Modern Toilet: a toilet-themed restaurant chain in China

This toilet-themed restaurant chain proves it isn't a flash in the pan. Owner Wang Tzi-wei opened the first Modern Toilet outlet in Taipei 2004; there are now branches all over Taiwan, as well as in Hong Kong and mainland China. The pictures in this gallery are from a branch which has recently opened in Shenzhen

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/7894303/Modern-Toilet-a-toilet-themed-restaurant-chain-in-China.html

‘Is It Just Me, or Do You Seem to Be Getting a Little Weird All of a Sudden?’

Watch this video on dating:

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/07/hipster_dating.html

Open University claims record iTunes downloads

The Open University is claiming a world record for the number of iTunes downloads - as the first to reach 20 million.

Universities around the world are now distributing material through the iTunes U educational area of the online service.

The global figure for downloads from iTunes U has reached 250 million.

"The way people want to learn is changing," says Open University vice-chancellor, Martin Bean.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/education/10446141.stm

Raw Ocean Footage: The Oil Arrives in Mississippi

The video says it all: A tideline of tar balls, off Horn Island Pass south of Pascagoula, Mississippi - blobs stretching as far as the eye can see.

While a good portion of the country was gearing up for the U.S.-Ghana World Cup game, workers and residents in the Gulf were coping with day 68 of the oil spill - the day that the oil slammed into the as-yet-little-affected Mississippi coastline. Here's the raw footage:

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/06/29/ocean-footage-the-oil-arrives-in-mississippi/#ixzz0sGywbVud

England crash out

History just refuses to leave England v Germany alone. England crashed out of the World Cup amid controversy in Bloemfontein.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/news/7854204/England-1-Germany-4-match-report.html

Sitting straight 'bad for backs'

Sitting up straight is not the best position for office workers, a study has suggested.

Scottish and Canadian researchers used a new form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show it places an unnecessary strain on your back.

They told the Radiological Society of North America that the best position in which to sit at your desk is leaning back, at about 135 degrees.

Experts said sitting was known to contribute to lower back pain.

Data from the British Chiropractic Association says 32% of the population spends more than 10 hours a day seated.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6187080.stm

Sunday set to be hottest day of year so far

Sunday is set to be the hottest day so far this year and temperatures may hit 31C, the BBC weather centre predicts.

The previous high for 2010 was on 24 May, when it reached 28.8C at Heathrow Airport.

The prediction comes as millions are set to watch England play Germany in the World Cup and Glastonbury festival-goers bask in the sun.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/10424433.stm

BIG NEWS !!!!! Housework cuts breast cancer risk

Women who exercise by doing the housework can reduce their risk of breast cancer, a study suggests.

The research on more than 200,000 women from nine European countries found doing household chores was far more cancer protective than playing sport.

Dusting, mopping and vacuuming was also better than having a physical job.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6214655.stm

US anger as BP oil spill chief Tony Hayward watches his yacht sail round the Isle of Wight

BP chief executive Tony Hayward has come under fire in the US for taking a break from the Gulf oil clean-up to watch his boat sail in a yacht race off the Isle of Wight.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7840720/US-anger-as-BP-oil-spill-chief-Tony-Hayward-watches-his-yacht-sail-round-the-Isle-of-Wight.html

World Cup 2010: morale at an 'all time low’ as England faces early exit

Fabio Capello will meet with his players on Sunday as he seeks to repair his squad’s broken morale.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/teams/england/7841279/World-Cup-2010-morale-at-an-all-time-low-as-England-faces-early-exit.html

The soul of England lives in the public house

All around our countryside are our great gift to the world: the country pub. They are at the core of my sense of myself as an Englishman, says Simon Heffer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/simonheffer/5906854/The-soul-of-England-lives-in-the-public-house.html

For Pennies, a Disposable Toilet That Could Help Grow Crops

A Swedish entrepreneur is trying to market and sell a biodegradable plastic bag that acts as a single-use toilet for urban slums in the developing world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/science/02bag.html

Independently sustainable

Start thinking Peepoo

http://www.peepoople.com/showpage.php?page=3_0

Italy raises alarm over blue mozzarella

???... The cheese - made in Germany for an Italian company - has been removed from shelves and samples sent for testing. ... ???

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10359001.stm

Vuvuzelas Invade Major League Baseball

The seventh-inning stretch may never be the same.

Baseball tends to be a quiet sport. There are no raucous chants of “defense!” or buzzers going off every time a run is scored. Sure, a home run ignites the home crowd, but for the most part, order beats out obstreperous behavior in the stands.

Come Saturday night, that precedent may change in South Florida. The Palm Beach Post reports that the Florida Marlins will be giving out horns similar to vuvuzelas to the first 15,000 fans in attendance at Saturday night’s game against the intrastate-rival Rays. (5 reasons to ban the vuvuzela right now)

“It’s not really a noise you hear at a baseball game,” Marlins third baseman Jorge Cantu told the Post. It’s obviously going to be loud.”

Some teams have a different view toward the South-African staple. The weird hum was not tolerated this week at Yankee Stadium, as a fan was ejected from Tuesday night’s game against the Phillies. The New York Post reports that 27-year-old Anthony Zachariadis hid the horns in his shorts to enter the game, but eventually had them confiscated by a guard for disturbing the peace in the bleachers.

It may be a World cup fad. But somehow, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” seems more appropriate.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/06/19/vuvuzelas-invade-major-league-baseball/#ixzz0rNeIZgLj

Dirty cars pose serious health hazard in warmer weather, say experts

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7836451/Dirty-cars-pose-serious-health-hazard-in-warmer-weather-say-experts.html

China official newspaper calls for workers' pay rises

One of China's most influential newspapers, the official People's Daily, has called for workers' incomes to be raised.

The paper says wages need to rise to protect stability and transform society.

It warns that what it calls the "made-in-China" model is facing a turning point.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10338040.stm

How Facebook Is Redefining Privacy

Sometime in the next few weeks, Facebook will officially log its 500 millionth active citizen. If the website were granted terra firma, it would be the world's third largest country by population, two-thirds bigger than the U.S. More than 1 in 4 people who browse the Internet not only have a Facebook account but have returned to the site within the past 30 days.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1990582,00.html#ixzz0qAnsmXfv

The Pleasures of Imagination

How do Americans spend their leisure time? The answer might surprise you. The most common voluntary activity is not eating, drinking alcohol, or taking drugs. It is not socializing with friends, participating in sports, or relaxing with the family. While people sometimes describe sex as their most pleasurable act, time-management studies find that the average American adult devotes just four minutes per day to sex.

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Pleasures-of-Imagination/65678/

American Colleges Look to Private Sector for Global Recruiting

The University of South Florida wants to become a globally known university. But with just 1,800 foreign students out of about 47,000, the university's Tampa campus is far from international.

So officials there decided to turn to Into University Partnerships, a British company, to recruit and educate foreign students in a college-preparatory program that combines intensive English instruction and academic course work.

http://chronicle.com/article/American-Colleges-Look-to/65717/?sid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en

The Humanities Go Google

Matthew L. Jockers may be the first English professor to assign 1,200 novels in one class.

