Friday, February 28, 2014

Are you planning a trip to Croatia? And your dog should come with you!

The website Doggycheckin.com offers different useful information for dog owners to help them have a more relaxed and comfortable time in Croatia.

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You kids don't know how good you have it

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Friday @ work

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word on the street

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Drugs in the U.S. are obscenely expensive

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Thursday, February 27, 2014

North Korean zoo unveils its latest wild beasts... three Yorkshire Terriers

The main attractions at most zoos are lions, tigers and other endangered animals.
Not so in North Korea. State media revealed today the Central Zoo in Pyongyang has unveiled its latest draw - a pack of Yorkshire Terriers. Korea Central News Agency said the miniature dogs have been introduced and are learning 'several feats' to perform for visitors.
Most North Koreans will be unfamiliar with 'Yorkies'.

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what we are reading

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Crying Wolves

Photograph by Petra Warner, National Geographic Your Shot

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R.E.M.'s National TV Debut in 1983

In October 1983, Americans flocked to the theaters to see Sean Connery return as James Bond after a 12-year break in Never Say Never Again. The Number One song was Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart," though it would soon be eclipsed by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream" and Lionel Richie's "All Night Long." The top show on TV was CBS's Dallas, which drew over 21 million viewers per broadcast. Over on NBC, Late Night With David Letterman was well into its second season. A few months earlier, the 36-year-old host appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone with the cover line "How Weird Is David Letterman?" His show was reinventing television and comedy on a nightly basis, and on October 6th, 1983 the main guest was Julia Child, though Larry "Bud" Melman stopped by and Chris Elliott debuted his Conspiracy Guy character.
 It was also the night that R.E.M. first played to a national audience.

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The 12 Greatest Performances Not Nominated for Oscars

In anticipation of the Oscar telecast coming on Sunday, here's a dozen great performances from actors who failed to even get nominated. That’s right. No nomination. Nada. Nothing.
 Jeez, Academy, you really look stupid now.
 By Peter Travers

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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

How many stars are in space?

A four-year-old science boffin has become the star of his class after getting NASA to help with his school project about space.
Four-year-old Lucas Whiteley sent three questions to the experts in America.
Lucas asked: 'How many stars are there in space?', 'Who came second and third in the race to the Moon' and 'Have any animals ever been to the Moon?'
The little space enthusiast was thrilled when they sent back a 10-minute personalised video.

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First Instagram, now WhatsApp. How many “next Facebooks” will Facebook have to buy?

This game of Whac-a-Mole began in earnest in 2012 when Instagram poked its head up, displacing Facebook as the photo-sharing app du jour. Zuckerberg swatted it with $1 billion. Last year it was Snapchat that came from nowhere to steal young people’s attention. Zuckerberg swung with $3 billion and missed. Fortunately for him, that particular rodent appears to have ducked its head back underground for the time being. Last week the tech world shuddered as Facebook took its heaviest swing yet—an unprecedented $19 billion in cash and stock for WhatsApp, a mobile messaging service that had managed to avoid the spotlight while making inroads in some of the world’s largest markets. Zuckerberg got his mark, but it cost him dearly: two years’ worth of Facebook profits, plus up to $15 billion in equity, for an add-on business with no clear path to serious monetization. As the power play reverberated through the valley and beyond, the question everywhere was how a company that made just $20 million last year could possibly be worth $19 billion—reportedly the most anyone has ever paid for a Silicon Valley tech company. The answer is that WhatsApp’s value to Facebook has very little to do with its value as an independent business. continue 

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Paco de Lucia dies at 66

World-renowned Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia has died aged 66 in Mexico, reportedly of a heart attack while playing with his children on a beach.

 The death of one of the most celebrated flamenco guitarists was announced by the mayor's office in Algeciras in southern Spain, where he was born. He is said to have died in the Mexican resort of Cancun. Famous for a series of flamenco albums in the 1970s, he also crossed over into classical and jazz guitar. He also worked on films by Spanish director Carlos Saura, notably appearing in his 1983 version of Carmen, which won a UK Bafta award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1985. Algeciras is to hold two days of official mourning, a city spokesman was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. He had lived both in Mexico and in Spain in recent years. News of his death became the top trend among Spanish users of Twitter. "Rest in peace," wrote one tweeter. "You'll teach the angels to play guitar!" One of my heroes died today. 

