Interesting News Of The Week 23/07/2012

New week, new story, you get the idea by now.
Here's the stories.

Windows 8 a 'catastrophe'

Slightly technical story for the first one this week about Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system.

Here's the story.

It has been said that the operating system Windows 8 will be a "catastrophe" for the majority if not all PC game makers.

Speaking at the Casual Connect game conference in Seattle, Gabe Newell said the next version of Windows could mean big changes to the PC market, many people took his comment as a criticism of the changed user interface in Windows 8 as well as its built-in Windows Store, but it is unsure that whether that is truly what he meant.

The Windows Store could dent the success of the Valve's (involved in software for computers and other devices) own online market, some of you will know Valve through Steam, which players buy games through.

Mr Newell, who has worked for Microsoft for 13 years on Windows and is now the boss of the company Valve, said his company had embraced the open-source software Linux as a "hedging strategy" designed to offset some of the damage Windows 8 was likely to do to the market.

He followed it up by saying: "We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well. Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space.".

Let's put this into perspective, the arrival of Windows 8 would be likely to drive some PC makers and others out of the business because it put so much pressure on them and their sales margins.

He said the success of Valve, known for its Half Life, Left4Dead and Portal titles, had been down to the open nature of the PC. "We've been a free rider, and we've been able to benefit from everything that went into PCs and the internet," he told the conference. "And we have to continue to figure out how there will be open platforms."

The openness of these things that helped Valve also helped firms such as Google and Zynga could disappear with Windows 8.

The new "Windows Store" in the Microsoft operating system is a shop through which users will be able to buy apps for their Windows 8 device and appears to only be those devices, not being open to Windows 7 and earlier versions.

On some versions of Windows 8, it will be the only way to get downloadable software such as games.

Microsoft will take a cut of up to 30% of every sale made through this store, meaning that they could be making a lot of money out of this. This could also be a significant threat to the massively successful Steam online game store.

Windows 8 links with Microsoft's Xbox Live online game service, basically taking that and updating it for their new devices.

Mr Newell left everyone with the following statement:
"This isn't about video games, it's about thinking about goods and services in a digital world.".

Here's an image of Valve and their Steam's logo's:

Flag Fallout - London To Blame?

Well I'm sure you've all heard about this story by now,

but here it is anyway.

Olympic officials in London are said to be to blame for a flag row which jeopardised a women's football game at Hampden Stadium in Glasgow.

The North Korean women's team walked off after a video produced to introduce their players showed the South Korean flag rather than their own.
Fortunately they later returned to play the match.

BBC Scotland understand that the video package was sent from London but Hampden organisers had no input.
Prime Minister David Cameron described it as "an honest mistake".

In a news conference on the eve of the opening ceremony of the Games, he told assembled journalists: "This was an honest mistake, honestly made. An apology has been made and I'm sure every step has been taken to ensure these things don't happen again. We shouldn't over-inflate this episode - it was unfortunate, it shouldn't have happened and I think we can leave it at that.".

The North Korean team could only be persuaded to return for their match against Colombia after the error was corrected, which in my opinion is rightly so, why would they want to play under the wrong flag.

As yet the London games organisers have been reported to be unable to clarify who made the video, either that or they don't want to say.

Now you might be wondering why this flag error had the impact it did, well it's because of the situation which exists between both Koreas.
Both countries are still technically at war after the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, so they were extemely right to be offended.

Speaking after the match, North Korea's coach Sin Ui Gun said: "Our team was not going to participate unless the problem was solved properly." rightly showing their flag and respecting not only the team but the country.

The incident has made headlines around the world except in communist controlled North Korea, probably because of the outrage it would cause.
State news agency KCNA reported the women's Olympic football team beating Colombia 2-0 but made no mention of the flag row, once again avoiding conflict.

Meanwhile, Hampden Stadium will host two more Olympic football games on Thursday and hopefully getting the flags right this time, more checks are expected to be made before the next games.

In the men's preliminaries, Honduras will play Morocco at 12:00, followed by Spain v Japan at 14:45.

Here's the BBC's news coverage of the situation:

Summary of the week

So this week we have Microsoft possibly making big mistakes causing upset to a lot of people and London 2012 getting of to a bad start.

