five decades later, one thing has not changed: guns are still the deadliest of weapons.

For the full story, click here

Israel Plans More Homes in East Jerusalem

Israel announced that it would build nearly 700 housing units in Jewish areas of Jerusalem on territory conquered in the 1967 war that the Palestinians claim for their future state.

But the future of Jerusalem is among the most contentious issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel’s annexation of the parts of Jerusalem won in 1967 and its assertion that the reunified city would remain under its rule as its capital has won almost no support worldwide. The United States consistently condemns unilateral Israeli steps in East Jerusalem as harmful to peace efforts.

Even though the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a freeze on residential housing construction in West Bank settlements until September in order to help restart peace talks, it did not include Jerusalem in the moratorium.

A month ago, Israel advanced plans for 900 more units in a fourth Jewish area of Jerusalem on land captured in 1967, a move that was criticized by the European Union and the United States.

President Obama said then in a television interview that such building did not make Israel safer, made achieving peace harder and embittered the Palestinians.

The Palestinians say they will not return to the talks without a complete settlement freeze.

The 1947 United Nations plan for the Holy Land divided it into two states, one Jewish and the other Palestinian, with Jerusalem — holy to Christians, Muslims and Jews — as a separate international entity. But the war that broke out over Israel’s declaration of independence left armistice lines running through Jerusalem, with the western sector held by Israel and the eastern part, including the holy sites of the Old City, held by Jordan.

Until the 1967 war, when Israel took the rest of Jerusalem from Jordan, Israelis were barred from the Old City, the site of the ancient Jewish temple, Judaism’s holiest site. After winning that war, Israel declared its citizens would never again suffer that fate and named the entire city its capital.

For the full story, click here

Guest Post: 3 Idiots is a twisted Patch Adams!

When an actor like Aamir Khan decides to act in a movie after a year from his previous release, and when you have a massive production house backing your movie with a director who had two back to back hits, you tend to expect a lot from a movie.

But instead what you get is three hours of absolute rubbish.

The facts are simple. Add a little bit of humour to a pathetic story and publicise it well and let the cash registers ring. It’s the end of the year and there a billion of Aamir fans who have waited so impatiently for his next movie for over a year. So anything he signs is bound to be an instant hit. And that has been the case for most of his movies for the past decade. Even Mangal Pandey cashed in a lot in the first week.

What mystifies me more is the way Aamir went about publicising this movie. I am still confused and a bit dazzled as to what was the link between the story of the movie and Aamir touring India as your everyday people. Yes it was PR, I suppose.

What mystifies me even more as to what made choose him this movie? There was nothing even close to what you would call challenging in this film, considering his previous performances.

Let’s start with his character Rancho, a college student. Lets be honest, he has played that in so many movies that he could now do that in his sleep. A free thinker who studies and preaches education by his own rules and practicality. Funny, why does Patch Adams just keep springing up? The only difference: Robin Williams was practicing medicine in Patch Adams and Aamir engineering.

There were many one-liners that I heard giggles in the theatre, but not many of them realised that they are so 2000 and late.

Like, for instance, the NASA pen reference or even best gag of the film the comic speech are lifted from either stand-ups of years behind or some old myth busters. Read more here

It was like watching a blend of Patch Adams, Rang de Basanti (for the non-linear events), Munnabhai series for the message (the first one was inspired by Patch Adams as well), and Taare Zameen Par all rolled into one gigantic broth made by too many cooks.

And it was a shambolic mixture to be honest. Even the song "Give me some sunshine" is inspired by an old Hindi ghazal. And I am really annoyed that nobody else realised that, probably because the language was changed. So this will have to be spelt out. Compare the lyrics of this song and a timeless classic by Jagjit Singh, “Woh kaagaz ki kashti”.

You would realise that every bit of this movie is either inspired or lifted from one or the other, in the same manner Ghajini was inspired from a certain Christopher Nolan film.

With Lage Raho…, Hirani stamped his mark of brilliance in many ways. As a director, a story writer and a story teller. It was refreshing and unpredictable. Even the first of the Munnabhai series had plenty of laughs and frowns although that too was mostly an Indian version of Patch Adams.

Mr Hirani, move over the Patch Adams hangover now. It’s high time.

I am sure you might find many other movies in Hollywood that still haven't been Indianised.

Be original for once.

Note: This is a Guest Post by a subscriber

Tharoor's Tweeting Troubles

This is the second time when Shashi Tharoor's tweet has got him in the light. Earlier Tharoor was in the dirt for tweeting that he would travel "cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!".

