John Lennon's son defends his mother for allowing Citroen to use images of father in car ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ph4rZU0Ns4endofvid
[starttext]
By Chris Johnson

Sean Lennon with mother Yoko Ono, pictured together in New York last August, has defended her for allowing footage of his father to be used in a Citroen car ad


John Lennon's son has denied that Yoko Ono is cashing-in on his father's legacy by allowing images of the murdered Beatle to be used in a TV commercial.

Faced with a growing storm of protest Sean Lennon is claiming the Citroen car ads are being screened as the family's way of keeping Lennon's memory alive.

Yoko Ono gave permission for archive footage of a John Lennon interview to be used in a UK advert for the Citroen DS3 hatchback.

But Beatles fans have accused the pair of cheapening the name 'Lennon' and branded them Yoko and Sean as 'leeches'.

One disgusted fan, named only as 'Stew' fired a stream of abuse over the ads at Sean, 35, via the social networking site Twitter.

Stew told Sean: 'You and Ono have sold John out allowing Citroen to use him to sell their cars. English fans are disgusted at you both.

'You and your mother are a talentless pair of leeches. You're not fit to use the surname Lennon. Enjoy the money...can't buy you love!'


John Lennon as he appears in footage for the ad

Stung Sean initially hit-back, branding his critics 'peasants' and 'a**holes' but claimed he had not seen the ad.

Now Sean has viewed he commercial and has confessed that he understands why fans were so upset, but denied that making money was the family's motive.

Speaking via Twitter, Sean said: 'Look, TV ad was not for money. It's just hard to find new ways to keep Dad in the new world. Not many things as effective as TV.

'Having just seen the ad I realise why people are mad. But intention was not financial, was simply wanting to keep him out there in the world.'


The Citroen DS3 hatchback, pictured here at the opening of the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland today

Citroen has defended its use of John Lennon by saying that permission was sought and given by Yoko Ono and the Lennon estate.

The campaign, by London-based advertising agency Euro RSCG, is billed as 'anti-retro' and also features legendary screen siren Marilyn Munro.

Some Beatles fans have challenged Yoko to explain why she gave her permission and told her 'Shame on you!' But defending his mother's decision, he continued: 'She (Ono) did not do it for money. Has to do with hoping to keep dad in public consciousness. No new LPs, so TV ad is exposure to young.'
[endtext]

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No... it's a man in a flying KAYAK: Daredevil claims to be world's first 'skyaker'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBBBDaYN6vAendofvid
[starttext]
By Mail Foreign Service

Making a splash: Skyaker Miles Daisher is ready to launch out of the Caravan at 13,500 ft above the ground

Danger man Miles Daisher casts a bizarre image paddling across the sky - 13,000 feet up in a kayak.

The daredevil has turned extreme sport skydiving on its head after deciding to jump out of a plane in equipment normally used only in water - giving birth to 'skyaking'.

His spin on the risky hobby means anyone looking up will draw a blank when they ask: 'Is it a bird? Is it a plane?'

But the answer will become clear when Miles swoops in at 50mph and lands on the water in spectacular fashion.

His unbelievable antics are set to explode onto the worldwide silver screen in a sensational new 3D film on skydiving, base jumping, wingsuit flying and skyaking.

The 40-year-old, from Twin Falls, Idaho, decided to put a twist into has favourite pastime when looking for new ideas to take it even more extreme.

And as these pictures 13,000 feet over beautiful Lake Tahoe show his efforts are both incredible and hilarious.

'It took us nearly a year before we could get our wish to come true as no-one was really looking to throw a kayak out of an aeroplane.

'To begin with we did it off a 600ft bridge on a static line, and landed in Feather River, California.'


Up a creek with no paddle: Miles uses his arms to get his ballance and keep the Skyak stable while falling towards Earth at 101 mph

Static lines connect the jumper to the point they are jumping from - such as a plane or in Miles' case the bridge - and automatically pulls their parachute as they fall away.

He continued: 'A year later I got permission to jump out of an aeroplane and so since that time I have jumped out of four different aircraft, including a helicopter.

'We have taken it all over the world from Mexico to Abu Dhabi and I have been skyaking for nearly eight years now.'