Lucky for the students, they don't have to read them.

As grunts in Stanford University's new Literature Lab, these students investigate the evolution of literary style by teaming up like biologists and using computer programs to "read" an entire library.

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Humanities-Go-Google/65713/?sid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en

Turning all cars electric in Britain needs boost in power supply

Switching all cars in the country to electric would drain the National Grid of nearly a fifth of its capacity unless the equivalent of another six new nuclear power stations are built, claims a report.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7764110/Turning-all-cars-electric-in-Britain-needs-boost-in-power-supply.html

How big is your carbon footprint?

A few years ago, I was going round a supermarket with a journalist who was researching an article on the carbon cost of food. We trailed up and down the aisles with the Dictaphone running, and she plied me with questions: "What about these bananas? How about the cheese? That's organic, so it must be better, right? Is the lettuce harmless? Should we have come here by bus?"

Despite working as an environmental consultant, I was pitifully unable to answer most of her questions. And it struck me that this was part of a wider problem. Almost everything we do has a carbon footprint of some kind, but how do we know what it is? Should we avoid leaving our television sets on standby, or boycott plastic bags, or stop flying, or all of the above? It's no good starting with a list of 500 different rules, because most of us wouldn't be able to keep them for more than a day – especially when we discover that many well-intentioned actions, such as driving to the bottle bank may do more harm than good.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/7760327/How-big-is-your-carbon-footprint.html

Apple iPad review: the ultimate browsing machine

The Apple iPad is beautiful, compelling and doesn't do any of the annoying things computers do.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7765242/Apple-iPad-review-the-ultimate-browsing-machine.html

Want Smart Kids? Here's What to Do

Buy a lot of books.

That seems kind of obvious, right? But what's surprising, according to a new study published in the journal Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, is just how strong the correlation is between a child's academic achievement and the number of books his or her parents own. It's even more important than whether the parents went to college or hold white-collar jobs.

Books matter. A lot.

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Want-Smart-Kids-Heres-What/24200/

British Airways strike on as talks collapse

A five day walkout by thousands of BA cabin crew is now almost certain to go ahead tomorrow leading to widespread disruption for travellers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/7756349/British-Airways-strike-on-as-talks-collapse.html

Men are bigger liars than women, says poll

Men are more likely to tell lies than women and feel less guilty about it, says a survey.

In a poll of 3,000 people, researchers found that the average British man tells three lies every day, that's equivalent to 1,092 a year

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8689010.stm

Olympic mascots Wenlock and Mandeville branded 'patronising rubbish'

The organisers of London 2012 were plunged into a fresh row after the new Olympic mascots were branded “patronising rubbish” by design experts.

The two metallic characters, named Wenlock and Mandeville, were unveiled on Wednesday night after a rigorous 18-month design process involving 40 focus groups.

Apparently hewn from the “last drops of steel” left over from constructing the final support girder of the Olympic Stadium, the one-eyed creatures are intended to help young people relate to the Games.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/7742259/Olympic-mascots-Wenlock-and-Mandeville-branded-patronising-rubbish.html

London 2012 Olympic mascots: best spoofs

Since Wenlock and Mandeville were unveiled as London 2012 mascots, users of anarchic message board b3ta.com have been designing spoofs. Here are some of the best:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/london2012/7745333/London-2012-Olympic-mascots-best-spoofs.html

Gulf of Mexico oil spill: BP faces growing calls for boycott of its US products

BP's problems mounted on Wednesday as the number of followers of a Facebook group called "Boycott BP" grew to almost 34,000.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7742471/Gulf-of-Mexico-oil-spill-BP-faces-growing-calls-for-boycott-of-its-US-products.html

Arizona threatens to cut off LA electricity supply

Arizona could cut off electricity supplies to Los Angeles in protest at an economic boycott over the state's controversial immigration law.

Los Angeles receives about 25 per cent of its power from Arizona, meaning a quarter of America's second largest city could be plunged into darkness.

Politicians in the city voted last week to impose a boycott on Arizona which will affect about $8 million (£5.3 million) worth of contracts with the state. City officials will also stop travelling to Arizona.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7742456/Arizona-threatens-to-cut-off-LA-electricity-supply.html

Why China holds 'rare' cards in the race to go green

From electric cars to wind turbines, environmentally-friendly technology around the world needs rare earth metals. But China - where over 90% of these minerals are mined - is saying it now wants to keep more for its own industry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8689547.stm

Google chief Eric Schmidt downplays wi-fi privacy row

Google has downplayed privacy fears after it was revealed that its Street View cars had been harvesting data from private wi-fi networks.

The search giant's boss said that he hoped no one would be prosecuted.

Eric Schmidt said that there was "no, harm, no foul", after the firm admitted that it had been collecting snippets of web activity from people's wi-fi.

A US group has called for a Federal "probe", whilst European countries are considering taking action.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10122339.stm

Facebook mulls U-turn on privacy

Facebook looks likely to cave into pressure from users and simplify its privacy settings in the near future.

It follows criticisms of its privacy policy from US senators, the European Union and civil liberty groups.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10125260.stm

The 11 Most Endangered Historic Places

See pictures on

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2EddF8/www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1989913,00.html

Reunited with the Vietnamese 'girl in the picture'

Kim Phuc, the Vietnamese girl in one of the unforgettable images of the Vietnam War , has been reunited by the BBC with Christopher Wain, the ITN correspondent who helped save her life 38 years ago.

When Chris last saw Kim, she was lying on a hospital bed with first-degree burns to more than half of her body, after a South Vietnamese napalm bomb attack.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8678478.stm

Dio's two-finger gesture - what does it mean?

American rock singer Ronnie James Dio, who died on Sunday, popularised a hand gesture commonly used by heavy metal fans. But what does it mean?

It's a gesture commonly seen at rock concerts.

The index finger and the little finger are upright and the thumb is clasped against the two middle fingers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8687002.stm

Using laptops or iPads just before bed 'increases risk of insomnia'

Computer users should turn their laptop or Apple iPad off at least two hours before going to bed if they want a good night’s sleep, scientists say.

American researchers have discovered that human brains and sleep patterns are confused by devices that emit bright lights.

Consumer electronics, such as laptops, deceive our minds that it is still daytime, preventing sleep and increasing the risk of insomnia.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/7731807/Using-laptops-or-iPads-just-before-bed-increases-risk-of-insomnia.html

Lying children will grow up to be successful citizens

The earlier a child starts telling convincing lies the more likely they are to be a success in later life, new research suggests.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/7730522/Lying-children-will-grow-up-to-be-successful-citizens.html

Germany captain Michael Ballack ruled out of World Cup

Germany captain Michael Ballack has been ruled out of this summer's World Cup because of the ankle injury he sustained in Saturday's FA Cup final.

The 33-year-old Chelsea midfielder has made 98 appearances for his country and appeared in the last two World Cups.

