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Archive for February, 2011
Jules Verne 183rd Birthday!
Feb 8th
Google is honoring Jules Verne by creating a doodle on the 183rd birthday of the legendary writer! The doodle is made to appear like portholes in a submarine. The 3D-view looks out into an artistic interpretation of the ocean, with fish and plants of varying colors. A switch to the right allows users to adjust the view up or down, left or right, to see all the underwater marvels, including a pair of deep sea divers.
Jules Verne was born in France on Feb. 8, 1828. His first book was “Five Weeks in a Balloon,” which was published in 1863. More >
AOL buys Huffington Post for $315 million in cash and stock!
Feb 7th
AOL buys Huffington Post for $315 million. AOL Inc. announced late Sunday that it would buy the Huffington Post, the well-known news and opinion site. This is the AOL’s biggest move since it became an independent company in 2009.
The deal is worth $300 million in cash with $15 million in stock as per The Newyork Times. Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington will oversee a new group responsible for bringing together all editorial content from both companies including news, technology, music and local media websites. The new group will be known as the Huffington Post Media Group.
The Huffington Post Media Group will also be in charge of MapQuest, AOL Music, AutoBlog, Patch, Engadget and TechCrunch. Arianna Huffington posted the announcement of acquisition in her blog saying “By combining HuffPost with AOL’s network of sites, thriving video initiative, local focus, and international reach, we know we’ll be creating a company More >
Christina Aguilera fluffed national anthem in Super Bowl XLV!
Feb 7th
Christina Aguilera fluffed her lines while singing the national anthem at the start of the Super Bowl last night, in front of a television audience of more than 100 million.
Aguliera, who has handled the task without issue before NBA games, botched the lyrics badly halfway through the song. Instead of “‘O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming” turned into “what so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last reaming.” More >
Cyclone Yasi: Destruction and Devastation in Queensland!
Feb 3rd
Cyclone Yasi – The first category five cyclones in a century to cross the coast – caused widespread destruction across north Queensland overnight.
Small communities including Mission Beach, where Yasi hit at midnight, nearby Tully, Innisfail and Cardwell were hardest hit by Yasi’s violent winds and rains.
The coastal community of Cardwell which is about 50km south of Tully is completely devastated. Million-dollar boats torn apart at a nearby marina and buildings reduced to shells. Power lines are down everywhere and the town is barely recognizable. More >
Chinese New Year: The year of Rabbit
Feb 3rd
Chinese New Year: The year of Rabbit. Happy New year China! The new year in the China named after rabbit begins on Thursday!
2011 is the year of Rabbit starting Thursday 3rd February and on Wednesday ends the year of the Tiger. The lunar horoscope says the rabbit is naturally happy and a homebody. In China, there’s no housecleaning on New Year’s Day – it would wash away the good fortune.
New York’s Empire State Building lit up its tower red and gold to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year on Wednesday.
“The lights on top of the Empire State Building, carrying the spirit of peace, cooperation, prosperity and harmony, have played an important role in promoting intercultural understanding and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States,” said Dong Xiaojun, Deputy Consul General of the Chinese Consulate More >
Tropical Cyclone Yasi to strike Queensland Coast Australia
Feb 2nd
Australia: Queensland coast is about to hit by a deadliest tropical Cyclone Yasi with ferocity the likes of which hasn’t been seen since 1918 as officials warned it could be the deadliest storm in generations.
Yasi was upgraded to a category five storm from category four as it menaced the populous east coast, where it was expected to hit around 10pm (1200 GMT) on Wednesday, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Yasi is on track to make landfall between Innisfail and Cardwell about 11pm (AEST) tonight (2am Thursday NZT), with authorities confident they have the site within a 30km range of accuracy.
The cyclone already has winds of 295km/h that have knocked out weather monitoring equipment on Willis Island, off Cairns, and was bringing down trees at Ayr, near Townsville, on Wednesday morning.
Yasi will cross the coast on the high tide, meaning a storm surge that will accompany it will be devastating for low-lying areas. More >
Raja: The Former Telecom Minister of India got arrested for 2G spectrum scam
Feb 2nd
Raja, the Former Telecom minister of India was arrested today along with his two former associates in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.
Raja, his former personal secretary R K Chandolia and former Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura were arrested for allegedly abusing their official position and manipulating the tendering procedures to benefit certain telecom companies in getting the spectrum. Raja was born in May, 1963 in a Dalit family in Perambalur, Tamil Nadu. Raja got a BSc and law degrees from Trichy. He was a student leader of the Dravidar Kazhagam, More >
Japan Volcano Eruption from Mount Shinmoedake in the Kirishimna range
Feb 1st
Japan Volcano eruption: The volcano became active last Wednesday firing red-hot magma and volcanic bombs into the air in southern Japan erupted Tuesday with its biggest explosion yet, shooting out a huge plume of gas, boulders and ash.
This is the largest eruption since it burst back to life last week covered wide areas in ash, shot boulders onto distant roads, knocked down trees and broke hundreds of windows in hotels and offices. The danger zone around Shinmoedake volcano was widened to keep residents safe
Mount Kirishima, a volcano on the southern island of Kyushu, began erupting on Jan. 26. A giant ash cloud poured from the volcano, prompting the Tokyo VAAC to issue an ash warning for places above 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers).
NHK said the eruption was five times larger than the initial activity last week, which was Shinmoedake’s first major eruption in 52 years. More >