"Cattle Class" was apparently linked to members of the public who travelled in the economy class. The comment came off when the Government of India were head over heels on the austerity drive.

Tharoor's latest tweet was against his own government’s decision to tighten visa rules.

The home ministry had issued a directive last week that those visiting India on long-term multi-entry tourist visas must henceforth maintain a two-month gap between one departure and the following entry into the country. The directive followed the revelation that David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, arrested in the US for their terror links, repeatedly visited Mumbai and other Indian cities on tourist visas before the 26/11 attack last year.

He tweeted: “Dilemma of our age: tough visa restrictions in hope of btr security or openness & liberality to encourage tourism & goodwill? I prefer latter.”

He went on to note that “the 26/11 killers had no visas”.

Obviously, India has not caught up Twitter yet. You most probably read this off the Facebook Fan page.

World's Friendliest Countries

These nations are the most hospitable to expatriates, according to a new report.

Rank Country

1 Bahrain

2 Canada

3 Australia

4 Thailand

5 Malaysia

6 South Africa

7 Hong Kong

8 Singapore

9 Spain

10 United States

The survey was conducted among expatriates and was done by HSBC Bank.

Bahrain ranked first in one key measure of how easy it is for expatriates to set up a new life for their families. It received high marks from expats who like the country's easy access to modern health care, decent and affordable housing, and network of social groups that expatriates can join.

The United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom received some of the poorest scores on the integration scale. Foreign workers in England complained about the challenges of finding affordable housing.

Credibility of the result

It is possible that Bahrain's first-place finish is a fluke. Only 31 expats working in Bahrain participated in the survey, vs. more than 450 respondents from the United Kingdom.

For the Forbes chart, click here

For the full story, click here

Man travels in plane hidden in toilet

In a major security breach, an Indian national working as a cleaner at Medina airport in Saudi Arabia managed to travel on an Air India flight, carrying Haj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia to India, hiding in the toilet of the aircraft.

Habib Hussain, 26, from Uttar Pradesh, told the police that the contractor who employed him there had taken away his passport and harassed him. This was the only solution he could come up with to return home.

Habib's presence came to light about half an hour after the flight took off from Medina, when a passenger went to the toilet.

During questioning by the cabin crew, it was ascertained that Habib was only a stowaway and did not intend to harm anybody.

He was arrested upon landing.

For the full story and news clip, click here

Santa Claus is actually Turkish...and more!

He has been around for more than 1,700 years. A timeline:

circa 280 A.D.

Nicholas is born in Patara, Lycia — part of modern day Turkey. Like others of the Emperor Constantine generation, he enters a life of religious servitude. He works his way up from abbot to the archbishop of Myra — a nearby town — and gets his first nickname: Nicholas of Myra.

325 A.D.

Nicholas attends the First Council of Nicaea and helps create the Nicene Creed, which millions upon millions of Sunday School children will later memorize.

330 A.D.

When a father doesn't have enough money for his three daughters' dowries, dooming them, apparently, to forced prostitution, Nicholas leaves three bags of gold outside the girls' home (or, according to a different version of the story, in their shoes) to keep them sustained. This is one of the few stories based on some sort of historical record and it explains Nicholas' reputation as a gift-giver.

320-340 A.D.

Nicholas becomes famous for performing great miracles. Once he saves a ship from a terrible storm by calming the waves. Another time, he flies through the air to return a kidnapped boy. And most impressive of all, he discovers a triple homicide and brings the victims — three children who had been chopped into bits and stored in pickle jars — back to life.

Dec. 6, 343 A.D.

Nicholas dies and is buried in Myra.

6th Century A.D.

Nicholas becomes a saint. The Catholic Church had not yet regulated its canonization procedure so it's hard to tell exactly when he is sainted. Nicholas is a very popular saint, especially in Europe. He becomes the patron of more objects and places than any other saint (except maybe Mary), although his primary role is as a guardian of children.

1087

Some Italian sailors steal Nicholas' remains and transfer them to Bari, Italy. His tomb becomes a major pilgrimage site.

The next several hundred years

St. Nicholas's "name day," Dec. 6, coincides with the end of harvest and slaughter season in many European countries and becomes a favorite holiday to observe, especially in Holland, where he is known as "Sinterklaas." Kids leave their shoes out in the hopes that he will bring them a present. Nicholas has perfected his ability to tell naughty from nice by this time: Good children get a toy or candy; bad children receive a switch (with which they can be beaten).

