How It Is

Super Powers - Teleportation

2012-06-14T13:51:00.000+01:00

@danielmackrell I would use it to cause maximum mischief - pranks, stealing things, go places where others can't get you.

‏@George_Berridge

@danielmackrell use it to frighten people and get cheap holidays.

‏@dannyhiggins

@danielmackrell probably teleport to selena gomez house. Wine her, dine her, you know the rest

‏@itssarahmore

@danielmackrell never use public transport again :P

‏@GrahamMarshall_

@danielmackrell Basically I'd be Nightcrawler from the X-Men.

‏@margotlily

@danielmackrell teleport to foreign countries: fast way to go on a trip! No time wasted with transport! Teleport to work, too!! Saves time!

‏@00Tom00

@danielmackrell Teleport to a world where you don't ask me questions about teleportation?

‏@GeorgeRoff

@danielmackrell I'd do what I always dreamed of doing - visit the places I want to.. and home in time for tea! :P

Conclusion
It's a dangerous power, and one that could destroy a person if they get lazy with the power. It would be incredibly tempting to use it for all the wrong things, and it can easily turn you into a fat, lazy slob.

But, as long as you can master the art, and know what you're doing with it, and have enough will power to restrain yourself a bit, then this power could prove very useful.
This is one of the toughest decisions so far.

Verdict - Super

Your View
Do you agree with what I've said?
Comment with your views below!
You can also get the latest updates on my blog posts by following my blog and following me on twitter.

Teleportation at work
Here's a video that I think highlights some of the pros and certainly cons of teleportation.

Why Celebrities Annoy Me

2011-10-03T15:25:00.000+01:00

This post is merely a recycled entry from my other blog. However, I feel like it is a lot more relevant on this blog, and also, it is still very relevant to my feelings on what still goes on in our celebrity feeled world. Enjoy.

“A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized”

I think that with the end of Celebrity Big Brother, it is only fitting that I address the world of celebrities, and explain exactly what is wrong with it.
We all love gossip, and hearing rumors about famous people, there’s nothing wrong with that. But why do we care about the lives of people that are just like anybody else? Who cares about Katie Price? What makes her life so exciting, because I just don’t get it. They make so much money from pointless interviews and guest appearances, and half the time nobody wants to see them!

However, despite all that, they remain celebrities, and make so much money from doing practically nothing except selling their soul to journalists, and even more depressingly- appearing on game shows.

I am a big fan of game shows. However, I HATE celebrity game shows. I find it much more exciting to see a ‘regular person’ fighting for everything, using the very limits of their (usually) small brain. Instead we have the air heads we call celebs having a bit of a laugh (among themselves) with not much of a care when it comes to winning or not.
What I really don’t understand is the charity part of the shows. They’re basically saying that if a celebrity can’t get through some hole in a wall, or get a multiple-choice question right, then their charity doesn’t get money. WTF?! That’s insane, has any produce actually ever stopped for a second and think about what they’re basically showing to the public? They’re deciding how much they donate to charity through the abilities of an idiotic celebrity. WHY? They should just give the money to the charity; they’re not going to do much else with it. Otherwise you’re just teasing the charities.

Next time you watch a celeb on a game show playing for their charity and fail, just take a few seconds to absorb it, and you’ll see just how ridiculous it is. Half the time they applaud afterwards! And then say the classic “well I had fun”. Give me a break! I’ve had enough of talentless celebrities having an easy ride through life, making so much money from random stupid TV appearances.

I respect those that truly deserve fame and fortune, and I congratulate them. Those are the ones that don’t resort to appearing on I’m a celebrity or Hole in the Wall. But for those that just try to tag along and to claw their way into the starlight, move out of my way, because I want to watch the real stars, not your plastic face!

“A celebrity is known by many people they are glad they don't know.”

New Facebook - A Step Too Far?

2011-09-30T11:02:00.001+01:00

[If you enjoy this post, please check out my main blog for more updates and news on social media]

Ever since Facebook launched its new design, there have been a number of complaints from its users. Of course, these are the same people that complain every time a change is made, yet they still stick with it.

However, is their anger and frustration justified this time? After all, these weren't just minor tweaks to the layout, or a new look to the chat feature. Facebook has undergone a big makeover. A makeover that has once again made the experience feel too 'intimate'.

I'll start with the 'live feed' or 'ticker' that sits on the top right-hand side. It allows users to see exactly what their friends are doing every single moment, whether that’s commenting on a picture, on their status, becoming friends with someone else. Put simply, it’s a dream world for stalkers. You don't even have to click onto somebody’s profile to see exactly what they're doing. The only way to avoid this is to alter the settings for every single friend that you have. Now for some of us, that won't take too long, but for some people, we'd be talking about thousands of friends, who must have a 'ticker' updating at enormous speeds to keep up with the updates. I suppose it might teach them a lesson.

But maybe this is a good thing; maybe it will make people now question whether they really should add someone as a friend, maybe Facebook should in fact become a more personal experience, so that you can feel more comfortable in sharing your personal interactions in front of all your 'friends'.

Now onto the new layout. We know longer have two feeds to choose from, it's just one big feed that we can gradually 'perfect' by informing Facebook of who want to know about. This seems like a pointless addition, especially now that we have to scroll down just to see what the latest relevant updates are. This seems like a pointless change, simply placed there to give the design a slightly cleaner, sleeker look. Perhaps in the long run it will prove a success, but right now it just looks a bit messy. Which I’m guessing isn't the intention.

