Welcome to “Winter Punderland”.
How many of these puns were you able to figure out? Read more: http://www.wimp.com/welcome-to-winter-punderland/
King of Spotify: Ed Sheeran beat out these major artists to rule 2014
Ed Sheeran performs at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show on Dec. 2 in London.Image: Samir Hussein/Getty Images Ed Sheeran has won the world over, claiming the throne as Spotify‘s most-streamed artist this year, with 860 million listens in the 58 global markets where the service is available. The English singer-songwriter held off stiff competition from Eminem, who is Spotify’s all-time most-popular musician, Coldplay, Calvin Harris and Katy Perry. Perry, next year’s Super Bowl halftime show performer, dethroned Rihanna to become the top female. On Perry’s tail were Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey, Beyoncé and Lorde. Sheeran’s sophomore studio album, x, also earned the title of top-streamed album, with 430 million streams since debuting at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart in June. He beat out Sam Smith, Iggy Azalea, Pharrell Williams and Grande. Meanwhile, over on rival Rhapsody, Sheeran was absent from the service’s top global artists, as Eminem, Drake, Katy Perry, Beyoncé and Rihanna came out on top in 2014. Musicians’ streaming stats have become more important than ever in terms of their success on Billboard charts. Billboard and Nielsen announced last month that they would alter the Billboard 200 albums chart to now include audio streaming data to rank the top albums, while also taking into account physical sales and paid downloads of albums and tracks. However, streaming services are also embroiled in controversy over artist royalties. Here’s a breakdown of the best of the best on Spotify: Top five global artists 1. Ed Sheeran 2. Eminem 3. Coldplay 4. Calvin Harris 5. Katy Perry Top Five Global Males 1. Ed Sheeran 2. Eminem 3. Calvin Harris 4. Avicii 5. David Guetta Top five global females 1. Katy Perry 2. Ariana Grande 3. Lana Del Rey 4. Beyoncé 5. Lorde Top five global groups 1. Coldplay 2. Imagine Dragons 3. Maroon 5 4. OneRepublic 5. One Direction Top five global tracks 1. “Happy” – Pharrell Williams 2. “Rather Be” (feat. Jess Glynne) – Clean Bandit 3. “Summer” – Calvin Harris 4. “Dark Horse” – Katy Perry 5. “All of Me” – John Legend Top five global albums 1. x – Ed Sheeran 2. In The Lonely Hour – Sam Smith 3. The New Classic – Iggy Azalea 4. Girl – Pharrell Williams 5. My Everything – Ariana Grande Top five global viral tracks 1. “Take Me To Church” – Hozier 2. “Gooey” – Glass Animals 3. “Ojos Color Sol” – Calle 13 4. “Coffee” – Sylvan Esso 5. “Hey Mami” – Sylvan Most streamed artists in the U.S. 1. Eminem 2. Drake 3. Kanye West 4. Lana del Rey 5. Ariana Grande Most streamed tracks in the U.S. 1. “Fancy” – Iggy Azalea 2. “Dark Horse” – Katy Perry 3. “Happy” – Pharrell Williams 4. “Problem” – Ariana Grande 5. “All of Me” – John Legend Most streamed albums in the U.S. 1. x – Ed Sheeran 2. The New Classic – Iggy Azalea 3. In The Lonely Hour – Sam Smith 4. Native – OneRepublic […]
This Refrigerator Only Opens if You Smile
If you’re hungry, you better smile: Researchers at the University of Toyko have developed a smile-activated refrigerator, which requires users to flash a grin before entering. The system, which is called the “The Happiness Counter,” aims to naturally encourage smiling in our every day lives. Equipped with built-in Sony CyberShot digital camera that features smile-recognition technology and an attached light sensor, it can sense when a smile has been flashed and unlocks the refrigerator door. Although you would think this could cure late-night food-binging for those feeling down, it’s still possible to open the refrigerator if you don’t smile — you just have to tug at it harder. “We feel that the happiness counter will naturally encourage the act of smiling in the multitude of daily frustrations, thus enhancing a positive mood and the communication of people,” a spokesperson said in a product video. The fridge might actually make smiling easier, too: researchers conducted a series of trials to test its effectiveness and found participants were more likely to smile forcefully in the first few days of using the system, compared to day 10 when people were much more likely to smile naturally. The team also believes this type of smile-activated technology has potential to boast productivity and morale in the workplace. For example, a “Happiness Counter” could be installed outside a meeting room, and only those who smile are allowed to enter. “Increasing the number of smiles in the workplace will enhance the atmosphere for everyone and they might be able to produce some nice ideas,” a spokesperson said in the video. Are you intrigued by the concept? Do you think it could really make a difference in your overall mood and outlook? Let us know in the comments below. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/10/smile-refrigerator/