16th & 17th centuries

Puritanism sweeps England and America. Saints fall out of favor. Many countries stop observing St. Nicholas Day — excepting Holland. The Dutch are really into shoe gifts.

1659-1681

No-fun Puritans fire the first volley in the war on Christmas, making the holiday illegal in Massachusetts.

1809

New York Historical Society founder John Pintard declares St. Nicholas to be the patron saint of New York City. To back up his friend's claim, Historical Society member Washington Irving publishes a History of New York, which includes a story about Nicholas — something about the Dutch and "New Amsterdam" and the fact that they're still leaving gifts in children's shoes.

1810

No one really celebrates Saint Nicholas Day in New York, but they do celebrate Christmas. The New York Historical Society publishes a broadside that features a picture of the newly declared patron saint delivering gifts to children during the Christmas season. Nicholas still looks like a saint — he wears a priestly robe and has a halo around his bald head.

1821

Nicholas delivers presents on Christmas Eve for the very first time. An anonymous poem calls him "Santeclaus" and describes a sleigh pulled by one reindeer.

1822

Clement Clark Moore writes a poem for his children, beginning with the iconic lines, "'Twas the night before Christmas." Within one reading, Nicholas shortens his name to Nick, gains weight, starts smoking and adopts seven more reindeer (probably to pull his excess weight). He embarks on his first breaking-and-entering spree.

1841

The nickname "Santa Claus" has been growing in popularity, so St. Nick adopts it when he greets thousands of children at a Philadelphia department store. He also appears in newspaper advertisements around this time, urging people to buy Christmas presents.

1863

Well-known Harper's Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast — who also popularized the Uncle Sam image — draws a red-coated, white-bearded Santa Claus for the very first time. Later Nast drawings will reveal Santa's workshop and home at the North Pole.

1889

Santa Claus gets married.

1897

New York Sun editor Francis Church answers a young reader's letter with the phrase, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

1931

Artist Haddon Sundblom draws a round-faced, red-nosed Santa Claus for a Coca Cola ad.

1939

Santa adopts Rudolph — the creation of a Montgomery Ward store employee

1947

Santa Claus performs miracles on 34th Street

1969

The Catholic Church overhauls its liturgical calendar by de-sainting over 200 people and making the celebration of 92 others, including St. Nicholas, optional.

1995

Santa Claus gets his own website.

For all the dates, click here

Trailer: Sherlock Holmes

Guy Ritchie, the director of cult hits like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch. and RocknRolla, has Sherlock Holmes all set for reviews with its release on Christmas Day in the US.

Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.

The films casts Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Chaplin) as Sherlock Holmes, Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain) as Dr. John Watson, Rachel McAdams and Mark Strong.

This is Mark Strong's third appearance in a Guy Ritchie movie after Revolver and RocknRolla.

The movie is just over 2 hours.

Trivial Trivia

Colin Farrell was in talks to play Watson before Jude Law was cast.

The first Sherlock Holmes film to reach U.S. movie theaters in over twenty years, since the 1988 comedy Without a Clue (1988) with Michael Caine as Reginald Kincaid/"Sherlock Holmes".

While filming a fight scene, Robert Maillet accidentally knocked out Robert Downey Jr..

Sienna Miller was in talks for a role before her ex-fiancé Jude Law was cast as Watson.

There were rumors that Brad Pitt has been cast as Moriarty and re shoots have taken place, but the rumors were quickly denied.

Guy Ritchie's first film not to be Rated R in the US.

For a full low down, click here

Visit the official website, here

Become a fan on Facebook, here

The Pope has a great fall

Susanna Maiolo, 25, a dual Italian-Swiss national, jumped over a barricade and grabbed the pontiff's gold and white vestments pulling him to the floor.

She was tackled by security guards, provoking screams from the congregation. It has emerged that the woman attempted the same attack last year.

The Vatican said Ms Maiolo was “psychologically unstable” and unarmed and the 82-year-old Pope was not hurt. She was taken to an Italian hospital for psychological treatment.

The Pope did appear somewhat shaken and leaned heavily on aides and an armrest as he sat down in his chair. He made no reference to the incident as the service started.

There have been relatively few security breaches in Benedict's pontificate, which began in 2005. In 2007 a German man jumped over a barricade in St Peter's Square as the Pope's jeep was passing during a general audience and tried to board the vehicle.

The most serious attack on a pope in the Vatican came in 1981 when Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca, shot and nearly killed Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square.