Over the years father-of-two Miles and his team have slowly perfected the art of skyaking.

'There are a lot of things that can go wrong in skyaking and so you have to be prepared,' he said


The daredevil has turned extreme sport skydiving on its head after deciding to jump out of a plane in equipment normally used only in water


'In skyaking I usually put the chute quite high. With skydives I will pull at 2,000 ft above the ground whereas with skyaking I will pull at 5,000 ft above the ground incase anything starts to go a little crazy.

'That way I have a time to sort things out, get out of the boat and then pull the chute for the kayak.' And he has noted some strong differences in regular skydiving.
'The rate at which you fall is a lot different,' he said.

'Instead of falling flat on your belly you are sitting up right in an L position. I liken it to sitting on a space hopper, balancing front to back and side to side.

'It does take some decent balance skills. And because the boat has such a big surface area your fall rate is a lot slower.

'If you are lying on your belly, a normal sized human will fall at 120 mph.

'If you go into a stand up or a head down then you can build the speed up to 160-180 mph.

'But with this boat, that has so much surface area and weighs 35 lbs, meaning that I fall at only 98 mph.

The reduced rate of Miles' descent through the clouds means that cameramen wishing to film him need to wear special wingsuits to increase drag and reduce their own fall rate - so they don't just hurtle past skyaking Miles.

Wingsuits are specially adapted bodywear for skydivers and base jumpers. Flaps of material running across the gaps between arms and legs increase drag for jumpers and allow them to glide like a flying squirrel.

Danger-hungry Miles has completed more base jumps than anyone in the world with 2,570 and has completed a whopping 3,000 skydives since he quit his job and took up the sport in 1995.


Water landing: Miles Skyaks into the ditch for a perfect splashdown, water landing at Skydive Sebastian, Florida
[endtext]

Byul returns with her Sweet Love single

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8iA8CjJ1w4endofvid
[starttext]
Korean singer Byul returns to the k-pop scene after being on break for almost half a year. She releases her single album Taste of Love with her title track Sweet Love.


Byul is most famous for her work on the OST of the 2004 Korean drama Full House. The song I Think I gained an immense boost in popularity due to it being played over and over again on the drama. You may also know her for her 2007 hit Cupid. Dressing up in pink and cute clothing, Star took the summer of 2007 by storm with her addictive beat and peppy choreography.

Now she returns with her latest track, featuring the rap of Rhyme Bus. A lot of artists in the k-pop scene are transitioning to the electric hip-hop genre but Byul is staying faithful to her original talents as she brings about another loving happy track. It’s got a nice feel good vibe about it that’s bound to have you smiling aimlessly.
[endtext]

Kara takes the M! Countdown stage with Lupin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fAUl1bNrLAendofvid
[starttext]
After starting off with an explosive series of comebacks on last week’s M! Countdown, Kara is back on stage to perform their latest infectious hit Lupin!

Though the rising competition from fellow kpop groups and idols is coming from all sorts of directions, this girl group has continued to maintain their high positions on various online music charts, even surpassing some big names! Like several other groups and entertainers, Kara has worked hard to accomplish all that they have up until this point and all their hard work is being paid off with the abundant love they are receiving from fans in the crowd.

As the girls strutted their stuff on stage, gyrating their hallo-worthy sexy figures for their Lupin performance, cheers once again drowned out the majority of the performance. The girls are on a roll and so far, momentum seems to be on their side!
[endtext]

Skinput gadget turns your own ARM into a touchscreen display

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3XPUdW9Rygendofvid
[starttext]
By Claire Bates

Skinput could solve the problem of ever shrinking gadget screens

Those who find the touchscreens on their ever shrinking gadgets too fiddly to handle, will be glad to hear scientists are developing a new touch surface... your own arm.

Developers at Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University are working together to create an armband that projects an interface directly on to your skin.

They have combined a mini projector which creates a changing display with a sophisticated sensor that can tell which part of your arm is being tapped


A video showed how Skinput could recognise a telephone number being typed out on a hand


The researchers showed Skinput can be used to control audio devices, play simple games like Tetris, make phone calls and navigate simple browsing systems.

