Sunday, October 14, 2012

Winsor McCay:Google doodle

Winsor Zenic McCay  was an American cartoonist and animator, best known for the comic strip Little Nemo (begun 1905) and the animated cartoon Gertie the Dinosaur (1914). He worked under the pen name Silas on the comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend.

Google has celebrated the 107th anniversary of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland with one of the search engine's most elaborate doodles ever.

The doodle recreates the adventures of the main fictional character from the illustrator's comic strips, which first appeared on 15 October 1905 in the New York Herald.

Felix Baumgartner

Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner has become the first person to go faster than the speed of sound, reaching a maximum velocity of 833.9mph (1,342km/h).
He jumped out of a balloon 128,100ft (24 miles; 39km) above New Mexico, the 43-year-old also smashed the record for the highest ever freefall.
It took just under 10 minutes for him to descend. Only the last few thousand feet were negotiated by parachute.
"Let me tell you - when I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble. You don't think about breaking records anymore, you don't think about gaining scientific data - the only thing that you want is to come back alive," he said afterwards at a media conference.
None of the new marks set by Baumgartner can be classed as "official" until endorsed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI).
Its representative was the first to greet the skydiver on the ground. GPS data recorded on to a microcard in the Austrian's chest pack will form the basis for the height and speed claims that are made.
Numbers-
Exit altitude: 128,100ft; 39,045m
Total jump duration: 9'03"
Freefall time: 4'20"
Freefall distance 119,846ft; 36,529m
Max velocity: 833.9mph; 1,342.8km/h; Mach 1.24

Amanda Todd

Amanda Michelle Todd (died October 10, 2012) was a 15-year-old Canadian teenager who committed suicide attributed to cyber-bullying through the social networking website Facebook.
On 7 September 2012, Todd posted a video on YouTube in which she used a series of flash cards to tell of her experience of being bullied.Shortly before 6:00 pm on October 10, 2012, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were called to her home in Port Coquitlam, to investigate what they refer to as a "sudden death".They have since launched a full investigation into Todd's death.Police are conducting interviews, reviewing content at social media sites, and are actively monitoring pages.  Christy Clark, the Premier of British Columbia, made an online statement of condolence suggesting a national discussion be made discussing criminalizing cyber-bullying.Todd was a 10th-grade student at CABE Secondary in Coquitlam.

The internet hacking and activist group Anonymous has named a man the group says was the girl's primary tormentor. Anonymous published the name and address of a Vancouver-area man that the group claims was bullying and preying on Todd via the internet. The activist group, which often uses a caricature Guy Fawkes mask as its logo, claims the 32-year-old man has also made postings to child pornography sites. The man himself has now been threatened online by others vowing to carry out vigilante justice.

Todd's family has pleaded with people to report anyone desecrating online tribute pages to Amanda and also to come forward with information about those who bullied her online. The kind of sexual exploitation described by Todd is part of a seedy cyber-underworld that targets young girls and it is not bullying, but a vicious crime that should be pursued even after her death.

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is a television drama series developed by Frank Darabont. It is based on the comic book series The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard.  The series stars Andrew Lincoln as sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes who wakes up after being in a coma to find the world dominated by "walkers", resembling the zombies of George A. Romero's horror movies. He sets out to find his family and other survivors along the way. The Walking Dead premiered on October 31, 2010 on the cable television channel AMC in the United States.Based on its reception, AMC renewed the series for a second season of 13 episodes which premiered on October 16, 2011.Two episodes into the second season, AMC announced that the show would return for a third season, scheduled to start airing on October 14, 2012.

Red Bull Stratos

Red Bull Stratos was an ambitious project involving Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner and retired USAF Colonel Joseph Kittinger. The mission attempted to fly Baumgartner approximately 23 miles (37 km) into the stratosphere over Roswell, New Mexico in a helium balloon before free falling then parachuting to Earth.Baumgartner attempted to break the sound barrier on his descent, becoming the first human to do so without vehicular power.He also attempted to break three other world records—the highest manned balloon flight, the highest altitude jump, and the longest time in free fall. The free fall expected to last between five and six minutes,with total jump (until contact is made with the ground) expected to last approximately ten minutes.The proposed launch on 9 October 2012 was delayed then postponed due to weather.

The launch occurred at 09:30 MDT on 14 October 2012.He has broken the height and speed record successfully.