Happy birthday Lego...

Children and hobbyists rejoice – today is Lego’s 80th birthday. As LEGO.com explains, on this day in 1932, Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a master carpenter in Denmark, established a business building stepladders, ironing boards, stools and – this is the important one – wooden toys. His son, Godfred, becomes probably the first Lego-engrossed youngster, joining the family business at the tender age of 12.

The shop was called LEg GOdt, or “play well” in Danish. Later, it would come to light that the phrase also means “I put together” in Latin.

The business started small, manufacturing small wooden toys.  World War II kept Godfred home in the shop rather than traveling to Germany for school as he had originally planned. By 1949, the Kristiansens had hired 50 people and released the first LEGO forerunner, the “Automatic Binding Bricks,” sold exclusively in Denmark with four or eight studs, in four different colors.

In 1954 the family registered the word “LEGO” and the first export of the toys began the next year. The LEGO empire expanded, first in Europe, then to the US, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and South America. Legos proved to be a delight to children everywhere, regardless of their background.

In 1979, Godfred is appointed Knight of the Order of Dannebrog for the family creation. In 1995, after climbing from child laborer to global toy empire overseer, Godfred passed away.

The company tries to abide by the original spark that led the Kristiansens to create their wooden ducks and building blocks:

Curiosity asks, “Why?” and imagines explanations or possibilities (if.. then). Playfulness asks what if? and imagines how the ordinary becomes extraordinary, fantasy or fiction. Dreaming it is a first step towards doing it.

Amidst today’s ipads, video games and electronic toys, the simple Lego holds its own.

Meanwhile, Here’s the Guardian’s behind-the-scenes look at the Lego Olympic coverage, just in time for the birthday celebrations.

And some picture of the biggest structure build with Lego :

Source : http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/08/celebrating-80-years-of-lego/

Another nice link http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-Worlds-Great-Structures-Built-With-Legos.html

Sergeant Stubby : the only dog to be a sergeant

Sergeant Stubby was the first war dog used by the United States in World War I. He is noted as being the only dog to be promoted to sergeant through combat. It is unknown exactly when Sergeant Stubby was born, but he was a Pit bull breed. In 1916 or 1917, Stubby showed up at Yale Field in New Haven, Connecticut, while a group of soldiers were training. He made friends with Corporal Robert Conroy and when Conroy was deployed to fight in France, Stubby went along. Once in France, Sergeant Stubby was used for a wide range of military tasks.

He served with the 102nd Infantry in the trenches of France for 18 months. Stubby participated in four offensives and 17 battles. He was able to detect sound and smell from an incredible distance, so Stubby was used to warn soldiers of incoming mustard gas and artillery attacks. On many occasions, he saved the life of multiple men. Stubby was also able to locate and comfort wounded soldiers who were separated from the group and located in no man’s land. On one occasions, he was solely responsible for capturing a German spy in the Argonne.

Sergeant Stubby was the most famous U.S. dog used during World War I. In 1918, his exploits were front page news in every major newspaper in the United States. Stubby was wounded on several occasions during the conflict, but survived. After the war, he was smuggled back to the United States and became a celebrity. Sergeant Stubby marched in parades, met U.S. Presidents, and was named the official mascot of the Georgetown Hoyas’. He was also made a life member of the American Legion, the Red Cross, and the YMCA. In 1926, Stubby died at the age of 9 or 10. His body was stuffed and put on display at The Price of Freedom: Americans at War exhibit at the Smithsonian.

Source : http://listverse.com/2012/08/08/top-20-world-famous-animals/

OMAR AND THE OLYMPIC BANANA

A little event happened just outside the Media Molecule office last Friday - you may have already seen it on twitter or facebook - but it’s been giving us so many giggles we had to blog it for your enjoyment. Because, there’s a video.

Incase you missed it, at about 6 o’clock last Friday, the streets outside our office in Guildford started filling up with crowds of people, as excitement grew for the arrival of the Olympic Torch. A few of us gathered around the windows because we had a prime view over the route, directly on the road below. At some point, Omar made his exit from the building, and just moments before the actual Olympic torch was due to come down the road with the procession to ignite the crowds - He burst from the crowd to run down the road holding his the “Olympic Banana”.

We were all in hysterics, so for your viewing pleasure, here’s our excitedly shrieky video evidence plus some photos. As Jim put it, he’s the “bearer of the true Olympic spirit”.

Watch the half minute video here :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWMDiPUjq8w

Hillarious...( source : http://www.mediamolecule.com/blog/article/omar_and_the_olympic_banana/ )

JAPAN BEATS NUMBER ONE FIFA RANK SPAIN

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Japan produced a major shock in men's Olympic football on Thursday, beating medal favorites Spain 1-0.