Interesting News Of The Week 25/06/2012

Nearly missed this week due to my internet being down, but I'm here and it's a new week so here's a new post, enjoy.

Bishop quits over Bikini Snaps

This story is about religion or at least a lead figure from it, a bishop, and some of the sins hes commited (naughty bishop).

Here's the story.

The Pope has recently accepted the resignation of an Argentine bishop named Fernando Bargallo after the publication of pictures showing him embracing a woman on a Mexican beach.

The bishop who is 57, was photographed in the sea, hugging a woman in a bikini, awkward.

He initially said she was a childhood friend, but later admitted to having had "amorous ties" with her, (in other words some form of a realationship with her).

So wait that's a lying bishop, that's not a very good, seeing as he's supposed to be a religious role model.

The so called scandal happened last week, when an Argentine television station broadcasted pictures of Monsignor Bargallo on holiday at a beach resort in Mexico in the company of the woman in the bikini.

So if she is just a childhood frriend then why in one of the pictures is he is seen half-submerged in the water, embracing the woman in her bikini? Seems suspicious to me.

Shortly after the pictures were published, Monsignor Bargallo gave a public statement saying that the woman was a childhood friend, whom he had known all of his life, likely story there.

He said the situation in which he had been photographed was "imprudent, as it could lead people to jump to the wrong conclusion", big words there bishop.

He asked his flock (flock? wait I didnt know he was a bird) to forgive him for "the ambiguity of the pictures" (yet again more big words) and urged them to view the photos "in the context of a long friendship", yeah right.

But later that same week, Monsignor Bargallo convened the priests of his diocese and told them he had had "amorous ties" with the woman and would resign, so in oter words he had lied all along.

It is said he would be replaced by Monsignor Alcides Jorge Pedro Casaretto (I have no idea who that is, sorry).

No video for this so here's a picture of the bishop provided by the BBC (kinda scary if you ask me):

 

Murder escapes from London jail

Second story, this week it's taken place in the UK, in London in fact, and an escapee from jail.

Here's the story.

Convicted murderer John Massey, has escaped from Pentonville prison in north London, you may be thinking how? Explosives like in the movies?

Nope he simply climbed the wall using a makeshift rope, shows quite how good the security must be.

Prison sources say Massey who is 64, was not spotted in time, never mind the fact he wasn't spotted, I want to know how a 64 year old can escape by climbing a wall, must of done some serious work outs.

He was or should be serving life for a 1975 pub murder and was reported missing at 18:30 BST on Wednesday, Police advice he should not be approached.

The Ministry of Justice have also launched an investigation into the escape.

Massey is one of the UK's longest-serving prisoners and was convicted of shooting a man with a sawn-off shotgun in Hackney.

Now the escape must be deeply embarrassing for the prison authorities and will inevitably raise questions about the prisons security.

It is highly unusual for inmates to escape from within the confines of a closed prison such as Pentonville, but in this case, it's happened.

There have been only three such escapes in the past three years in England and Wales, so one a year? That sounds good.

Police want anyone who spots Massey to call 999 imediately.

Bit of background information for you all.

Massey was released on parole in June 2007 after spending the previous 18 months in an open prison in Derbyshire and ordered to live in a bail hostel in Streatham, south London.

But he broke his curfew after a few months to go and live with his dying father and, after a number of days, was recalled to prison, in my opinion that's a bit bad really.

He was arrested 10 months later and taken to Pentonville. all before his escape on Wednesday.

Up to 1,250 category B and C male prisoners, not the most serious category A offenders, are housed at Pentonville.

Category B prisoners are defined as those "for whom the very highest conditions of security are not necessary but for whom escape must be made very difficult".

Category C prisoners are defined as those "who cannot be trusted in open conditions, but who do not have the resources and will to make a determined escape attempt.".

In March 2009, convicted arsonist Julien Chautard spent minutes inside Pentonville before he escaped by clinging to the underside of the security van he had arrived in.

He later handed himself in to police.

So there has been more than one atempt at escaping the prision, not looking too good for Pentonville is it.

