Welcome to Clicks of the Week: November 19 to 26, 2012 Edition!
Clicks of the Week is a weekly round up of news. It used to be Clicks of the Day, but Linda’s life got busy so now it’s a weekly thing. Number of Clicks will be dependent again on the busyness of life that week.
- Up, down and all around, Edmonton council gets an earful on city budget
- New look for K-Days launched
- Ukrainian community marks 79th anniversary of Holodomor, famine that killed millions
- Other jurisdictions eyeing Edmonton’s potential foray into Internet voting
- More cold, snow forecast for this winter over last: meteorologist
- Justin Bieber awarded Diamond Jubilee medal by Stephen Harper
- Confetti from police files tossed at Macy’s parade
- Two dead, at least 80 more injured in estimated 140-car pileup in Texas
- Active video games don’t boost kids’ daily physical activity levels, study finds
- Early exposure to air pollution may be linked to autism: study
- 31 kids a day injured in inflatable bounce houses: study
- Libel case that snared BBC widens to Twitter
- $700 hack threatens millions of Yahoo mail users
- Cell phones becoming the go-to device for online activities, banking and more: study
- Facebook asked by privacy groups to stop proposed policy changes
- WestJet testing system that allows Internet access on mobile devices
- WalMart’s internal compensation documents reveal systematic limit on advancement
- Sex will not induce labour: KL study
- Billion-ton comet may have missed Earth by a few hundred kilometres in 1883
- Five new space projects even more awesome than the Mars rover
- Astronauts bring back new life
- Scientists: Galapagos tortoise can be revived
- [Photo]: The most incredible photographs of volcanic eruptions
- Japan’s ninjas heading for extinction
- [Photos]: The house in the middle of the street
- Family swept to sea in effort to save dog – who evetually got out of the water on its own
- Some idiot apparently named their kid ‘Hashtag’
- [Photos]: Top-notch journalism at its best
- [Video]: Gangnam Reindeer Style Christmas Lights (Lethrbidge)
- [Video]: Kitten vs. Paper ball
- [Video]: Univision weather cat is the cutest news blooper ever
- [Video]: Six-day-old lamb and dog BFFs
- [Photo]: 25 years of cell phones in a single image
- [Video]: Jimmy Fallon & Rashida Jones Parody Holiday Medley
(I continue to do a poor job collecting local/national news throughout the week. Next week’s will be more comprehensive…)
“The city is looking at a smaller 2013 tax increase than originally proposed, but most of that saving will disappear if money requested by seniors, artists and social groups is approved.”
So many numbers…
“Months after Edmontonians voted for the new name of the city’s summer fair, Northlands unveiled the new look for next summer’s event. “The ‘K’ stands for whatever you want it to,” Northlands President Richard Anderson said. “K-Days is a nod to the past, we’re certainly going to honour Klondike Days, and other events prior,” Anderson continued. “It’s really a foundation for the future, the question is, what’s your ‘K’?””
Hmmmmm. I am not overly impressed with this theme, lol it’s whatever you want it to be?
“Edmonton’s Ukrainian community gathered at city hall Saturday to mark the 79th anniversary of Holodomor, a deliberate famine/genocide imposed in the Ukraine in 1932-33, that left millions dead. Natalia Talanchuk is a Holodomor survivor. She was just eight years old when the famine was imposed by the Joseph Stalin-led communist Soviet Union regime during the 1930s. “I can’t sleep at night sometimes thinking about it because it haunts me,” Talanchuk said.”
The Natalia Talanchuk interview almost brought me to tears. So sad.
“A 17-member citizens’ jury in Edmonton gave a unanimous thumbs-up to Internet voting Sunday after spending three days listening to experts talk about the pros and cons associated with the technology. Their approval is the next step in a process that could see absentee or disabled voters given the chance to cast special ballots online in Edmonton’s next civic election on Oct. 21, 2013.”
Online voting, here we come!
“The Weather Network’s top forecaster is advising Canadians to keep their winter mitts close and snow shovels even closer as he expects much of the country is in for a harsher blast of winter than it was dealt last year. “We’ll get more winter this year than we did last year,” said director of meteorology Chris Scott. And that means a return to more “typical” historic conditions of cold and snow gripping much of the country, he said.”
“Canadian pop superstar Justin Bieber now has a Diamond Jubilee Medal to add to his accolades. Prime Minister Stephen Harper presented the medal to Bieber at Scotia Bank Place in Ottawa prior to Bieber’s concert on Friday night. A spokeswoman for the prime minister says the Stratford, Ont., singer’s family was with him as Bieber — who was dressed in overalls for his concert — received the honour from Harper.”
Um. I’m sorry but if he can do costume changes during his concert he can change out of overalls to receive the freaking Diamond Jubilee medal!
“Shredded Long Island police records that landed on spectators at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade were brought by a department employee who tossed the confidential confetti with his family, a New York TV station reports. Among the easily identifiable records from the Nassau County Police Department were what appears to be details of Mitt Romney’s motorcade route to and from the final presidential debate at Hofstra University.”
You know I think the dollar store sells confetti..
“Two people died at least 80 more were injured in an estimated 140-car pileup that shut down a Texas interstate on Thanksgiving Day.”
“Active video games may help get kids off the couch, but child fitness advocates say they shouldn’t be seen as a substitute for real exercise. Active Healthy Kids Canada has released its official position on active video games after convening an international panel of researchers to look at the latest evidence on the subject. The organization says “exergames” are a good way to break up the time kids spend being sedentary. However, they’re not as good as having kids play real active games or sports.”
Pack away that Wii! Lol.
“Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and first of year of life may have links to autism in children, a U.S.-based study has found. The study, conducted in California and published online Monday in Archives of General Psychiatry, examined the relationship between traffic-related air pollution, air quality, and autism. It found children living in homes with highest levels of traffic-related air pollution were three times as likely to have the developmental disorder when compared with children residing near lowest levels of exposure.”
Sigh – feels like everything these days can be linked to every kind of cancer/disease/disorder/disability/illness/etc.
“U.S. researchers are calling for a design overhaul of the inflatable bounce houses that are a staple of children’s parties after finding that as many as 31 children per day are injured while playing in them. A study out of Ohio says that between 1995 and 2010 there was a 15-fold increase in the number of bounce house-related injuries in the United States, from fewer than 1,000 per year to nearly 11,000.”
That is a lot of inflatable bounce house injuries.
“The Internet, it is sometimes said, turns every citizen into a journalist. If that is the case, some Twitter users in Britain are discovering one of the downsides of the business. As many as 10,000 Twitter users reportedly face the threat of legal action because of comments posted on the Internet or forwarded to others in which they referred to a BBC report wrongly linking a former Conservative Party official to the sexual abuse of a child.”
Interesting. Careful what you retweet.
“A new exploit being sold for $700 may put tens of millions of Yahoo Mail users at risk. Once victims click on a malicious email link, the exploit allows an attacker to steal and replace tracking cookies, while remotely controlling the victims’ browsing sessions.”
That sucks. Good thing I’m a gmail lady.
“As smartphone use becomes more common, people are increasingly using their phones to take pictures, check their email or do online banking. That’s what a new study reveals, hinting once again that phones have become so much more than just calling and texting devices. ”
“Facebook (FB) Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg was asked by two privacy groups to withdraw proposed changes to the company’s governing documents, saying they raise risks to members’ data. Facebook shouldn’t roll back voting options for users, shift controls on messaging or combine data from affiliates, including newly acquired mobile photo-sharing service Instagram, said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and Jeffrey Chester, president of the Center for Digital Democracy, in a letter to Zuckerberg. Facebook proposed modifications to its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and its data-use policy last week.”
Facebook owns us…
“WestJet Airlines plans to test a new entertainment system next year that will allow passengers to use their tablets, computers and smart phones to access in-flight television and connect to the Internet, CEO Gregg Saretsky said Tuesday. A prototype is expected to fly some time in the first half of 2013. The new system could eventually lead the Calgary-based airline to do away with seat-back systems and shed about 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) from each aircraft.”
Forward-thinking, that WestJet.
“Two years ago, when she started working at the deli counter of a Walmart in Illinois, Lisa hoped that her job would amount to the beginning of a career, one that would pay enough to cover her bills and enable her to stay current on her student loan debt. But despite one raise since, Lisa, who asked that only her first name be used, now earns just $9.10 an hour, or about $13,000 a year on part-time hours. Seven months pregnant, she recently filed for bankruptcy. With no alternatives at hand, Walmart now seems like a dead-end to poverty, she says.”
“Despite a widespread belief that sex during the later stages of pregnancy can jumpstart labour, a new study from Malaysia found no differences in the timing of delivery between women who had sex near term and those who abstained. “We are a little disappointed that we did not find an association,” said Dr Tan Peng Chiong.”
“A reanalysis of historical observations suggest Earth narrowly avoided an extinction event just over a hundred years ago.”
Aren’t we lucky. :o
Including a chance to join the ’70-mile high club’ and dive-bombing out of the sun!
“It is not every day that astronauts can claim to return to Earth with a new species of life. But when the astronauts on ESA’s CAVES underground training course returned to the surface they were carrying a special type of woodlouse.”
Interesting. Hopefully it doesn’t evolve above ground and destroy us all.
“Lonesome George, the late reptile prince of the Galapagos Islands, may be dead, but scientists now say he may not be the last giant tortoise of his species after all. Researchers say they may be able to resurrect the Pinta Island subspecies by launching a cross-breeding program with 17 other tortoises found to contain genetic material similar to that of Lonesome George, who died June 24.”
Playing God, eh.
Incredible, incredible photographs!!!
Weird News, Other News, Good News and/or Fluff
“Japan’s era of shoguns and samurai is long over, but the country does have one, or maybe two, surviving ninjas. Experts in the dark arts of espionage and silent assassination, ninjas passed skills from father to son – but today’s say they will be the last.”
This is sad.
“Homeowners Luo Baogen and his wife refused to allow the government to demolish their home in Wenling, Zhejiang province, China, claiming the relocation compensation offered would not be enough to cover the cost of rebuilding. So, adjacent neighboring homes were dismantled, and, bizarrely, the road was built around the intact home, leaving it as an island in a river of new asphalt.”
I just can’t see how this is real but I mean, the photos and The Atlantic are pretty legit. So strange!!!
“A couple died and their 16-year-old son went missing after being swept into sea in Northern California while trying to save their dog, authorities said Sunday… The dog got out of the water on its own.”
And yet, I’m not surprised? (Because a lot of people are really stupid).
Lol. These will have you cackling! So funny.
There’s a lot of these videos circulating (understandably) but I decided to link to the house in Lethbridge because of obvious geographical connections. Lol.
Fills my heart with joy :)
“As far as news bloopers go, it doesn’t get much cuter than this: a neighborhood kitty wandering on-camera during Univision 23 meteorologist Eduardo Rodriguez’s forecast segment recently. The Univision weather cat’s tail first floats along the bottom of the screen in the video above, then the surprise visitor takes a poke around the bottom righthand corner of the shot. ”
Um. The uploader has not made this video available in your country?!?! WAH. I WANT TO SEE THIS.
Look at how its evolved!
Pretty funny :)
Thor (and/or Loki) Photo of the Week:
Have your say on some of these Clicks! Leave a comment! Or tweet me!