I’m not sure if it’s an aging thing or just a thing, as I get older I’m finding a greater liking for Horror Films. Ole Bornedal’s The Possession is a refreshing exploration of the darker side of Jewish folklore – the original film was titled The Dibbuk Box - rather than a rehashing of done to death Catholic mythos.

In Bornedal’s upcoming horror, a young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl’s father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child ::::

Director: Ole Bornedal

Writers: Juliet Snowden, Stiles White

R Rating | August 31, 2012 Release (US Only Date)

Horror | Thriller

The trailer for Ole Bornedal’s new film The Possession  - above – from producer Sam Raimi via his Ghost House Pictures production banner has arrived. In general this genre looks pretty generic, but there’s some pretty clever imagery, as well as epic music that somehow has this particular demonic horror grabbing my attention.

Directed by Ole Bornedal, The Possession is based on a Los Angeles Times article called “Jinx in a Box” The film version was written by Juliet Snowden and Stiles White, and stars  Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick, The Possession is a very cool take on modern folklore.

Synpsois: Stephanie and Clyde Brenek – Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Dean Morgan – see little cause for alarm when their daughter Em – Natasha Calis – becomes oddly obsessed with an antique wooden box she purchased at a yard sale. But as Em’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, the couple fears the presence of a malevolent force in their midst and soon learn a dislocated spirit is inhabiting their daughter. Lionsgate sends the film to theaters on August 31st.

Bornedal may well have found a combination of a respectable method of shooting and a capable cast that can restore some faith in the horror genre. The trailer, let me just tell you that the film earns positive marks for not following in the found footage genre’s footsteps. The Possession trailer actually plays more like an homage to classic horror films like The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby and Poltergeist rather than any major horror film that’s been produced within the past ten years.

From the original LA Times article July 25, 2004: A small wooden cabinet went up for auction on EBay. Inside were two locks of hair, one granite slab, one dried rosebud, one goblet, two wheat pennies, one candlestick and, allegedly, one “dibbuk,” a kind of spirit popular in Yiddish folklore.

The seller, a Missouri college student named Iosif Nietzke, described the container as a “haunted Jewish wine cabinet box” that had plagued several owners with rotten luck and a spate of bizarre paranormal stunts.

The origin of the box dates back to November 10, 1938, the date when a group of women living in the Lodz ghetto of pre World War II Poland were supposed to have conducted a seance during which the women attempted to trap an evil spirit they had helped to manifest from the “other” side Having survived the holocaust of World War II, the original creator of the Dibbuk Box was supposed to have emigrated, with the box, to the United States where she died in 2001. Mannis, a writer and small business owner, purportedly bought the Dibbuk Box at an estate sale/auction of the woman’s estate that year. The survivor’s granddaughter told the buyer that the box had been kept in her grandmother’s sewing room and was never opened as a dybbuk – an evil spirit from Jewish folklore – lived inside. The furniture restorer offered to give the box back to the granddaughter, who became hysterical and refused to take it.

On opening the box the buyer found that it contained two 1920s pennies, a lock of blonde hair bound with hemp cord, a lock of brown hair bound with hemp cord, a small statue engraved with the Hebrew word Shalom, a small wine goblet, two dried rose buds, and a single candle holder with 4 octopus shaped legs.

Numerous owners of the box have reported that strange phenomenon accompany it. Iosif Neitzke, the last person to auction the box on eBay, claimed that the box caused lights to burn out in his house and his hair to fall out. The furniture restorer claimed that the box was responsible for a series of horrific nightmares shared with other people while they were in possession of the box. His mother is supposed to have suffered a stroke on the same day he gave her the box as a birthday present – October 31. Every owner of the box has reported that a smell of cat urine, and Jasmine flowers and nightmares involving an old hag accompany the box.

The cabinet has the Shema carved into the side of it. It’s dimensions are 12.5″. x 7.5″ x 16.25″

source: wikipedia

source: imdb

]]> http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?feed=rss2&p=10627 0 http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10624 http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10624#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 01:56:58 +0000 Michael Courtenay http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10624 With the same-sex vote looking like it counts in the upcoming US elections, and Australia’s absolutely less than empathetic view of the entire thought. It  was no surprise when around 150 medical practitioners from the group Doctors For The Family signed a submission to the Senate inquiry into marriage equality opposing same-sex marriage. The group says it believes heterosexual marriage is healthier for children.

Doctors for the Family’s Lachlan Dunjey told ABC News Radio that the organisation is concerned about the health consequences for children of same-sex marriages.

“It’s well proven that children who grow up with a mother and a father in a biological mother and father family do better than children who don’t have the opportunity to grow up in that kind of family,” Dunjey said.

The organisations website is blunt about it’s beliefs, stating: There are many organisations in Australia and internationally that support marriage – the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others – as the basis for family and a healthy society.

Doctors for the Family is a supporting medical organisation to highlight the health aspects of marriage and family and ensure a healthy future for our children.

Its purpose is to be a source of information and at times make representation to parliament or appropriate organisations to ensure policies that enhance and preserve the health and future of our nation :: Read the full article »»»»

For those with children, it’s a huge concern

There is no way of telling who your children are conversing with, not for you nor for them, that your children are secretive is a given. Those who are intent on doing your children harm are also secretive, this is the daunting prospect all parents must cope with.

National Family Week “Families Make All the Difference” kicks off on May 15 this year , coinciding with the United Nations “International Day of the Families” also May 15. So what does this have to do with Online Security? Everything! Families are THE best security system for you to protect your children from online harm, from nefarious internet predators. Families enable us to create a safe, enjoyable and educational place for children to be  :: Read the full article »»»»

BUT BECAUSE I’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO LEAVE FOOD ON MY PLATE!

James & Mau Architecture + Infiniski = WOW! James & Mau have teamed up with eco builders Infiniski to create the most outlandishly superb dwellings. The Manifesto House in Curacavi, Chile hides a dark past, a former life that one would never pick :: Read the full article »»»»

The eight-year-old social network that began as Mark Zuckerberg’s college dorm room project has priced its initial public offering at between $28 and $35 a share.

This will see Facebook attain a valuation of as much as $95.9 billion at the high end and grant the world’s largest social network a market value close to Amazon.