Ballack flew to Germany on Saturday for a scan, which revealed ligament damage to his right ankle.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8684774.stm

YouTube hits 2 bn daily downloads

YouTube said it now gets over two billion hits daily - nearly double the number of people who tune into the US's three prime time TV stations combined.

The news comes as the site celebrates the day five years ago when the first beta version of YouTube was launched.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8676380.stm

Stress link to financial squeeze

Work pressures during the recession have caused a big rise in mental health problems, the charity says.

A survey for Mind suggests that one in 11 British workers has been to the GP for stress and anxiety from the financial squeeze.

And 7% said they were prescribed medicines to help them cope.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8683184.stm

Why New Zealand is a lifestyle superpower

Nick Bryant reflects on New Zealand's mix of controlled fury, subtle charm and social harmony, and asks why the rest of the world can't be more like it.

What can you tell about a country from the people you encounter at its point of entry?

Alas, in this age of globalised uniformity, the truth is, probably not that much.

Most of the immigration and customs officials that you come across in those sunlight-starved arrivals halls aren't very sunny themselves, as they mechanically stamp your passport or grudgingly wave you through.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8683377.stm

Why Is It So Hard to Delete Your Facebook Account?

Facebook’s had a bad week over concerns about how it treats user data. Ready to delete your account? It’s harder than you may think.

Deactivating and deleting your Facebook account are two very different things. What Facebook makes difficult to find out is deactivation is temporary, deletion is permanent. And unlike deactivation, you need Facebook’s help to permanently delete the information.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/05/14/why-is-it-so-hard-to-delete-your-facebook-account/#ixzz0nvdBMmUs

Janet's Royalty Rooms: a house in Woonona, Australia, filled with Royal family memorabilia

An Australian couple who have devoted their lives to amassing British Royal Family memorabilia believe they have the largest collection in the world - even more than the Queen herself. Janet and Philip Williams have more than 12,000 items, and have turned their large four-bedroom family house into a museum. The collection, which started with a single mug in 1954, now attracts thousands of tourists from around the world

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/7719625/Janets-Royalty-Rooms-a-house-in-Woonona-Australia-filled-with-Royal-family-memorabilia.html

Dog on the menu for Chinese astronauts

China's first man in space has said that Chinese astronauts eat dog meat to keep their strength up as they orbit around the earth.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7718570/Dog-on-the-menu-for-Chinese-astronauts.html

How English erased its roots to become the global tongue of the 21st century

'Throw away your dictionaries!' is the battle cry as a simplified global hybrid of English conquers cultures and continents. In this extract from his new book, Globish, Robert McCrum tells the story of a linguistic phenomenon – and its links to big money

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/09/globish-english-language-robert-mccrum

Technology makes women happy, says report

Access to IT gives people a greater sense of control, study finds

Having access to computers, the internet and communication devices can increase people's sense of satisfaction and wellbeing, according to research carried out on behalf of BCS, the Chartered Institute of IT.

A survey of 35,000 people around the world found that access to information technology had an "enabling and empowering role", which lead to greater "life satisfaction".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/7714754/Technology-makes-women-happy-says-report.html

President Obama says devices like Apple's iPad are rotting our brains.

He's right.

Confessions of a Tech Apostate
President Obama has been taking some heat in techie circles over comments he made at a commencement address over the weekend about iPods and iPads and other digital distractions. Because of these things, he said, "information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation." To his critics, it made him sound, well, like a Luddite, not the cool, tech-friendly, BlackBerry-carrying president they thought he was.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/237809

???? Want to be in TIME? ????

Hey everybody, TIME Magazine is writing a story about Facebook, and we need your help. Right now we are looking for profile pictures... which means you (yes, you) could be in TIME Magazine! Join the “I Want To Be in TIME” group to give TIME permission to use your profile picture in our upcoming story.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=120432861310693&v=wall

Baby reindeer is England's first for thousands of years

The baby reindeer – nicknamed Blue – is thought to be the first born in the country since the last ice age.

Blue's parents were imported from Scandinavia to the Trevarno Estate near Helston, Cornwall.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7710059/Baby-reindeer-is-Englands-first-for-thousands-of-years.html

10 reasons why I won't be buying an iPad

Gadget fans in the UK will soon be able to get their hands on the Apple iPad. It goes on sale on May 28, with the most basic, entry-level model costing £429. But I won't be camping out overnight to buy one; here are eight reasons why:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7710838/10-reasons-why-I-wont-be-buying-an-iPad.html

Meeting Millennium Development Goals

As part of a series assessing whether Bangladesh is on track to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, the BBC's Alastair Lawson visits a safety pin factory in the capital, Dhaka, which employs children.

The electricity supply in the sweatshop in the crowded part of old Dhaka where Asma, 10, makes safety pins for a living is so dangerous that the foreman can only turn on the lights using a broomstick.

"If I use my hands I may get an electric shock," he explains.

Asma is one of about 10 workers in the dingy factory - in the heart of the crowded and maze-like alleyways of this part of the city - who are under 14.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8570692.stm

France opens new Pompidou centre in Metz

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has opened a big new outpost of the Pompidou arts centre in Metz, north-eastern France.

It is the first time the world-famous centre has ventured beyond Paris.

It was designed by Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines, and it shows Ban's Japanese roots.

It bears no physical resemblance to its big brother in Paris, although it will have access to its huge store of art works.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8674168.stm

Eating nuts can lower cholesterol, say experts

Eating nuts may help lower cholesterol levels, US research suggests.

The review of 25 studies, involving nearly 600 people, showed eating on average 67g of nuts - a small bag - a day reduced cholesterol levels by 7.4%.

The US Loma Linda University team believes nuts may help prevent the absorption of cholesterol.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8673208.stm

Ash delays more European flights

Ash from an Icelandic volcano is drifting across areas of France, Spain, northern Italy and Germany bringing more disruption to European air travel.

Several airports were closed, including Munich in southern Germany.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8670645.stm

‘On Whitman’: The Real American

If I were to count up the things I love best about America, this tableau would be high on the list: Walt Whitman, on a street in Washington, exchanging a respectful bow with Abraham Lincoln as the president's carriage rolled by. That the United States managed to produce either of these gentlemen, the self-taught frontier president and the great poet of democracy, reflects well on our way of life. That a lucky pedestrian could watch the two of them pass close enough to acknowledge one another—such original minds, such extraordinary beards—nearly makes the notion of a special dispensation for America ring true.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/237521

Slick Operator

How British oil giant BP used all the political muscle money can buy to fend off regulators and influence investigations into corporate neglect

Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP, has a couple of major problems on his hands these days. One lies down near the earth's crust; the other exists deep in the muck of Washington politics. It may take many months to cap the 5,000-foot-deep oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico. In the meantime, Hayward has to cap the damage to BP's reputation, and reduce its liability for what could be the costliest cleanup in corporate history. He was already hard at work last week, making the rounds of key senators from coastal states affected by the spill. Described as exhausted but wearing a "wry smile," Hayward impressed several lawmakers with his earnestness about stopping the leak. He also seemed intent on deflecting questions about responsibility. "He was candid on most of his answers," says Florida Sen. Bill Nelson. But when Hayward was pressed on how much BP will compensate businesses and fishermen harmed by the spill, Nelson says, "he dodged" and became "very lawyerly."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/237651