State Troopers Hilariously Lip-Sync While Patrolling A State Fair
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DTBT_ATF’); }); While riding around in a golf cart, patrolling the fairgrounds on the last day of the Indiana State Fair, these Indiana State Troopers decided to have some fun and make a video to celebrate the occasion. The cops went all Danny and Sandy, reminiscing about their “Summer Nights” by lip-syncing the iconic song from “Grease.” When asked about the viral video, Jonathan Amburgey said, “The State Fair is a time that we have the opportunity to interact with the public in a way that we normally don’t get to. We wanted to show people that we aren’t robots. We have a personality, we like to laugh, and most of all, we like to make other people laugh.” Well done guys. As far as laughter goes, you hit the nail on the head! Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/troopers-grease/
The Underwater Drone Helping Search for Flight MH370
Bluefin-21 is in the water after being craned over the side of Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield to begin using its side-scan sonar in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on April 14.Image: Leut Kelli Lunt/Getty Images If wreckage from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is ever discovered, an underwater drone could very well be the first thing to spot it. The Bluefin-21 was contracted by the U.S. Navy to dive into the southern Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia and scan the ocean floor for pieces of the plane that went missing on March 8 with 239 people onboard. The drone was forced to resurface on April 16 due to a technical issue, according to a press release provided to Mashable by the Joint Agency Coordination Center, a search organization the Australian government created to help find the missing Malaysia airliner. Officials downloaded the drone’s memory once it was above water but, so far, Bluefin-21 has turned up nothing significant. Built by Bluefin Robotics but owned and operated by Phoenix International, this autonomous underwater vehicle takes instructions from a ship’s radio before diving up to around 2.8 miles underwater. The remains of flight MH370 might be much farther down, but at that depth Bluefin-21 can blast the ocean floor with a sonar beam. Data picked up from the sonar will be delivered once the drone resurfaces. Jim Gibson, General Manager of Phoenix International, told Mashable that if Bluefin-21 finds what might be a debris field, someone will switch out the vehicle’s sonar instruments with photo-taking equipment and send it back down to see if the clutter comes from the Malaysia Airlines plane. Bluefin-21 scans from side-to-side, and can spend about 16 hours at the bottom before coming up to re-juice. The ability to swap equipment is key to why this particular drone wound up searching for flight MH370. “It’s easily transported, unlike a lot of the other AUVs that are one piece,” Gibson said. “You can’t disassemble them, you need a special launch and recovery system to get them in and out of the water and everything else, and they’re quite heavy.” The ’21’ refers to the drone’s 21-inch diameter, according to the Bluefin Robotics website. It’s a little over 16 feet long and weighs around 1,650 pounds when it’s not in the water. Once it hits its lowest depth, the vehicle travels about three nautical miles per hour and can scan about 15 square miles of ocean floor per day. It stores all that information into its four gigabytes of memory. Despite the technical hiccup early on April 16, Bluefin-21 was redeployed later that day. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/04/16/underwater-drone-mh370/
Wildlife Rescuers Are Left Completely Exhausted After Rescuing An Injured Deer.
