Friday 8 November 2013

Huge spider found in warehouse

There has recently been reports of a seven-inch long Huntsman spider that was found in a  BMX warehouse. The spider was been locked in a container for six weeks. The container came from Taiwan.

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Smiler shut down


Alton Towers has had to shut down "The Smiler" due to a wheel falling off and hitting a guest. This has caused bruising to the guest. Alton Towers workers said that further investigation will be made to whether the ride can re-open.The person who was injured was looked at by park staff and was not badly hurt and did not need to go to hospital.The ride was shut for four days back in July after a piece fell off the track, it also closed again in August due to a technical fault.

A spokeswoman  had said "All of our rides and attractions are expected to meet extremely high standards."We are sorry for any disappointment the ride's temporary closure caused our visitors but the health and safety of all of our visitors is our absolute priority,".

Thursday 24 October 2013

BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards 2013

By Leah Booker

The BBC Radio 1 teen awards recognise heroes, in your everyday life, music and entertainment and now they are back for the fourth year running! They will take place on the 3rd of November 2013 at Wembley Stadium so tune into BBC One at 2pm to catch all the nominees and awards. The event will be hosted by Radio 1 Breakfast host Nick Grimshaw and pop icon Rita Ora. Voting has now closed so all we can do is wait for the night to come and the winners to be announced!

There are lots of awards that are going to be included on the night, some of them being:
Best British Single
1975 ‘Chocolate’
Bastille ‘Pompeii’
Ellie Goulding ‘Burn’
Olly Murs featuring Flo Rida ‘Troublemaker’
One Direction ‘Best Song Ever’

Best British Solo Artist
Calvin Harris
Ellie Goulding
Jessie J
Olly Murs
Tinie Tempah

Best British Group
1975
Bastille
Little Mix
One Direction
Rizzle Kicks

Best British Actor
Juno Temple
Khali Best
Maisie Williams
Nico Mirallegro
Will Poulter

Best British TV Show
Coronation Street
Doctor Who
Geordie Shore
Phone Shop
Youngers

Best British Sports Star
Andy Murray
Ellie Simmonds
Gareth Bale
Laura Robson
Leigh Halfpenny

Best British Vlogger
Charlie McDonnell (aka Charlieissocoollike)
JACK AND FINN HARRIES (aka Jacksgap)
KSI (aka KSIOlajidebt)
Thomas Ridgewell (aka Tomska)
Zoella (aka Zoella)

There are some hot favourites to win the awards for example last year pop sensation One Direction picked up 3 out of a possible 3 awards they were nominated for! Not only that, but also artists such as Tinie Tempah, Fall Out Boy, Rizzle Kicks, Jessie J, Icona Pop and James Arthur will be performing on the night. Not only that, but BBC Radio 1 editor Jocelin Stainer said the following about the awards: “BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards are now firmly established as a key event in the music and entertainment calendar. The awards are for Radio 1 audiences and voted for by them which make them really special."

Who are your favourites to win? Did the right people win? All will be answered on the night!

I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here 2013 Rumours!

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here is a reality television game show series that is hosted by the famous duo, Ant and Dec. A group of celebrities live together in a jungle environment for a few weeks. They have no luxuries, and compete to be crowned king or queen of the jungle. The first episode aired in 2002 and is now about to start its 12th series in the United Kingdom!

I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here will be returning to our screens in November this year (2013) and I’m sure we all can’t wait to find out who will be appearing on this year’s episode, but sadly ITV are keeping who will be going in to the jungle a secret and we can only find out who is going in on the day of the showing of the programme. However like every year there are plenty of rumours going around as to who might be making the jungle their home for a short while. Here are some rumours about some celebrities who may be appearing in this year’s episode…

·         Stella English (Former Apprentice UK winner) – 9/10 true

·         Joey Essex (The Only Way is Essex star) – 7/10 true

·         Khloe / Kourtney Kardashian (US Reality stars) – 5/10 true

·         Paul Gascognie (Footballer) – 4/10 true

·         Michael Owen (Footballer) – 2/10 true

·         Hazel O’Sullivan (Model) – 6/10 true

·         Lucy Pargeter (Emmerdale actress) – 8/10 true

·         Michael Le Vell (Corronation Street actor) – 8/10 true

·         Nina Wadia (Coronation Street actress) – 6/10 true

·         Lucy Mecklenburgh (Towie actress)

These are just some of the rumours as to who might be heading into Australia’s famous jungle however nothing is certain, these are just rumours. We will not truthly know who is in it until the day of the broadcasting in November so we will just have to wait and see…

Wednesday 11 September 2013

The iPhone 5S and 5C

Apple held a special event yesterday, the 10th of September, to unveil their new iPhones - the 5C and 5S. A lot of leaked images and rumours showered the web before the launch, most of which happened to be true. Most surprisingly, the iPhone 5 has now been dropped from Apple's iPhone line-up.

