Sharapova surges to third grand slam title (Reuters)

Reuters - It was to be the Glam Slam, the
squealer versus the squeaker. Instead, Saturday's Australian
Open women's final was a battle of brinkmanship and jangling
nerves. Ana Ivanovic blinked first and Maria Sharapova was the
champion.

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Obama walks a tricky racial line (AP)

AP - Barack Obama is walking a tricky racial line, trying to excite black support in the South without getting tagged as "the black candidate" and scaring off anybody else.

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Ledger's Joker a Serious Topic

The "Dark Knight" posters asks, "Why so serious?" In the wake of Heath Ledger's death, the answer is because the movie has a situation.


"So far, everything's been...

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Impact of BA38 Crash

I flew out London a day after the flight BA38 Beijing - London crashed in Heathrow airport. The concierge advised me to check my flight in case of rescheduling but I said I go anyway as I did not receive SMS from Qantas and if there is delay, I can just hang out in the airport.
I could see the plane from my taxi and I was amazed with the fact that how close it was with the main road and I really admire the pilot skills in avoiding disaster. He managed to reduce the impact and everyone, including myself thanked him. I could not take a photo of the unfortunate plane because the taxi driver did not hear me asking him to slow down.
My flight was on schedule and I still got time to wander around in the airport. I went to see the long queue (while having a cigarette) and saw people patiently reissuing their tickets and checking in - as they got impacted by major rescheduling the day before. No one seemed to complaint as the airport staffs seemed to handle this well.

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Researchers craft new testing device to detect early Alzheimer's

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We've heard that the "gold standard" pen and paper test seems to work fairly well at detecting the earliest stage of Alzheimer's disease, but gurus from Georgia Tech and Emory University have teamed up to develop a much quicker method for accomplishing the same. The ten-minute DETECT test utilizes a head-worn visor with a built-in LCD, headphones and a handheld controller, which the patient interacts with as he / she is put through a series of visual and auditory tests that "assess cognitive abilities relative to age," gauge reaction time and measure memory capabilities. Initial tests have purportedly shown it to have "similar accuracy" to the aforementioned pen and paper test (which takes around 90-minutes to administer), and while we've no idea when the device will be available for public use, its creators have already formed a firm (Zenda Technologies) to commercialize it. Finally, a legitimate use for head-mounted displays -- thought we'd never see the day.

[Via Wired]

 

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Irwin offers to help Britney Spears

Terri Irwin has offered troubled Britney Spears the chance to escape Hollywood for the Australian bush.

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Indonesia's Suharto 'very critical': doctor (AFP)

AFP - The health of Indonesia's ex-president Suharto worsened to "very critical" Sunday, the doctor leading the team treating him said, giving him a 50-50 chance of surviving.

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Taiwan nationalists win parliamentary elections (AFP)

AFP - Taiwan's opposition nationalists -- who favour closer ties with China -- on Saturday won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections, dealing a devastating blow to the party of President Chen Shui-bian.

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Indonesia's Suharto ill, country prepares for his death (Reuters)

Reuters - As Indonesia's former
President Suharto lay critically ill in hospital on Saturday,
the military and police rushed to prepare the Suharto family's
mausoleum in central Java for his burial.

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Foreigner helps mediate residents' disputes

A British-South African who majored in medicine and is interested in Chinese law has been working as a mediator to settle disputes between residents in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

Kate Kinahan, the 27-year-old woman, entered Nanjing University's law school in 2003 to study dispute settlement.

Early last month, she became a mediator in the Haining Road branch of the Gulou district bureau of justice.

When she joined the branch staff to settle a recent housing dispute between family members, those involved in the dispute were surprised a foreigner was one of their mediators. They were soon impressed with her proficiency in Chinese and the law.

(chinadaily.com.cn January 12, 2007)

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Festival First Night: Brasil by Pink Martini

Embedded Video

Pink Martini is a band from Portland and playing in the opening night of Sydney Festival 2008 on the 5th January 2008. The Festival finale is 26th January 2008 - Australia Day.

The video was taken with my digital camera and I am quite impressed with the quality.

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New ID rules may complicate air travel (AP)

AP - Millions of air travelers may find going through airport security much more complicated this spring, as the Bush administration heads toward a showdown with state governments over post-Sept. 11 rules for new driver's licenses.

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Old Shanghai Pin-ups

Shanghai Pin-ups girls were popular during early nineties as an influence from westerners. These girls were pictured in their sexy cheungsam (or jipao) - a shanghainese trademark, as calendar pin-ups or advertisements.

Old Shanghai - Jongo Photos - Jongo: The World's Portal for China via kwout

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Indonesia, Suharto family to settle civil suit out of court: official (AFP)

AFP - The Indonesian government and Suharto family have agreed to settle out of court a civil corruption suit against the former president, who is critically ill, the attorney general said Saturday.

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Thanks Striking Writers, Online Video Going Up, Up, Up, Up

We wrote when the US writer’s strike started in November that it was a chance for millions online to bloom. We were right. According to new figures from Nielsen Online some online video sites have doubled their audience since the strike began.

According to Nielsen’s figures, YouTube’s audience was up 18% in the two months after the strike started and Crackle doubled its audience from 1.2 million users to 2.4 million users

A BBC report quoted Nielsen analyst Alex Burmaster “that is greater growth than you would normally see in such a short period and the strike could be a possible factor.”

A new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project also confirmed a longer trend to online video, finding that:

• 48% of internet users said they had visited a video-sharing site such as
  
  YouTube. A year ago, in December 2006, 33% of internet users said they had
  
  visited such sites. That represents growth of more than 45% year-to-year.


• 15% of respondents said they had used a video-sharing site “yesterday” – the day
  
  before they were contacted for our survey. A year ago, 8% had visited such a site
  
  “yesterday.” Thus, on an average day, the number of users of video sites nearly
  
  doubled from the end of 2006 to the end of 2007.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

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Man in anti-smoking ads still smokes (AP)

AP - He's the poster boy for the state's new anti-smoking campaign. But 48-year-old Skip Legault is still smoking — despite an amputated leg, two heart attacks and a stroke. The state Department of Health confirmed Friday that they chose a smoker for the ads, saying it helps underscore the risks associated with nicotine addiction.

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Chocolate Rain Saga: From Web to Fame

This is where it started - Tay Zonday posted his video on April 22nd, 2007:



I felt the song was quite annoying but I could not get it out from my head. I guess John Mayer felt the same way:



Even Chad Vader :)



The song popularity brought Tay to Jimmy Kimmel Show



Which then bumped his fame and released Cherry Chocolate Rain video



And everyone wants to be Tay...