5 SECONDS OF SUMMER

Michael Clifford Fires Back at Abigail Breslin's Diss Track

Stars Most Stylish Selfie of the Week

Stars Most Stylish Selfie of the Week

GMAIL BLOCKED IN CHINA

5-Minute Outfit Idea

5-Minute Outfit Idea: An Effortless, Polished Look to Try This Weekend.

Facebook suffers outage

Facebook suffers outage affecting users worldwide!! .

Friday 25 July 2014

Get Ready for a 72-Hour Minecraft Marathon

Get Ready for a 72-Hour Minecraft Marathon


For almost three years Minecrafthas been officially dominating the PC and console market with it’s simple look and addictive gameplay.
We are simply astounded at how fast the Minecraft community has grown. They’ve gathered at conventions, created clans, and gone above and beyond what’s normal for your typical fanbase.
This weekend, a crew of Minecraft fans will gather for a 72-hour Minecraftmarathon. They’ll be punching trees, building shelters, and riding minecarts, and it’s all for an amazing cause. Starting July 25th at 5:00am ET, a 1,000 personMinecraft server will open with a $2.99 entrance fee.
All proceeds will be donated to AbleGamers.com, which will help disabled gamers have easier access to more mainstream games. We are over the moon with how awesome this marathon is shaping up to be. You’ll be able to watch it all if you want in this weekend on Twitch.tv.

Disney Infinity 2.0's Release Date Has Been Announced!

Disney Infinity 2.0's Release Date Has Been Announced! 

With all of the epic Disney Infinity 2.0 news rolling in recently, all we’ve been asking is when can we get our hands on all of our favorite characters?
Well it’s no longer a mystery! You’ll be able to bring together Spider-ManThe Avengers, and the Guardians of the Galaxy starting on September 23. That means this fall, you’ll be able to make sure that justice rules in the universe and keep the bad guys at bay.

The most exciting part of all of this is that we’ll be able to team our favorite heroes up with all of our current Disney figures. Mike Wazowski teaming up alongsideIron Man? Oh yeah, you know we’re going to be making that happen.

One Direction Announces Autobiography!one

One Direction Announces Autobiography!


We're still coming off the exciting day that was One Direction's fourth anniversary, but now 1D has even bigger news! The boys announced on Instagram that they're releasing an autobiography, covering their early X Factor days to their current successes.

Where We Are promises exclusive pics, drawings (probably some from Zayn Malik, who's an amazing artist!), and handwritten notes, the book will be available September 25th.

The Wanted Blames One Direction for Their Breakup

The Wanted Blames One Direction for Their Breakup


Fans are shocked now that Tom Parker is speaking up about the split. While he claims there is no animosity between the members of The Wanted, Tom says One Direction is to blame for their demise!
Even though Ed Sheeran called a truce when The Wanted and One Direction were feuding, Tom told Digital Spy that One Direction's success wasn't good for the band.
"For The Wanted to try and compete against one of the biggest bands in the world — One Direction — it's almost impossible," he said. "I don't think any band out there can compete with them at the moment."
While we acknowledge that One Direction is huge, we don't think they're entirely to blame for The Wanted's break up, even if 1D's dominance contributed to their record label dropping them.

Nokia Sees Brighter Future Without Handset Unit Associated Press

Nokia Sees Brighter Future Without Handset Unit

There is life after mobile phones for Nokia.
Shares in the Finnish wireless equipment maker surged Thursday after it reported higher profits and an improved earnings outlook in the wake of the sale to Microsoft of its troubled handset division.
The Finnish company said its second-quarter profit rose 20 percent to 213 million euros ($285 million) on the back of improved profitability of its key networks unit. Net sales in the April to June period fell to 2.9 billion euros from 3.2 billion euros in the same period last year, mainly due to divestments and currency fluctuations at the networks gear unit.

Nokia Corp.'s stock closed up 7.3 percent at 6.14 euros on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
Chief Executive Rajeev Suri said the result "shows the strength of the company today" as the Finnish firm has restructured and adopted a new business strategy after completing the sale of its mobile phone unit to Microsoft in April.

Suri gave an upbeat outlook for the core networks unit which now accounts for around 90 percent of Nokia's revenue. He said the unit's full-year 2014 operating margin was expected to be "at or slightly above" the long-term target of 5-10 percent, an update to the previous forecast.
"Our expectations for the full year 2014 have improved," said Suri, who took over as Nokia's CEO on May 1.
Indian-born Suri, who has worked at Nokia since 1995, has been largely credited with turning the company around as the former head of the Nokia Solutions and Networks unit. He reiterated that the revenue of the Networks unit was expected to grow during the second-half of the year.