The low-cost iPhone 5C was unveiled first, in which the 'C' presumably stands for 'colour'. It comes in a dazzling range of colours: yellow, red, blue, white and green. Silicone covers of the same colours are available for £25, they have holes on the back to create the "two-tone effect". Phil Schiller stated "There's colour throughout the product. Volume buttons, switches. The entire back and sides is made from a single part, and the front is a one glass multitouch surface."


The 5C has a steel-reinforced structure and a hard-coated polycarbonate back, making it more durable. Just like the iPhone 5, it has an A6 chip and a stunning 4-inch Retina display. The iPhone 5C's battery is a bit bigger than the iPhone 5's, therefore increasing battery life. It stands at 124.4 mm, it's 59.2 mm wide, 8.97 mm thin and weighs just 132 grams. The iPhone 5C has an 8 megapixel back facing iSight camera, which shoots 1080p HD video at 30fps. The rear camera features an LED flash, a backside illumination sensor, a five-element lense and a hybrid IR filter. The FaceTime camera shoots 720p HD video and has a backside illumination sensor too.


The iPhone 5C is available to pre-order from the 13th of September. Here are the prices:
- 16GB for £469
- 32GB for £549


Moving on to the iPhone 5S - as Schiller said: "The 5S is the most forward-thinking phone Apple has ever created. Perhaps the most forward-thinking phone anyone has ever made." 

It comes in three cool colours: silver, gold and space grey. As speculated, the iPhone 5S has the same 4-inch Retina display. It's 123.8 mm tall, 58.6 mm wide, 7.6 mm thin and weighs only 112 grams. The iPhone 5S features a super fast 64-bit A7 chip and an M7 motion coprocessor. The A7 chip is claimed to be up to twice as fast as the previous chip; and the CPU performance has apparently risen by 40x since the first iPhone - half of that increase coming from the A7.  The graphics have risen by an astonishing 56x since the first iPhone, and once again half of that increase comes with the A7.  The new M7 motion coprocessor "takes advantage of all the sensors and continuously measures the data coming from the gyroscope, accelerometer and compass without having to wake up the A7." This presumably saves battery life. Speaking of which, it is equal or greater than the iPhone 5's.

The biggest change comes with the home button, which now features a fingerprint sensor. You can easily unlock your iPhone with a touch of the home button; and best of all, it doesn't matter which way you place your finger. The user can also login top their Apple ID using their fingerprint. All of this means that your iPhone is safer than ever before, not to mention quicker to unlock.



The iPhone 5S has a top-end 8 megapixel iSight camera, which is kitted out to the max. It has a five-element lens with a Sapphire crystal lens cover. As well as that, it has a true tone flash, a backside illumination sensor and a hybrid IR filter. Burst mode has also been added - the camera takes 10 pictures per second - and all you have to do is hold down the camera button for as long as you like. The rear facing iSight camera shoots 1080p HD video at the standard 30fps. Surprisingly, Apple has added a slo-mo video option, which I believe shoots at about 120fps. The front facing FaceTime camera records 720p HD video and has a backside illumination sensor.

The iPhone 5S is available to order from the 20th of September. Here are the prices:
- 16GB for £549
- 32GB for £629
- 64GB for £709
The iPhone 5S also has a new range of leather cases to come with it.

Both, the 5C and 5S, will come with iOS 7 already installed. iOS 7 is compatible with: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPod Touch 5th gen, iPad 2, iPad with Retina display and the iPad Mini. You will be able to download it on the 18th of September. 


Visit my Apple blog for more news :)

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Plastic Pound notes - Bank of England seeks views on changing the paper notes to plastic

The central bank said on Tuesday it would ask the public its opinion before taking a decision in December on whether to adopt polymer pounds that also would be smaller than current notes.
Governor Mark Carney introduced polymer banknotes while head of the Bank of Canada in 2011 and credited the material for a sharp drop in the rate of counterfeiting.
The Bank of England has issued paper banknotes ever since the central bank was created in 1694 as a way of raising money for King William III's war against France. The first fully printed notes appeared in 1853. Before, notes were handwritten and signed by one of the bank's cashiers.

Polymer banknotes, as well as being hard to fake, are durable and stay cleaner for longer because the material is more resistant to dirt and moisture, the Bank of England said, adding feedback so far on the new-look notes had been positive.  However, would it be easier to make plastic notes at home and use them in shops as forgery? This could damage the economy, as we are slowly climbing out of the crisis. 


Thursday 5 September 2013

KitKat 4.4 Advert Makes Fun of Apple's Jony Ive



With the unveiling of Android KitKat 4.4, KitKat (the chocolate biscuit) has released a spoof advert which seems to be making fun out of Apple's Jony Ive and the rest of the team. Are we looking at another court battle?

As you may know, whenever Apple make a new product they also film a well thought out advert; taking us on a tour of the device and mentioning the key features. KitKat seem to have taken the idea and created their own spoof advert as an act of mockery towards Apple.




To continue reading this story, visit my Apple  blog or the Macworld UK website.