Sinlung

First there was Facebook, then Twitter. But the latest internet trend is something rather more bizarre than microblogging.

Bed-jumping, the newest craze to hit the web, has seen hundreds of people post images of themselves jumping on beds on a blog hosted by a hotel review site.

Each more extreme and creative than the last, the photographs and videos on hotelsbycity.net show hotel guests using their beds as a trampoline.

One shows a couple jumping simultaneously in 'Superman' poses, while another appears to be speaking on the telephone and reading a newspaper in mid-air above his bed.
The site's creators describe the activity as 'completely intoxicating'.
It reads: 'BedJump is all about creating an exciting and entertaining hotel space. Our mission is to ensure that all the content on the site comes from you - real hotel guests. We love your images, and thousands of viewers every day love them too.'

Fans of the new sport count an aerobics team from Australia, who posted a large number of pictures during a trip to Adelaide to compete in the National Aerobics Championships.
A member of the team said: 'We used bed jumping as part of our pre-competition preparation - and also as part of the celebrations after we won!'





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At the age of ten, Yi Fan has already passed GCSE and AS maths exams with flying colours and is about to sit his A-level.
So although he's half the age of most degree-level maths students, his primary school had no choice but to draft in a university professor to keep up with him.
And while his parents are naturally proud of his prodigious talent, they are already wondering whether secondary school education will hold him back.
'Yi began talking about fractions when he was just three,' said his father Mizi Fan, 46, a senior lecturer in civil engineering at Brunel University in West London. 'His teachers realised in Year One that the curriculum was just not challenging for him.
'Now I find it very difficult to keep him challenged. I don't know where he will go to school because I think a normal secondary school would be a waste of time for him.'
Yi's mother Aihe, 45, a housewife with a degree in engineering, said: 'He has always been eager to learn and very inquisitive. We have never had to push him.'
Yi, whose parents met at university in China before they moved to Britain 16 years ago, beat more than 100,000 children to win a national primary school maths competition last year.
The schoolboy, from Watford, is currently ranked among the top 100 Year Nine pupils in the country, even though they are three years older than him.
He gained top grades in his maths GCSE and AS-level and will take the A-level next month.
He also excels in English and physics, is preparing for his grade seven piano test and has just started to learn the oboe.
With so many opportunities open to him, Yi - whose elder brother Xin, 16, achieved 11 A*s in his GCSEs this year - remains unsure what he will focus on in the future.
'I haven't really decided what I want to do when I grow up,' he said. 'I just want to carry on learning as much as I can. I am not so good at football and am not in the school team. I will keep working at it but you can't be good at everything.'
Kevin Sullivan, deputy head of Knutsford School in Watford, said he had never seen a student like Yi in a career spanning 35 years.
'Yi's needs can be met for most subjects, though we have had to think hard to find maths work to challenge his ability,' he said.
'We purchased a maths computer program which would challenge an able child for years but Yi finished it in a couple of sessions.'
Mr Sullivan got in contact with Alan Davies, a professor of mathematics from Hertfordshire University who specialises in helping exceptionally gifted children.
He now provides Yi with regular tuition tailored to his talents. 'I am impressed by Yi,' he said. 'I haven't found anything that has given him difficulty.
'He is easy to work with because he is able to follow a mathematical argument without too much difficulty. He also sees different ways of approaching ideas.'

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Enjoy '30 Rock' while you can because Alec Baldwin is threatening to quit Hollywood altogether when his contract expires in 2012.
"I don't have any interest in acting anymore," the Emmy winner, 51, said in an interview for the December issue of Men's Journal. "Movies are a part of my past. It's been 30 years. I'm not young, but I have time to do something else."
Baldwin stars alongside Meryl Streep in the upcoming holiday comedy 'It's Complicated' and will co-host the 2010 Oscars with Steve Martin. He was nominated for an Oscar for his 2003 performance in 'The Cooler.' Still he avoids his own movies and insists he has no future on the big screen.
"I consider my entire movie career a complete failure," he told the magazine. "The goal of moviemaking is to star in a film where your performance drives the film, and the film is either a soaring critical or commercial success, and I never had that."
So what will he do next? Baldwin has flirted with the idea of running for public office. He's also mentioned he would like to remarry--to "a really rich woman so I can stay home and read books all day."
The December issue of Men's Journal hits newsstands Friday.
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Chelsea Clinton is engaged to her longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky, a spokesman for former President Clinton told ABC News.
People magazine got a hold of the couple's email to friends and family sharing the news. They're planning to wed next summer.
Engagement rumors were swirling earlier this year; Hillary Clinton shot them down in July.
Mezvinsky works at Goldman Sachs; his parents are both former members of Congress. His father pleaded guilty in 2002 to swindling dozens of investors out of $10 million after getting caught up in a Nigerian scam. Interestingly, his mother lost her seat in a conservative congressional district after one term in part because she chose to vote for President Clinton's first budget.
The couple became friends as teenagers in Washington and both attended Stanford University. They now live in New York, where Mezvinsky works and Clinton is attending graduate school at Columbia University's School of Public Health.
Watch our slideshow of the couple:

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New York: Serena Williams was fined at least a record USD82,500 for her US Open tirade and could be suspended from that tournament if she has another "major offense" at any Grand Slam in the next two years, Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock told The Associated Press on Monday.