For the full story, click here

Video: Philippine residents preparing for the Mayon Volcano

A news clip from Al Jazeera. Residents of Philippines exiting due to the Mayon Volcano

Escaped prisioner updates Facebook page

England: Craig Lynch, 28, escaped prison back in September, but has continued to update his Facebook status regularly - describing everything from his meals to who his next girlfriend will be.

Police are trying to use clues left by Lynch on his Facebook to track down where the convicted burglar may be hiding. Lynch was sentenced to a seven-year prison term for aggravated burglary and was serving his sentence.

Police are trying to pick up clues from his updates and have also contacted Facebook, trying to pinpoint his location.

For the full story, click here

Avatar: Trivial Trivia

James Cameron originally attempted to get this film made in 1999 as his immediate follow-up to Titanic (1997). However, at the time, the special effects he wanted for the movie ran the proposed budget up to $400 million. No studio would fund the film, and it was subsequently shelved for almost ten years.

The movie is 40% live action and 60% photo-realistic CGI. A lot of motion capture technology was used for the CGI scenes.

Seeing the character of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) convinced James Cameron that CGI effects had progressed enough to make this film.

As of December 2009, with an alleged budget of US $280,000,000 (estimated), this is one of the most expensive movies ever made.

First time that Sigourney Weaver has appeared in James Cameron film since Aliens (1986), a gap of twenty-three years.

Avatars have five fingers or toes on their hand or foot, whereas the Na'vi only have four.

According to the read out and his statement made during the last log entry, Jake's birthday is August 24.

Even though the year the movie takes place is never stated, scenes of Jake Sully recording his video log show that the year is 2154.

The biggest opener in the USA for a original film, previously held by The Incredibles (2004).

For more information on the movie, click here

RK Pachauri gets vocal about charges against him

RK Pachauri has sought an apology from Britain's Sunday Telegraph for allegations levelled against him.

He was quoted, "IPCC makes no policy recommendations, and all its reports are in the public domain, widely distributed and disseminated across the world. There is nothing in this report that could have any proprietary benefit"

For the full story, click here

Balloon boy's parents jailed

The father responsible for the balloon boy hoax in the US has been sentenced 90 days in jail.

Richard Heene attracted media attention when he claimed his six-year-old son was trapped in a runaway balloon that was racing across Colorado.

The boy had been hiding in the family's garage. Richard Heene wanted to attract publicity for a reality TV show.

His wife has been jailed for 20 days.

Video: Iron Man 2 Trailer

Iron Man 2: Scheduled for release in the USA on 7th May 2010

Fans should expect to see more of Samuel L. Jackson and his portrayal of S.H.I.E.L.D. chief Nick Fury.

Director Jon Favreau has been quoted:

"Now that Marvel is making its own movies, every movie has to fit into the Marvel universe. The Avengers incorporates not just Iron Man, but Thor, possibly the Hulk and traditionally Captain America as well. As it is, it’s scheduled ‘Thor’ will come out the same summer as ‘Iron Man 2’ and ‘Captain America’ will come out a few months before ‘Avengers.’ All the films have to come together to create a consistent universe. That’s very important to everyone involved."

The real "Rain Man" dies

Kim Peek, 58, the real Rain Man, whose almost superhuman memory coupled with severe disabilities and who inspired the Oscar-winning film role played by Dustin Hoffman, has died of a heart attack.

He was knwon for his ability to memorise to the word up to 12,000 books. He could read two pages in about 10 seconds – the right page with his right eye and the left simultaneously with his left eye.

During the performance of a Shakespeare play, Kim Peek suddenly stood up and shouted out "Stop!" When an actor asked him what was wrong, he said: "You've missed out a word from that line." The actor apologised and said he did not think anyone would mind. "Shakespeare would," Peek replied. His areas of expertise included American history, geography, baseball, basketball and football, films, calendars and dates, and Shakespeare. Name a city, and he could list roads, businesses, zip codes and historical data from the area.

He knew phone books by heart, and could tell you what day of the week a particular date fell upon going back decades. One of his party tricks was to tell strangers the names of the people who used to live next door to them years ago.

At the same time, though, he had deep disabilities and relied on his father for help dressing, brushing his hair and other simple motor skills.

Peek was born with damage to the cerebellum in which the corpus callosum, a bundle of nerves that connects the two sides of the brain, is largely missing.

At the age of two his severe disabilities almost landed him for life in an asylum. In those days his condition was known as "idiot savant".

Rain Man went on to take four Oscars, including best actor for Hoffman.

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Michael Schumacher is back in Formula 1

Michael Schumacher will be behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car in 2010. But not with Ferrari. This time he is coming back with Mercedes GP.