Also, if facebook knows we have preferences to who we want to read about, then why have a live feed where we can see what everybody’s doing? It should be obvious to them that we simply don't care.

I understand Facebook's desire to evolve as a social network, especially with competition such as Twitter. Also, Google+ is now slowly starting to grow. However, some of these changes feel like they are trying to compete by taking ideas from Twitter and Google+ but slightly tweaking them. Now this could easily not be true, but on the surface, I feel like I can get a much better service on somewhere like Twitter. A place that isn't too complex, and gives me exactly what I want from it. I get simple updates from the people I want to get updates from. If I don't want to see them on my feed, I can simply unfollow. But if I still want updates, I can alternatively put them into a 'list' and just see they're tweets when I want. And if you only want certain people to see your tweets, you can simply set your profile to private. It's very basic, simple and does what you want from it. Something that Facebook has gradually distanced itself from, with more and more features being added, and complicated privacy settings (which are now even more complicated if that was ever possible).

The Inbetweeners Movie Review

2011-09-05T13:42:00.001+01:00

The Inbetweeners has been a huge success ever since it debuted on E4 bck in 2008. It captured not only its target teen audience but also a huge number of adult viewers.

Thier was bound to be fear that The Inbetweeners would struggle to make the leap from tv show into full blown movie. In the past we have seen many great tv shows suffer 'tv special syndrome' where the attempt of a full length feature falls flat on its face. Luckily, this transition was pulled off with great success, and many will view it as a fitting end.

While the cast can be congratulated for performing with excellent comic timing, a lot of credit has to go to the writers - Damon Beesley and Iain Morris for thier great job in creating more memorable moments that even the most uptight parent can sympathise with and relate to.

Even though thier are some 'in' jokes relating back to the series, it is also catered to people that have no knowledge of the four boys beforehand. We get a quick introduction to thier quirky (and mostly strange) personalities within the first 5 minutes which helps us know what we can expect. And by that I mean poo jokes, sex jokes and a lot of heartbreak.

The setting of Malia was a perfect environment to see the stars Will, Simon, Jay and Neil squirm and struggle to fit in. Thier immediate arrival introduces bad luck and disgust. I think I heard as much 'argh' and 'ewww' as I did laughter, which is what made the film much more of an emotional rollercoaster.

It was this balance that made the movie feel complete, and by the end your left knowing why the series has been such a success. The Inbetweeners Movie has become a huge hit in the UK becoming the number 1 box office draw. It's success has lead to a number of companies in the US trying to get thier hands on the film as it prepares to launch over in America in November. Could this film be a surprise blockbuster hit? After all, many ave compared it to the likes of American Pie and Superbad. Finally Britain has a new fresh comedy film to compete.

In the genre of Comedy, thier aren't many films that do it better.
Rating - 9/10

Hanks Hints at a Toy Story 4

2011-06-28T21:57:00.000+01:00

When interviewed by the BBC, voice of Woody - Tom Hanks has hinted that thier may be a 4th Toy Story in production.

During an interview promoting his new film ';Larry Crowne' , Hanks was asked whether thier would be another sequel to the animation.

He replied saying "I think there will be,", and further added that "They're working on it now".

Would you want to see another Toy Story film? Or do you think it would be better to leave to leave the franchise with the great ending it was given in Toy Story 3?

Meanwhile, early reviews suggest Cars 2 is far from the standard that we are used to seeing from Pixar.
However, a new trailer showing next summers Pixar blockbuster suggests they should be back on track in time for next year. You can watch the trailer for thier next film 'Brave' down below.

Death of the Video Tape...How long until DVD's are next?

2011-05-19T15:37:00.000+01:00

Well, it's safe to say RIP to the video tape.
Over the year, video players have been disappearing across my university to make way for top quality DVD players. Let's face it, they've been dead for years now, nobody uses them anymore, at least not very often.
Back home we still have a huge pile of video tapes of great films ranging from Disney classics like The Lion King and Jungle Book, to Eastenders videos and some wrestling ppvs. In a way they show a bit of our history and for people my age, they show our childhood. I remember the days before things like Sky Plus; I used to record my favourite shows on a video tape so that I could watch them again later.

It makes me feel old thinking that they were the way to watch your favourite shows and films whenever you wanted - now it's become so easy. When you finished watching a video you had to actually rewind it if you wanted to watch it again, and it made that loud rewinding noise while you waited.
You couldn't skip scenes; you had to fast forward to where you wanted it to be. Those were the days...

Thinking about it, DVD already look like they're going to be making their way out the door sooner rather than later.

Digital copies are slowly growing in popularity as they enable you to watch content 'on the move', although is that really a good thing. Music is great on the go, because you can still keep focus on what you're doing, but tv shows and films usually require a lot more attention.
Blu-Ray is also becoming a challenger to the DVD, but the obvious safety net is that you can play DVD's on a Blu-Ray player.

They can certainly still put up a fight, I know a lot of people that still buy them instead of a digital copy. But we can be certain that sooner or later they'll fade away just like the video tapes. And then I'll just feel really old - all over again...

Super Powers - Super Speed

2011-05-16T14:10:00.002+01:00

In this series of blogs I will be observing the various super powers that we'd all love to have. I'll look at the pro's and cons and see what we all think we could do with the powers. These powers won't necessarily be needed to act as a super hero, they could simply be thier to make your life easier. At the end of the each blog i will give a verdict on these abilities - Super? or Stupid?