Chief Financial Officer Timo Ihamuotila said in an interview with Finnish national broadcaster YLE that the networks unit - a major provider of the next generation 4G wireless networks - has done particularly well in boosting market share in China, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
"Nokia is now a strong and a profitable company," Ihamuotila said, pointing to the company's net cash reserves of 6.5 billion euros, which more than tripled from the end of March, before the closing of the 5.44 billion-euro handset unit deal with Microsoft.

Nokia is determined to grow also in two of its other remaining businesses - software and maps. The company said it was seeing particularly good growth in the automotive business for the HERE location-services and map unit. Among Nokia's map-technology clients are Amazon.com, Microsoft, Yahoo Inc. and providers of car-navigation systems.

Nokia employed 56,600 workers worldwide at end of the quarter.

Researchers Use Smartphone App to Study Factors Affecting Gut Bacteria

Researchers Use Smartphone App to Study Factors Affecting Gut Bacteria

A smartphone app used by two volunteers for one year to track their daily life has thrown interesting results about the composition of gut bacteria and its close relationship with health.
These participants used smartphone apps to collect information every day for a year in the study by scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University.
They logged their daily activity, including diet, exercise, bowel movements and mood and submit regular stool and saliva samples.

The samples were analysed in detail to see what had the greatest effect on the composition of the microbiota.
The results showed that the participants had a "default" microbiota which were unaffected by sleep levels, exercise and mood.
What did have a significant effect on the microbiota were two life events - one subject moved abroad while the other had a significant bout of food poisoning which caused most pre-existing gut bacterial species to decline.

"Life events such as visiting another country or contracting a disease cause a significant shift in the make-up of the gut microbiota - the community of bacteria living in the digestive system," researchers explained.

The authors think the method could be rolled out to studies of human-bacteria relationships with many more participants.

"This has given us a lot of new ideas for follow up studies and analyses of gut microbial ecology as well as infectious diseases in humans," professor Lawrence David from Duke University said.
The study published in the open access journal Genome Biology.

Texas Governor's Startup Fund Is Not All It Seems

Texas Governor's Startup Fund Is Not All It Seems
Associated Press

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has distributed $205 million in taxpayer money to scores of technology startups using a pet program designed to bring high-paying jobs and innovation to the nation's second most-populous state.

But a closer look at the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, one of Perry's signature initiatives in his 14 years as governor, reveals that some of the businesses that received money are not all they seem. One actually operates in California. Some have stagnated trying to find more capital. Others have listed out-of-state employees and short-term hires as being among the jobs they created.
A few have forfeited their right to do business in Texas by not filing tax reports.

An Associated Press review of the program found that some of the same companies credited with creating a share of the program's 1,600 new jobs have actually stalled and in some cases blamed Perry's office for their struggles.

Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history and a possible 2016 presidential candidate, has for several years travelled the country extolling the strength of the Texas economy and bragging about his efforts to bring new investment to the state, including the tech fund. On Thursday, he awarded $6 million from a similar incentive program to Charles Schwab Corp., with the expectation of creating 1,200 jobs.

His office insists that it conducts regular compliance checks of the tech fund and defended the accuracy of annual reports given to Texas lawmakers, saying fluctuating business activity and employment numbers are the nature of startups.

"Because these are Texas taxpayer dollars, our office takes very seriously the need to ensure they are being used as efficiently and effectively as possible," Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said.
The tech fund works like this: In exchange for money, startups give the state an equity position in their businesses. If the companies are successful, the state recoups its investment or even makes a profit. If they go bankrupt or shut down - and at least 16 have so far - the dollars are lost.

Those failures represent only a fraction of the fund's full portfolio of more than 130 companies, some of which are clearly thriving. Venture capital funds are risky by nature and often endure losses. About 1 in 4 venture-backed startups fail, according to industry groups. Some studies put the rate of flops much higher.

But questionable job-creation figures and undisclosed business struggles in the fund's annual report heap fresh doubts about transparency onto the fund, which has long been criticized as too opaque, including in a scathing 2011 report by state auditors.

Julia Sass Rubin, a venture capital expert who studies economic development at Rutgers University, said the lack of transparency runs counter to the private sector, where investors get more detailed information about performance.
"If this were a traditional venture capital fund, this would never fly," Rubin said.
Targazyme Inc. is one example of a problematic startup. On paper, the San Antonio-based startup is developing stem-cell breakthroughs with 14 employees and the help of $1.25 million in state funds. But the rural address listed for its Texas headquarters is actually a weedy horse pasture. During a recent visit by a reporter, the ex-husband of the CEO was warning his guest to watch for rattlesnakes.