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Bill Hicks: His Ride Ended 20 Years Ago

Bill Hick performing live at the Dominion Theater in London. This is the entire show all on one video!
 Today, February 26, comedian Bill Hicks will have been dead 20 years. Houston's favorite son (don't try to deny it) was 32. Whether he went on to meet his version of Jesus (the guy who doesn't like crosses), descended into the infernal regions (where the Satan-worshipping family down the block with all the good albums ended up), transmuted into pure energy, or is simply moldering in the ground in the Hicks family plot in Mississippi, we'll probably never know. Still, two decades removed from his untimely death from pancreatic cancer, Hicks remains one of the most revered and influential comedians ever.

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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Determination

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Stieg Larsson 'sent Swedish police papers linking Olof Palme's death to South Africa'

Allegations that the bestselling Swedish crime novelist Stieg Larsson sent police evidence linking the murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986 to South African security services, have been intensified by a Swedish newspaper. Svenska Dagbladet reported on Tuesday that the author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sent police 15 boxes of papers that he said linked Mr Palme's shooting to a Swedish former military officer alleged to have links to South African security services. continue 

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Li Hongbo: Statues in Motion


Li Hongbo: Statues in Motion from Todd Martin on Vimeo.
Paper master Li Hongbo stretches your imagination with a twisted take on traditional sculpting.
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RIP Harold Ramis - on set with Annie Potts while filming "Ghostbusters"

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President Obama Pays Tribute to Harold Ramis

Actor and director Harold Ramis, best known for the films Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day, has died aged 69. Born in Chicago to convenience store owners Ruth and Nathan, Ramis studied at Washington University in Missouri and, on graduation, briefly worked as an orderly on a psychiatric ward. He started his career as a writer by penning arts stories for his local newspaper and editing Playboy magazine's "party jokes" section.
"Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of Harold Ramis, one of America’s greatest satirists, and like so many other comedic geniuses, a proud product of Chicago’s Second City. When we watched his movies – from “Animal House” and “Caddyshack” to “Ghostbusters” and “Groundhog Day” – we didn’t just laugh until it hurt. We questioned authority. We identified with the outsider. We rooted for the underdog. And through it all, we never lost our faith in happy endings."
 Here is the statement President Obama released this morning on the passing of Harold Ramis.

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Dine In, Or Take Out?


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The Most-Visited Countries in the World, Visualized

If you've ever wondered which country was the most popular tourist destination, wonder no longer—this map shows which countries get the most visitors every year. 

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If You Think You're Anonymous Online, Think Again

Investigative reporter Julia Angwin was curious what Google knew about her, so she asked the company for her search data. "It turns out I had been doing about 26,000 Google searches a month ... and I was amazed at how revealing they were," she tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies.

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Monday, February 24, 2014

Giddy up

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word on the street

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3D Glasses

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The Great Garroting Panic of 1862

A band of criminals were stalking the capital, garroting anyone unfortunate enough to come into their path. One unfortunate M.P., Hugh Pilkington, had already fallen victim to them as he made his way home from his club. Why they believed it: Pilkington was mugged and quite possibly choked - this much is true. But this random incident exploded in the public’s imagination. And that was due to magazines and periodicals, who were keen to stoke up a frenzy about the end of transportation to Australia and the activities of ticket-of-leave men (offenders released on a provisional licence), as well as the apparent ineffectiveness of reform programmes for criminals. As a result, in 1863 Parliament passed the Garrotters Act, which reintroduced corporal punishment for armed or violent robbery, and in 1864 the Penal Servitude Act, which made mandatory the police supervision of ticket-of-leave men.

9 Terrifying Urban Legends From Victorian London

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Monday Morning and Calvin and Hobbes

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