Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg 'attacked by hackers'

Facebook’s chief executive and founder Mark Zuckerberg has been targeted by hackers last night. They took over his fan page and posted the following message pretending to be him: “Let the hacking begin: If Facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn't Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? Why not transform Facebook into a ‘social business’ the way Nobel Price winner Muhammad Yunus described it? http://bit.ly/fs6rT3 What do you think? #hackercup2011.” Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant said: "Facebook users - famous or not - need to take better care of their social networking security,”. Facebook has since removed Zuckerberg’s fan page from the site and have refused to comment on the security breach. 

 

  

Graham Cluley is right. Facebook users should be more careful with their password and privacy. People you do not know can look up a lot of information through your Facebook profile. I think only a small amount of people are aware of this. The weirdest thing is that Mark Zuckerberg himself was hacked (at least his Facebook account). As a founder of Facebook you should have the best security measures possible. I will also check my account on Facebook and I advise everybody to regularly change their passwords as these could be compromised. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/sacha-baron-cohen/8272469/Sacha-Baron-Cohen-to-make-Saddam-Hussein-film.html

Sacha Baron Cohen to make Saddam Hussein film

British actor Sacha Baron Cohen is going to play Saddam Hussein in a new film which is a adaptation of a book by Saddam Hussein. The Ali-G star will co-write and star in The Dictator, a romance novel the CIA believes was written by unknown writers under the influence of former Iraqi dictator Saddam and published under his name. Film-makers say it tells the "heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed". The comedy is due to be released worldwide on May 11, 2012 by Paramount Pictures. Rumours have previously circulated that Baron Cohen was to star as a foreign dictator and a goat herder in his next film project.

 I believe that Sacha Cohen is a great actor who is not afraid to find new things in acting. He is an innovator and a pioneer in the film and tv industry. Ali G and Borat were great episodes and movies. I was not so found of Bruno.  Let’s hope that his new movie will be a success like Ali G once was.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/sacha-baron-cohen/8272469/Sacha-Baron-Cohen-to-make-Saddam-Hussein-film.html

Christian hotel owners refused to let gay couple share double room

Peter and Hazelmary Bull denied Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy a room at their hotel in Cornwall in September 2008. Mr Bull, 70, and his wife, 66, said their policy is based on their beliefs about marriage and not a hostility to sexual orientation.  A judge has ruled that the Christian hotel owners acted unlawfully. Judge Andrew Rutherford awarded the gay couple £1,800 each in damages. Mrs Bull told the court: "We accept that the Bible is the holy living word of God and we endeavour to follow it as far as we are able. "We have a kind of routine we go through with folk. It is never our intention to offend so we try to make it as gracious and as helpful as we can."

It is a bit old fashioned to refuse a gay couple (in your hotel). Mr Bull and his wife said their hotel is not meant for sexual orientation. This is not an argument of course; have they ever refused straight couples? On the other hand I believe that as a hotel owner you have the rights to refuse people. It is against the law to refuse people based on the Equality Act but if you do not like someone why should you give them access to your home (hotel). I believe the gay couple should have said: “If you don’t want us in your hotel we do not want stay there”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8266097/Gay-couple-awarded-damages-after-Christian-hotel-owners-refused-to-let-them-share-double-room.html

Australian Open 2011: Andy Murray reaches second round

British Andy Murray did not have a lot trouble with Slovakia’s Karol Beck at Melbourne Park in round 2 as he was 6-3, 6-1, 4-2 up when Slovakia’s Karol Beck offered a handshake at the net. Karol beck had shoulder issues. He stretched out on a towel to have his body looked at by a physiotherapist. Beck also did not have any luck with playing on the Hisense Arena, an unlovely court that has all the charm of an out-of-town shopping centre.  Even before it became apparent that Beck’s shoulder was causing him some problems, there was no danger whatsoever of the Eastern European defeating the world No 5 and last year’s beaten finalist. 

I am a Andy Murray fan; his style of tennis is great. In my opinion he also has a nice personality compared to other tennis players. Last Australian Open he played Roger Federer in the final and lost. I hope that he wins this year and plays a little bit more aggressive so that he takes control in matches. He is among the favourites at Australian Open 2011 alongside world No.1 Rafael Nadal, champion Federer, Novak Djokovic and Robin Soderling so he definitely has a chance.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/australianopen/8265730/Australian-Open-2011-Andy-Murray-reaches-second-round-as-Karol-Beck-retires-with-shoulder-injury.html

“Bankers are overpaid”

Many bankers are paid more than they are worth, the chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has admitted.  Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "banker's pay continues to be astonishingly high, almost certainly too high". But he went on to defend the need to sanction such big pay deals because of the deals paid by rivals. "If we don't pay our top people they leave," Hampton said. Last night, Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg pledged to shake up the sector: "We need to break up our banking system so that irresponsible bankers can never again put your businesses and your savings at risk,".