Super Speed is one of those powers that often gets mentioned when discussing what abilities we would love to have. I guess because it creates a sense of invulnerability, nobody can touch you because you're just too quick. We've seen the power put to good use in numerous films, comics and tv shows. But in reality is it really all it's cracked up to be?

Positives
Quick journeys
You can pop to the shops and be back in no time. Easy.
Escape danger
You can run away from anyone(or anything) no problem.
Be a real superhero!
We already know that it's possible to become a proper super hero with super speed alone. The Flash did it, so if you wanted to go around saving the world, then maybe it's a possibility.
Easy wait loss
Any extra weight will just fall off of you [see negatives]
Eco Friendly
No need for cars or anything like that, save the environment, and save a lot of money too.
Run on water
I'm guessing(another 'Incredibles' reference) that if you run fast enough, then you can run across water without sinking. You just have to make sure that you don't stop half way through.
Race?
You would win all the races you want..if you want....i guess...meh
[Note to self] Stop getting ideas for super speed positives from The Incredibles.
Negatives
Trip over
If your running incredibly fast and suddenly trip - it's going to hurt...a lot
Catch fire
I know in 'The Incredibles' they have friction proof clothing, but in the real world, that clothing doesn't exist. Your clothes would burn, and your atualy body won't feel too great either.
Shoe issue
What kind of shoe can sustain such fast speeds, i'm guessing it would bave to be extra strong trainers or something like that.
Too much weight loss
I'm guessing you'd lose loads of weight without even realising it, could be a frustrating balancing act[see positives]
Dodging
Must be hard to avoid rnning into objects when our running fast - do your reflexes become fast as well? They'd would need to be pretty quick!
Bugs
You're running fast, you're loving it. Then suddenly a bunch of flys, and others insects smack into your face. They land in your eyes, all over your clothes, and worst of all - in your mouth. Not good.
What you had to say
What would you do if you had super speed?

@ricky_compton Challenge Usain Bolt to a race, knock him down a couple of pegs.

@GeorgeRoff Wouldn't buy a car. (Y)

@CapitalW23 Easy, I'd run over to ya'll.

@JaimeCarroll I'd wee into empty bottles and sell it as energy drinks as my power will be passed down.

@TheIceMan5000 Super speed! That would save me time, and I'd never be late again. but I can't help but feel people would abuse it.
Conclusion
This is one of the toughest decisions so far in this Super Powers series. Thier have been some good positives, but also some very convincing negatives. It seems that in films and comics, a lot of the realistic flaws are hidden, and if that was the case from these blogs then Super Speed would get an automatic 'Super' rating. It's not a one trick pony, it's a diverse power that would enable you to do so much more than you first imagine. But is thier just too much there that is holding you back and stopping you from taking this power to it's highest potential.
We'd need to have lightning fast reflexes to get the most out of the power, and for this conclusion i'm going to assume that the reflxes come with the speed.
Even then, we would need to create non-friction clothing, and sort out the weight issues and maybe construct a shield from the bugs. Maybe then it could have potential to be a great power. But despite all the impressive postives, the negatives are just too big for me to consider this a 'Super' Power.

Verdict - Stupid
Your Views
It was a tough decision. So do you agree or disagree? Could you pursuade me that I've made the wrong decision by declaring Super Speed as 'Stupid'? Let me know in the comments below!

Super Powers - Healer

2011-05-10T19:09:00.004+01:00

In this series of blogs I will be observing the various super powers that we'd all love to have. I'll look at the pro's and cons and see what we all think we could do with the powers. These powers won't necessarily be needed to act as a super hero, they could simply be thier to make your life easier. At the end of the each blog i will give a verdict on these abilities - Super? or Stupid?

Being a 'Healer' is necessarily the most impressive super ability, but i'm sure it would be considered the most useful by a lot of people. Healing the most deadly of wounds would make you useful to others, but would you become too much of a one-trick pony? And is it to small of a power?

Positives
Heal the sick
This is an obvious plus, to be able to help those with injuries and illness.
Help others
An obvious positive is the ability to help the sick.
Help yourself
You don't have to worry about illness anymore, just heal yourself all the time.

Negatives
Not invincible
I tik it's impotant to know that just because you can heal, that doesn't mean your immortal. If you got wacked in the head with a brick, or put into a coma. You wouldn't be able to heal yourself.
Exhausting Work
Think of the amount of people looking for yout heal them, and once you start, you wouldn't feel like you'd be able to stop. When do yo reach a person and say enough is enough, it would be difficult to turn someone away.
Fighting crime?
I suppose you could fight crime, but your ability to heal wouldn't be much help, you'd have to rely on your own strength and fighting ability. It just means when the villains beat you up, you an just heal yourself afterwards. That would be a pretty crap super hero.

What you had to say
What would you do with the power to heel?

@JaimeCarroll I'd be rich. Very, very rich.

@TheIceMan5000 Heal those who deserve to be healed!

@GeorgeRoff Cure disease worldwide then when I'm done, I'll have no fear surely as if I can heal, when I hurt myself I'll heal myself!
@bryanjones63 Heal people on the inside and impart the same power to them,soon,everyone's nice to each other,not much to hope for is it?
@Laura_220392 Heal people =P

@ricky_compton I'd convince people to let me punch them in the face in return for free healing. But I'd also work on AIDs I suppose.

Conclusion
The ability to heal would definatly be a useful power, and you can do a lot of good with it, but I can't help feeling that it's just too much responsibility. You obviously wouldn't be able to help everyone in the world, especially as they'll just get ill again and again. It's an endless, vicious cycle. And thiers no other alternative uses for the power, it's just healing people, you can help in any other way. Also, as i said in the negatives list, you wouldn't be considered the most exciting super hero if thats the route you'd want to take.

