By Jamie L.

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc. is in talks to possibly bid for video-streaming service Hulu, according to a person close to the situation.

The person spoke on state of obscurity because they are not authorized to talk about the matter.

An acquisition of Hulu could bolster Apple's iTunes store, which gives videos users can rent or buy, and help it contend with Netflix Inc. Hulu offers a subscription streaming service. It also brings in incomes from ads that accompany content it streams to users free-of-charge.

Hulu, whose owners include The Walt Disney Co., News Corp. and Comcast Corp., started presenting its financial information to interested bidders late last month, after an unwelcome offer prompted its board to look for other offers.

By Jamie L.

SUBANG JAYA: The Lions Club of Subang Jaya and Cameron Highlands Hillview (CHH) sold vegetables and flowers to raise funds for two students of SK Subang Jaya who are stricken with cancer. Twenty boxes of flowers and vegetables were transported from Cameron Highlands, courtesy of CHH.

The event took place at the school canteen on the annual open day. Lions, Lionesses and teachers were the vegetable seller.

It got off to a slow start in the morning because of heavy rain. But, the sales improved when it stopped raining.

All the vegetables and flowers were sold out before noon.

The profits which totaling RM1,349 were handed over to the school.

By Jess T.


The ladies are on the move. Toka, Thika and Iringa, the three female elephants that remain at the Toronto Zoo, will be sent somewhere more comfortable to retire, following a decision by the zoo board Thursday.
The board hopes to send them to a zoo accredited by the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). But Joe Torzsok, chair of the board, said the vote doesn’t close the door to alternatives.
“This doesn’t rule out the option of a sanctuary,” such as those in Tennessee and California, Torzsok said. The zoo approved a motion Torzsok put forward that basically said if an accredited zoo home can’t be found, a sanctuary should be considered.
But after the vote AZA official Martha Fischer said there’s an “extremely high probability” the trio can be placed in one their approved facilities.
In support of sending the elephants to an AZA facility, zoo vice chair and city councillor Paul Ainslie joked that “when I retire, I want to go to a licensed nursing home.”
The zoo’s animal care and research committee will consult with the AZA about finding a suitable home and get back to the zoo board with a decision.
A move by city councillor and zoo board member Glenn De Baeremaeker to include sanctuaries in the initial search for a new home for the trio was voted down.
The sanctuary-versus-zoo issue was a major source of friction at Thursday’s meeting, with animal rights activists supporting sending the elephants to the PAWS (Performing Animal Welfare Society) facility in California, saying the centre is in a warm climate and provides ample space for the animals to roam.
But a Toronto zoo staff recommendation suggested there are numerous questions about the standard of care at that facility and another sanctuary in Tennessee that also isn’t AZA approved.
“There are too many unknowns involved as far as I’m concerned,” Eric Cole, supervisor of the zoo’s elephant enclosure told reporters.
“The sanctuaries don’t have any standards that they publish that are equivalent to AZA standards,” Cole said.
During a break in the meeting Ed Stewart, founder of PAWS, defended his institution in an interview, saying the “philosophy” at PAWS is different from that of AZA zoos.
“We’re not in the exhibition business, or animals-on-display business . . . we’re not interested in AZA accreditation,” Stewart said.
His facility offers about 56 hectares of space for elephants, eight of which call PAWS home. Toronto’s outdoor elephant paddocks are less than a hectare in total.
St. Catharines family Jordan Lukings, his wife Jacqueline and 10-month old daughter Morgan were at the zoo Thursday visiting the elephants.
Jordan said he’s saddened the pachyderms are leaving, adding it’s a shame the zoo will be losing such a major attraction, especially for children.
But both he and Jacqueline said they’ll still visit regardless.
The future of the elephant exhibit became an issue after seven elephants died at the zoo since 1984.
Consultants were hired to explore the best options, and a staff report released last week recommended phasing out the elephant exhibit. It concluded that, given the estimated $16.5 million cost of building more appropriate facilities, and future operating costs of $930,000 a year, keeping them wasn’t the best option.
The consulting report said the elephants need a new holding and exercise barn four times the size of the existing barn, and two new outdoor paddocks that would triple the current open-air space.
The existing herd, though healthy, is aging. Toka is about 41 years old; Thika, 30; Iringa, 42. Pachyderms are highly social animals who need companions to be happy, and in a short time the zoo could be below the AZA’s minimum standard of three.
The staff report also recommended the zoo “reassess its options” after a U.S. study on captive elephant care is completed in 2013. Other zoo animals could use the elephant enclosure in the interim, the report said.
Transferring the elephants will cost $30,000 to $50,000, and the staff report says it could take up to two years to prepare the beasts for a move.

By Sonia S.



PETALING JAYA: While newspapers in Britain were abuzz with reports that the owner of the world's most expensive luxury yacht is a Malaysian, no one can confirm it.
British daily The Sun reported that the 31m History Supreme is owned by a Malaysian businessman who paid 3bil (RM14.5bil) for it.

To put things in perspective, this figure is close to the estimated cost of the country's first mass rapid transit (MRT) system, which has a price tag of RM20bil.