A school in the UK alerted Simon and his fellow animal rescuers from the Wildlife Aid Foundation to help rescue a roe deer trapped in a fenced playground area. There was a lot of blood on the ground, worrying the team of a possible injury to the deer. When they finally caught the deer, they discovered running on the concrete caused him to bleed from his hooves. Luckily the little guy didn’t have any other fresh wound. They released him in a nearby field after checking him over, and Simon says the hooves won’t be any problem if the deer stays on the grass and soft ground. (Source: Wildlife Aid) The rescue completely drained all the energy out of the team. They looked exhausted at the end, but it was all worth it! Read more: http://viralnova.com/injured-deer-rescue/
This Couple Built The Most Incredible Home…And It’s Floating
At some point, we’ve all had that fantasy of abandoning society and living off the grid. I’ve always dreamed of having my own personal island, but I’ve never entertained the idea that it could actually be done. I couldn’t be more wrong, though. Not only is it possible, but there are two people who are living their best lives on one right now. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBP_ATF’); }); Artists Wayne Adams and Catherine King were tired of city life, so in the 1990s, they decided to go back into nature. They began building their own sustainable home off the coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. And after 24 years of hard work and dedication, they have an incredible floating home that’s aptly called Freedom Cove. Although they’re not totally off the grid, their lifestyle is different than what we’re used to. In this picture, it looks like they live on the side of a mountain, which would already be enviable. Facebook / Catherine King googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBM_BTF’); }); But here you can see that their home is floating. Facebook / Catherine King They even have their own greenhouses and gardens to grow food. Facebook / Catherine King googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI1_BTF’); }); And needless to say, they have a gorgeous view. Facebook / Catherine King Would you build something like this if you had the chance? (via MindBodyGreen) I have never seen a home as amazing as this one. I wonder if they would consider letting me stay there on vacation. I could even bring one of these. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/floating-island-home/
Obama Campaign: We’re Not Accepting Foreign Money Online
Is foreign money infiltrating American politics through insecure online donations to Barack Obama? That’s one question pondered in a report published Monday but quickly denied by the Obama campaign. The study was conducted by the Government Accountability Institute, a research group run by conservative author, strategist and researcher Peter Schweizer. An 109-page examination of “fraudulent and foreign online campaign contributions,” it points out three ways in which the Obama campaign may be receiving foreign funds, which is illegal. First, the report, titled “America the Vulnerable,” claims the Obama campaign “lacks the industry-standard level of credit card security for donations,” but “uses it for merchandise purchases” on the campaign store. Donors on the official Obama site don’t need to include their credit card security number, the three- or four-digit code found on every card. The Obama campaign previously claimed it doesn’t need that code — called the CVV — because “they are able to vet contributions on the back end using sophisticated techniques that it doesn’t disclose,” claims the report (the Obama campaign since said it uses an Address Verification System to verify credit cards). Second, the report highlights Obama.com, a domain that’s not owned by the Obama campaign but points to a campaign donation page. According to the GAI, a majority of traffic to that site has come from abroad: “In 2008, Obama.com was purchased by an Obama fundraiser living in Shanghai, China, whose business is heavily dependent on relationships with Chinese state-run television and other state-owned entities. According to industry leading web analytics site Markosweb, an anonymously registered redirect site (Obama.com) features 68% foreign traffic. Starting in December 2011, the site was linked to a specific donation page on the official BarackObama.com campaign website for ten months. The page loaded a tracking number, 634930, into a space on the website labeled “who encouraged you to make this donation.” That tracking number is embedded in the source code for Obama.com and is associated with the Obama Victory Fund. In early September 2012, the page began redirecting to the standard Obama Victory Fund donation page.” The GAI report also noted several occasions where foreigners have received Obama donation pitches, but doesn’t confirm those foreigners were actually able to donate. GAI’s report also examines the Romney campaign, stating the following: “About 11.9% of the Romney campaign’s Internet traffic comes from foreign sources. Examining over 100,000 backlinks on the Internet that link to the Romney campaign’s webpage, approximately 12.8% of those are from foreign sources, including foreign language news sites and blogs.” However, the report isn’t as accusatory toward the Romney campaign as it is of the Obama campaign. The Obama campaign’s response? A Monday afternoon blog post explaining that the campaign screens for foreign IP addresses and requires a copy of a valid passport from a contributor identified as valid but donating from abroad. It also dismisses the GAI as having a right-wing agenda and claims the campaign “does not accept donations from foreign nationals or any other ineligible individual.” “OFA has […]
One Bird Stuck In A Warehouse Gives Wildlife Rescuers A Really Hard Time.
Trying to catch a bird of prey is hard enough as it is, let alone when they are all panicked due to being stuck in a very large warehouse. Simon and Sean from the Wildlife Aid Foundation spent a couple of hours chasing a Sparrowhawk around a warehouse. Having dealt with similar situations before, Simon knew what he had to do. He attempted to corner the frightened bird so that Sean, who was waiting in a very precarious position, could capture it. Eventually the pair managed to capture the small bird of prey and set it free, but it was no easy task. (Source: Wildlife Aid) Forget about “needle in a haystack”, the new term should be “Sparrowhawk in a warehouse.” Read more: http://viralnova.com/sparrowhawk-rescue/
This boat is powered entirely by solar energy.
We’d love to take a ride on this sleek, futuristic vessel. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/this-boat-is-powered-entirely-by-solar-energy/