Verdict - Stupid

Your View
Do you agree with what I've said?
Comment with your views below!
You can also get the latest updates on my blog posts by following my blog and following me on twitter.

World of Film - What's the deal 2011? Part 3

2011-05-04T13:21:00.001+01:00

'Latest Upcomings'

Amazingly, we've now entered May, and yet I have not been to the cinema once this year. I haven't really encountered any films so far that have made me desperate to see them. That doesn't mean that I haven't seen a trailer and though 'that looks pretty good'. Because I have. In fact there are a number of films coming out this year that I would like to watch, but (for the majority of them) I can easily wait until they're out on DVD or shown at my university cinema. There is nothing to drive any urgency so far. I mean last year during the summer I watched a few films in a matter of weeks. To name two - Inception and Toy Story 3. They both had that extra something that made me want to be one of the people that saw it in the cinema, particularly with Toy Story I wanted to be one of the first to see it on the big screen.

I'm afraid to say nothing has done that so far this year, but there’s still hope, and I’m almost certain that I will make at least one visit to the cinema this summer, although I have no idea what that film will be yet.

I suppose one good thing is that we've entered what I'm calling 'Oscar DVD Season'. As I expressed in an early blog - films are often released quite strategically in order to propel themselves into the minds of judges during the Oscar season, and giving them a better chance of recognition at the awards ceremony. That obviously also means that all of those films that shone during the Oscars will end up being released all around the same time onto DVD and Blu-Ray. That will mean the release of 'Black Swan' and 'The Kings Speech'. Two films that I didn't go and watch in the cinema, but look forward to seeing sometime in the future.

I suppose I should now turn my focus onto some future films that are in store for us all. A New action/thriller film called 'Hanna' has sprung up on me from nowhere, and to be honest I don't know too much about this film, but it's suddenly caught my attention. It's been described as 'Bourne-like', but that’s the case for so many films nowadays that I take any statement like that with a pinch of salt. It seems to have a very generic thriller plotline. A trained assassin suddenly becomes the hunted, but with a twist - she's 16! I'll now refer back to earlier in this post regarding films that I can easily be patient in watching.

Also currently in the cinema is 'Thor', another Marvel Studios release as the gradually build up for 'The Avengers' which they hope to release in 2012, combining a number of their stars including Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, and more.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of 'Marvel' films; superhero movies in general don't appeal to me that much (with certain exceptions such as 'The Dark Knight).

Although I must admit that there is something about Thor that interests me. My best guess is that I’m simply being attracted by the fact that it is directed by the brilliant Kenneth Branagh. It certainly adds some class and quality simply with his name on the back of the director’s chair. And from what I’ve seen in pictures and trailers, the film looks visually impressive, and the reviews have been positive.

It is definitely a film that I would be interested in watching - just not at the cinema!

Look out for the next 'World of Film' when I'll be looking at this year’s Summer Blockbusters.

The Power of Twitter - Part 1

2011-05-03T16:39:00.002+01:00

I recently made a post regarding Facebook, and a comment made that if it was a country, it would be the third biggest one in the world. And it got me thinking as too how it might work out if Facebook really did become a country.
Well in this post i'm going to take a look at Twitter and question what sort of country it would form.

Before I go into Twitter as a country, i'd just like to give you an idea into it's current popularity.
Thier are around 2-300 Million twitter accounts, which isn't quite as much as Facebooks 500 Million active accounts, but it's still a pretty large number and almost reaches the same amount as America's population of around 311 Million.
Twitter’s lead on Application Services - Raffi Krikorian mde a presentation in March of this year and raised a number of interesting statistics (courtesy of 'Fresh Networks' Hamrid Sirhan).

- The current rate of tweeting is 1,200 Tweets per second (tps)
- There are currently 110 million tweets per day

These two statistics alone highlight the now huge popularity and activity that Twitter has. It has become very trendy amongst celebrities and athletes to promote themselves and anyting hey're invovled in. It has also broken down barriers that were once in place between celebrities and 'regular people'. It's introduced a new level of fan interaction. It has also become a way for businesses to promote thier products, and even for 'twitter celebrities' to emerge, becoming popular simply through thier 140 character tweets.

Trending topics has also become popular, and has enabled tweeters to view other opinions in a matter of seconds regarding big world events and announcements. It has become a perfect example of 'citizen journalism'.

Making 'The United Nations of Twitter'
Much like Facebook, the flag would surely be the logo. But this time maybe not of the word 'Twitter', but of the bird or maybe the 'failwhale' that we see so often.

In terms of the type of government, I think a democracy would work quite well. It would enable everyone to have a voice (nobody can exeed 140 characters in twitter - nobody!). With this Democracy could also come 'Popular Sovereignty', which is based on the idea that a state is 'created by the will and consent of its people'. This is also similairly linked with The Social Contract which comes from philosophers such as Locke, Rousseau and Hobbes. This is the idea that the population would agree to obide common rules and protect each other from harm etc...

This would very much be a united nation. Generally the people i have encountered have been friendly and just happy to express thier views to those that will read them. It is also filled with a diverse mixture of nationalities, age groups, and careers. Thier are doctors, actors, singers, plumbers, presidents, journalists, sales assistants, I'm sure every profession is covered somewhere on twitter.

