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

'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.

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The Power of Twitter - Part 1

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.

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Super Powers - Breathing Underwater

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?

Positives
Can't drown
Nobody would like to drown obviously, and this wuld be the only way to garuntee it never happens.
Explore the deep sea
it would be an amazing opportunity to search through the deepest parts of the sea, and go where no person has gone before.
Escape people
If you're being chased by someone, it would be an easy way to escape, or even fake your own death.
Genuine Hero
This is one of those rare powers where you could become a genuine hero, just become a great swimmer and you could save people from drowning and similar dangers.

Negatives
Pruning
If you spend a lot of time in the water, you'd prune up a lot. Not good.
Swimming Ability
Just because you can breath underwater, it doesn't mean that you'll be a good swimmer, it would take some time.
Get Lost
I suppose thier could be a danger that if you spend a bunch of time underwater, you could end up lost. Being lost at sea is never great.

What you had to say
Twitter - What would you do with the power to breath underwater?

@JaimeCarroll Be able to happily pick all the loose change at the bottom of water fountains!

@ricky_compton I'd swim around the world, just for bragging rights...with some form of predator defense.

@HighHeeledHell See if I could find Atlantis :)

@CapitalW23 Talk to Spongebob.

@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.

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Cereal Killers

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.

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Super Powers - Laser Vision

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?

Laser vision is a bit of an odd one. It's not one that many people would claim to want when given the option to have a super power. But it is a power that is heard a lot, and superheros like Superman are frequent users of it. I suppose it doesn't really offer all that much, it's a bit limited. But is that really the case?

Positives
Heat up food
This immediatly springs to mind. Just heat up anything instantly, it doesn't even have to be food, you could heat up water and then won't need a kettle.
Cut things with ease
I assume that laser vision can cut through stuff? Would make carving a chicken pretty simple...right?
Annoy people and play with animals minds!
Ok, so it's not the greatest idea ever, but why not use it like a laser pen, you can have a bit fun, and nobody will know it's you.

Negatives
Targeted eyes
If your eyes become your strength, wouldn't it be horrid to have someone try to take out your eyes to stop you.
Accidental laser vision
How the hell do you control laser vision? Sounds difficult, would be a nightmare at the opticians.
Dull power?
This is the first time i've struggled to think of things for these lists of positives and negatives, now that must surely mean it's not a particularly interesting power?

What you had to say
Twitter - What would you do if you had had laser vision?

@bryanjones63 Stare at Tories, MPs and voters

@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

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The Power of Facebook - Part 1

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.

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Wierd World 1

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

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