If an over-allotment or “greenshoe” option is triggered, Facebook could end up raising close to $13.6 billion, according to a prospectus. Investors are expected to flock to the highly anticipated IPO, though some have voiced concerns about Facebook’s longer-term growth.

Last week, the company reported its first quarter-to-quarter revenue slide in at least two years, a sign its sizzling growth may be cooling just as it prepares to go public ::::

Facebook, which plans to list its stock on the Nasdaq under the ticker FB, will begin meeting with investors on Monday and begin trading in the coming weeks. Its capital-raising target far outstrips big internet IPOs that came before it.

Google raised just shy of $2 billion in 2004, while last year Groupon tapped investors for $700 million and Zynga raked in $1 billion.

At close to $100 billion, Facebook’s capitalisation will rival Amazon and Cisco Systems’ market values of just over $100 billion while surpassing those of older technology companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell combined.

Facebook has more than 900 million active users. If the company was a country, it would be the third largest in the world after China (1.34 billion) and India (1.17 billion).

source: reuters

“A reduction of 50 basis points in the cash rate was in this instance judged to be necassary… in order to deliver the appropriate level of borrowing rates” RBA govenor Glenn Stevens said in a statement.

The Australian dollar took an immediate dive on the news, instantly dropping half a US cent to a little above $US1.035 ::Read the full article »»»»

It seems that our diet as well as our large brain, long life span and high fertility are key elements that made humans an evolutionary success. In a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers have now shown that by becoming omnivores, our ancestors were able to give birth to a greater number of offspring.

The specific impact of carnivory on human evolution, life history and development remains controversial. Researchers say they have shown in quantitative terms that dietary profile is a key factor influencing time to weaning across a wide taxonomic range of mammals, including humans ::Read the full article »»»»

Locally, cnet reported, Dell has officially refreshed its Alienware gaming laptop lineup in parts of Asia Pacific with Ivy Bridge processors. Countries getting the update: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. Unlike the US and UK, those in this region (with the exception of Australia and New Zealand) won’t be seeing the M18x. This means that consumers only get to choose between the M14x and the M17x.x

The 11-inch M11x didn’t make the transition to Ivy Bridge, the company is discontinuing it :: Read the full article »»»»

Kazakhstan’s foreign minister has thanked Borat, the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy that the Central Asian nation once banned for lampooning its people, for massively boosting its tourism.

“With the release of this film, the number of visas issued by Kazakhstan grew tenfold,” local news agencies quoted foreign minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov as telling a session of parliament :: Read the full article »»»»

GET PREPARED! :: INSTALLING BITDEFENDER

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Google yesterday announced its DropBox killer, Google Drive, pledging every user 5GB of free storage. That’s a pretty good deal, combined with other Google products – Google Docs, soon to be Picassa and Gmail –  as well as some comprehensive search capabilities, Google Drive  appears to be a pretty close to taking over the galaxy that is cloud, for the personal user at least.

But there’s another story here. Products such as Google Drive and DropBox are becoming more frequently released, more importantly, cheap. It costs less than $10 to back up 100GB. Punters truly have no excuse, the concept of accidentally deleting a file should be a thing of the past. Expect to see a DropBox Teams competitor any day now. Google truly seems to have our online world stitched :: :: Read the full article »»»»

The Space Bar is a simple, elegantly-designed desk accessory that minimizes clutter while providing additional USB ports for your computer. After a long day of work, simply slide your keyboard into the designated space below the shelf and store your office miscellany — keys, digital camera, etc — up top :: Read the full article »»»»

Living in a pod with 12 other family members, Iceberg was deemed to be at least 16 years old, given the size of his dorsal fin, said Erich Hoyt, co-director of the Far East Russia Orca Project – FEROP – “This is the first time we have ever seen an all-white, mature male orca, it is a breathtakingly beautiful animal.” The scientists decided to hold back on releasing photographs of Iceberg until they were able to study him further “but we have been looking for him ever since” Mr Hoyt said :: Read the full article »»»»

PROMO [Australia Only] Thanks to The Avengers, you can win a trip to London! 

The Avengeres is nearly here, enter Churp Churp’s very own Fury Code at theavengers.com.au for your chance to win a trip to London, among other things!

CHECK :: http://au.churpchurp.com/indeep-media/share/Avengers

The Film ::::

Director: Joss Whedon
Writers: Joss Whedon, Zak Penn
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson

User Rating: Ratings: 9.2/10 from 2,546 users

IMDB: www.imdb.com/848228/

Marvel Studios delivers the ultimate comic-book film, tying together a team of characters – Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr, Captain America, Chris Evans, The Hulk, Mark Ruffalo and Thor, Chris Hemsworth – for a big-screen franchise team-up like no other. Writer/Director Joss Whedon – Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly – adapted and helmed the script by Zak Penn, which focuses on a superhero lineup put together by Nick Fury - Samuel L. Jackson – to combat a hostile force out to destroy the world. Scarlett Johansson once again snuggles into her Black Widow costume, with Jeremy Renner stepping into the role of ace archer Hawkeye. Tom Hiddleston also returns as Thor’s ever-deceptive brother, Loki the films nemesis.

IMDB Reviewer Big  Shiny Robot - www.bigshinyrobot.com - gives a rather enthusiastic review of The Avengers: Avengers is nothing short of amazing, but that’s still selling this movie short. It is the perfect summer movie- wall to wall action, huge characters, and tons of fun. I have never heard an audience break into applause so many times in any movie as this. I personally had at least 5 “F@#$ YEAH!!!” moments of sheer joy. I say “at least” because I stopped counting I was having so much fun.

