This Week's Most Viral News: August 18, 2023

Read more...

LG's $1,000 TV-in-a-briefcase is unlikely to travel much further than the garden

'Perfect' for your next camping trip! For three hours...

We've all been there – the camping holiday where the Sun shines for about three hours and the rest of the trip is spent sitting in a tent in soggy misery. What are you supposed to do then?…

Michael Oher Alleges ‘Blind Side’ Family Lied About Adoption

Michael Oher, the retired NFL offensive lineman whose life story was the subject of hit 2009 movie The Blind Side, has petitioned a Tennessee court, alleging that the family who took him in never legally adopted him and only did so to profit at his expense. What do you think?

Read more...

UK energy price cap predicted to fall to £1,823 a year

Bills likely to rise again from January and consumer groups say energy costs remain ‘dangerously high’

The typical gas and electricity bill will fall to an average of £1,823 a year from October after the regulator Ofgem announces its energy price cap next week, a leading forecaster has predicted.

According to Cornwall Insight, the cap will drop from the current July to September level – equivalent to £2,074 a year – but consumer groups have warned that prices remain “dangerously high”.

Continue reading...

UK gun lobby accused of helping to ‘skew’ consultation on tightening laws

British Association for Shooting and Conservation and Countryside Alliance advising supporters how to answer consultation launched after Plymouth mass killings

The powerful UK gun lobby has been accused of mobilising tens of thousands of shooting enthusiasts to “skew” a government consultation on tightening firearms laws launched after the Plymouth mass killings in 2021.

Gun control campaigners, victims of crime involving weapons and families of people killed in shootings have expressed concern that the government will use the results of the consultation as an excuse to not make extensive changes to firearms laws despite widespread calls for fundamental reform after the Plymouth tragedy.

Continue reading...

Eastern European Man In Gym Locker Room Showering With Jeans On

Read more...

Lone Survivor Wandering Through Radiated Wasteland Regrets Not Meeting Q3 Benchmark

JACKSON, MI—Desperately scouring the post-apocalyptic landscape for his next meal, a lone survivor wandering Friday through a radiated wasteland in the year 2142 reportedly regretted not meeting his Q3 benchmark. “This is what I get for not taking click-through rates and SEO seriously,” said 37-year-old Donald Moore,…

Read more...

Justice delayed like a Fedex delivery [Murica]

	[link] [3 comments]

Christmas and Halloween items in Wilko ‘everything must go’ sale

Administrators try to secure rescue deal for retailer, with talks expected to go on well into next week

Wilko has launched an “everything must go” sale with significant discounts on Christmas decorations and Halloween gear months before the seasonal events as administrators try to secure a rescue deal for the collapsed retailer.

No bidder is expected to take on the entire 400 store chain, which fell into administration last week after running short of cash, but several buyers are looking at parcels of stores, and it is hoped that at least part of the chain can be rescued.

Continue reading...

Stephen Nolan ‘deeply sorry’ after allegations about explicit photos

BBC presenter apologises while denying Irish Times report that team planted producers in TV audience

The BBC presenter Stephen Nolan has apologised in the wake of allegations that he sent unsolicited sexually explicit photographs to colleagues.

Nolan used his Radio Ulster show on Friday to respond to reports that he had shared explicit images of the Celebrity Big Brother winner Stephen Bear.

Continue reading...

Covid booster jabs could go on sale privately in UK in 2024

Health officials reiterate support for private provision as lower age limit for NHS booster vaccines raised to 65

Covid booster vaccines may become available for the UK public to buy for the first time after health officials reiterated their backing for the proposal.

Pharmacists and private clinics will be allowed to offer jabs for sale on the high street, as they do with the flu vaccine. They are unlikely to be available in time for an autumn booster campaign but could become available next year.

Continue reading...

Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 Review: Student-Friendly Budget Hybrid

A budget laptop has to walk a very fine line. Cut too many features, and it’s going to offer disappointing performance and be annoying to use, no matter how low the price. Get too ambitious, and feature creep will drive the price up so much that it’s not a budget laptop at all anymore.

Read more...

The wily thieves know that in the concrete jungle the taco truck becomes engorged on Taco Tuesday, and so will be ripe for plucking on the Wednesday following [Misc]

	[link] [1 comments]

First Thing: Georgia grand jurors’ details posted on rightwing sites

Sheriff’s office says investigators are working to track down origins of threats. Plus, the former Russian minister who is now a trucker in Michigan

Good morning.

An investigation is under way in Georgia after threats and private information about the jurors who indicted Donald Trump and 18 of his allies was published online.

How did they get the information? As is standard practice in Georgia, the unredacted names of the jury members were included in the indictment, which is a public record.