In part two I will be analysing exactl what would make Twitter a dominant and powerful country.
In my Facebook post, I included a world map which highlighted the popularity of the social networking site. Well here is Twitters own version -

Twitter usage across the world

You can read 'The Power of Facebook - Part 1' by clicking here.

Super Powers - Breathing Underwater

2011-05-02T16:00:00.002+01:00

@HighHeeledHell See if I could find Atlantis :)

@GeorgeRoff I'd swim to Australia so I wouldn't drown and wouldn't have to get on a plane. (Y)

Conclusion
This power, could prove very useful in a number of situations. It would be great for travel, hiding, and could be life saving in some cases. Also, you could genuinly use it for good, perhaps by becoming a lifeguard.

Verdict - Super

Your View
Do you agree with what I've said?
Tell me your views by posting a comment below.
You can also get the latest updates on my blog posts by following my blog and following me on twitter.

Cereal Killers

2011-04-28T13:32:00.001+01:00

Gotta have my bowl, gotta have toys in cereal!

Remember the days when you bought your box of cornflakes, or coco pops, or whatever it may be. And the big exitement was the toy inside, thats what everybody always wanted.
I think the British were a lot different to Americans in how we gained 'the glorious prize'. Americans saw it as more of a prize 'that will choose its owner'. And therfore the prize belonged the whoevers bowl it fell into.
Here in Britain we took a very selfi...different approach. It was simply first to open the box and dig out the prize got it.

Now these were fun times, and at a time when breakfast seems to be more important than ever, shouldn't these moments be encouraged. I'm worried that we've become to 'safety consicous'. It's taking the joy out of everything - first playgrounds and then cereal.
We saw the 'cereal toys' slowly fade away as the transition was gradually made to books and dvds, and now we've reached a stage where thiers nothing, not even hardly any games on the back of the box anymore.
What do we get instead? Advertising, and competitions to enter if you want to win a prize trip somewhere. It's just not the same.

They've stripped away my glorious memories of childhood. I really do feel sorry for the children of today, they've missed the joys that we once experienced - great tv, toys in cereal, amazing playground games. They're all history now, and at the moment thier seems to be no way of bringing them back.

Super Powers - Laser Vision

2011-04-27T18:44:00.005+01:00

@HighHeeledHell probably sit on the tube and freak people out with it and pretend it wasnt me

@TomCallan Laser off certain peoples clothes ;)

@GeorgeRoff I'd use it to look at gir- oh wait, that's x-ray vision isn't it? I'd look through doors? :P

@JaimeCarroll If I had laser vision, I'd use it to open up bottles of beer and shoot down annoying pigeons.

Conclusion
It seems like a useful super power generally, but feels like an accident waiting to happen. Plus, it's not like you could fight much crime with the power(if thats what you wanted to do). Also, like a lot of powers, you'd be asked loads of favours by people because of the power. You'd always have to avoid bbq's. Generally it's a power thats a bit dull, and not something thats going to make you stand out, its certainly not going to be on the top of anyones list.

Verdict - Stupid

The Power of Facebook - Part 1

2011-04-27T18:24:00.004+01:00

Last month I asked my followers to tweet my some random facts. One that really caught my attention came from @TomCallan. He said that 'if Facebook was a country it would be the 3rd biggest in the world.'

Now this really fascinated me. It's a lot of people. Lets put it into perspective.
China has over 1.3 Billion people, making it the highest populated country in the world. In second place is India which is the home of over 1.2 Billion people. The 3rd biggest country is The United States more than 311 Million.(and just for those interested the UK is 22nd with around 62 Million).

Facebook has over 500 million active users. Which confirms that the fact is correct, it actually has close to double the amount of America's citizens, which is pretty big. It becomes easy to understand when you consider the vast amount of users across a number of countries, including a large chunk of America itself. And yet, around 70% of Facebook users live outside of the US. This also means that thier are over 70 different translations.
If Facebook was a country, it would be a very multi-cultural one.

The Facebook logo has become regonisable wolrdwide, and it is ranked 2nd in the global Alexa rankings(only coming behind Google).

Making 'The United Nations of Facebook'
I think a UNF name for the country would make the most sense, as it would be filled with a number of nations uniting.
I suppose the basics of a 'Facebook Country' aren't too complex, such as the FB logo would be the flag.

The trickier stuff comes when deciding details such as the form of government. It would be easy to say a democracy, because of Facebook being very much reliant on the people. We've also seen in the social networks history that a lot of decisions made by those that run the website have not been well recieved. Although, those decisions often work out in the end, or we simply adapt to the changes. I would personally suggest a Republic.

A country of Facebook users would also mean that anybody could be found and accessed through the website, privacy could easily become a thing of the past. Although, i feel like an impression is getting created that everybody would know everyone, but that obviously wouldnt be the case with over 500 Million people populating it.

It certainly would be an interesting prospect, and thier would be a lot more to consider when looking at how Facebook has transferred into something that has taken hold of the world. But i'll leave that for another blog.

I'll just leave you with an image that was released by Facebook not too long ago, and shows exactly how widespread it has become.

Facebooks world of users

A picture that really does some it all up. Courtesy of Facebook.

Wierd World 1

2011-04-02T21:51:00.001+01:00

The world is a wierd place. We're always talking about wanting to meet aliens, and trying to make new great discoveries. But thiers so many great things that happen around us that we know very little about, simply because it's not given that much coverage.
In this series of blogs i'm going to just give you few bits of information that i thought were interesting, or just a bit odd.
Some are odd stories that you may not know, others are just wierd world records that show some of the strange things in our world.