Japan forward Yuki Otsu broke away from his marker during a corner in the 34th minute and the ball landed right at his feet for a simple tap-in past Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea.

Spain started the match brightly with good build-up play and quick passing in the first 20 minutes, but they couldn't break through a solid Japan defense and didn't have a meaningful shot on goal.

It wasn't only Japan's back line that was troubling the Spaniards. Japan forward Kensuke Nagai caused major problems for them throughout the match, slipping behind defenders with quick runs. Spain center back Inigo Martinez was sent off for a foul while trying to stop Nagai from scoring.

Japan took advantage of the extra man in the second half and the match could have been a rout had the finishing been more accurate. Nagai continued to trouble the defense, shaving the post in the 58th minute.

Spain's under-23 team wants to win Olympic gold to add to the World Cup and European Championship titles held by the country's full national team. The loss is a huge blow for Spain, touted as one of the favorites to win the tournament, but not insurmountable.

Spain's national team lost its first group stage match to Switzerland at the 2010 World Cup and then went on to win the tournament.

Spain's youngsters mimicked the slick passing game the national team is so well known for, pressuring Japan but failing to test the goalkeeper with any dangerous shots. Japan's defenders were also able to strip the ball off Spain's attackers several times in the penalty area as they threatened to shoot.

Japan has been a rising steadily in world football, qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and building a strong youth program. The victory against Spain rates among Japan's greatest.

But coach Takashi Sekizuka was modest when asked if this was the case.

"We looked forward to this match very much, and showing how much we have was the main point," he said. "We are very pleased with the result."

Source : http://sports.yahoo.com/news/japan-beats-spain-1-0-154723550--oly.html

Trial report : I-doser

Dear readers ;

The 30 minute I download from the internet call Gate of Hades are now my third doses. Including two free dose from The I-doser when I download the player. There are Alcohol and Content.

First lets try the Content. Give a moderate sedative effect of 20 minutes of play, they explain it when you open the dose. For the first 2 minutes, my ears only hear a mid tone and buzz. I try to listen for 10 minutes more. But no sedative effect even come closer to me. Maybe because the room I choose to listening the dose is not a relaxing one. My three daughters walk around and chat around me. So my conclusion so far : the dose had no effect if you are not at relaxing mood in the first time.

And then the Alcohol . Much much more noise and disturbing my ears. They call it recreational ( moderate ). They claim someone went drunken when hearing this dose. I can only hold it for 5 minutes. I don't like it. I better come back to my Tiesto or Armind Van B collections to grab a recreational stage.

The Gates of Hades is the worst for me. Listening to the old Sepultura or Kreator is better.

Closing statement : Some said that stereo headphones are required to listen to the dose. Closing your eyes with your body laydown in a bed at night is also suggested along with listen to it to the full dose, not only part of it. And there are groups of people who is fully imunned or half immuned to the dose ( no or very small effect ). Maybe I was one of this group.

Cheers...

Work stuff : Soccer Rivality = Riot

Dear blogger ;

A report from The Associated Press early this morning :

Egyptian fans burned Algerian flags and rioted outside the Algerian Embassy in Cairo, smashing cars and shop windows in an escalating row over their bitter World Cup rivalry.

Egyptian fans - and the country's media - have been thrown into a frenzy over reports that Algerians attacked and injured Egyptians after their World Cup qualifier in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, this week. Algeria won 1-0, giving them a spot in the 2010 Cup in South Africa.

Several hundred Egyptian fans rampaged in the streets around the Algerian Embassy overnight into the early hours on Friday, scuffling with black-uniformed riot police. It began as a protest, with demonstrators beating drums, shooting jets of flame from aerosol cans and shouting obscenities and slogans against Algerians.

When riot police prevented them from getting close to the embassy, the demonstrators threw stones, smashed nearby cars and windows of shops and ransacked a fuel station. Some fans, unable to reach the Algerians, pelted the nearby Indian Embassy with stones. The Interior Ministry said 11 police and 24 protesters were injured, 20 people arrested and 15 vehicles damaged.

During the day on Friday, scattered groups of dozens of fans shouted and burned flags near the embassy, kept from the building by multiple lines of riot police with helmets and batons.

In a country where political demonstrations are rare and heavily suppressed by security forces, Egypt's football protests were an unusual show of anger in the streets.

The upscale neighborhood where the embassy is located, Zamalek, is on an island in the Nile that is home to many embassies, schools, expatriates and foreign university students.

The rivalry has brought violence from both sides in the past week.

