PSY brings Gangnam to Oxford University

LONDON (AFP) - South Korean pop sensation Psy was mobbed by screaming fans as he arrived in Britain to bring a touch of his “Gangnam Style” to the prestigious Oxford University debating society.

Wearing his trademark dapper suit and sunglasses, the rapper attracted a horde of fans and photographers as he walked into the 189-year-old Oxford Union club. Asked by reporters at the entrance how it felt to be in the historic city, the 34-year-old said, “It’s an honour,” before adding: “It’s kind of weird - why did they call me?”

Psy, whose single “Gangnam Style” has more than 665 million views on YouTube and has spawned countless videos copying his distinctive dance moves, arrived in Britain from France on Monday for a three-day visit.

Former boxing champion Chris Eubank was among the crowds that turned out to greet him in Oxford. The rapper, whose full name is Park Jae-sang, was invited to address the Oxford Union by its president John Seung-yoon Lee, who is also South Korean.

“The president and Psy are both from Gangnam - the area (of the South Korean capital Seoul) where the eponymous hit song takes its name,” a spokesman for the debating society said.

Psy is already an established star in South Korea with six albums under his belt, but the song - which parodies the extravagant lifestyle of the residents of Gangnam - has turned him into a global star.

His address to the Oxford Union, due later on Wednesday, was to be his first public speech in English. The debating society’s previous guests include US presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa. On Monday, a flash mob of some 20,000 fans joined Psy in Paris to perform his “horse-riding dance”.

His new album is set to feature a new single half in Korean, half in English and a selection of songs from his 12-year career in his home country.

South Korea awarded Psy on Tuesday with one of its highest cultural honours, the Okgwan Order of Cultural Merit, as a reward for taking the world by storm. 

Nation.com.pk

China warns US not to take sides in sea disputes

JAKARTA/BEIJING - China warned the United States not to get involved in South China Sea territorial disputes on Tuesday as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Beijing pledging to pass on a strong message on the need to calm regional tension.

U.S. officials say Clinton will stress the importance of cooperation and partnership on the visit, an important chance to compare notes during a year of political transition in both countries.

But her visit has been overshadowed by disputes over tiny islets and craggy outcrops in oil- and gas-rich areas of the South and East China Seas that have set China against U.S. regional allies such as the Philippines and Japan.

Clinton arrived in Beijing from Jakarta late on Tuesday, huddling with U.S. officials on board her plane before heading off to meetings with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi followed by a dinner.

In their brief public remarks, both Clinton and Yang stressed a constructive tone, with Clinton calling the U.S.-China relationship key to the Obama administration's "pivot" to more engagement with the Asia-Pacific.

Despite sometimes bitter commentary in China's state-run media, Yang pledged that Beijing would continue to work with Washington to forge "a new type of major country relationship".

"China stands ready to work with the U.S. side, guided by the joint vision of our two presidents, to further push forward the China-U.S. cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit," Yang said.

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei suggested at an earlier news briefing that Washington has not been a helpful force in the maritime disputes, suggesting Clinton may face some push back in Wednesday's talks.

"We have noted that the United States has stated many times that it does not take sides," he said when asked about the U.S. role. "We hope that the United States will abide by its promises and do more that is beneficial to regional peace and stability, and not the opposite."

Chinese newspapers, including Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily, have suggested the South China Sea territorial claims are among Beijing's "core national interests" - a term suggesting they share the same importance as sovereignty over Tibet and Xinjiang.

'Without coercion'

Clinton's brief stop in Beijing follows several months of sharpening rhetoric over the maritime disputes, which involve the South China Sea and another string of islets claimed by both China and Japan.

In Jakarta on Monday, Clinton urged China and its Southeast Asian neighbours to move quickly on a code of conduct for the South China Sea and stressed that disputes should be resolved "without coercion, without intimidation, without threats and certainly without the use of force"..

But progress has been thwarted by China's increasingly assertive posture, which has included establishing a garrison on a disputed island and stepping up patrols of contested waters.