FULL CREDITS

Directed: Joss Whedon

Writing credits
Joss Whedon (screenplay)

Zak Penn (story) and
Joss Whedon (story)

Stan Lee (comic book) &
Jack Kirby (comic book)

Cast (in alphabetical order)

Chris Hemsworth: Thor

Scarlett Johansson: Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

Cobie Smulder: Maria Hill

Jeremy Renner: Clint Barton / Hawkeye

Robert Downey Jr: Tony Stark / Iron Man

Chris Evans: Steve Rogers / Captain America

Samuel L. Jackson: Nick Fury

Tom Hiddleston: Loki

Mark Ruffalo: Bruce Banner / The Hulk

Gwyneth Paltrow: Pepper Potts

Stellan Skarsgård: Professor Erik Selvig

Paul Bettany: Jarvis (voice)

Lou Ferrigno: The Incredible Hulk (voice)

Clark Gregg: Agent Phil Coulson

Jenny Agutter: Female council member

Walter Perez: Shield Pilot

Rashmi Rustagi: Woman in Calcutta

Evan Kole: Joey

Joti Nagra: Waitress (uncredited)
Nate Paige: New York Pedestrian (uncredited)

Robert P. Thitoff: Gala Patron (uncredited)

Chris Vaina: Running Pedestrian (uncredited)

Produced:
Victoria Alonso – executive producer
Avi Arad – executive producer
Louis D’Esposito – executive producer
Jon Favreau – executive producer
Kevin Feige – producer
Alan Fine – executive producer
Jeremy Latcham – executive producer
Stan Lee – executive producer
Patricia Whitcher – executive producer

Original Music: Alan Silvestri

Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey

Film Editing: Jeffrey Ford, Lisa Lassek

Casting: Sarah Finn, Randi Hiller

 POSTER DOWNLADS:

source: mrqe

source: imdb

PROMO ENTRY CONDITIONS :: http://www.theavengers.com.au/terms

For more Avengers pix check :: google or download here

In appealing the Federal Court’s decision, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission - ACCC – took the view that Google’s key word insertion system, plus the role of Google staff, were fundamental to the false representations being made. In a statement the ACCC said It was significant that the previous Federal Court decisions considered by Justice Nicholas related to publishers of advertisements in traditional forms of media, such as print and television. The reasoning in those cases is not easily translated to the practices of search engine providers such as Google in publishing sponsored entries as part of search results.

The ACCC appealed last year after Justice Nicholas ruled Google’s conduct had not been in breach of the Trade Practices Act. Justice Nicholas found that although a number of the advertisements were misleading or deceptive, Google had not made those representations. Read the full article »»»»

]]> http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?feed=rss2&p=10443 2 http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10437 http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10437#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:52:43 +0000 Michael Courtenay http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10437 Rupert Murdoch, has indicated he is preparing to “hit back” at what he describes as the “lies” directed towards his business. Both the BBC and the Australian Financial Review have made serious allegations that News Corp has been involved in sabotaging its pay television competitors.

BBCs Panorama reported that a News subsidiary, NDS, had recruited a hacker to acquire the smart card codes of ITV’s ONdigital, the major pay TV rival to News Corp’s Sky TV network.

The Fairfax newspaper The Financial Review reports, meanwhile, suggested News Corp’s Australian targets were Optus and Austar, the subject of a takeover bid from Foxtel. While Mr Murdoch didn’t refer directly to the BBC or the Financial Review, he hit back via Twitter.

News Corp president Chase Carey also issued a terse statement, describing the BBC’s program as a “gross misrepresentation” of NDS’s activities. ”Foxtel presentedmanipulated and mischaracterised emails to produce unfair and baseless accusations,” Mr Carey said. ”News Corporation is proud to have worked with NDS and to have supported them in their aggressive fight against piracy and copyright infringement.”

It is the second time News Corp had denied the BBC allegations since the program aired.

NDS insists it has not sabotaged the commercial interests of any rival and says it recruited hackers to track and catch other hackers and pirates.

Federal Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says News Limited is free to take legal action over the allegations. ”News Limited has the right of every person who has been defamed to go to court,” Mr Turnbull said. ”They can take proceedings in any jurisdiction where this material has been published and seek to have the matter determined and their name cleared.”

The Australian Federal Police says it has not received a referral to investigate allegations of corporate piracy in Australia’s pay TV industry. On Wednesday, Australia’s Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the accusations were serious and that any claims of criminal activity by News should be referred to federal police.

Lawyers for the ACCC have accused Apple of breaching consumer law by promoting the device as being able to connect to high-speed 4G mobile networks using a sim card. The Australian Federal Court heard that Apple ignored warnings from the ACCC and was told the day before the iPad’s launch that it was misleading consumers. Read the full article »»»»

Having a solid personality or point of view is a good start, taking blogging all the way back to it’s roots – Web Log – now that’s just downright impressive.

[ella coquine-http://www.ellacoquine.com/]

Ladies & Gentlemen, cats n dogs, let me introduce you to ELLA COQUINE!

Ms Coquine is an Italian New Yorker who has slipped herself into the city of love – PARIS –  for a twelve month sabbatical, a respite from the humdrum, an adventure. Coquine’s blog – Tales from the Chambre de Bonne, 365 Days of Starting Over in The City of Light – try saying that with a nose full of bubbly! By her descript Chambre de Bonne is a kind of female mid life crisis, the end of era’s, of love, and gainful employ, clearly we simplify here, Coquine’s notion is much much more wonderfilled, very clever. Currently Coquine’s blog is at day 312 of 365, and wow she really has lived. Coquine is amusing, wonderfilled and a dream to follow, she is absolutely inspiring! Check her blog, and life at: www.ellacoquine.com

Reuters reporter Paul Smalera asks the question: Will Big Media & Big Tech ever stop punishing their biggest fans? The recent anti-usability, nonsensical ways in which Big Media and Big Tech have restricted access to content has proved that both sides have been against Net Neutrality all along.

Zach Watson Reports on the opposite to Link Love? Link Difficulties, Limp Linking, Loveless Links aka Pay-per-link: Ars Technica has found that Lowes.com has a ridiculous policy on linking to them. They require that Web sites that link to them must fill out a form. The actual idea of having to receive permission to link to a Web site is pretty stupid. It’s a concept that has been dead for years. Watson points out some more than amusing befuddles in Lowes Loveless linking.

 John C Abell has a superlative piece on Yahoo. Abell is a stalwart of electronic media, in his latest ravings he pokes  a smidgen of fun at nostalgia, writing that Yahoo is taking on Facebook, it’s not vying for the hearts and minds of the Internet cool kids. It’s going after licensing fees for patents. Abell reckons this is not how it is supposed to be.