Feinkost vom Discounter – nur auf dem Etikett edel

Auch Discounter versuchen sich mittlerweile als Feinkosthändler – Garnelen, Carpaccio und T-Bone-Steaks gibt es auch bei Lidl & Co. Die Qualität der angeblichen Spitzenprodukte ist allerdings zweifelhaft. Begriffe wie "Edel", "Gourmet" und "Delikatesse" sind nicht geschützt und der Inhalt dementsprechend.
Seit Fernsehköche täglich demonstrieren, was man alles Gutes essen kann, bieten auch Discounter Feinkostprodukte an. Aber nicht überall ist Edles drin, wo Edles draufsteht: So sind die Marmeladen aus der Produktreihe "Gourmet" von Aldi das Gegenteil von handgemacht. Die Liste der Lebensmittel, die nicht halten, was sie versprechen, lässt sich fast beliebig verlängern...

http://www.welt.de/lifestyle/article7498602/Feinkost-vom-Discounter-nur-auf-dem-Etikett-edel.html

Centre Pompidou: Metz gears up for its moment

With an official send-off by President Sarkozy on May 11 and five days of celebrations from May 12, the opening of the Centre Pompidou-Metz will put the sleepy eastern French town of Metz (pronounced "mess", I am informed by locals) on the tourist map.
The gleaming white UFO has spurred the whole city into rejuvenation, with a rash of new bars and restaurants, and a frantic programme of restoring façades and landscaping town squares. It's a perfect excuse to discover Metz's golden stone historic centre, the terraced gardens, marina and promenade along the River Moselle, and the intriguing German-era Imperial Quarter – an eclectic mixture of pepperpot towers, Art Nouveau balconies and Teutonic mock chateaux, laid out around the vast neo-Romanesque train station. Here's what to expect.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/7690568/Centre-Pompidou-Metz-gears-up-for-its-moment.html

Happy Mother's Day

Lowering the Bar: When bad mothers give us hope.

When reporters told Doris Lessing she had won a Nobel Prize in Literature as she was hauling groceries out of a cab in 2007, she said: "I've won all the prizes in Europe, every bloody one, so I am delighted. It's a royal flush." Few would dispute that she is a brilliant writer. Her work is lucid, inspiring, and provocative. But it would be hard to argue that she was a brilliant mother. When she fled to London to pursue her writing career and communist ideals, she left two toddlers with their father in South Africa (another, from her second marriage, went with her). She later said that at the time she thought she had no choice: "For a long time I felt I had done a very brave thing. There is nothing more boring for an intelligent woman than to spend endless amounts of time with small children. I felt I wasn't the best person to bring them up. I would have ended up an alcoholic or a frustrated intellectual like my mother."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/237526

Mohamed al Fayed sells Harrods

Harrods, the famous London department store, has been sold by Mohamed al Fayed, it has emerged.The store, which has been owned by the Egyptian tycoon since 1985, is thought to have changed hands in a secret deal with Gulf-based investment group Qatar Holding, which is owned by the Qatari royal family.

Sources speaking to Sky News said the department store had sold for £1.5 billion.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7695606/Mohamed-al-Fayed-sells-Harrods.html

Despite America's iPhone Obsession, We're Behind the World's Mobile Calling Curve

Despite our noisy fascination with iPhones and iPads, it turns out the United States is one of the least advanced places in the world when it comes to the way we use mobile devices. That is the conclusion of a new study by Sybase 365, which provides services for mobile messaging and mobile commerce.

In fact, when it comes to using mobile devices for things like text messaging and instant messaging, the survey indicates we’re getting blown away. Only 31.5 percent of people in the United States use a mobile device for text messaging and sending IMs—while in China 90 percent of people surveyed use mobile devices for those things.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/techtonicshifts/archive/2010/05/07/despite-americans-iphone-obsession-we-re-behind-the-world-s-mobile-calling-curve.aspx

Adobe: Apple wants to turn the web into a walled garden

Kevin Lynch, Adobe’s chief technology officer, has accused Apple of creating a “walled garden” on the web and preventing competition, in the latest round of the battle between the two technology giants.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7684631/Adobe-Apple-wants-to-turn-the-web-into-a-walled-garden.html

Top Ten Reasons You Should Quit Facebook

After some reflection, I've decided to delete my account on Facebook. I'd like to encourage you to do the same. This is part altruism and part selfish. The altruism part is that I think Facebook, as a company, is unethical. The selfish part is that I'd like my own social network to migrate away from Facebook so that I'm not missing anything. In any event, here's my "Top Ten" reasons for why you should join me and many others and delete your account.

http://www.rocket.ly/home/2010/4/26/top-ten-reasons-you-should-quit-facebook.html

Obama biggest recipient of BP cash

While the BP oil geyser pumps millions of gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama and members of Congress may have to answer for the millions in campaign contributions they’ve taken from the oil and gas giant over the years.

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html#ixzz0n4sDptN9

Elephant art displayed in London

A herd of ''baby elephants'' hand-painted by artists and designers including Tommy Hilfiger and Matthew Williamson set London's Trafalgar Square ablaze with colour.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/7677289/Elephant-art-displayed-in-London.html

Frida, eine Frau für Hollywood

Die Retrospektive aus hundertvierzig Werken für die mexikanische Künstlerin Frida Kahlo im Martin-Gropius-Bau zeigt erstmals in Deutschland den dramatischen Reigen ihres Lebens – als sei er ein Hollywoodfilm, zusammengesetzt aus Gemälden und Zeichnungen, Fotografien und Filmaufnahmen. Tatsächlich reihen sich besonders die Kinogänger und Fans der Schauspielerin Salma Hayek, die Kahlo 2002 im Kino verkörperte, in diesen Tagen bereitwillig in die Schlange vor dem Museum ein – und hoffen darauf, Reliquien ihrer Sehnsuchtsfigur zu sehen. Zumindest ihre Erwartungen werden bedient: Frida Kahlos mit Hammer und Sichel bemaltes Gipskorsett von 1950 wird in einer Vitrine gezeigt, wie auch eine ihrer dicken Halsketten, fetischhaft angeleuchtet.

http://www.faz.net/s/RubEBED639C476B407798B1CE808F1F6632/Doc~E3A6AB233DB334533BA54C58D13998600~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

'Long-term harm' of too much TV for toddlers

The more TV a toddler watches, the higher the likelihood they will do badly at school and have poor health at the age of 10, researchers warn.

The study of 1,300 children by Michigan and Montreal universities found negative effects on older children rose with every hour of toddler TV.

Performance at school was worse, while consumption of junk foods was higher.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8654963.stm

Turner Prize shortlist announced

Dexter Dalwood, Angela de la Cruz, Susan Philipsz and The Otolith Group are on the 2010 Turner Prize shortlist.