Targazyme founder Lynnet Koh said her company is moving forward but that she left Texas because Perry's office withheld additional funding, a complaint echoed by other recipients. She now lives in California and said many of the jobs created by the company were short-term hires outside Texas, none of which is mentioned in the fund's 2013 annual report.

"If you ask me on a scale of 1-to-10 satisfaction with the state, I give it a zero," Koh said. "Never, ever. Not for any money in the world would I do business with ETF."

Nashed said Perry's office began working with Targazyme after learning how much business it was doing outside Texas. She said a final resolution will be disclosed in the next annual report.
Houston-based Cormedics Corp. received $750,000 and was credited with creating four jobs last year, including that of founder Jim Meador, who told AP that he's not even paying himself right now. His medical device startup has struggled to attract more outside investment. Meador said he spent most of last year doing consulting work in California, where he also tried recruiting new investors.

"I've got to go out and do consulting and do whatever I need to do to bring money through the door so I don't waste away and die," said Meador, who defended the tech fund as rigid in its oversight.
The fund is not without successes. ZS Pharma, which received $2 million from the state in 2010, raised nearly $107 million in an initial public offering last month. Buoyed by that type of home run, Perry's office in February appraised the fund's value at $221 million - about $30 million more than taxpayers have invested.

It was a sharp uptick from the previous appraisal in 2012, when Perry's office faced questions about whether the fund was even breaking even. Using government accounting standards, the fund is currently valued at $175 million, but Nashed said the governor's office uses private sector guidelines because it believed "a valuation method commonly used by the industry was most appropriate." The appraised values of each company in the portfolio are not made public.

Three companies that had received a combined $2 million in state funds had their right to transact business in Texas forfeited last year for failure to submit required tax filings, according to the state comptroller's office.

One of the startups, Merkatum Corp., had not filed since 2012 but submitted new documents July 14, days after the AP asked Perry's office about the company's status. Merkatum President Jose Luque did not return phone messages seeking comment.

With Perry not seeking re-election next year, a new wave of Republican leaders in Texas have shown unease with his economic-development programs that give taxpayer dollars to private companies. That raises the possibility that the funds may not outlive his tenure.

On Wednesday, a new legislative committee tasked with reviewing those programs listened to business groups, which acknowledged the criticism but also insisted that the programs work as advertised.
The governor and the Legislature have built "an engine of growth through innovation," reads the most recent technology fund report published in February. The fund "is an integral component for the ongoing development of Texas' economy."

Google Baseline Study Seeks to Define a Healthy Human

Google Baseline Study Seeks to Define a Healthy Human
NDTV

Google's research division, Google X, is sailing into uncharted waters with its latest project - the Baseline Study. The study will collect anonymous genetic and molecular information from 175 people initially, which will then expand to thousands more with a single purpose - creating the most comprehensive database of information on what a healthy human being should be like.
According to a news report by the Wall Street Journal the initial phase of the project is being run by Dr. Andrew Conrad, a Molecular Biologist, who joined Google X last year and has amassed a team of around 70 to 100 experts from fields that include physiology, biochemistry, optics, imaging and molecular biology. Also working along with him is Dr. Sam Gambhir, who chairs the Department of Radiology at Stanford University's medical school. The duo have been working on the project for over a year now.

Baseline will amass a wide set of data, and use Google's massive computing power to help researchers that will help researchers detect diseases like cancer and heart disease far earlier than ever before. The idea will be to create a preventive rather than curative approach towards medicine. Dr. Conrad says that in order to move towards a preventive approach they would need to have a more definitive picture of what a healthy human body looks like. The efforts are all directed towards this end.
The Baseline Study according to the report will not be fixed on working towards eliminating or controlling the threat from any one particular disease. Also unlike other similar studies the project will collect data from a vast variety of individuals, both healthy and sick.

Google will use its computing prowess to identify 'biomarkers' stored in the data that is being collected. Dr. Conrad says, giving an example, that once the biomarker used to more efficiently breakdown fatty foods is identified, it can be studied and researchers could check whether people lack it or have it so that preventive treatments can be prescribed accordingly.