Wednesday's match in Khartoum was a playoff after Egypt beat Algeria 2-0 on Saturday in Cairo. Before Saturday's game, Egyptian fans pelted a bus carrying the Algerian team with stones and injured three players. Afterward, 32 people were injured in clashes between Egyptian and Algerian fans. Algerians ransacked offices of Egyptian companies in Algiers.

Following Algeria's win, Egyptian fans were attacked in Khartoum. Protests have erupted outside the Algerian Embassy in Khartoum repeatedly since.

Egyptian papers have been running front-page stories with pictures of injured fans and headlines trumpeting Algerian attacks on Egyptians in Khartoum. TV shows have also been drumming up fury, airing amateur mobile phone videos of what appear to be Algerian fans wielding knives and chanting anti-Egyptian slogans.

Speaking to a TV news program, Mohammed Fouad, a popular Egyptian singer who attended the Khartoum match, called the violence afterward a "bloodbath."

"If the Jews were beating us, even they wouldn't have done it so savagely," he said.

President Hosni Mubarak's eldest son, Alaa, who also attended the Khartoum match, said Egypt should "take a stance" and respond to the Algerians' "terror, hostility."

Alaa Mubarak - a businessman who unlike his politically prominent younger brother, Gamal, rarely speaks publicly - told Egyptian television, "It is impossible that we as Egyptians take this, we have to stand up and say 'Enough.'

"When you insult my dignity ...I will beat you on the head."

On Thursday, Egypt's Foreign Ministry summoned Algeria's ambassador in Cairo to express "extreme dismay" over the attacks in Khartoum. Egypt's ambassador in Algiers, Abdul-Aziz Seif al-Nasr, was instructed to return to Egypt for consultations, a ministry statement said.

The Egyptian Football Federation even threatened on Thursday to withdraw from international play to protest the treatment of Egyptian fans in Sudan.

"We call on FIFA to take a serious stance to restore order to the world of football," the federation said in a statement.

Ck..ck..ck..

Fun stuff : the longest bicycle jump

Dear blogger ;

The longest platform to platfom bicycle jump come is 4,02 meter by an Italian rider. The full report here.

Work stuff : Doomsday 2012

Dear blogger ;

A Very neat article from Neatorama regarding Doomsday theory. Give me new spirit.

Here is a sneak peek :

In the early days of computers, when hard drives weighed as much as a piece of furniture, a popular phrase was "Garbage-in, Garbage-out" (GIGO). It meant that computers would unquestioningly process the most nonsensical of input data and produce nonsensical output.

"GIGO" describes the abysmal lack of intelligent thought and critical thinking on the Internet when it comes to all the hysteria about the end of the world coming on December 21, 2012 -- just in time to ruin Christmas.

I'm getting e-mail about this weekly and I expect the nonsense to ratchet up.

This latest installment in decades of flaky astronomical apocalypse predictions is loosely based on the Mayan calendar that marks the end of a 5,126-year era. Apparently the Mayans knew something about the heavens we don't, according to numerous hot-selling 2012 doomsday books on the market. Our multi-billion dollar telescopes, space probes, and 6,000 professional astronomers somehow just can't keep up with the mystic knowledge of an ancient superstitious culture.

With the much-ballyhooed release of the film "2012" opening on November 13, end of world chatter will be the topic from backyard cookouts, to bars, to wine and cheese parties.

I am listing the 10 most popular 2012 end-of-world scenarios and providing a quickie reference guide to use in politely dismissing any friends, relatives, or in-laws whose brains have turned into a pile of GIGO mush after being suckered by the End of Days hype.

The ten top 2012 doomsday scenarios:

1. Changes in the Sun's magnetic field will lead to powerful flares.

So what else is new under the sun? The sun goes though a well-documented 11-year sunspot cycle that is driven by its magnetic field entangling, reforming and flipping polarity. Yes, the peak of the next cycle is in 2012 (or 2013), and some predictions suggest it might be 30 to 50 percent stronger than the last peak.

But experts say it will certainly not be the biggest peak ever recorded.

The bottom line is that no dragon's breath of flame will stretch across 100 million miles of space and blowtorch Earth. The largest solar flare recorded to date, on Nov. 4, 2003, spewed several billions of tons of plasma in Earth's direction. The flare's X-ray radiation that impacted our protective atmosphere had the equivalent radiation of 5,000 suns.

We're still here.

2. The Earth's magnetic field will reverse.

Don't hold you breath. The last field reversal happened nearly 800,000 years ago. Fred Flintstone and our other ancestor cavemen survived. Geological evidence shows that the field has reversed its orientation tens of thousands of times over Earth history. Yet there is no definitive evidence that a magnetic field reversal has ever caused any mass extinction due to increased cosmic ray influx

Read the rest of the article here.

Work stuff : Beware downloaders...

