While millions fell silent in Britain yesterday to remember Armistice Day, research showed many people would have continued to chat online using Facebook and Twitter during the two-minute silence.
Nearly half the British workforce intended to ignore the two-minute silence on Armistice Day by going online, according to a poll which examined the country’s approach to the anniversary of the end of World War I in 1918.
The survey said that while two-thirds of people intended to refrain from talking to colleagues on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, 44 per cent considered it acceptable to surf social networking sites on the internet. (AFP)
Prince enjoys Tudor treat
The Prince of Wales sampled some home-cooked delights inspired by the Tudors yesterday during a visit to a museum where British rural traditions are being kept alive.
Prince Charles tasted a type of scone called an Excellent small cake made from flour, raisins, spices, such as cinnamon and ginger, before being griddled and drizzled with honey.
In a dark, smoky Tudor kitchen, he also made encouraging sounds after sampling an onion and rosemary bread at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in Singleton, West Sussex. (PA)
Nasa accounting blunder
Nasa has admitted an accounting blunder that means the cost of the Hubble Space Telescope replacement has grown by $1.5 billion– according to an internal study.
The space agency said management and others did not notice that major costs for the James Webb Space Telescope were omitted during a programme review in July 2008.
The study says at best, it will now cost about $6.5 billion to launch and run the powerful new telescope – and only if Nasa adds an extra $500 million in the next two years over current budget plans. (PA)
Immigrant ‘rats’ apology
A Tennessee politician has apologised for likening illegal immigrant births to rats multiplying.
Republican Rep Curry Todd told officials at a legislative committee hearing that not checking for US citizenship before paying for health care meant immigrants could “go out there like rats and multiply”.
No politician responded to the remarks, but Mr Todd said later he could have used other word choices, adding: “I was actually wrong, and I admit when I’m wrong.” But he insisted the issue must be addressed. (PA)
‘Barefoot Bandit’ charged
The 19-year-old “Barefoot Bandit” accused of a two-year string of thefts from Washington state to the Caribbean, has been indicted by a US grand jury in Seattle.
The US Attorney’s Office said Colton Harris-Moore faced charges including interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft and being a fugitive in possession of a firearm.
He is nicknamed the “Barefoot Bandit” because police say he wore no shoes during some of the thefts. (PA)
Jail blaze kills 16
A fire tore through a prison north of El Salvador’s capital, killing at least 16 young inmates and injuring 22.
Ten of the injured were in a serious condition with burns, said Mauricio Ventura, director of the Rosales Hospital in San Salvador.
The small prison in the city of Ilobasco held 96 inmates, 43 of whom were in the cell block affected by the fire. Initial reports indicated the fire was accidental and may have been caused by an electrical short circuit. (PA)
Acropolis scaffolding
Scaffolding once again appeared on the Acropolis in Athens yesterday as work resumed after a brief pause on a decades-long restoration project.
“New scaffolding has been constructed on the central part of the Propylaea to restore the original marble,” said Mairi Ioannidou, the head of Acropolis Restoration Service.
The Propylaea is a vast, semi-ruined gateway that served as the gateway to the Acropolis, the 5th century BC citadel that towers over the Greek capital. (AFP)
35 hours of video a minute
YouTube said yesterday that 35 hours of video are being uploaded to the video-sharing site every minute, up from 24 hours per minute in March.
Hunter Walk, director of product management at Google-owned YouTube, said the number of uploads to YouTube has more than doubled in the last two years.
The rate of 35 hours of video per minute works out to 50,400 hours of video every day.
“Another way to think about it is: if three of the major US networks were broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for the last 60 years, they still wouldn’t have broadcast as much content as is uploaded to YouTube every 30 days,” he said in a blog post.
Mr Walk said a number of factors were behind the jump in video uploaded to YouTube including an increase in the time limit for videos to 15 minutes from 10 minutes and an increase in the file size to two gigabytes. (AFP)