That suggests Beijing has no intention of backing down on its unilateral claim to sovereignty over a huge stretch of ocean and potentially equally large energy reserves.

Clinton faces a balancing act in Beijing, pushing on the territorial disputes while keeping cooperation on track on other issues including reining in the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programmes, the Syria crisis and economic disputes that have long bedevilled the two countries.

"One of the challenges before us is to demonstrate how we deal with areas in which we have different perceptions and where we face challenging issues on the ground, or in this case on the water," one senior U.S. official said.

But some Chinese media have been blunt in their opposition to Clinton. The Global Times, a popular, nationalist tabloid, accused her of "deeply intensifying mutual suspicion"

.

"Many Chinese people dislike Hillary Clinton," it said in an editorial. "She has brought new and extremely profound mutual distrust between the mainstream societies of the two countries, and removing that will not be easy."

What next?

Clinton will on Wednesday meet outgoing President Hu Jintao and Vice President Xi Jinping, the man who will likely succeed him as paramount leader following a Communist Party congress this year.

Xi visited the United States in February on a get-acquainted tour and U.S. officials expect him to be a steady-handed leader.

But concerns over China's fast-expanding influence and its belligerent tone in the regional disputes have Washington scrambling to assess how Beijing's political stars are lining up even as it ups its own presence in the region.

China, too, has its concerns and has pushed back against U.S. attempts to referee the South China Sea dispute and insert itself into similar rows between China, Japan and South Korea over the islands in the East China Sea.

While Washington has stressed that it takes no position on the competing claims and simply wants to see a mechanism established to resolve them, its forceful calls on China to play along have had a cool reception in Beijing.

-Reuters

Apple’s new list: Ban these 4 Samsung smartphones including S III

San Jose, California: Fresh off its court victory over Samsung Electronics Co, iPhone maker Apple Inc is asking a federal court to add four more of its rival’s products to the list of patent-infringing products. The new products include Samsung’s new Galaxy S III smartphone.

Apple filed documents in San Jose federal district court on Friday asking a judge to end Samsung’s release of “copycat products,” and urged the court to pull Samsung products released after its lawsuit was filed in April.

Previously Apple had listed 17 Samsung products as patent violators, but the new filing lists 21. These included the Galaxy S II  and Droid Charge. While Apple’s lawsuit encompassed 28 devices, many of those accused products are no longer widely available in the world’s largest mobile market.

Ban it says Apple. Reuters

The smartphones from the earlier list also include: Galaxy S II 4G, Galaxy S II (AT&T variant), Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy S II (T-Mobile Variant), Galaxy S II Epic 4G (Sprint Variant), Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge, Galaxy Prevail.

Apple was awarded $1.05 billion by a jury on 24 August, finding Samsung had copied Apple’s design innovations.

A Samsung representative did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.

from Firstpost.com

Forbes: Who tops Worlds Powerful Women 2012

For the second time, German Chancellor Angela Merkel top the list of Forbes "World's 100 most powerful women" of 2012. After vowing to preserve the European Union, in attempting to deal a huge dept crisis that threatens to break aprt countries such as Greece, Portugal and Italy. While on the second spot was United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton that intends to retire on public service this 2012. 

Michelle Obama who is the First Lady of the United States comes on the 7th which ranked her as the highest African American on the list and Oprah Winfrey was at 11.

Here's the list of the top 10 for the Worlds 100 Most Powerful Women of 2012:

1. Angela Merker
2. Hillary Clinton
3. Dilma Rousseff
4. Melinda Gates
5. Jill Abramson
6. Sonia Gandhi
7. Michelle Obama
8. Christine Lagarde
9. Janet Napolito
10. Sheryl Sandberg

See the full list here.

2012 London Olympics: USA grab the top spot over China

United State of America grabs the top spot from China in medal tally at the 2012 London Olympics having 39 Gold, 25 Silver, and 26 Bronze over China's 37 Gold, 24 Silver and 19 Bronze medals respectively.