Gary Kemble, ABC.nets Social Media Coordinator follows the link love theme, from a more posterus angle: With statistics showing that more and more people are finding their news via their social networks, it has become more important than ever to provide a relevant, timely social media service. Which drags us into the ABCs Facebook Facelift: The peoples (our) news network is calling for feedback on it’s Facebook page renovation: www.facebook.com/abc-news/

+ Kony2012 Director Responds to Criticism, James Spigelman to Head ABC & Gina Rinehart Hits Forbes

The director of a video sensation that calls for the arrest of fugitive Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony agrees with sceptics who call the film oversimplified, saying it was deliberately made that way. The 30-minute film Kony 2012, which by Saturday had been viewed on YouTube more than 58 million times, aims to wake up the world to atrocities committed by Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army, including kidnapping children and forcing them to fight.

Filmmaker Jason Russell’s non-profit group, Invisible Children, launched a social media campaign to spread the video earlier in the week. Since then, the Weinstein Company, owned by powerful producer Harvey Weinstein, has contacted Russell to buy the film. The video’s phenomenal success online has been hailed for inspiring young people to activism, but has suffered some criticism including that it oversimplified a long-standing human rights crisis.

Russell, who narrates the video with a personal story that juxtaposes shots of his young son in San Diego, California with the hopelessness of Ugandan children, says the video was only meant as a kick-starter to awareness of a complicated issue.

“It definitely oversimplifies the issue. This video is not the answer, it’s just the gateway into the conversation,” he said. ”And we made it quick and oversimplified on purpose. We are proud that it is simple. We like that. And we want you to keep investigating, we want you to read the history.”

Mixed reactions in Uganda include criticism that the attention has come too late, that much of the armed conflict in the area has subsided and the film leaves out that the Ugandan military is often accused of committing the same atrocities as Kony’s fighters. In addition, Kony is believed to have long since fled Uganda and now only commands a few hundred followers.

“Kony has been indicted, that’s what we are saying. It doesn’t matter if he has three fighters, 300 or 3,000. That’s not the issue,” Russell said.

The group’s aim is to get Kony to surrender and be brought to the International Criminal Court in The Hague where Kony is under indictment. ”He needs to face justice and we want to give him the choice to surrender,” Russell said.

Invisible Children also has faced questions about its governance in light of financial statements showing a large proportion of funds were used for travel and film production rather than charity work. The non-profit group published its financial statements this week amid rising scrutiny.

“They hear the word charity and they don’t understand why all of our money isn’t going to Central Africa,” Russell said. ”We have found that putting money towards our media and our movie, changes lives. And in that life change, it has tangible results into a movement … that movement does galvanize the mission.”

Others have said the problem needed to be solved within Uganda rather than a viral campaign watched by viewers who may not understand the situation on the ground. To that criticism, Russell said: “We don’t think Americans should be the world police, that is not what we are advocating. We want to continue to put pressure on the policy makers, on the (US) president to keep really hyper-focused on this issue.”

The video begins with the slogan, “Nothing Is More Powerful Than An Idea” and references the strength of social media sites like Facebook that can help spur immediate action.

The campaign has urged supporters of the movement to “blanket every street, every city” on April 20. The success of the video has shocked the non-profit group even though they prepared for its launch on Tuesday with a five-day lead in campaign beforehand, said Russell. Initially, he aimed for 500,000 YouTube viewers. Now, plans include a global dance party and other fundraising events. ”We were not prepared for this type of response because it has been a whirlwind,” he said. ”To us, it is the world waking up … it is a global revolution.”

RELATED: Invisible Children: Kony 2012 www.sociallyengineered.com.au

James Spigelman Confirmed as ABC Chairman

The Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has confirmed James Spigelman will be the new chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation – ABC. Mr Spigelman was a senior adviser to former prime minister Gough Whitlam and secretary of the department of media in the 1970s. More recently he was the chief justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court. The Prime Minister said Mr Spigelman has served the legal profession for 40 years and has a fierce passion for the arts and will be an exemplary leader of the ABC.

“He will lead the ABC at a time when the challenges and opportunities facing our national broadcaster have never been greater,” The Prime Minister said in a statement. ”He brings a wealth of experience in the arts and culture and will build on the work of the previous chair, Maurice Newman AC, to ensure that the ABC remains at the forefront of the media in Australia.”

Mr Spigelman was the 20th lieutenant governor of New South Wales. He is currently chairman of the National Library of Australia Council. His five-year term as ABC chairman will begin on April 1.

Suffragettes to Skimpy Skirts

While we’re still on the ABC, Brigid Anderson has a timeline of the women’s movement, from Suffragettes to Spice Girls. Take a look at how the women’s movement has changed here in Australia and around the world: www.abc.net.au/timeline-women-movement/

RELATED:

New Dawn For Historic Suffragette Journal: www.abc.net.au/new-dawn-for-historic-suffragette-journal/

Gina Rinehart Hits Forbes 100

Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinahart has made the Forbes List, ranked at No 29 in the dizzying world of billionares. What does this have to do with people who make the news?  earlier this month  Rinehart reportedly asked for a seat on the board of media company Fairfax. The billionaire iron ore magnate made the request while meeting Fairfax chairman Roger Corbett and chief executive Greg Hywood at the company’s headquarters in Sydney yesterday, the Australian Financial Review, which is owned by Fairfax, reported. Rinehart is the largest Fairfax shareholder after she increased her stake in the company to 12.6 per cent in late January. The Financial Review says the Fairfax board is considering the request. Ms Rinehart has held a seat on the board of Ten Network Holdings since December 2010 after acquiring a 10 per cent stake in the television broadcaster.

Rinahart is now the richest woman in the Asia Pacific, and ranked as the 19th most powerful woman in the world. Rinahart is the only Australian to make the top 100 rich list. Check the full FORBES list here - www.forbes.com

Rinahart’s fortune doubled to an estimated $US17 billion after she sold part of an undeveloped iron ore mine to a South Korean steel maker.

Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim topped the list with a worth of $US69 billion. Mr Slim, 72, has taken the top spot for three years in a row, largely based on assets from his telecommunications empire. In recent years he has taken larger stakes abroad, owning parts of department store operator Saks Inc, publisher New York Times Co and money manager BlackRock Inc.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are in second and third place with $US61 billion and $US44 billion respectively.