Hand Amputations
Some guy from New Zealand called Clint Hallam has had his right hand aputated 3 times!
He was the first ever recipient of a hand transplant. He lost his original hand after an accident with a circular saw in 1984.
Unfortunatly, after the transplant, it became infected and had to be removed again in 1988.
They tried another transplant in September 1998 which took 13 hours. For two years after this, he was able to move his hand and even write with it.
But for some reason Hallam voluntarily stopped taking his immunosuppressive drugs. Clint then requested to have it amputated again in 2001.

What's your name again?
Here's one of the world's longest names, which someone changed to by deed poll--

Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/673833-top-10-weird-world-records#ixzz1HvgzISJ6

Some Random Facts

- The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing
- A cow has four stomachs
- Toto the dog was paid $125 a week for his work in The Wizard of Oz.
- Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
- The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

Thanks for reading, hope you learnt something new =D

Super Powers - Super Strength

2011-03-28T20:54:00.009+01:00

@PatersonMark Use it to help with rebuilding Japan.

@Laura_220392 I would pick up America and move it closer to England. Or maybe the other way around for the added bonus of better weather

@Ren_1992 Hmmm, destroy anyone that gets in my way! Don't think it would be at the top of the list of super powers I'd want though lol

@JaimeCarroll I would make a fortune off opening jars which weaker people can't open, such as jam jars, toilet duck and pickles.

@GeorgeRoff Do anything I want, when I want.. knowing that anyone who tries to pick a fight with me will lose.

Conclusion
I think if you had Super Strength, it would be important that you keep precision grip, to avoid crushing anything you pick up.
I suppose thier are very few actual downfalls with this power. You're pretty much living your normal life, except you can lift cars and buildings...okay, so maybe not completely normal. But the only real issue you might have is the high expectations, it will become your part trick. Everybody will want to see you lift thier car, it could get frustrating, but i guess thats what secret identities are for. At the end of the day, its not really the most exciting power to have.

Verdict - Stupid

World of Film - What's the deal 2011? -- Part 2

2011-03-26T11:16:00.001+00:00

'Being Positive'

In my previous blog you saw me rant and moan about 2011, and at the end of it I promised to be more positive and upbeat for the next one. Here we are - My attempt at being positive.

Let's start with the fact that filming of 'The Hobbit' has finally got underway. There have been a lot of setbacks, and it has lead to a lot of people dubbing 'The Hobbit' as "cursed". But it's great to hear that it's now up and running. The lineup looks good, with a solid British cast.
Even though part 1 of the film isn't expected out until the end of 2012, it is obviously highly anticipated by a lot of people, and if it reaches the quality of the Lord of The Rings films, then it should be an enjoyable adventure.

Thier is one film currently out in the cinema that i would really love to go and watch. And that film is 'Submarine' which is the movie that is directed by IT Crowds' Richard Ayoade. Positive reviews, and a quirky trailer has really got me interested. Also Ayoades' witty (and sometimes wierd) humour that i've seen him make on various ocassions makes it even more appealing.

Another film that seems really interesting to me is 'Sucker Punch'. It looks like a film packed with great action. Also, with a female dominated cast, it should add something extra. I can't really say to much about this film, as I haven't read too much about it, but i've seen the trailer and it's caught my eye as a film that i would love to watch this year.

So thier you go, a bit of optimism. Maybe for the next world of film blog i'll try and be more balanced, or how about controversial? That would be cool...

Twitter - Changes in Values

2011-03-23T10:22:00.001+00:00

I'll admit it took me a little while to fully adjust to Twitter and truly understand what it was and how it should be used.

However, now that Twitter has gone 'mainstream' with loads of media hungry celebrities and companies jumping on the bandwagon, I can't help but feel that some of the soul of Twitter has been snatched away.

Twitter used to be about following people (usually complete strangers) that you find interesting. And through this you would form bonds and friendships that you otherwise never would. It was a chance to let out your emotions and opinions(both good and bad) to complete strangers. It meant that when someone 'followed you', they were genuinly interested in your life and what you were writing with your 140 characters.
Also a retweet would show real appreciation for a witty, or truthful observation by somebody. Now it's become a cheap way to gain promotion, and try to nab followers. Such as 'retweet if you think this too'.
I'm not going to write this and say that I'm not taking advantage of twitter, because i do. I've started to use it to help promote my blogs, and sometimes I do feel like it's not the best thing to do.
But I do try to keep the number of people I'm following below the 200 mark, and this sometimes means unfollowing people that i didn't connect with or that i don't find as interesting as i had hoped.
Twitter can be harsh, your views aren't always agreed with, you can be criticised, but you can also be critical yourself.

I feel like people are now just aiming to get large numbers of followers either to feel loved and popular, or to just promote all of thier projects and ideas.
Even some 'twitter celebrities' are emerging with hundreds of thousands of followers.
What was once a place to share your ideas and becoming closer to a few people has evolved into a place where it has become almost impossible to be noticed. But you can't blame twitter itself, it's something that happens to many new websites(partiuclarly social networks), they eventually outgrow thier original purpose simply because of thier popularity.

New Banner

2011-03-22T19:28:00.002+00:00

Ok, so it doesn't look amazing, and it's not that big a deal. Just thought i'd post my smallest blog ever about it. Go me....

The class system - How strong is it?

2011-03-22T18:17:00.001+00:00

Me and my housemates had a discussion yesterday regarding the class system. We were wondering whether it is still going strong.