2012 London Olympics medal count as of August 10, 2012.

Pinoy dance crew wins 2012 World Hip Hop Championship

Out of 2500 dancers from 40 countries, "The Crew" from the Philippines outshine the rest from the championship of the Worl Hip Hop Dance 2012 in Adult Crew Division, that happened at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Other crews that represent Philippines was UP Streetdance Club, La Salle Dance Company, Legit Status, Fres Flow and the alltime Philippine Allstar.

"The Crew" performs on the 2012 World Hip Hop Dance Championship

The 5-day event that started August 1, 2012 also includes panel discussions, a Chill Lounge for dancing after the evening competition, and the presentation of the Living Legend of Hip Hop Award and the Urban Moves dance workshop.   Here's the complet list of winners from the different division from the 2012 World Hip Hop Championship.            

2012	Hip-Hop	Adult Crews	The Crew	Philippines
2012	Hip-Hop	Varsity Crews	Sol-T-Shine	Japan
2012	Hip-Hop	Junior Crews	Bubblegum	New Zealand
2012	Hip-Hop	Megacrews	The Royal Family	New Zealand

Facebook codes 'updates' twice a day

Due to one  billions of Facebook users,  Facebook uploads atleast two new codes as possible everyday to secure all its users.


Engineering Manager Chuck Rossi of Facebook said at the opening of an engineering office in London allowede Facebook to double its release speed.


"We will roll facebook.com onto new code twice a day now, with a push driven by a recently-hired release engineer in our New York office in addition to our standing daily push managed by our California release engineering team. The New York-based push will give much more power to our engineers who aren’t based on the west coast of the US and will ensure they're able to move and ship as quickly as any other engineer in the company," he said in a blog post.


As Rossi noted that when he started at Facebook back in 2008, he was the only release engineer, supporting around 100 developers in one location. And now that Facebook extends its office worldwide, it can support more developers who are producing six times the amount of code per week.


He added more that, "I'm really looking forward to this change as it takes our already incredibly aggressive release process and doubles down on it, offering us twice the opportunity to ship great things. It's exciting and I think it crushes what anyone else of our size and impact is doing. Ship early and ship twice as often,".


On the other hand CNET said the development comes as the ranks of Facebook users move toward one billion monthly active users and beyond..

OLYMPICS 2012: Murray drubs Federer for gold at Olympics

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) - Andy Murray had Centre Court rocking Sunday, winning gold for the home team and beating Roger Federer 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in the tennis final at Wimbledon.

The result was a royal rout. Murray swept nine consecutive games, breaking Federer's serve four times in a row.

The victory marked a breakthrough for the Scotsman, who has lost all four of his Grand Slam finals, three against Federer.

For Federer, the drubbing marked another Olympic disappointment. Playing in the games for the fourth time, he sought a victory to complete a career Golden Slam but still earned his first singles medal.

From the start, there was no doubting spectators' loyalty. The retractable Centre Court roof opened shortly before the final, and Federer walked onto the sun-splashed grass to a standing ovation. Then Murray entered, and the roar tripled.

At the far end of the All England Club, thousands of happy fans with grounds passes enjoyed a carnival atmosphere on the picnic hill known as Murray Mount while watching the match on a huge video screen.

Federer wore red and Murray blue in the most colorful tournament ever held at Wimbledon. Their tactics were also in sharp contrast.

Murray returned aggressively to repeatedly put on Federer on the defensive when serving. Federer tried to come forward more than in any match this summer, but Murray answered with a succession of crisp passing shots for winners.

The fans loved it, waving Union Jacks of all sizes. "An-dy! An-dy" they chanted. They applauded when Federer won a point, but they roared when Murray won one.

And the bounces seemed to go Murray's way. One of his service breaks came when he hit winners that clipped the net cord on consecutive points. But then the net, after all, was British.

Federer showed little frustration as the match slipped away. Instead, it was Murray tossing his racket in the second set when he made a rare error.

Otherwise, the usually dour Scotsman had little to get upset about. When he netted an easy forehand on break point early in the match, he laughed at his mistake.