Dalwood has been included for paintings which draw on art history while De la Cruz is up for paintings and sculptures "that evoke memory and desire".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10095760.stm

Die "nutzerbetriebene Rasterfahndung"

Datenschützer sprechen von "nutzerbetriebener Rasterfahndung" - die Internet-Gemeinde interessiert das kaum. Obwohl der Datenschutz von Experten als mangelhaft bewertet wird, ist mittlerweile jeder zehnte Deutsche bei Facebook registriert. Und das Unternehmen will mit dem "Like"-Button nun das Internet umwälzen.

http://www.tagesschau.de/inland/facebook148.html

Apple Sells 1 Million iPads, Topping iPhone

Apple Inc. said Monday that is has sold 1 million of its new iPad tablet computers in the month after its launch, meaning it's been selling more than twice as fast as the iPhone did when it was new.

Apple said it reached the milestone on Friday, when the new 3G model of the iPad was delivered to its first buyers. That model can access AT&T's cellular broadband network. The first models had only Wi-Fi access.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1986543,00.html#ixzz0mtaISg6J

Online Dating Enters the iPad Age

The iPod revolutionized the way we consume music. The iPhone made us crazy for apps. And now the iPad is getting ready to rock our sex lives — or at least to help improve our search for someone to flirt with. Skout.com in late May will become the first dating site to launch an iPad application. The free app will be similar to the version that's already available to phone users: members can enter search criteria, such as age range, gender and physical preferences, and a HotMap will show in real-time the locations of active Skout users who fit those criteria. The idea is to help members meet up and see if magic happens.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1985542,00.html#ixzz0mtZovyQ4

What I Learned From YouTube

By Brian Rosenberg

I am a middle-aged, balding college president. I am not on Facebook. I do not blog. I have never "tweeted" and only learned to send text messages so that I might be able to communicate when at a distance from my children. The largest crowd I have ever addressed has been about 4,000 people at a Macalester College commencement ceremony. And the number of folks who actually read my regular column in our alumni magazine is, I suspect, relatively small, despite the considerable care I devote to its composition.

http://chronicle.com/article/What-I-Learned-From-YouTube/65141/

The Gospel of Well-Educated Guessing

How much money is in a Brinks truck?

A lot, certainly, assuming it's full. But is it a million? A hundred million? Somewhere in between? Most of us, when presented with such a question, throw up our hands.

Sanjoy Mahajan sharpens his pencil.

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Gospel-of-Well-Educated/65351/?sid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en

Next Big Thing in English: Knowing They Know That You Know

To illustrate what a growing number of literary scholars consider the most exciting area of new research, Lisa Zunshine, a professor of English at the University of Kentucky, refers to an episode from the TV series “Friends.”

Read the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/books/01lit.html

300,000 iPads 3G Sold on Launch Weekend [ESTIMATE]

So, now that the iPad 3G is finally available, what everyone wants to know is: how well is this thing selling?

According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, it’s selling great, pretty much the same as the 3G-less iPad, with about 300,000 sold on launch weekend.

Munster surveyed 50 Apple stores to get this number, and judging by what he found, the iPad 3G is essentially sold out (only one store out of 50 didn’t sell all the iPads it had in stock by Sunday). Based on these numbers, Munster puts the overall number of iPads sold at over 1 million, predicting overall sales in 2010 to be 4.3 million iPads.

If Apple indeed sold 1 million iPads, will probably hear it from Apple very soon, as the company likes to brag with big numbers. On the other hand, Munster was wrong before, so we should probably take his estimates with a grain of salt.

http://mashable.com/2010/05/03/ipad-3g-launch/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mashable%2Fapple+(Mashable+%C2%BB+Apple+News)

Thousands join Beltane Fire Festival spring rituals

Thousands of people turned out to watch the pagan-inspired spring rituals at the annual Beltane Fire Festival.

The participatory arts and drama event symbolises the beginning of summer and celebrates an ancient Celtic festival.

Beltane 2010, which was held on Calton Hill in Edinburgh on Friday night, featured dancing, a costumed parade, drumming and fire.

During the event the Green Man is killed as god of winter and reborn as spring to consort with the May Queen.

All the fires are put out and re-lit using a fire made from a piece of wood from last year's festival.

This year dancers were joined by the Mugen Taiko Dojo drummers, who fuse Celtic traditions with the ancient Japanese spiritual practice, traditionally used to frighten away evil spirits.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8655796.stm

Lady Gaga makes Time's 'most influential' list

Lady Gaga and Ricky Gervais are among the celebrities who "most affect our world", according to a list published by Time magazine.

The eccentric pop star was called "an inspiration to other artists" in an appraisal written by singer Cyndi Lauper in the US publication.

Gervais made the list after hosting the Golden Globe awards and the success of his animated comedy show on US TV.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8653361.stm

China opens World Expo 2010 in Shanghai

The 2010 World Expo has opened in the city of Shanghai in what China hopes will be further proof of its rising global influence.

Almost 250 countries and international organisations are showcasing their culture in an event themed around sustainable development.

Many are doing so in pavilions with radical architecture.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8653426.stm

Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' Has Company: Some of the Best Military Music Videos

If you've been anywhere near a computer for over the past week, you've probably caught a glimpse of the "Telephone" video created by military members stationed in Afghanistan. What first looks like goofing off by two bored soldiers is later revealed to be a big production, complete with costumes, elaborate choreography, and not-bad editing.

Watch the video on:
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2010/04/30/lady-gaga-telephone-has-company-the-best-military-music-videos.aspx

or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haHXgFU7qNI&feature=youtu.be

Just ask Siri - app

No more endless clicking on links and pages to get things done on the Internet. Delegate the work to Siri and relax while Siri takes care of it for you.

Need a table for 2 at your favorite restaurant next Thursday?
Just ask Siri.

Need a taxi right now?
Just ask Siri and with a single request the cab's on its way.

Type or speak... it’s up to you. Siri acts on your behalf utilizing the best services on the web. Simply put: it’s the new way to get things done.

Watch Siri in action:

http://siri.com/about/

US teenagers flock to live poetry events

Live performance poetry appears to be becoming more popular in America, especially among teenagers.

The BBC's Jane O'Brien went to Poetry Out Loud in Washington, a national competition aimed at reviving the oral art form, to find out what is capturing the participants' imagination.

Watch the video:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8650614.stm

A Taste of the World's Weirdest Delicacies

Live octopus for you, sir? And perhaps a deep fried spider for the lady? And how about a little frog juice to go with that? That's right, put your cheeseburger down and sample the world's most exotic and interesting dishes by taking SPIEGEL ONLINE's Exotic Edibles Quiz. It's food for the brain.

Do the quiz:

http://www1.spiegel.de/active/quiztool/fcgi/quiztool.fcgi?id=49989

Avatar becomes fastest selling Blu-ray on record

Avatar is maintaining its popularity in the move from box office to home video, with sales of 6.7 million DVDs and Blu-ray disks in the first four days.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/7633910/Avatar-becomes-fastest-selling-Blu-ray-on-record.html

Stephen Hawking warns over making contact with aliens

Aliens almost certainly exist but humans should avoid making contact, Professor Stephen Hawking has warned.