What information has been published? Names, photos, social media profiles and even home addresses were shared on rightwing sites and forums, CNN reported.

What now? The sheriff’s office said it was working with local, state and federal law enforcement to pinpoint the origins of the threats.

What will the jets mean? According to the US, they won’t be a game-changer due to Russian air defence systems and contested skies over Ukraine. But Ukraine has actively sought them to upgrade its air force.

What about training? A coalition of 11 countries will begin training Ukrainian pilots to fly the jets this month in Denmark, according to the country’s acting defence minister.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone has hit a non-residential building in Moscow after being shot down by Russian air defences. The Russian defence ministry and the Moscow mayor said there were no casualties. Head to our live blog for the latest.

Continue reading...

Ecuador election: assassination looms large as voters prepare to go to polls

Winner of Sunday’s vote will face huge public demand to tackle violence after killing of candidate Fernando Villavicencio

The brazen assassination of a presidential candidate will hang heavy over Ecuadorean voters as they choose a new president this weekend, following the latest eruption of drug cartel violence in the once-peaceful nation.

The winner of Sunday’s vote will face an overwhelming public demand for security – but may not have the budget or the political capital to overhaul failed crime-fighting policies and fund new ones.

Continue reading...

At the Laugh and Learn Childcare Center, the beatings will continue until the children laugh and learn [Asinine]

	[link] [1 comments]

In the Dreams Favela, Wi-Fi and Ecommerce Promise a Better Future

A tech-led initiative to bring economic development to Brazil’s shantytowns starts with a radical idea: Listen to the people who live there.

What DARPA wants, DARPA gets: A non-hacky way to fix bugs in legacy binaries

When you need to patch a problem in your drone and no one's got the source

Imagine a world where, rather than inspiring fear and trembling in even the stoutest of IT professional's hearts, snipping bugs out of, or adding features to, legacy closed-source binaries was just another basic, low-stress task. …

Russia and India Are Racing to Put Landers on the Moon

Robotic spacecraft from both countries are aiming to touch down on the moon’s southern hemisphere, as one’s space program waxes and the other wanes.

Labour partially rows back on workers’ rights pledges

Party amends plan to bolster protections for gig economy as it boasts of ‘pro-business’ credentials

• UK politics live – latest updates
• Business live – latest updates

Labour has partially rowed back from its policy on boosting rights for those working in the gig economy as it seeks to head off Conservative attacks on its approach to business in the run-up to the general election.

Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, whose portfolio covers workers’ rights, said on Friday morning that Labour still intended to ban zero-hour contracts, tackle bogus self-employment and end qualifying periods for workers rights in the “biggest levelling-up of workers’ rights in decades”.

Continue reading...

'It's going to go down' [Scary]

	[link] [2 comments]

Putting the boot in: Why Italians are shunning the southern coast and heading to Albania

Italians frustrated by the cost of holidays in regions such as Puglia are opting for the cheaper shores of Vlora in Albania

It is all about Albania for many Italians this summer, including the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.

The PM left a farmhouse flanked by olive trees in Puglia and boarded a tourist-crammed ferry this week to Vlora, an Albanian city whose beaches rival those of the southern Italian region on the opposite side of the Adriatic.

Continue reading...

Google adds a reminder to clean your Pixel Buds every once in a while

You really should be checking them regularly anyway, but hopefully, this helps to avoid any gross build-up. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

When was the last time you cleaned your earphones? Ideally, you’re not leaving it long enough to see a sizable amount of crud building up (which is fairly unavoidable when you’re regularly shoving them into your ears), but if you happen to own a pair of Google Pixel Buds or Pixel Buds Pro then don’t worry — Google will soon remind you. As reported by 9to5Google, the latest version of the Pixel Buds app (version 1.0.555017123) includes a new notification that will prompt users to regularly clean and maintain their earbuds.

The updated app is currently rolling out via the Google Play Store, and according to a few 9to5Google readers, some users are already starting to see the cleaning notification. Within the prompt, Google notes that...

Continue reading…

Old and Busted: Carjacking in Philadelphia. New hotness: Boatjacking in Philly [Scary]

	[link] [1 comments]

Miscarriages of justice body has ‘attitude problem’, says Andrew Malkinson

Exclusive: Man imprisoned for rape he did not commit says Criminal Cases Review Commission yet to contact him

Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, has accused the body that investigates miscarriages of justice of having an “attitude problem” and said it has still not contacted him since he was cleared by the court of appeal last month.

Malkinson and his legal team first heard that the Criminal Cases Review Commission was launching a review into its handling of his case after the Guardian contacted them about it on Thursday.

Continue reading...