Obviously, they aren't as clear as they were many years ago when you had chimney sweepers and 'gentlemen' walking around with top hats. But I feel there are still distinctions between those further up the ladder compared with the ones sitting at the bottom. Or are there?

An exaple i'm going to use is shopping. You always see the richer(usually elderly) people entering into Marks and Spencers for thier knitted jumpers and frozen steak and kidney pies. While you see the poorer(usually students) entering places like Primark and poundland to find the cheapest of the cheap.
Now this isn't a criticism, this is an observation, and i think you'd agree that it's a true one.

Although, i'm sure if any student suddenly became wealthy, they wouldn't start buying thier food and clothing from Marks and Spencers. They may still return to Primark, or go for slightly pricier(but trendy) shops. This could be because M & S have established thier target market as older, or perhaps because we just don't want to step out of our 'zone' that we've been set.

You know what? I have no idea what i'm talking about now, and for that I apologise. I thought this was going to be a witty observation of todays society and class system. But instead it seems like i've just been waffling on about complete rubbish. The fact i'm writing this shows how far off track i've gone. I don't know how to save this blog. I could scrap it, but i think the world deserves to see me fail miserably. Ironically, one of my housemates was suggesting i would be able to give blogging tips to which i replied 'its quite easy actually'. Now i've made myself look like an idiot. Great.

Until next time.... O_o

Super Powers - Invisibility

2011-03-21T19:15:00.001+00:00

@Harpieclan1950 - um become a hero!!

@bryanjones63 - I'd convince people that I could fly too!

@RevTheMag - With invisibility and a couple million bucks, I'd change lives. I'd bring groceries, stop bullies, deliver sleeping bags ...

@spiritwasteland - lol hm... Sneak around and spy on hot people?

@GeorgeRoff - That'd be so cool! Go wherever I want to, whenever I want to! :D Nuff said! :)

@JaimeCarroll - I would use it straight after having sex with a prostitute just so I can avoid paying her.

@Dona300 If I had a power of invisibility I will go kick all the people I hate in the ass, enter my Boy friend's house & kiss him. Travel to many cool places like Disneyland & do what I want without people know.

Conclusion
Invisibility is a power which really makes you feel safe and in control. You can do pretty much anything to anybody and get away with it. But is that reall a good thing? What if you become so obsessed with being invisible that not only your perance, but your personality could to.
Thier are obviously flaws with this power. People will notice if you push through a door or if you step a puddle. Also what if a dog is sent to sniff you out? You can't make your scent invisible.
I don't really feel like thiers too much to gain from this power. Once you've played a few practical jokes, and maybe done some 'innocent' stalking, the funs pretty much gone, other than occasionally avoiding the people that annoy you.

Verdict - Stupid

I Am Sam Review

2011-03-20T15:40:00.000+00:00

This has become one of my all time favourite films. I admit thier are some flaws in the story and thier can be some confusion over who you should side with. But it's such a beautiful film and comes with a great message.
(I'm starting to worry that i'm going to get get really soppy in this review). This film shows that when it comes to being a parent, nothing is more important than love.

At the start of the film we are introduced to Sam(amazingly acted by Sean penn) who has the mental capacity of a 7 year old. We soon discover that he is expecting a baby, and shortly after she is introduced into the world, the mother runs away, leaving Sam to care for his daughter Lucy alone.
With the help of Annie(the women across the road) he is able to comfortably raise Lucy and introduce her to the world. However, when she turns 7, things drastically change, and Sam finds himself fighting (with his easily frustrated lawyer) to try and keep custody of his daughter.

I'll admit that when I first watched this film, thier was a few tears. And even now i occasionally have to try and act manly, and hold back the emotions. But it is a film that explores a lot of emotional tragedy, and what makes it so sad is that it's the tragedy of the vulnerable.
We're not witnessing the lives of any average person crumble, we're seeing people that have already been dealt a bad hand in life, and thier life just gets worse, and they have it all thrown back at them.
On numerous occasions we see people fall apart and crack during this film.

However, don't be under the impression that this is just a gloomy film, it has many hilarious and joyful moments. Particularly between Sam and Lucy. This is partly because of the superb writing and the lighting of a lot of the scenes which added to the emotion. But I have to mention the incredible acting which truly makes this film what it is.
Sean Penn clearly did his research when preparing for his role as Sam and does an outstanding job, i barely recognise it as him.
Dakota Fanning does an equally brilliant job playing Lucy, and handles both the comical and emotional scenes very professionally for someone her age, and it's not surprising to see her continue to land great roles in the film industry. Her timing and facial expressions are perfect for the role.
Michelle Pfeiffer also deserves a mention for her portrayal of Rita Harrison, the stressed out, emotional lawyer. She does a great job in both emotional and more humerous scenes, and she bounces off of Penn's character comfortably, and allows him to invest in his character while still ensuring that she gets enough attention on her dramatic, crumbling life to keep the sub-plot slowly developing.

Overall, it is the superb acting, writing, lighting and soundtrack that combine together to make this film an emotional rollercoaster. Definately one to watch, but be warned that you will likely have to hold back some tears.

9/10

Japan deserves our help

2011-03-18T15:49:00.000+00:00

While the tragic events of the earthquakes and tsunami's still haunt the people in Japan, i can't help but feel we are currently seeing a slight crossing of charities with Red Nose Day now upon us.

It will certainly be expected that we dig into our pockets and donate to both charities with each recieving quite a lot of coverage in the UK. This leads to the common problem of having so many charities that need our support. Who do you give your spare moneuy too? And with the struggling economic state of our country, it's become even harder to scrape together some money to spread across the many people that desperatly need it.