Apart from just genetic information that's collected from volunteers at participating testing clinics (via blood, saliva, tears, and urine), the Google X team will also be distributing specially developed wearable devices to the subjects of the Baseline Study, to help them gain information such as heart rates and oxygen levels. Devices such as Google's smart contact lens will also be used to help monitor glucose levels continuously. Other information noted about the subject through other media would include medical reports on how people react to medication, how they perform under stress, and more.
Of course, with so much data being collected, the questions of privacy come in. Google says the data will be accessible it and other researchers only after it has been made anonymous. Google also adds that the information obtained from Baseline will not be shared with insurance firms, who would consider such information invaluable for reducing risks associated with medical insurances.

Still, the idea that Google would have access to data about the very make-up of person is something that can be debated on the lines of ethics. The report states that the Baseline Study will be monitored by boards run by the medical schools at Duke University and Stanford University, which will control how the information is used. Dr. Gambhir also says that Google 'will not have a free reign to do whatever it wants with the data'.

The Baseline Study, as Dr. Conrad puts it, will be a slow one with 'little increments'. Unlike the other Google Moonshot projects (called so because of their high-risk low-reward ratios), which include theGlass wearable, self driving cars, and Project Loon (Internet delivered via high-altitude balloons), the Baseline Study appears not to be a commercial project but certainly does takes Google further into the health-care sector - where recent efforts with Glass and the smart contact lens have borne fruit. The study does also seem to fits with the Google viewpoint of organising, collecting and making available information universally.

Alleged iPhone 6 SIM Card Tray, Power and Volume Flex Cables Spotted

Alleged iPhone 6 SIM Card Tray, Power and Volume Flex Cables Spotted
NDTV

Apple seems to have been unable to plug all of the holes in the increasingly 'leaky' supply chain of the company. The other day, we were treated with leaked images of the alleged iPhone 6's purportedinternal components, namely the flex cable for the Lightning and headphone assembly.
Following on the same lines, now the purported flex cables of the power and volume controls of the anticipated iPhone 6 have been leaked in images, alongside the flex cables for the SIM card tray. The new leaked images come courtesy the Taiwan-based Apple Club, first picked up by MacRumors, and show two sets of flex cables for the volume rocker and power controls. However, the report notes that it is hard to determine which of the two belong to the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 model or the 5.5-inch iPhone 6model.

Apple is widely expected to compete in the large-screen smartphone segment with the launch of its next iPhone models, rumoured to come in two screen sizes - 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch.
The leaked flex cables are reportedly different from the ones found the iPhone 5s, iPad Air, and iPad mini. The Taiwanese site has also posted an image of a long flex cable (unspecified function), alongside an image showing five SIM card trays. Notably, the leaked SIM card trays, believed to be from the next iPhone models, are cobalt blue in colour (at least three out of the five leaked); tipping that Apple might introduce one of the two iPhone 6 rumoured models in Cobalt Blue variant. The Apple iPhone 5c, launched last year, comes in a Cobalt Blue colour.

On Thursday, a report claimed that Apple has planned a tentative keynote address in mid-September for the launch of the iPhone 6. The report, citing people briefed on the company's plans, suggested that the September event could see the long-rumoured 4.7-inch iPhone 6 release.
Recently, Apple's next iPhone device launch was tipped to launch on September 19 - leaked by apromotional flyer from China.
The final decision about whether to debut the alleged 5.5-inch iPhone 6 model, rumoured to be called the iPhone Air, has reportedly yet to be taken. We remind readers however, that nothing is official yet, and that all such leaks must be taken with a pinch of salt.

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Butt Heads at Hong Kong's Ani-Com Expo

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Butt Heads at Hong Kong's Ani-Com Expo
NDTV
Fans dressed as Transformers, Iron Man and Jedi knights were among thousands at the first day of Hong Kong's comic and games expo Friday, where Xbox and Playstation went head-to-head with their new consoles.
The Ani-Com show at the city's harbourside convention centre is one of the biggest of its kind in Asia and was packed with teenagers, many of them in coloured wigs and costumes mimicking their favourite Japanese comic book heroes.
While some lined up for limited edition toys and figures, hundreds of gaming aficionados queued atSony and Microsoft's booths to try the games giants' latest launches.

Sony was showcasing the Playstation 4 and much-anticipated racing game, 'Driveclub' while US rival Microsoft was promoting its Xbox One console.

The Xbox One will launch in China in September, the first games console to be officially released on the mainland after Beijing lifted a ban on the devices, which it had imposed in 2000.

The console went on sale in Hong Kong on Friday and is also set to launch in Japan in September.
"We have superior gaming experience," Microsoft head of marketing Anna Chow told AFP, highlighting the Xbox's voice command function and Kinect motion detection system.

But Sony - exhibiting at Ani-Com for the first time -- was confident it would remain dominant in the Asia market.