No video again, getting disapointing now, so here's two pictures rather than one, the first of Pentonville and the second of John Massey:

Summary of the week

So this week we have bishop's showing their darker sides and murders escaping from "High Security" jails by going wall climbing.

Interesting News Of The Week - 28/05/2012

It's post time, so here's the news.

Miami's 'growling cannibal' named
Story number one, "Miami's 'growling cannibal' named", first of all, it's a very interesting title, and no its not a trick, this story is about a real cannibal in Miami.
Anyway let's take a look at the story.

A man was shot dead in Miami at the weekend, he was found biting the face off another man who was stripped naked, the cannibal has been identified by police.

His name was Rudy Eugene, aged 31, he was reported to have growled at a police officer after he was warned to back away from the man, so when a police officer stood in front of him with a gun, threatening to shoot him, he continued to eat the man's face off, he must be one, extremely messed up guy.

A witness said he continued to eat the victim, before the officer opened fire several times, killing him, well I suppose if he was warned then it was viable.
After that there was another attack next to a busy road on Saturday afternoon that has been linked to a potent drug known as "bath salts", wait. Bath salts? as in the salts you put in your bath to soften the water up? or are the drug dealers these days just running out of names for their merchandise?

It was said that about 75% of the victim's face was reportedly missing, but seriously I can not understand why he'd want to eat someones face.

Cyclist Larry Vega said there was "blood all over the place" when he came across the horrific scene by MacArthur Causeway.
"I told him get off," Mr Vega told WSVN Fox 7. "The guy just kept eating the other guy away like ripping his skin.".

He said he alerted a police officer, who warned the attacker several times to back away from the victim.

"The guy just stood his head up like that with a piece of flesh in his mouth and growled," Mr Vega said.

The victim, identified as a 65-year-old homeless man, Ronald Poppo, remained in a critical condition in hospital on Tuesday, so he attacked some old homeless guy and said "I'm going to eat your face now", what a weird, weird guy.

A Miami police spokesman said: "We are expecting a report from our detectives to give more details to the media. We are also looking for more witnesses to this crime."
Ives Eugene, Ruby Eugene's (or the cannibals) uncle, described his nephew as a "nice and hard-working" man who washed cars at a local dealership.

Miami police said they still do not know what prompted the bizarre and savage assault, which has been compared to a "zombie" attack.
The zombie apocalypse is starting people.

Here's the news coverage of this story:

London, France's sixth biggest city

Story deux (two in French).

Here's a fact for you more French people live in London than in Bordeaux, Nantes or Strasbourg and it is now thought to be France's sixth biggest city in terms of population.

So what is attracting a new generation of young French professionals to the city? Who knows.

Imagine this (quoted from the BBC):

On a wet Friday night in Hackney, a group of young professional women walk into a pub. Laughing about the British weather, they shake their umbrellas, peel off their raincoats and make their way to the bar.
Like many Londoners at the end of a busy working week, they have come to unwind over a few drinks.
But if you move a bit closer, you realise they are all speaking French.
They are not tourists, exchange or students. They all work in creative industries, have lived in east London quite some time and consider it home.

Thought that was a nice little story for you all.

Believe it or not London has a long-standing French community, but it is no longer confined to the streets, I can't understand why though, you can find French bookshops, patisseries and cafes.
There are between 300,000 and 400,000 French citizens living in the British capital of London most of them in the East End.

The French first came the East End way, way back in the 17th Century. They were named Huguenots, they had endured years of persecution in France because of their Protestant faith, but were offered sanctuary here by our king at the time, King Charles II (the second).

So our French population is being re-noticed as more and more French men and women apply for work, schooling and other things that we as British citizens do, they are considered our equals, which in some ways the fact that we as a country are treating each other equally (as Christianity states we are created in "God's Image"), but at the same time it is also effecting the amount of jobs and school places available for us too.

That's pretty much it for this story, there's a little bit of religion, a story and a little bit of history too, a nice little bit of everything there, sorry it's a bit short as well.

Unfortunately there is no video for this story, so it's even more of a let down, but here's a picture I found appropriate:

  

Summary for this week

So this week we have people turning into cannibals in Miami and we have discovered that we actually have a lot of the French in the UK, maybe it's a secret plan over centuries to take over, who knows.