The Oktoberfest tradition started in 1810 to celebrate the October 12th marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The citizens of Munich were invited to join in the festivities which were held over five days on the fields in front of the city gates…Oktoberfest 2010 Pictures…
Same old story
According to the UK newspaper The Guardian, ‘The G20 officer caught on video assaulting Ian Tomlinson minutes before he died faces being dismissed from the Metropolitan police before Christmas’. The officer is still, apparently, on full pay although he has been suspended. If the roles had been reversed, would Ian Tomlinson be free or would he have been arrested, charged …
All fall down
Palantine Beds, in Newcastle, are eagerly awaiting confirmation of a new Guinness World Record for human mattress dominoes after they toppled 400 mattresses to beat the current record of 380 set two weeks ago by a team in America. Prior to this, the record was held by a Chinese team with 280. The company spent months planning the attempt, having …
Possible, but unlikely
There could be good news for Harry Potter fans after author J.K. Rowling left the door slightly ajar for more books about the boy wizard in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. She said: ‘ I don’t think I will … I feel I am done, but you never know’….A Flicker of Hope for More Harry Potter…She certainly doesn’t need the …
The fun side of science
The ig Nobel prizes have become almost as famous, even prestigious, as the ‘real thing’. They are awarded for what is termed as ‘improbable research’, and this year’s candidates were no exception. A whale breathalyzer, a cure for asthma involving roller-coaster rides….ig Nobel prizes…
Penguin privacy invaded
Google Street View has now extended to Antarctica with the penguins of Half Moon Island being one of the available images. Most of Google Street View’s images are normally taken from a fleet of adapted cars but the Antarctica photos are, for the moment at least, a combination of Google and user photographs. Hope the penguins have got encryption on …
Is ‘sorry’ enough?
The United States government has apologised for deliberately infecting hundreds of people in Guatemala with gonorrhoea and syphilis as part of medical tests carried out between 1932 and 1972….US sorry over deliberate sex infections in Guatemala… If any other country did this they would invade, instigate sanctions and cause a right fuss.
Unequally equal
Druidry has been recognised as an official religion in Britain for the first time, the Druid Network having been given charitable status by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, a quango that decides what counts as a genuine faith as well as regulating fundraising bodies. An additional benefit is that Druids will now be protected under the proposed new …
Italy find iPhone application ‘offensive’
Italy’s Minister of Tourism is demanding that Apple remove one of the applications from its online store as it is deemed to be ‘offensive’ and ‘unacceptable’. The application, for iPhones, iPads etc, is a travel guide called ‘What Country?’ and it characterises each country with words and images.
Lost and Found
The problem with becoming a major player, or institution, upon whom more and more people depend from day to day, when an error occurs then people get annoyed. There has been speculation, on several occasions, that Google had actually found the ‘lost’ city of Atlantis, but this was not one of those, far from it. And so it was when, …