Mercedes took over Brawn GP at the end of the season and have announced an all German outfit with Nico Rosberg, son of 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg, as the second driver for the season starting in March.

Schumacher was apparently left out in the cold by Ferrari in 2006, when the team decided to opt for Kimi Raikkonen. The move had paid off as they won the both the drivers and constructors championship. But it went downhill after that.

Schumacher was serving as a Ferrari consultant since his last drive with the team. He was to make his comeback in August this year to replace the injured Felipe Massa, but a neck injury due to a motorcycle accident in February ruled him out.

Incidentally, Schumacher made his professional motorsports debut with the Mercedes sportscar team. He was being groomed by Mercedes for their entry into Formula 1 in 1994. However, their plans were delayed and he ended up with Ferrari.

Mercedes GP is managed by Ross Brawn, the nemesis in chief, when Schumacher had his halcyon days with the Italian outfit. And with the Germans connections revived with his Mercedes stint, it will be interesting to see how the partnership and results develop into. Brawn also engineered a constructors and a drivers championship this year.

Michael will be 41 when he restarts his career. The age limitation is debatable considering that Gabrielle Tarquini won the 2009 WTCC championship at 47 this year.

Formula 1 is set to make up for all the recessionary losses of the year. This year McLaren has two world champions in their line up. Ferrari have usurped twice champion Fernando Alonso and Red Bull has Baby Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel.

Blackberry faces e-mail issues in the US again

For the second time in less than a week, BlackBerry smartphone users are reporting problems accessing e-mail. There was a breif outage on December 17.

The smartphones are made by a Canadian company Research in Motion (RIM). They issued a statement, which acknowledged "some BlackBerry customers in the Americas are experiencing delays in message delivery".

BlackBerry has been a Trending Topic on Twitter. Users are expressing their disappointments and disgust at the lack of service.

No elaborations have been given on the reasons and the estimated time of repair.

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India's Home Minister suggests a dichotomy in the Home Ministry

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram suggested a separate ministry to handle matters not related to internal security.

He was quoted that such issues should be dealt with "...independently, without referring every issue to the Home Minister."

To restructure the security system in India, he also suggested setting up a National Counter Terrorism Centre, something on the lines of the US.

India has been a terrible recipient of terrorism, both internally (Naxalism, the North East) and externally (26/11).

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Germany considering hiking unemployment insurance

With the economic downturn affecting badly, Germany is mulling the possibility of raising unemployment insurance contributions by more than planned in 2011 due to growing strains on public finances.

The financial strain is also due to subsidies given to firms who put workers on shortened hours rather than firing them.

The Federal Labour Office expects the deficit to rise in coming months.

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Germany refuses to return Nefertiti bust to Egypt

German officials have refused to return a 3,300-year old bust of Queen Nefertiti to Egypt - saying it is too fragile to be transported.

Egypt has requested the antiquity to be returned since the 1930's

Germany claims that the bust was acquired legally by the Prussian state nearly a century ago. However, Zahi Hawass, a noted Egyptian archaeologist, claims that the bust was smuggled out by a German archaeologist in 1913.

Queen Nefertiti was the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaton - who initiated a new religion which involved worshipping the sun.

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Sculptures from car parts

Australian artist James Corbett, 46, creates these sculptures using old car parts salvaged from scrap yards.

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Auschwitz sign returned

The Auschwitz sign, bearing the ominous “Arbeit macht frei” slogan (Work Will Set You Free), has been returned after mysteriously disappearing. That’s a good thing. But police still don’t know why a group of five men stole the sign. It appears that they were not neo-Nazis, leaving a host of troubling questions. Were the men operating under orders? Fulfilling some kind of sick purchase order? Why was the sign stolen shortly after Germany announced an $86m endowment fund for the preservation of Auschwitz? Or so near to the 65th anniversary of the camp’s liberation?

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Why did Copenhagen fail?

The Copenhagen summit was attended by 193 countries and attended by 45,000 but the only result was a deal between the US and 4 other nations.

Brazil, South Africa, India and China (BASIC group of countries) were the four contries involved.

The negotiations were aimed at something that was not legally binding but more of a political agreement.

Moreover, even before the summit began, the Danish office put forward a draft political declaration to a select group of "important countries" - thereby annoying every country not on the list, including most of the ones that feel seriously threatened by climate impacts.

Freezing weather was also attributed for lack of conviction about "Global Warming." Political stands taken during the summit were evident.

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