Murray won with plenty of flair and a succession of spectacular shots. A lunging backhand pass in the corner had fans on their feet. And he erased a break point with an acrobatic leaping overhead, followed by an improbable reflex volley winner after Federer fired at him from point-blank range.

Murray fell behind 15-40 serving in the opening game but rallied to hold, and from 2-all he took charge, winning every game until 5-0 in the second set.

Federer struggled to hold but had his chances to break, including in the third game of the second set. He held six break points but Murray erased them all and won the game on the 20th point on an errant Federer backhand, one of many.

from: Yahoo.com

Barriga loss stands as protest is rejected

Getty ImagesPhoto By Scott Heavey/Getty Images

UPDATE 2: The Philippines' protest on the outcome of the light flyweight fight between Mark Anthony Barriga and Kazakhstan's Birzhan Zhakypov, which the latter won, 17-16, has been rejected.

In a telephone interview aired on AKTV, Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines executive director Ed Picson said that the jury ruled that the protest was subjective and not based on a technicality, adding the jury made the decision without watching a replay of the fight.

Reporter Lia Cruz of AKTV had earlier reported that the Philippines filed the protest on the grounds that a boxer must be warned three times first before incurring a penalty. Barriga was warned only once by referee Roland Nabbe, who then awarded Zhakypov two points.Without those extra two points, Barriga would have won, 16-15.

Earlier this week, a protest was filed by the United States following the loss of American boxer Errol Spence to India's Vikas Krishan in their welterweight bout. Krishan was declared winner, 13-11, but the competition jury said four additional points should have been awarded to Spence for fouls committed by the Indian. The protest was thus upheld, and Krishan's win was overturned.

Barriga was leading 10-8 heading into the third and final round, using his agility and quickness to stagger the taller Zhakypov in the first two rounds. But he visibly lost the sting in his punches in the third and final round.

Barriga appeared worn out as the 5-foot-6 Zhakypov put on the pressure in the last three minutes. The diminutive Filipino pug was then slapped by Labbe with a warning for excessive ducking, and this is where the two additional points were awarded to Zhakypov.

With the bout turning into a wrestling match, Labbe also gave both fighters a warning near the end of the bout. But it was the Davao-native fighter who paid the price dearly, as Zhakypov managed to win the third round 9-6.

That controversial call left Filipino officials, led by Picson, up in arms.

“A warning that was given means a two-point addition. That gave two points to the Kazakh. That’s the one that really hurts. We should have won by one,” lamented Picson in an overseas phone interview moments after the bout.

Barriga's campaign started with much promise after he easily beat Italy’s Manuel Cappai in the round of 32 by a score of 17-7.

Zhakypov will next face Beijing Olympics gold medalist Zou Shiming of China, who beat Cuba's Yosbany Veitia Soto, 14-11. Zou beat Zhakypov in the finals of the light flyweight division in the 2010 Asian Games.

Meanwhile, BMX rider Danny Caluag will see action on Wednesday, while Marestela Torres is slated to compete in the long jump early Wednesday morning.


c/o yahoo.com

Barriga Lose Chance on Grabbing a Medal on Olympics 2012

Mark Anthony Barriga began his Olympic campaign with an impressive 17-7 victory over Italian Manuel Cappai. photo from Reuters

After defeating Italian boxer Manuel Cappai with whooping 17-7 score cards from the judges, Mark Anthony Barigga advances to fight Kazakh fighter, Birzhan Zhakypov. Scheduled Saturday night( Manila time) in their round-of-16 light flyweight match.

The fight consist of three rounds with three minutes each. On the 3rd round of the match, referee deducted from the 19 year old Barriga one point deduction and gave credit to its opponent ending a 17 to 16 score in favor of Zhakypov. Barriga find it hard to defeat Zhakypov with its strenght and speed on trowing punches.

Being the best bet to grab a medal from the 2012 London Olympics, Barriga ends not only his participation on the Olympics but for the Philippines chasing for a medal on boxing, since Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco won the silver medal in 1996 Olympics at Atlanta blowing a Bulgarian opponent.