There is a lot of commotion about bankers and their salary these days. This is not weird at all because some of them caused the economic crisis on the whole world as we know it today. I agree with Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg that something needs to be done about the banking system. What I also like is a limited maximum salary for bankers. Sir Philip Hampton said: “If we don't pay our top people they leave," this is true but if every bank has an limited maximum salary for their top men there is no point leaving because of the salary.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/journeyman-bankers-are-overpaid-admits-rbs-boss-2187210.html

Woman catches attacker on Facebook

A sex attacker is behind bars after a young mother turned detective and tracked him down on Facebook. The rapist Alpha Gray, 30, made the mistake of telling the woman his unusual first name and age when he accosted her on the street.  She said: "It's such an unusual name. I didn't think it was his real name. His picture came up and it turned out he knew someone I knew. There was a picture of him on a beach holding a little girl. From that picture I could not tell if it was him. I was not 100% sure." But when she viewed a video parade, she picked out Gray.

I am glad that the streets in England are safer now without Alpha Gray, which indeed is a weird name. I love it that the victim did some research herself and found him on Facebook. This of course probably would not have happened if he did not told her his name. It is a bit eerie that she is friends with someone he is also friends with, it is a small world.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20110114/tuk-woman-catches-attacker-on-facebook-6323e80.html

Brits in Tunisa advised to leave

The Foreign Office has warned British nationals to leave Tunisia while airspace is still open, as violence continues. Most tourists have already been evacuated. More than 1,000 British nationals remain in dangerous Tunisia, despite the emergency evacuation of all tourists holidaying with large UK tour operators.  The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said between 1,000 and 1,500 independent travellers and small tour group holidaymakers are still in the North African republic, following the fall of the country's president. More than 3,000 Britons -from which the majorities were enjoying package holidays - fled the North African country over the weekend on emergency flights. The Foreign Office has advised British nationals "to leave Tunisia unless they have a pressing need to remain".

 

It is a bit worrying that holiday travellers might be in danger in Tunisa. The country has really become dangerous with the fall of the president. The army is still on the streets in the capital Tunis and shots are being fired. I believe it is also really difficult to leave Tunisa now because there are also many locals that want to fled the country.  Let’s hope that all the Britons return home safely.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20110117/tuk-remaining-brits-advised-to-leave-tun-dba1618.html

Colin Firth crowned best actor.

British Actor Colin Firth was crowned King of Hollywood when he won the Best Actor award at the Golden Globes tonight. He walked away with the best actor prize at the Golden Globes for his portrayal of King George VI. The Golden Globes ceremony is usually regarded as a solid indicator of next month's Oscar winners. And another Briton, Christian Bale, now has reason to be hopeful of triumphing at the Academy Awards. His portrayal of a drug-addicted boxer in The Fighter earned him a best supporting actor trophy. The Social Network which is about Facebook won top honors with four prizes, including best drama and director.

 It is nice to see that a British Actor wins the best actor award as they mostly go out to the American actors.I am familiar with actor Colin Firth as he also plays as Lord Henry Wotton in Dorian Gray which he does quite well . I haven’t seen King George VI and The Fighter yet but I am pretty sure that I will watch them. With the Oscar nominations coming up I wish him the best luck.

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/film/3355208/King-Colin-the-Firth.html

Mortgages: rates to normalize

This article is about the mortgages in England.  Paul Fisher warned of a potential tenfold increase in interest rates from their current low of 0.5%, to put a lid on rapidly rising prices. Homebuyers should prepare for rates to return to a more "normalized" level, he said, which would be around 5%. He didn't say when, but added: "That's where rates will eventually go back to." It may come as a relieve for the millions of mortgage holders who have enjoyed ultra-low payments on their tracker loans since the base rate fell to 0.5% in March 2009.

It is good to see that the mortgage rates are rising and returning to a more normalized level. A lot of people are worried with their mortgage as you put a lot of money in them.  I don’t have a lot to comment on this article as I am not studying economics but I think the statements Paul Fisher does are “broad”. Paul Fisher said: "That's where rates will eventually go back to."  Of course, but for how long? He didn’t answer that.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jan/15/mortgages-fixed-rate-or-tracker