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EXTREME PUBLICITY (Victoria)

Publicity stunts are designed to grab people’s attention, and many are taken to the extreme and are slightly on the controversial side or in bad taste for maximum impact.
Folks in Las Vegas driving to work yesterday morning received a fright when bodies were seen hanging from two highway-side billboards, with the words, “Hope You’re Happy Wall Street” scrawled across the advertising space.
They resulted in thousands of 911 calls from concerned motorists, and upon later inspection, turned out to be dummies that were in fact suspended from the billboards.
The owners, Clear Channel Outdoor, Lamar Advertising Co. claim to know nothing about the stunt, who condemned the ‘destructive behaviour’, deeming it ‘dangerous and illegal.’
Nobody has claimed responsibility but it is widely thought to be the work of the Occupy Las Vegas movement.
The Occupy movement has received huge media coverage this year and has often chosen shock tactics to promote their messages, with this perhaps the most extreme to date.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/vegas-billboard-noose-wall-street_n_1758553.html?1344485241&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009 ​

WEIGHTLOSS COMPUTING (Sarah)

It seems like there is no limit to the ways in which social media can improve your life. Alongside being a vehicle for reconnecting with friends, and existing as a platform for social and political reform, social media can now be heralded as a weight loss tool. Reddit, a social news website, contains a section called r/loseit which members join in order to receive encouragement from others (and to encourage others) in their quest for slimness. With more than 77,000 users, the two-year-old subreddit is the networks largest and most active weight-loss community. By allowing users to document their progress, through both visual and text updates, this tool is practical and effective. So, if you fancy losing a few pounds then Diet, Exercise and Reddit.

http://mashable.com/2012/08/07/reddit-weight-loss/

READ THIS, THEN GET YOURSELF TO THE BOOKIES (Graeme)

Anyone remember Paul the octopus? The octopus caused a stir a few years back with his (almost) always right football predictions.Well, it would appear that after Paul’s death, we have ourselves a new ‘psychic’ animal. Jemma, a racoon living in a Russian zoo, correctly predicted the outcome of the Euro 2012 tournament and has now turned her attention to the London 2012 Olympic Games. Given the choice of four buns, each of which represented a different country, Jemma has predicted that China will end the games as the country with the most medals (which is as it stands at the moment); also while she was at it, Jemma ‘predicted’ that Russia would end the games in 2nd place (they are currently in 5th position). So now you know what the end result will be, I suggest you head off to your local bookie and put a wee wager on Jemma’s predictions.
To find out more on Jemma’s predictions and also watch a video of her, please click the following link:

http://news.sky.com/story/968741/psychic-raccoons-olympic-prediction

BURNER APP

A service to let users create temporary phone numbers “at the touch of a button” has hit Apple’s iOS App Store in the US. ‘Burner’ allows people to generate a phone number for less than $2, http://burnerapp.com/ Cmd+Click to follow link” target=”_hplink”>which can be used for voice mail and text messages. Incoming calls either redirect to your real number or go straight to voicemail, and SMS messages can be sent back and forth up to a pre-paid credit limit. 
Surely this can only be trouble if someone is making secret calls or doesn’t want their calls to be traced? And, if the police need to access these numbers, are they really going to be deleted from the server completely, like the app is suggesting.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/08/09/burner-app-lets-users-create-phone-numbers_n_1759229.html?utm_hp_ref=uk 

PINT SIZED MOVIE STARS (Gaynor)

Ever wanted to see your favourite movie characters as children? No the thought never crossed my mind either but I’m glad this link exists as it has just cheered me up wonders. The characters of Jack Sparrow, Cruella De Vil and Forrest Gump have all been recreated by little kids for a campaign by a Brazilian ad agency for a new cinema. I have to say miniature scissor hands and avatar man are just excellent. I wish they could have done one for the little mermaid or Shrek that would have been fun to see!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2185416/Ever-wonder-famous-movie-characters-looked-like-children-Super-cute-new-campaign-imagines-Jack-Sparrow-Forrest-Gump-Cruella-Vil-mini-movie-stars.html