Rounding out the top five is France’s luxury king Bernard Arnault ($US41 billion) and Spain’s Amancio Ortega, the owner of the Zara fashion chain, whose net worth surged by $US6.5 billion to $US37.5 billion despite Europe’s financial straits. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg was further down the list, at number 35 with a fortune of $US17.5 billion.

The United States again led the list with 425 billionaires. Russia overtook mainland China for the second spot, with 96 billionaires compared with mainland China’s 95. Moscow led all cities with 78 billionaires, followed by New York at 58 and London at 39.

Editor Steve Forbes was surprised to find only nine Chinese and Indian billionaires made the top 100 list, and only one Chinese national made the top 10.

“What it tells us is there’s a lot of churn, there hasn’t been a lot of growth in the economy in the last year,” he said. ”The number of billionaires went up 16 but yet some regions go down, China went down a little bit, Russia went down because of weak commodity prices. But the fact is there hasn’t been a lot of vigorous growth in the world and that’s reflected on the list this year.”

This year’s list, in the magazine’s 25th annual issue on the world’s wealthiest people, included a record 1,226 entrants who sat atop average fortunes of $US3.7 billion.

Sophia Roessler from Kansas has now revealed she made the video in which she poses as a young teen as part of her thesis studies exploring the “awkward transition from young girl to womanhood”.

Roessler’s video was so convincing that several major media outlets, including ABC’s Good Morning America and MSNBC’s Today Show used it to report on a worrying trend of tweens taking to YouTube to ask for comments on their looks. Read the full article »»»»

Kony 2012, a documentary film about the little-known conflict that continues to devistate Uganda –  since the early 1980s - has become a surprise viral hit, being shared on Facebook over 4 million times in less than 2 weeks.

First up, I have to admit that my knowledge of Kony 2012 comes from a child, a 15 year old girl. This daughter of a buddy pulled oblog faces, spouted strange sounds,  berated me in bafflement that I’d never heard of Kony 2012. Her advice, go to your computer, watch Kony 2012 on YouTube. Ok young lady, I now get why Kony 2012 has gone viral! Read the full article »»»»

Damian Vincenzi is a photographer of the natural world who captures and brings to our attention the omnipresence of this timeless land. In Origins, Vincenzi rearranges and re-orientates the vantage point from which we look at his photographic works, and in turn our relationship with the objects and subjects he chooses to photograph. Through this process of manipulating his nature based images, Vincenzi creates and leads us into a place of other worldly landscapes and figures. Read the full article »»»»

]]> http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?feed=rss2&p=10383 0 http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10385 http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10385#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:19:17 +0000 Michael Courtenay http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10385 In the summer of 2011, New York’s Museum of Modern Art invited five teams of architects, planners, ecologists, engineers, landscape designers, and other specialists in the urban and suburban condition to develop proposals for housing that would open new routes through the mortgage-foreclosure crisis that continues to afflict the United States.

There surely is no easy fix to the housing/foreclosure crisis facing the U.S., but the art world is offering one possible remedy. A new exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York – MoMa – looks at five U.S. towns hit hard by foreclosures and asked a group of the nation’s best architects, urban planners, ecologists, engineers and landscape designers to come up with ideas for reimagining the way towns might look in the future and the way people might live in them.

Working with the findings of The Buell Hypothesis, a research report prepared by the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University, each team focused on a specific town in one of five regions—the Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southwest—and each developed an inventive proposal that reimagined existing patterns of living, working, and home ownership. Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream lays out their ideas, through detailed illustrations of their projects and through essays by Barry Bergdoll, MoMA’s Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, and Reinhold Martin, Director of the Buell Center. Read the full article »»»

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China blocks most foreign social networking sites (SNS) out of fear that unfettered access would lead to instability. Chinese SNS firms have filled the void by offering similar products that censor topics the government may find sensitive.

“I can suddenly access YouTube! No need to breach the firewall!” Weibo user Arvin Xie posted on Tuesday.

Weibo is a microblogging platform, similar to Twitter, that allows users to post short messages and follow other users. Internet users including students on university campuses reported that they were able to access YouTube, Facebook and Twitter on their mobile phones and desktops in the afternoon and evening on Monday and Tuesday. Read the full article »»»»

The psychoactive ingredient of marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol – THC. Using microelectrodes implanted into the brains of anaesthetized rats, the researchers found that the compound weakens the connections, or synapses, between neurons in the hippocampus, a structure that is crucial for memory formation. Read the full article »»»»

In seven separate studies conducted on the UC Berkeley campus, in the San Francisco Bay Area and nationwide, UC Berkeley researchers consistently found that upper-class participants were more likely to lie and cheat when gambling or negotiating; cut people off when driving, and endorse unethical behavior in the workplace.

“The increased unethical tendencies of upper-class individuals are driven, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed,” said Paul Piff, a doctoral student in psychology at UC Berkeley and lead author of the paper published on February 27,2012 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Read the full article »»»»

The website is abrupt, describing it’s purpose in true flat Dutch style “The life clinic is designed for people with a death wish“ On February 6, 2012, Levenseindekliniek - Life-end Clinic -  announced that from March 1, 2012.will have mobile teams where people who think they comply with the criteria for euthanasia can register,” Right-to-die NL (NVVE) spokeswoman Walburg de Jong said. Six specialised teams will criss-cross the Netherlands to carry out euthanasia at the home of patients whose own doctors refuse to do so, Right-to-die NL – NVVE, a pro-euthanasia group - spokeswoman Walburg de Jong said. ”If they comply, the teams will carry out the euthanasia at patients’ homes should their normal doctors refuse to help them.”

Ms De Jong says the group has teams made up of a specially-trained doctor and nurse who will work part time, visiting patients all over the Netherlands. The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia in April 2001 – see below –  and has strict criteria regulating how such mercy killings can be carried out. Read the full article »»»»

Beleaguered UK Tabloid:

The Beleaguered UK Tabloid: The Sun is of course still all over the news, ironicaly for a tabloid – for all the right reasons, bad behaviour. A British police chief has detailed allegations that journalists at Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper cultivated a network of corrupt officials who received illegal payments in return for story tip-offs. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is leading the criminal investigation into phone hacking, told the Leveson inquiry into media ethics that the payments were authorised at a very senior level.