In a series for the Discovery Channel the renowned astrophysicist said it was "perfectly rational" to assume intelligent life exists elsewhere.

But he warned that aliens might simply raid Earth for resources, then move on.

"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said.

Read the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8642558.stm

Tea 'healthier' drink than water

Drinking three or more cups of tea a day is as good for you as drinking plenty of water and may even have extra health benefits, say researchers.

The work in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition dispels the common belief that tea dehydrates.

Tea not only rehydrates as well as water does, but it can also protect against heart disease and some cancers, UK nutritionists found.

Experts believe flavonoids are the key ingredient in tea that promote health.

Read the rest of the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5281046.stm

William Shakespeare: A king of infinite space

On the anniversary of Shakespeare's birth and death, Anthony Seldon asks why we are allowing the world's foremost playwright and England's cultural figurehead to disappear from the classroom.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/7622436/William-Shakespeare-A-king-of-infinite-space.html

Language computers lack 'knowledge of world'

Machines are learning to understand spoken language from models of the world developed by researchers.

Danny Bobrow, a research fellow at Palo Alto Research Centre (Parc), explained how natural language processing has grown up since the 1970s.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/8610210.stm

Money Makeovers

Portraits on U.S. Currency Keep Getting Younger

The iconic images of presidents–the ones printed on our money–are timeless. Or are they? Rather than staying the same, the members of America’s honorable legion look like a fine wine: better with age. They appear cleaner, sharper, and, well, nipped and tucked.

http://photo.newsweek.com/2010/4/money-makeovers-for-founding-fathers.html

Our True, Tweeting Selves

Why historians salivate over Twitter.

The hue and cry about the Library of Congress acquiring the Twitter archive, dating back to its origins in 2006, has shown that we continue to stubbornly believe two myths about social networking. First, that it is private. Second, that it is trivial. Social-networking sites seem to have a curiously alcoholic effect on users.

Read the article:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/236791

Britain's occupations: the winners and losers over the past decade

Typists, bookbinders and sewing machinists are among the losers as the economy modernises - and as the state grows.

The manufacturing sector has been particularly hit by job losses. Electrical product assemblers have suffered biggest decline - a cut of 69pc since 2001. Quality assurance technicians, a vital part of ensuring the reliability of manufactured goods, have fallen by 40pc, while metal machine setters are down 57pc.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/7617817/Britains-occupations-the-winners-and-losers-over-the-past-decade.html

Hospital Outfits Staff with 100 iPads

A hospital district in Visalia, California, has ordered 100 iPads to provide staff with access to rudimentary applications like e-mail, as well as X-ray images, EKG results and patient monitoring programs around its five sites.

Nick Volosin, the hospital’s director of technical services, thinks the iPad is a superior alternative to both laptops and the specialized touchscreen tablets often used by hospitals — it’s portable, has a 10-hour battery life and costs merely $500 (other devices can fetch close to $3,000).

http://mashable.com/2010/04/21/hospital-purchases-100-ipads/

Girls Day

Girls'Day - Future Prospects for Girls

On the 22nd of April 2010 technical enterprises, enterprises with technical departments and technical training facilities, universities and research centres are invited to organise an open day for girls - the Girls'Day.

Through a great variety of events young women are able to gain an insight into working life and get in touch with Human Resources Managers and personnel responsible for traineeships. For this purpose, the participating institutions open their laboratories, workshops and offices to give concrete examples that show girls how interesting and exciting this work can be. Employees are often personally available for discussions.

The Girls'Day opens up extensive future prospects to a generation of qualified young women. With the objective of establishing contacts and drawing attention of industries and the public to girls' strengths.

http://www.girls-day.de/English_Information

Don't Ever Call Me Ma'am: The Real Cougar Woman Handbook

Search inside the book

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Ever-Call-Me-Maam/dp/1599321610#reader_1599321610

Welcome To The Real Cougar Woman

http://www.therealcougarwoman.com/

Were the 'mad' heroines of literature really sane?

The mad heroines of classic Victorian fiction have long been objects of fascination.

The violent and feral Bertha Rochester in Jane Eyre, the mysterious Woman in White whose escape from an asylum begins Wilkie Collins's gripping thriller, and the terminally delusional Emma in Madame Bovary.

But were they really mad? Would we today recognise them as mentally ill or were our heroines merely misunderstood, not to mention a tad inconvenient?

For Radio 4 documentary, Madwomen in the Attic, medical historians, psychiatrists and literary specialists gave their diagnoses of our troubled heroines.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8622367.stm

Satire ist bei Apple tabu

Apple schließt in seinen Nutzungsbedingungen jede Form von Satire aus. Das hat der amerikanische Zeichner Mark Fiore gerade zu spüren bekommen - der Internet-Gigant verweigert ihm ein App.

Von Andreas Platthaus

DruckenVersendenSpeichernVorherige Seite

20. April 2010

Der Pulitzerpreis wird derzeit jährlich in einundzwanzig Kategorien vergeben, eine davon zeichnet Zeitungskarikaturen aus. Da die außerhalb ihrer Herkunftsländer meist schwer zu verstehen sind, erfährt man normalerweise in Deutschland nichts über diese Kategorie. In diesem Jahr war das anders: Mit Mark Fiore gewann zum ersten Mal ein Zeichner für seine Online-Karikaturen, genauer gesagt für satirische Flash-Animationen, also kurze Trickfilmchen, die Fiore auf SFGate, der Website der Tageszeitung „San Francisco Chronicle“, ver öffentlicht hat. Sie sind großartig, weil sie mit einfachsten ästhetischen Mitteln arbeiten und trotzdem in der schönsten Tradition bissig-bösartiger Karikatur stehen.

http://www.faz.net/s/Rub5A6DAB001EA2420BAC082C25414D2760/Doc~E3C8A2B33DB4248AC9C4BDC62F5D303DA~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

Do We Need the iPad? A TIME Review

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a very rich, very clever man. He got up on a big stage and held up a new kind of computer. It was flat, and it didn't have a keyboard. This very rich, very clever man then tried to convince a bunch of reporters that in five years this flat, keyboardless computer would be the most popular kind of computer in the country. Some of them even believed him.

The year was 2000. The man's name was Bill Gates.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1976932,00.html#ixzz0lewOrp1W

The Cost of Europe's Volcanic Ash Travel Crisis

After five days of empty airports and silent skies, European Union transport ministers held an emergency meeting (via video conference) on Monday, announcing that they would ease travel restrictions starting the morning of April 20. The initial cloud of volcanic ash that had brought Europe's airlines to a standstill seems finally to be dissipating — and now its financial impact is becoming clearer. TUI Travel, Europe's biggest tour operator, said in a statement that fallout from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano has so far cost the firm $30 million. With around 100,000 of its customers still marooned overseas, the company added, that bill is rising by $9 million a day. European airports, many deserted since dust spewed out by the volcano turned the region into a no-fly zone last week, are down $183 million as a result of the eruption, industry group ACI Europe said Sunday. The world's airlines, meanwhile, are together estimated to have lost more than that each day.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1983169,00.html#ixzz0lew7irnJ

Why Do Women Still Earn Less Than Men?