Lead researcher Chris Harrison from Carnegie Mellon University told the Mail Online: 'This is cutting edge technology and we really are seeing the future here.

'The project is going very well and I think you'll begin to see such interfaces emerge within the next five years.'

The gadget effectively turns your arm into a touchscreen surface by picking up various ultra-low sounds produced when you tap different areas.

Different skin locations are acoustically distinct because of bone density and the filtering effect from soft tissues and joints. The team then used software that matched sound frequencies to specific skin locations.

If the prototype isn't resting on the arm, it uses wireless technology like Bluetooth to transmit the commands to the device being controlled, such as a phone, iPod, or computer


Researchers said our skin is perfect as it is a display surface that we always take with us

Writing in a paper for Microsoft Research, Chris Harrison, Desney Tan and Dan Morris, said: 'Our skin has been overlooked as an input canvas and is one that happens to always travel with us.

'Furthermore, proprioception - our sense of how our body is configured in three-dimensional space - allows us to accurately interact with our bodies in an eyes-free manner.

'We can readily flick each of our fingers, touch the tip of our nose, and clap our hands together without visual assistance.'

The sensor picks up two two types of acoustic signals - transverse waves created by the rippling of skin as it's tapped and longitudinal waves that travel through the soft tissue of the arm and excite the bone.


The armband prototype can be combined with an MP3 player and used to change the song or volume level


Skinput will be presented at a computer conference in April

Currently, the acoustic detector can detect five skin locations with an accuracy of 95.5 per cent, which would be high enough for many smartphone applications.

Mr Harrison told the Mail Online: 'We achieved high input accuracy in the lab with about one error in 20 key presses, which is similar to what you might find on an iPhone keyboard.'

Twenty volunteers who have tested the system said they found it easy to navigate.
The researchers added that Skinput also works well when the user is walking or running.

There are many potential markets for the device. Mr Harrison said: 'One example is an audio player on your upper arm. Perhaps it has no buttons at all, and only uses the skin as the finger input canvas.

'You could then just tap your fingers to advance to the next song, change the volume, or pause the current song. You wouldn't even need a projector for most of these types of interactions.'

The researchers plan to present their work in April at the Computer-Human Interaction meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

[endtext]

Jung Yonghwa and Yoon Si Yoon’s CF for NII

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO_ZJI2OBpsendofvid
[starttext]
Rising rookies Yoon Si Yoon of High Kick Through the Roof and Jung Yonghwa of CNBLUE shot a CF, “2010 S/S Season TV commercial,” and photos for their endorsement of the clothing line NII.

Jung Yonghwa has been getting a lot of attention as the leader of CNBLUE and their hit song I’m a Loner. Yoon Si Yoon has been making a name for himself as “Junhyuk Student” in High Kick Through the Roof.

The filming of the commercial took place in Bangkok, Thailand and the CF was inspired by the movie Avatar. Does this mean our boys are appearing as blue creatures?

Not quite. The two turn into a cooler looking version of themselves, their avatars, to go out with people.

Check out the 15s CF:







[endtext]

BEAST’s Junhyung shares a fake kiss with a nun?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXWd9dHHK4wendofvid
[starttext]
MBC High Kick Through the Roof had BEAST’s main rapper Junhyung make a cameo on March 1st’s episode. In the episode, Junhyung filmed a music video with In-na, played by Yu In-na.

In-na was supposed to film a kiss scene with Junhyung after getting her nun outfit, a habit, ripped off, but she got scared because she knew Kwang-su would get jealous. Julian poked Kwang-su in the eye while people were replaying the kiss scene so that he wouldn’t be able to watch her kiss Junhyung.

Because the scene in which In-na’s habit was ripped off as well as the kiss itself weren’t actually broadcast, people were confused and a bit annoyed. The episode just showed In-na’s habit strewn on the floor and said they had a kiss scene.

Netizens commented, “It’s a problem that they didn’t air it but pretended it all happened,” and “Everyone is pretending.” Other viewers are cutting High Kick some slack, saying, “It’s just imaginary,” and “It’s a sitcom. Have fun as you watch it. Don’t blow things out of proportion.”



[endtext]