The allegations come in the same week that Mr Murdoch launched a Sunday edition of the Sun, a replacement for The News of the World, which was axed last year in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. Assistant Commissioner Akers said the Sun had a network of public officials and police to approach for information, and one reporter had been given $220,000 over a number of years to pay those sources.

“It reveals a network of corrupted officials,” Akers said. ”The journalists had a network upon which to call at various strategic places across public life and there also appears to have been a culture at the Sun of illegal payments.”

Assistant Commissioner Akers has alleged that staff knew they were acting illegally, managing payment through friends or relatives of the source. ”Multiple payments have been made to individuals amounting to thousands of pounds,” Akers said. ”In one case, over a period of several years, it amounts to in excess of 80,000 pounds.”

The inquiry also heard that in 2006, the then editor of the Sun, Rebekah Brooks, was told by a police contact that investigations into phone hacking would not be broadened beyond the News of the World. One of the victims of phone hacking, former deputy prime minister John Prescott, told the inquiry he believes there is a “conspiracy of silence to hide the facts”.

“Frankly, I’m strongly of that view in the last few months,” Prescott said.

Mr Murdoch responded to the latest allegations by saying he had made clear his company had vowed to do everything it could to get to the bottom of prior wrongdoings. He said those practices no longer took place at the The Sun, which is currently the biggest-selling newspaper in the UK.

The revelations made front page news in papers across the UK, with the Guardian – a staunch critic of Mr Murdoch’s newspapers throughout the scandal, splashing with the headline “Power, corruption and lies” above a photo-montage portrait of Mr Murdoch. Ten journalists from The Sun have been arrested since November on charges of bribing police and public officials for information.

The new revelations came as entertainer Charlotte Church settled her lawsuit against Mr Murdoch’s News International for almost $1 million. The 26-year-old was a teenager when the now defunct News of the World hacked her family’s voicemails, placed her under surveillance, and accessed her medical records.

“What I have discovered as the litigation has gone on has sickened and disgusted me,” Charlotte Church said. ”In my opinion, they are not truly sorry – only sorry they got caught.”

ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corp - Cameraman Louie Eroglu has won the prestigious White House News Photographers Association’s video photographer of the year award for the second year running.  Eroglu was honoured for a 7.30 feature on the bleak state of the West Virginian economy and a Foreign Correspondent documentary on Cuba. ”I just love what I do and having the opportunity to reflect in pictures the amazing beauty and complexity of life in America,” Eroglu said. ”You can easily pick me out of the crowd right now on Pennsylvania Avenue – I’m the chappie with the world’s biggest grin.”

WHNPA president Ron Sachs says Eroglu’s work is “truly the eyes and ears” of his viewers. Another ABC cameraman, Dan Sweetapple, also won recognition for his work in the news feature, network and documentary categories of the awards. ABC News director Kate Torney says it is a great result for the ABC’s Washington bureau. Check the Videos at www.abc.net.au

The Behemoth that is Google: is overhauling its privacy policy despite opposition from various consumer and privacy advocates. In the past, data collected in the course of a web search would be kept separate from your YouTube viewing activity or your Google email usage and map queries.

From midnight on Thursday the search engine giant was to change the way it collects and collates data about its users, saying it is simplifying things and offering a better individual browsing experience. Google’s new privacy policy will affect millions of those with a Google account, including anyone who use Gmail, YouTube or any of the company’s other 60-plus services. It will also affect anyone with a smartphone using Google’s android operating system.

Seamus Byrne, editor of consumer technology site CNET Australia, says Google will build a much more intelligent picture of who you are. ”They’ll target ads to you a lot better based on that information,” Byrne said. ”Google’s promising that they’ll only use it internally, but Google is now an incredibly large company and they own one of the world’s biggest digital advertising networks.”

Consumer and privacy advocates say the company already holds too much personal information. Governments and organisations can, through the courts, demand access to the information. In fact Google already publishes a list of what governments have asked it for.

“The classic argument here is that there is a slippery slope and at some point Google might choose to sell this combined data to other companies,” Byrne said. ”I think it would take a lot for Google to make that choice, but if at some point they made that information accessible – to the classic examples being insurance companies or government – that could be very dangerous. So I think that’s the key issue here – how dangerous is this information if it does go to the wrong people.”

Increasing concerns over online data collection by companies like Facebook and Google have prompted US president Barack Obama to put forward a privacy bill of rights, and Europe is examining its regulatory environment.

The Guardian Runs “Three Little Pigs” Open Journalism Advertisement: To demonstrate how the news organization covers stories from all angles while opening up the conversation for reader engagement, The Guardian published a video advertisement today that imagines news coverage around the classic fable about the Three Little Pigs. Except in The Guardian’s reenactment, the pigs actually frame Big Bad Wolf in an act of insurance fraud while readers follow coverage through the various Guardian platforms. The video shows how readers are exposed to the news and are welcomed to chime in through various social media outlets as the story develops. In a word, I would simply describe this video as “epic.” Check the video here.

Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for Journalists: is currently accepting applications for their 2012 United Nations Journalism Fellowship program. Dag Hammarskjöld was the second Secretary-General for the United Nations and served from April 1953 until September 1961 when he met his death in a plane crash while on a peace mission in the Congo. While in office, Hammarskjöld was responsible for many diplomatic activities, including the first and second UN international conference on peaceful uses of atomic energy in Geneva, and for his support of the Armistice Agreements to promote progress towards better and more peaceful conditions between Israel and the Arab States. Hammarskjöld also posthumously received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961.

The Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for Journalists has awarded fellowships to journalists since 1962. For the United Nations Journalism Fellowship, four journalists are selected and are given the opportunity to report on international affairs during the UN’s annual General Assembly. The fellowships are available to radio, television, print and web journalists ages 25-35 who are native to one of the developing countries in Africa, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean and working full-time for a media organization in a developing nation. Recipient countries are rotated for the 2012 fellowship; for example, applicants from China, Ethiopia, India, and Nigeria are not eligible to apply this year since fellowships were awarded to journalists for those countries in 2011.