Last year's tax returns may already be signed, sealed and delivered, but April 20 is the day the average American woman will finally finish earning her 2009 salary — at least, the one she would have pulled down if she were a man. That's because U.S. women still earned only 77 cents on the male dollar in 2008, according to the latest Census stats. (That number drops to 68% for African-American women and 58% for Latinas.) To highlight the need for change, since 1996 the National Committee on Pay Equity, an advocacy-group umbrella organization, has marked April 20 as Equal Pay Day. There are some signs of progress: the first bill President Obama signed into law as President targeted the U.S. pay gap, and the Senate is currently considering another meant to address underlying discrimination. But the question remains: Why has it taken so long? Nearly half a century after it became illegal to pay women less on the basis of their sex, why do American women still earn less than men?

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html#ixzz0levRblV7

The Trustworthiness of Beards

The way you gain people's trust is to earn it over time by repeatedly proving that you deserve it. That, or grow a beard.

A recent study in the Journal of Marketing Communications found that men with beards were deemed more credible than those who were clean-shaven. The study showed participants pictures of men endorsing certain products. In some photos, the men were clean-shaven. In others, the same men had beards. Participants thought the men with beards had greater expertise and were significantly more trustworthy when they were endorsing products like cell phones and toothpaste.

But, oddly, men with beards were slightly less effective than smooth-cheeked fellows in underwear advertisements. Apparently we don't want Zach Galifianakis selling us boxers.

The researchers say the implications of their findings could extend far beyond advertisements. For instance, male politicians might want to consider not shaving because the "presence of a beard on the face of candidates could boost their charisma, reliability, and above all their expertise as perceived by voters, with positive effects on voting intention."

Former presidential candidates Al Gore and Bill Richardson didn't put down the razor until they were already out of the running. Who knows how things might have turned out if they had had the power of facial hair working for them ...

Important note: The study looked only at neat, medium-length beards. You can't just go all ZZ Top and expect people to trust you.

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/The-Trustworthiness-of-Beards/22581/#top

Non-flying circus: John Cleese's £3,300 taxi fare

Volcanic ash cloud forces comedian to travel 1,000 miles by cab

He's more famous for a sketch about a Norwegian blue parrot than a Norwegian taxi, but John Cleese may have to change his routine. The actor and comedian reportedly took a cab from Oslo to Brussels on Friday costing 30,000 kroner (£3,300) after he was stranded, along with thousands of others, in the Norwegian capital by the volcanic ash plume from Iceland.

Cleese was in Norway to appear on the Scandinavian talkshow Skavlan when the cloud descended, closing airspace around the city. "We checked every option, but there were no boat and no train tickets available," he told Norwegian TV2 in a telephone interview posted on the network's website. "That's when my fabulous assistant determined that the easiest thing would be to take a taxi."

The taxi carried two extra drivers for the 930-mile journey. Cleese then planned to take the Eurostar to the UK. "It will be interesting. I'm not in a hurry," Cleese said, adding that from Brussels he planned to take the Eurostar train to London, where he hoped to arrive by 3pm today.

"I will think about a joke you've probably already heard: how do you get God to laugh? Tell him your plans," Cleese said.

Tweet dreams… our top 50 Twitter feeds for the arts

As Twitter announces its 150 millionth user and the RSC stages a tweeting version of Romeo and Juliet, writer-comedian AL Kennedy introduces our guide to how this networking phenomenon has gripped the world of culture.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/apr/18/twitter-and-the-arts

Uncle Sam Wants Your Tweets

How does a tweet die? Quickly and quietly. As any Twitter user can attest, the rolling, unstoppable "tweet stream" has a short shelf life; any message older than a few hours has reached its expiration date. That all changed yesterday, when the Library of Congress announced (through its Twitter account, of course) that it would archive every public tweet ever made. That’s right—every tweet, from the mind-numbing review of your sister-in-law’s breakfast burrito to John Larroquette's 140-character tone poems, will now be preserved for posterity.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/techtonicshifts/archive/2010/04/15/uncle-sam-wants-your-tweets.aspx

Twitter unveils advertising plans

Twitter has said it will allow advertising on its site for the first time.

The social networking site said advertisers would be able to buy "Promoted Tweets" that will appear on Twitter's search results pages.

It has been reluctant to allow advertising in the past.

However, co-founder Biz Stone said they would not be traditional adverts. They must be Tweets that "resonate with users" and be part of conversations.

Twitter has already signed up a raft of big name organisations such as Sony Pictures, coffee chain Starbucks and US retailer Best Buy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8617031.stm

How to Be Invisible

The joy of travel is to let different cultures seep into your identity. It's not to bring your own culture with you so you can inflict it on the native populace.

Recently, while circling the earth for a travel book, I experienced one of my greatest thrills as a globe-trotter: I was mistaken for a German. Don't misunderstand. I am no Germanophile. It's just that wherever I journey, I try hard to blend in with the locals. So when a German woman stopped me in the town square in Cologne and asked me for the time—in German! clearly assuming I was also German!—I couldn't help but congratulate myself on a job well done. I'd successfully melted into my surroundings, shedding my Americanness the way a snake sheds a sheath of dead skin.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/236032

A Killer Product Will closed devices like Apple's iPhone murder the Web?

If you say that the iPhone is the greatest invention of your lifetime, few would bat an eye. If you stay up all night playing Halo 3 like some deranged supermarathoner bent on blasting strangers a continent away on your Xbox Live, few would question your sanity. But dare to claim that devices like the iPhone and the Xbox are killing the Internet as we know it, you'd be laughed out of town.

But this is the central argument of a new book, "The Future of the Internet--and How to Stop It." Jonathan Zittrain claims that the very thing that makes the Internet great--its "generative" or innovative nature--is being locked down in a new wave of closed devices like the iPhone, Xbox, TiVo and the OnStar system. Zittrain, cofounder of Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, claims the Internet's ability to serve as an open platform for innovation is being undermined by these "tethered" toys that can't be easily modified by anyone except their vendors or selected partners.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135150

Advertisements on the iPad? Bring 'Em On.

The 30-second spot didn't always exist. Someone had to invent it. Same goes for the full-page magazine ad, the couple-of-minutes-long movie trailer, and, much more recently, the Google search ad. For an advertising medium to matter, someone has to first come up with a killer format.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/techtonicshifts/archive/2010/04/15/advertisements-on-the-ipad-bring-em-on.aspx

Dickens and the Rise of Divorce

By Kelly Hager, associate professor in English and women's and gender studies, Simmons College, Boston. Ashgate, £50.00. ISBN 9780754669470

Hager examines the legal history of marriage and divorce, and offers a fuller account of the "Women's Question" plus revisionist readings of Dickens' novels.

Who Is on the Other End of Facebook?