Dear blogger ;

A federal jury in Boston has ordered a student who downloaded 30 songs illegally and also shared it online to pay $675,000 to four record labels. Joel Tenenbaum admitted in court that he downloaded and distributed 30 songs. Only one thing is left for the jury to decide is how much damage has been caused and how much he has to make the boy liable to pay in damages. Under the federal law, recording companies are entitled anywhere between $750 and $30,000 per infringement.

But the law can also charge as much as $150,000 per track if the jury finds out that it was done purposely. So in this boy’s case it could have gone as high as $ 4.5 million. Well he has crossed the half a million mark anyway! Joel was thankful that the case did not make him end up pay in millions.

This case is only the second one of its kind in America against an individual to go on trial. Another case was last month where the jury had ordered Jammie Thomas to pay $1.92 million or $80,000 for each of 24 songs that was downloaded after concluding that she willfully violated the copyrights on those tunes.

The Recording Industry Association of America has issued a statement thanking the jury for recognizing illegal download and also the impact of it on the music industry. Yup it does save a lot of money for the user but coming to think of it, the music industry is hit really bad because of this piracy.

Beware down loaders...

Fun stuff : Man made marvels.

Dear blogger ;

Just a few from so many man made marvels around the world :

1. An intersection between cars and planes.

2. A bridge too high but not too dangerous.

3. A fish in an ipod.

Amazing....

Fun stuff : Great picture from Thailand

Dear blogger ;

This is some picture I found from anakayam website. One of a few funny website in Indonesia.

Enjoy...

Fun stuff : Coca cola from the past - awesome..

Dear blogger ;

A new refreshment from the DRB website. Cool man...

Fun stuff : Ads becoming arts...

Dear blogger ;

What happened if your city is full of illegal billboards and you are an artist ? In New York, they simply white washed the billboards and replaced it with personal arts.

Report from Wooster says that :

NYSAT ( New York Street Advertising Takeover ) was organized as a reaction to the hundreds of billboards that are not registered with the city, and therefore are illegal. While illegal, these violations are not being prosecuted by the City of New York, allowing the billboard companies to garner huge profits by cluttering our outdoor space with intrusive and ugly ads.

After the illegal spots were white washed, late in the day yesterday over eighty artists transformed these spaces into personal pieces of art.

The man behind it is Jordan Seiler. And over 120 billboards had been taken over.

Here is the result :

Fun stuff : America want to be the host of World Cup 2018 or 2022

Dear blogger ;

Although soccer is not as famous as foot ball in America, but this country progress in soccer in the last 5 years is good. For that reason, president Obama ( reported by yahoo sports ) recently writes FIFA in support for World cup bit. This is the full story :

NEW YORK (AP)—U.S. President Barack Obama wrote a letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter supporting the American bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

“As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together,” Obama said, according to excerpts released Tuesday by the U.S. Soccer Federation. “As a father, I saw that same spirit of unity alive on the fields and sidelines of my own daughters’ soccer games in Chicago.”

FIFA’s executive committee will decide the hosts for both tournaments in December 2010. The United States hosted the World Cup for the first time in 1994, and the 52 games drew records for total attendance (3.59 million) and average (68,991).

“Soccer is truly the world’s sport, and the World Cup promotes camaraderie and friendly competition across the globe,” Obama wrote. “That is why this bid is about much more than a game. It is about the United States of America inviting the world to gather all across our great country in celebration of our common hopes and dreams.”

England and Spain, which submitted a joint bid with Portugal, are considered the favorites to host in 2018, with the U.S. seen as a favorite for 2022.

Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and Russia also are bidding, with Netherlands-Belgium submitting a joint bid. Qatar and South Korea applied for 2022 only.

“It’s clear from talking to people around the world that President Obama carries extraordinary respect and hope,” U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said. “That he’s supporting our bid at the same time he’s reaching out to the world in so many ways can only be a huge positive for us as we move forward.”

We'll be waiting who is the winner....

Work stuff : The Pledge Project Canvass by President Barack Obama

Dear blogger ;

Yesterday I received an email regarding the matters of current development of President Obama plan and action for better economic in the USA. It says :

" The current debate in Washington over President Obama's budget has made one thing clear -- ensuring our long-term prosperity won't come without a fight.

Partisan voices and special interests are showing real resistance to President Obama's call for making the necessary reforms and investments in energy, health care, and education. That's why we need to bring the conversation back into homes and communities across America. "

The bold words are very strong. With this action, president Barack Obama invited all American citizens to back up his plan. Current IT technology make this invitation already spread all over the nation. The link for hosting or attend the meeting also available. Check it here.

What a good way of democracy is it !! Bravo for you Mr Obama.