Fellowships will begin in early September and extend to late November. The cost of travel and accommodations is included, as well as a per diem allowance. Applications are due on March 30, 2012 for the United Nations Journalism Fellowship. To apply, check http://unjournalismfellowship.org/ for more information.

WikiLeaks Dumping Top Secret Intelligence Emails: Whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has begun publishing more than 5 million confidential emails from Texas-based intelligence firm Stratfor. WikiLeaks says the emails – which it refers to as the ‘Global Intelligence Files’ – date from between July 2004 and December 2011.

“The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods,” WikiLeaks said in a statement. ”The material shows how a private intelligence agency works, and how they target individuals for their corporate and government clients.”

WikiLeaks says it has proof of the firm’s confidential links to large corporations, such as Bhopal’s Dow Chemical Co and Lockheed Martin, as well as government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. It says it has found evidence that Stratfor gave a complimentary membership to Pakistan general Hamid Gul, former head of Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service, who, according to US diplomatic cables, planned an IED attack against international forces in Afghanistan in 2006. WikiLeaks also alleges it has proof that Stratfor monitored and analysed the online activities of activists seeking redress for the 1984 Dow Chemical/Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India.

“The Global Intelligence Files exposes how Stratfor has recruited a global network of informants who are paid via Swiss banks accounts and pre-paid credit cards,” WikiLeaks said. ”Stratfor has a mix of covert and overt informants, which includes government employees, embassy staff and journalists around the world.”

Stratfor, which was founded in 1996, describes itself as “a subscription-based provider of geopolitical analysis”.

“Unlike traditional news outlets, Stratfor uses a unique, intelligence-based approach to gathering information via rigorous open-source monitoring and a global network of human sources,” according to the Texas-based firm’s website.

WikiLeaks says 25 media outlets – including Rolling Stone, The Hindu newspaper and Italy’s La Repubblica – have been given access to the files and important revelations will be revealed over the coming weeks. WikiLeaks’ Australian founder Julian Assange is currently in Britain fighting extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on rape and sexual assault allegations. The organisation has long expressed concern that if he is sent to Sweden, Stockholm would quickly send him on to the United States.

Assange attracted sharp condemnation in Washington following the publication of hundreds of thousands of classified US diplomatic files. Bradley Manning, the man suspected of turning over that massive cache of files to WikiLeaks, on Thursday declined to enter a plea at his arraignment. The 24-year-old US Army soldier has been held in custody since 2010 and faces life in prison if convicted. http://wikileaks.org/

One of our favorite – a definite surprise – films of 2011 – Our Idiot Brother – is about to hit the DVD rack. We reviewed the film back in 2011, and to our delight, it was well worth a watch: Our Idiot Brother was not at all the film I expected, considering the somewhat zany premise and title, and I mean that as a good thing. Going in, I expected a gross-out, cheeky comedy, but that`s not what I got. Our Idiot Brother is without a doubt a funny movie, but it slips more along the lines of  The Kids are Alright, it refrains from slapstick, and has a much bigger heart than one would expect. Check The Full Review: www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/10350

The Australian DVD/Blueray release is due March 15, 2012. Definitely book your copy, Our Idiot Brother is a seriously nice surprise.

It’s almost impossible to miss,  spend 15 minutes on the internet and your sure to bump into some mention or other of Marissa Meyer’s Cinder, a new dystopian novel placing a pot of cyborgs, magical powers and evil stepmothers on the boil.

Cinder is the debut novel of New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer . The story is loosely based on the classic fairytale “Cinderella”. Though Cinder is aimed squarley at a young adult/scifi audience, it’s a surprising good read for those of us who have managed to grow facial hair.  Cinder was selected as one of IndieBound’s Kids’ Next List for winter 2012. Read the full article »»»»

Set on the idyllic Hawkesbury River, just 45 minutes from the Sydney CBD – SWEVEN – a hand crafted, contemporary family river house, with spacious open plan living areas, an abundance of window and decking allowing you to take in the amazing Australian bush setting. The house has a  relaxed indoor outdoor feel, complimented by lush, original furnishings. SWEVEN has a decadence you’d expect to find in a city house.

The Hawkesbury River - seriously one of my favourite places on the planet – winds it’s way around the 100 acres that SWEVEN is sat upon, the property has it’s own private beach and an abundance of vista, infact almost every place you stand on this property is a photo-op.

Being surrounded by such opulence, with nature added in for balance, gives SWEVEN an instant-calming feel. Floating in the pool has to be the most mesmerizing, calming notion I’ve had in years. Perhaps it was the cocktails they kept handing me, I’d like to think that it was the meditative gaze the sky and I had going on. Read the full article »»»»

The age of the flower was confirmed by radiocarbon dating at 31,800 years, passing the record for viable regeneration of ancient flora held at 2,000 years by date palm seeds found near the Dead Sea in Israel. The latest findings could be a landmark in research of ancient biological material, demonstrating the importance of permafrost – the natural cryopreservation of plant tissue over many thousands of years. The discovery may be invaluable to the search of ancient gene pools of pre-existing life, which hypothetically has long since vanished from the earth’s surface”, the researchers wrote. Read the full article »»»»

A self-learner, Christian figured out how to cut a single chair from a 20-mm slice of board. We love the way it looks, no matter how it folds. Open, it’s a sturdy seat for extra guests. Closed, it can be hung on the wall, providing graphic interest to a space.

At its launch – 2009 Maison&Objet show in Paris – Desile, produced by Belgium Vange, won the “Coup de Coeur” award by the press and was selected as the “Découverte Now” by a special jury.

ORDER ONLINE: http://aplusrstore.com/

In 2011 Apple finished a close second to Samsung, with sales of 93 million smartphones. J.K. Shin also said Samsung aimed to boost its total handset – including non smartphones –  sales to 380 million this year, which would mark 16 percent sales growth for the world’s No.2 handset maker. Samsung Electronics last year sold 327.4 million handsets, up from 280.2 million in 2010, according to Strategy Analytics. Those foxy Fins, Nokia, though battling to get a foot into the smartphone market, sold 422 handsets in 2011, up from 150 million in 2010.