You can't get far in academic PR circles these days without the conversation turning to technology and social networking. It's all the buzz: how best to exploit Facebook and MySpace for marketing purposes, what to make of Twitter. Add in the hardware: BlackBerrys, iPhones, and other ever-more-powerful and sophisticated mobile phones. Then there's YouTube, not a social-networking site per se, but a place where people flock in great numbers and share information.

http://chronicle.com/article/Who-Is-on-the-Other-End-of/48693/

The Art of Meeting

As public-relations officers, we always seem to be going to meetings. Our days are often a blur of staff meetings and teleconferences, board sessions and department get-togethers, all-college gatherings and breakfast chats. We schedule meetings, present at meetings, and chair meetings, ad nauseam.

Yet for all those meetings we attend—and all the complaining we do about them—many of us keep repeating the same mistakes and perpetuating an unsatisfying, unproductive cycle.

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Art-of-Meeting/64399/

Some Papers Are Uploaded to Bangalore to Be Graded

Lori Whisenant knows that one way to improve the writing skills of undergraduates is to make them write more. But as each student in her course in business law and ethics at the University of Houston began to crank out—often awkwardly—nearly 5,000 words a semester, it became clear to her that what would really help them was consistent, detailed feedback.

Her seven teaching assistants, some of whom did not have much experience, couldn't deliver. Their workload was staggering: About 1,000 juniors and seniors enroll in the course each year. "Our graders were great," she says, "but they were not experts in providing feedback."

That shortcoming led Ms. Whisenant, director of business law and ethics studies at Houston, to a novel solution last fall. She outsourced assignment grading to a company whose employees are mostly in Asia.

http://chronicle.com/article/Outsourced-Grading-With-Su/64954/#top

Used Bookseller inspired by Medieval Bookshops

A used bookstore in Toronto is taking a page from medieval booksellers to create a new model for his industry. It is the daring idea of Jason Rovito, whose store, Of the Swallows, their Deeds and the Winter Below, will be opening next month as an experiment in providing a new way of selling books.

http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2010/03/used-bookseller-inspired-by-medieval.html

How Nature Inspired the Alphabet

32,000 years ago, ancient humans gathered in a cave in Lascaux, France, where, by firelight, they created the first hand-drawn forms--scenes depicting man's relationship with the natural world. The favorite subject in those first drawings was the ancient ox, so impressive in stature and strength, that it was deified by our earliest ancestors. This reverence for nature remained as civilizations formed, and with it, written language. It is no wonder then that subtly hidden within our alphabet today lie the remnants of these ancient forms--many of which reflect the earliest relationships between man and nature. To find them, you just have to look a little closer.

http://ow.ly/16NWIP

Jugendwort des Jahres "Hartzen" zeigt die Tristesse der Gesellschaft

Wie schon sein Vorgänger "Gammelfleischparty" wirft auch das Jugendwort 2009 "hartzen" kein gutes Licht auf die Wahrnehmung sozialer Wirklichkeit. Wer "hartzen" sagt und "gammeln" meint, hat keine differenzierte Vorstellung von den Widrigkeiten, die ein Leben im Zeichen von Hartz IV mit sich bringen kann.

http://www.welt.de/kultur/article5378666/Hartzen-zeigt-die-Tristesse-der-Gesellschaft.html

Social Networking in Plain English

A short explanation of social networking websites and why they are popula

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=6a_KF7TYKVc&feature=channel

Twitter in Plain English

A quick and plain English intro the micro-blogging service Twitter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

'Mountains' of e-waste threaten developing world

Urgent action is needed to tackle the "mountains" of e-waste building up in developing nations, says a UN report.

Huge amounts of old computers and discarded electronic goods are piling up in countries such as China, India and some Africa nations, it said.

India could see a 500% rise in the number of old computers dumped by 2020, found the survey of 11 nations.

Unless dealt with properly the waste could cause environmental damage and threaten public health, it said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8528066.stm

iPhone developers angry as Apple purges adult apps

Developers have expressed anger at Apple's decision to ban some adult-themed applications from its iPhone.

Thousands of apps with adult-themed content have been removed from the store since Friday although some, such as one from Playboy, remain.

Apple has said that certain apps were removed following customer complaints.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8530124.stm

Green Energy Hits the Track

Auto racing is hardly one of the greenest sports out there. But Porsche has now come up with a racecar outfitted with a hybrid engine. The technology could ultimately find its way onto the street.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,678172,00.html

PleaseRobMe website reveals dangers of social networks

A website called PleaseRobMe claims to reveal the location of empty homes based on what people post online.

The Dutch developers told BBC News the site was designed to prove a point about the dangers of sharing precise location information on the internet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8521598.stm

Did the New Star of German Literature Steal from a Blogger?

Bestselling 17-year-old German writer Helene Hegemann is being accused of plagiarism after it was revealed that her debut novel contains passages lifted from a blog about sex and drugs in Berlin's techno scene. She denies she did anything wrong.

She may be embroiled in what could be the year's first big literary scandal, but Helene Hegemann seems relatively relaxed. It's Tuesday afternoon of last week. That morning, the culture pages of all of Germany's major daily newspapers published stories about Hegemann's novel "Axolotl Roadkill," and now hundreds of e-mails have flooded her inbox. "I can't understand what all the fuss is about," Hegemann says.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,678165,00.html

The ten most most valuable brands in the world

Brand Finance has published its 2010 Global 500 Survey of the world's most valuable brands. Here are the top ten, which include Britain's Vodafone and HSBC.

No. 1 - Wal-Mart, $41.4bn

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businesslatestnews/7257407/The-ten-most-most-valuable-brands-in-the-world.html

US unemployment 'to stay high despite economy growing'

The US economy is still on target to grow strongly during 2010, but unemployment will remain high, the US Federal Reserve has warned.

In its latest forecast, the Fed said that the economy would expand between 2.8% and 3.5% in 2010, better than its previous estimate of 2.5% to 3.5%.

Yet the unemployment rate is expected to remain between 9.5% and 9.7% in 2010, easing to 8.2% to 8.5% next year.

President Barack Obama earlier admitted many in the US were "struggling".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8520866.stm

Google Buzz 'breaks privacy laws' says watchdog

A leading privacy group has urged US regulators to investigate Google's new social networking service Buzz, one week after its launch.

The Electronic Privacy Information Centre (Epic) has made its complaint to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

It says that Buzz - which is part of Google's Gmail service - is "deceptive" and breaks consumer protection law.

The search giant has twice made changes to the service to placate an outcry from users about privacy concerns.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8519314.stm

Happiness wards off heart disease, study suggests

Being happy and staying positive may help ward off heart disease, a study suggests.

US researchers monitored the health of 1,700 people over 10 years, finding the most anxious and depressed were at the highest risk of the disease.

They could not categorically prove happiness was protective, but said people should try to enjoy themselves.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8520549.stm

Google books deal heads to New York court

Google is preparing to face opponents in a New York court over long-delayed plans to create the world's biggest digital library.

A judge will hold a fairness hearing to listen to arguments for and against a controversial deal between Google and US authors and publishers.

Critics say the pact would hand the search giant a monopoly over online books sales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8520971.stm