However, i do feel that it is important we don't take our attention away from Japan. As important and worthwhile Red Nose Day is, i think we need to keep in mind the urgency and the scale of destruction that Japan has faced.

This is a country that(much like a lot of us) had money troubles before this disastor struck, and they are now looking at a bill of over a Billion pounds to get things anywhere near to what they once were.
We also can't forget how generous Japan have been to other countries in times of need, as this article from 2005 shows, they were very helpful and generous to America during the destructive Hurricane Katrina.
[http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2005/September/20050915165123ajesrom9.768313e-02.html#ixzz1GcNyqVdM]
They provided support as companies, governments and indivuduals. Private donations alone were around $1.5 million.

You can donate here - http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now/Make-a-single-donation/Japan-Tsunami-Appeal

Or by calling 08450 53 53 53

It's Friday! - We So Excited...?

2011-03-18T12:35:00.004+00:00

I don't want you to base your judgement on what i've said in this blog. So if you haven't seen it yet, try and watch this music video. Friday by Rebecca Black. I'm sorry.
WARNING - The following music video is both annoying and addictive!

Surely everybody has now heard the horrific song by Rebecca Black. Now i'm not going to dedicate this whole blog to insulting her and critisizing her song. Now, dont get me wrong, i'd love to do that. But I can't help but feel that would be a pretty harsh thing to do. Particularly as the song has continued to grow on me over the last two days, and (to my shame) i've been finding it more and more addictive, and hate myself for it!

Rebecca Black has become famous practically over night with the official video alone already reaching over 12 Million views within the last week(despite the video being online for over a month now). She's suddenly getting a lot of attention, particularly in the online community, trending on Twitter, spreading on Facebook, and generally gaining a lot of attention. Although, i doubt anybody would agree that it's good attention.

Rebecca is not too different to a lot of the musical 'talent' that is recieving a lot of praise(and money) for songs that just don't reach the standard that we should be expecting and demanding.

Now, before i start defending her, i just want to get out of my system how awfully bad I consider 'Friday' to be. The lyrics are dreadful, boring and repetitive. Her voice has clearly been altered quite a bit, yet it still has a slight odd noise to it that it seems they just couldn't take out.

Why did they have lyrics such as 'We so excited'?! Is this what they see as targetting at a young audience? I mean the odd changes to grammer and pronunciation is fine, but 'We so excited' is just so bad, i don't even understand why the decision was made to say it like that? It's so much easier to add 'are' into the middle of that sentence.

I think it's important to note that Rebecca is simply a young girl trying to live her dream. Whether she should be trying to live the dream aged 13 is another subject for another blog. But I think the issue is that the intention is for all of us to take this song seriously and view it as an attempt to get good recognition and praise for a job well done.
If this was simply a girl putting in a lot of effort to try and produce something for fun and to share with people then i think it would not have exploded into anything near as big as it is right now.
The idea that this was made with the vision of projecting Rebecca into stardom much like Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus is what we find laughable. The rushed style of the song and the video makes it seem as though they are mocking the music industry and try to take in some easy money. Obviously this isn't the work of Rebecca, this is the people behind the music that are trying to target a very easy, gullible market of young teenagers.

In some ways i agree with a comment made on Yahoo! when they covered the recent products of 'Ark Music Factory' who are behind Rebecca Blacks songs. It stated that the company(based in LA) 'is a favourite of super-rich kids with pop star dreams, and, more importantly, plenty of parents' cash. The results are often music videos with high enough production value but a deficit of talent and individuality'.

So before we start to be critical of her, i think we should turn out attention to the label and the people that have pushed ahead her song and made it the laughing stock that it has become. Because it seems that they've done her chances of a music career more harm than good. If they stopped trying to churn out as many 'young stars' as possible, and start giving each one more attention and focus, then maybe we wouldget some better quality products. And maybe, just maybe the music industry can get back some respect.

[You can read the yahoo article and see more horrific videos here - http://new.uk.music.yahoo.com/blogs/behind_the_music/47870/web-turns-on-13-year-old-singer/]

Evolution

2011-03-17T21:14:00.001+00:00

This is a very different film to the ones i have reviewed recently, in the sense that it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's all about the great special effects and the cheap but enjoyable humour.

It follows two college professors (played by David Duchovny and Orlando Jones). They go to investigate a meteor rash in arizona and soon discover it is evolving at a rapid pace. Soon the governments gets involved and makes sure the two scientists no longer have a chance to investigate these strange creatures.

While some of the humour was a bit flat, their were a few laugh out loud moments. A lot of these came from Orlando Jones(who plays Prof. Harry Phineas Block), and his over the top reactions and funny one liners make it an enoyable film to watch while with a few friends.

Seann William Scott also has a role in this film, not as big a part as some of his films, playing the role of an 'in-training' fireman - Wayne Gray. He plays his usual role of the dim, clumsy but ultimatly determined young guy with some slapstick and stupid actions to attempt to add some more humour. Although, i feel like he doesn't have as much effect as some of his other films like 'American Pie' and 'Dude where's my car?'.

This film felt like the focus was more on the 'key moments' instead of the film as a whole. Because of this, their was a lot of hit and miss. This makes it hard to enjoy repeatedly, but as i said earlier in this review, it's good to watch with a couple of mates on a quiet night in. The special effects are impressive and the humour is enough to keep you entertained.

Acting - 4/10
Quality - 2/10
Entertainment - 8/10
Overall - 4/10