RELATED: www.technoid.com.au/category/technoid-computer-news/samsung/

GJ1214b was discovered in 2009 by the ground-based MEarth Project. ”GJ1214b is like no planet we know of,” astronomer Zachary Berta said. ”A huge fraction of its mass is made up of water.” In 2010, CfA scientist Jacob Bean and colleagues reported that they had measured the atmosphere of GJ1214b, finding it likely that it was composed mainly of water. However, their observations could also be explained by the presence of a planet-enshrouding haze in GJ1214b’s atmosphere. Read the full article »»»»

“As always, there are the usual nominees and some newcomers, some famous and some unknowns, hailing from the four corners of the world,” the head of the Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestad, said.

Thousands of people are eligible to submit nominations – including members of parliaments and governments worldwide, university professors, past laureates and members of several international institutes – who had until February 1 to propose candidates. The Nobel Institute keeps the names of nominees secret for 50 years, but those who are entitled to nominate are allowed to reveal the name of the person or organisation they have proposed. Read the full article »»»»

James Gillies, a spokesman for CERN, said the lab’s startling result was now in doubt. Earlier on Wednesday, the website ScienceInsider reported the surprising result was down to a loose fibre optic cable linking a Global Positioning System satellite receiver to a computer. ScienceInsider is run by the respected American Association for the Advancement of Science. Mr Gillies confirmed a flaw in the GPS system was now suspected as a possible cause for the surprising reading. Gillies’ says further testing was needed before any definite conclusions could be reached. Read the full article »»»»

“People have these lofty expectations that we’re going to have all the answers to all the problems that plague the world on April 1,” Hirai said in an interview at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress. “We’re not going to have that.”

The once-stellar consumer electronics brand is heading for what it has warned would be a much bigger-than-expected $2.9 billion annual loss, its fourth in a row. The surge of red ink has put Hirai under intense pressure from investors and ratings agencies to quickly staunch losses at the sprawling electronics group. Read the full article »»»»

South Africa reported the highest levels of domestic bliss, with 82 percent of settled South Africans saying nothing could make them happier than their partner. Japanese and South Korean couples were at the other end of the scale. Nearly half said they would hesitate to say their partner was the single best thing in their lives, although they conceded that he or she was the source of at least some of their happiness. Read the full article »»»»

]]> http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?feed=rss2&p=10307 0 http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10336 http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10336#comments Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:55:56 +0000 Michael Courtenay http://www.mcsixtyfive.com.au/?p=10336 Our most favorite cloud app – Dropbox – has unveiled a new photo uploading feature for Android smartphones, potentially sharpening its competition with Google, Apple, and a host of other companies battling to rule the burgeoning market for online storage solutions. With a single click, the feature will allow users to wirelessly upload high-resolution pictures straight from their smartphones onto the virtual “cloud,” where the files can be accessed from any computer or mobile device. Dropbox only offers users storage space – the service will not provide any photo editing or manipulation features, like those provided by Google’s Picasa program.

Instead, CEO Drew Houston said, the company hopes that third-party developers will step in and do precisely that. Houston said the new development represented a small but significant step toward cultivating a thriving “ecosystem” around the Dropbox platform. In the case of photos, for example, the company will encourage independent developers to write programs to touch up photos. ”Facebook tied your friends and your social graph into this ecosystem that offered all these services,” Houston said. “We envision similar things with Dropbox.” He added: “It’s a major theme for us going forward this year.” Read the full article »»»

CrowdStrike – which will demonstrate its findings next week at RSA 2012 in San Francisco – said an attacker sends an email or text message that appears to be from a trusted source, like the user’s phone carrier. The message urges the recipient to click on a link, which if done infects the device. At that point, the hacker gains complete control of the phone, enabling him or her to eavesdrop on phone calls and monitor the location of the device, said Dmitri Alperovitch, chief technology officer and co-founder of CrowdStrike. Read the full article »»»

The disease remains a huge problem in countries from Indonesia to Egypt. When the H5N1 strain of bird flu has been contracted by humans, more than 60 per cent have died, making it one of the most lethal strains of flu ever detected. An expert panel convened by the WHO has decided the research should be published in full. The panel says the research should not be published until it has increased public awareness and understanding and reviewed issues of bio-safety and biosecurity. Read the full article »»»»

RELATED: www.sociallyengineered.com.au/julian-assange/

Frost is known for his kaleidoscopic Pop Art, mash-up paintings that take inspiration from areas as diverse as graffiti, collage, photorealism and sign-writing. Subverting mainstream iconography from the worlds of advertising, entertainment and politics, he creates a visual framework that is bold, confrontational and often controversial. Read the full article »»»»

Lawless said she was not concerned at the prospect of being arrested. ”I’m a true believer,” she said by mobile phone from the ship.

“We need to start switching over to renewable energy now; we don’t have to go to the ends of the earth to suck out every last drop of oil.”

Lawless, who starred as the title character in the fantasy television series Xena: Warrior Princess from 1995-2001, is a long-time environmental activist who was named as a Greenpeace ambassador in 2009. Police said the protesters had climbed a drilling tower on the ship and were displaying banners.

“The protesters are clearly breaking the law by trespassing on the ship and we are currently liaising with the port of Taranaki and the harbour master to decide the most appropriate course of action,” Inspector Blair Telford said.

The US Interior Department granted Shell conditional provisional approval to begin drilling exploration wells in the Arctic Ocean last August, in a move slammed by conservationists as “inexcusable”.

Sotheby’s describes The Scream as “one of the most instantly recognisable images in both art history and popular culture, perhaps second only to the Mona Lisa.” There are four versions of the painting, which features a man screaming and clutching his head against a wavy, brightly-coloured landscape, but this is the only one in private hands. The influence of the image, described by Munch as recording a moment of paralysing anxiety during a walk with friends in the hills above Oslo, has few parallels. Read the full article »»»»

Prosecutors say Dotcom – also known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor – was the ringleader of a group that netted $US175 million ($164 million) since 2005 by copying and distributing music, movies and other copyrighted content without authorisation.Dotcom’s lawyers say the company simply offered online storage and that he strenuously denies the charges. Read the full article »»»»