The Sun also reported that the History Supreme is made out of 100 tonnes of gold and platinum, which cover more than half its surface, and the base of the vessel is wrapped in gold.

According to the newspaper, the businessman had approached Liverpool jeweller Stuart Hughes for this unique project. The businessman had even asked Hughes if he could customise an aeroplane.
Hughes, who is famous for creating exclusive, gold-plated and jewel-encrusted luxury items ranging from mobile phones to aquariums, took three years to build the yacht.

The yacht is believed to be based on Italian yacht-maker Baia's latest One Hundred model, which costs at least RM30mil.

By Sonia S.
   Apple has overthrow Nokia to become the world's number one smart phone seller. In its second-quarterly results on Thursday, the Finnish cellphone company reported that shipment of 16.7 million smart phones. But during the same period Apple shipped 20.3 million iPhones, the Cupertino, California-based company had announced in its quarterly results on Tuesday.

According to the analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC) which tracks information technology markets, Nokia now accounts for just 16 % of smart phone sales globally - down from 37 % last year.
However, Nokia still continues to dominate the basic-feature cellphone market even though Samsung is now breathing down its neck in that market also.

In both smart phone and basic-feature cellphone markets, Nokia's share of the global market has slipped to 25 % from 34 % a year ago. But Nokia beat forecasts to post a net profit of $551 million during the period.
"Nokia is now bleeding on all fronts. On the smartphone segment its portfolio is not attractive in terms of user experience, ecosystem and even price. Since the company started struggling in 2009, a price differentiation strategy was pursued to keep volumes high, but even this does not working anymore. Consumers can already find better Android devices at lower prices than Nokia smart devices.

"This could even get worse in the next quarters as Apple is ruptured to be launching a cheaper iPhone in September. If this is true, Nokia will continue losing market share until the new platform from Microsoft is fully deployed. From the feature phones perspective, the high volume driver for Nokia, the situation won't get any better," according to the analyst firm.

The only hope for Nokia to reverse its decline now lies in the new Microsoft Window Phone 7 platform it is adopting from next year as its main smart phone strategy.

By Sonia S.
 Based on the Marvel Comics character from World War II. A brave, yet mild-mannered young soldier named Steve Rogers, volunteers to undergo a series of experiments for a US army Super Soldier program. The military succeeds in transforming him into a human weapon, but quickly decide that their Super Soldier is far too expensive a creation to risk in combat. So, they decide to put him to use as an army celebrity and parade him across Europe to boost morale by performing in USO shows for American troops. He is even given a costume that bear the colors of Old Glory for the stage. Then, when a Nazi plot reveals itself Rogers must rise up and and become the First Avenger, in order to save his country. Steve Rogers becomes Captain America and he earns his way into the hearts and souls of every American, bringing hope and justice to a war-weary nation. Later, during a mission to Germany to stop his archenemy - The Red Skull, from launching rockets at the allies, Captain America sacrifices himself and winds up frozen in ice for almost six decades! Revived, Steve Rogers now must join forces with new heroes and become an Avenger of the modern age.

By Sonia S.

Facebook was originally named TheFaceBook and it was developed by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg. The first use of the FaceBook was on the Harvard campus and it was limited only to Harvard students. Soon the FaceBook spread like wild fire around the other major U.S. Universities. Mark Zuckerberg drop out of Harvard and pursued his facebook dream to become one of the 4th most-trafficked websites in the world with more than 90 million active users. The FaceBook website is built on PHP-MySQL technology and it is probably the most popular PHP website ever built. Interesting fact is that the facebook.com domain was purchased for $200,000 and FaceBook has more than 24 million photos uploaded daily.

By Sonia S.

2012 is actually expected to be year of great positive change instead of doomsday. Back in 1899 something was discovered called Schumann Cavity Resonance. It is the heart beat or frequency of the Earth. Since its discovery till 1986 this heart beat frequency was constant 7.8 Hertz per second. From 1986 it started to raise dramatically and in 1998 it was reported to be 10 hertz per second. On other hand, magnetic of the earth are dropping dramatically and it is expected they will reach zero point in 2012. Maya calendar and other calendars end in 2012, but it is not the end of the world just beginning of the new one since every 26000 years Earth goes through grand cycle of evolution.

By Sonia S.
 
What is love? David Icke said: "Infinite Love is the Only Truth Everything Else is Illusion." However, scientists tried to explain love using our genes as the base of the medical study. They found that we are attracted to people that are genetically immune to the diseases and weaknesses that we are weak to. However, Alchemy teaches us a completely different approach. Alchemy or old sacred studies believe that our body (Personal Self) is build around four energies (or four egos) that make up our Personal Self (our body) which are The Physical Energy with its Needs, Sensational with its Desires, Emotional with its Feelings and Intellectual Energy with its Ideas. To reach Our Higher Self (our soul) these energies must be balanced. Since this is very difficult to do, in our indistinct world, we usually seek for someone (soul mate) that will help us achieve Higher Existence (same like our genes our soul mate's energies could fill half empty energies and empty our half spilling energies). Alchemy believes that we are not born with the soul, only with the seed of spirituality, and that our purpose in this dimension is to find our souls or to find our Higher Self.