"We are a very popular brand in Hong Kong and in Asian countries... the feedback from our customers is very positive," Sony Entertainment public relations manager Jessie Chan told AFP.
Both the PS4 and Xbox One were first launched in the US and other markets in late 2013.

For 19-year-old Hong Konger Kaze Wong, dressed in the brown-and-white robes of a Star Wars' Jedi knight, the expo was a chance to share his enthusiasm for the legendary American film franchise.
"We want to help Hong Kongers familiarise themselves with science fiction characters from the US -- a lot of people are more interested in the Japanese comic characters" Wong said, as he and half a dozen other 'Jedi' posed waving toy lightsabers.

Production for the new "Star Wars: Episode VII" movie began in May with many of the lead actors from the original film making a return. The latest installment is due for worldwide release on December 18, 2015.

Ani-Com, which saw almost 730,000 visitors in 2013, runs until July 29.

Marvel Celebrates Comic-Con With 1-Month's Unlimited Subscription at $0.99

Marvel Celebrates Comic-Con With 1-Month's Unlimited Subscription at $0.99
NDTV

The San Diego Comic-Con is one of the biggest comic conventions that be held each year. Uniting comic fans from across the globe, the event showcases the latest titles, story lines, and characters being introduced every year, along with announcements about upcoming superhero films. And putting the foot to the gas pedal is Marvel Comics which is unlocking the gates to comic heaven. Marvel Comics is for the course of a week (starting with the July 24 kick-off of Comic-Con) putting its entire online comic archive, totalling over 15,000 comics, at the disposal of comic fans and enthusiasts for the cost of a cup of coffee.

At 99 cents users can access the Marvel Unlimited comics archive for the period of one month. The titles which will be available include the latest titles as well as those from the Golden and Silver age of comics. Along with these limited edition story lines, which have been the inspiration behind major Hollywood blockbusters, too will be available to the readers.

According to reports a majority of the issues are just digital prints but there are the likes of Marvel's Infinite Comics, which are designed exclusively for reading on screens. There is behind the scenes content too for comics like Jonathan Hickman's The Avengers.

 The six-issue Captain America: The Winter Soldier storyline and a host of other titles like Ironman, Spiderman, Thor and The Mighty Hulk.
The online experience also includes something called adaptive audio where the background music changes as the plot of the story grows thicker. The comics can be read on PC, Mac, iOS and Android devices. Users can download up to 12 comics at a time for offline reading. The comics are only for reading and cannot be downloaded and owned.

The regular Marvel Unlimited subscriptions from $9.99 (roughly Rs. 610) a month to $69 (roughly Rs. 4,150) for a year. The Annual Plus membership costs $99 (roughly Rs. 6,000). Along with exclusive offers it includes a limited edition six-inch Age of Ultron figure. Users can read comics up to six months back, as the latest comics are added to the marvel Unlimited archive after six months. The Marvel Unlimited app can be downloaded from the App Store and the Google Play Store, and is also available for Windows and Mac.

Thursday 24 July 2014

Justin Bieber's Beverly Hills Parties Draw Attention of Police

Justin Bieber's Beverly Hills Parties Draw Attention of Police


Justin Bieber is grabbing the attention of police yet again.
Beverly Hills Police responded to six calls last weekend from Bieber's neighbors complaining of loud parties and disruptive fans, police told ABC News.
Four of the calls were related to parties at the singer's Beverly Hills condo, as well as the rooftop of his complex on July 19 and 20, while two more calls were in regard to his fans on the sidewalk, police said.
Police would like the controversial star, 20, to calm down if he's going to live in their city.
“We enforce the laws of Beverly Hills and we will, of course, respond when neighbors call," Beverly Hills Police Department Sgt. Matt Subin said. "We request that if Mr. Bieber has these parties that he tone it down. We always look at the circumstances, and if the party is too loud we will ask him to please turn down the music and/or shut down the party.”
Subin added that Bieber has cooperated when they show up and that "he does turn down the music."
"But it is often a cat-and-mouse game," Subin said. "We are reaching out to his staff to advise them of certain penalties of the party calls that we are receiving in the hopes we can work together to eliminate these calls. We request he is a good neighbor of Beverly Hills. We want him to be respectful to his neighbor’s wishes, as he is again in a condo that is densely populated in close proximity of other residents.”
In the end, Bieber was not cited, just given verbal warnings.
These incidents were Bieber's latest in a string of run-ins with the law, including an alleged egging incident in January to which the singer pleaded no contest, got probation and was required to attend an anger management course.