Babcock's decision was to be formally released later Monday.

He said Williams faces a "probationary period" at Grand Slam tournaments in 2010 and 2011.

If she has another "major offense" at a major championship
in that time, the fine would increase to USD175,000 and she would be barred from the following US Open.

Babcock said the previous highest fine for a Grand Slam offense was about USD48,000 to Jeff Tarango in the 1990s.

Williams lashed out at a lineswoman after a foot-fault call at the end of her US Open semifinal loss to eventual champion Kim Clijsters.

Williams earned USD350,000 by reaching the semifinals, part of her more than USD6.5 million in prize money in 2009, a single-season record for women's tennis. Her career prize money tops USD28 million.

The American is an 11-time Grand Slam singles champion and ended the 2009 season at No. 1 in the WTA rankings.

Williams' profanity-laced, finger-pointing outburst drew a USD10,000 fine from the U.S. Tennis Association in September — the maximum onsite penalty a tennis player can face. But because it happened at a Grand Slam tournament, Babcock was charged with investigating whether further punishment was merited.

He concluded that Williams violated the "major offense" rule for "aggravated behavior." The Grand Slam committee — with one representative from each of the sport's four major championships — approved his decision Saturday.

Babcock said Williams has been informed of the ruling. She has been in Barbados for an exhibition tournament, and her agent did not immediately reply to a request for comment Monday.
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Two deadly bomb blasts in India's northeastern state of Assam killed at least seven people and wounded more than 50 others Sunday. Rebels blamed for the attacks are denying responsibility.
Authorities in the town of Nalbari say bombs strapped onto  bicycles parked in front of a police station and a shopping complex exploded within minutes of each other.

Nalbari is located about 70 kilometers west of the state capital, Dispur.  State officials have put Assam on high alert, asking people to stay indoors in case of further bombings.

The state's chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, is blaming the carnage on the United Liberation Front of Asom, known as ULFA. The head of the state government says intelligence reports had anticipated an act of retaliation following the arrests of two leaders of the Assamese separatist group two weeks ago in Bangladesh. 

"We had got the reports that they're going to (set) off…bomb blast or other things. We got the information. It's not that we didn't get it," Gogoi said. "But the exact place, where is the place (was not known) because all of Assam is a target, not only one place." 

An ULFA leader identifying himself as Commander Hira Sarania denied involvement in the attacks. He told local media the blasts were set off to discredit the rebel group and derail peace talks with the federal government. The ULFA official said the identity of the person responsible for the deadly bombings will be revealed soon.

The group is also being blamed for last Tuesday's explosion on railroad tracks in the Jorhat district of Assam, which derailed a freight train carrying diesel fuel. Twelve of the train's oil tanker cars caught fire

The federal government recently announced it would give safe passage to ULFA leaders who are willing to hold peace talks if they halt the violence.

The insurgency in the tea-and-oil rich state has gone on for decades. Ethnic groups in Assam fear their culture is being subsumed by millions of migrants who have moved into the state from other parts of India and Bangladesh, looking for jobs.

The region, once an independent kingdom, was subsequently taken over by the Burmese and then ruled by the British before becoming part of independent India.
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For a Wild West-loving couple who died near the setting of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, it was a fitting tribute.
Scores of mourners attending the funeral of Country and Western fans Arthur Wilkinson, 81, and his wife Winifred, 75, dressed as Indians and 19th century American soldiers.
The pair were killed during an annual pilgrimage to Tombstone, Arizona, where they were hit by a pick-up truck as they tried to cross a road. 

Enlarge   Enlarge   The couple, known to friends as Mick and Sylvia, were enjoying the Helldorado Days event with friends when they died.

Many of the 350-strong congregation arrived at Preston Crematorium dressed in colourful costumes and a man dressed as Chief Bear, wearing full Indian clothing with a large feather, guided the stream of cars into spaces. 

Father Norman Johnston said: 'Sylvia and Mick met in 2001. Both had lost their partners and I suppose both were looking for company again. 

'Married in 2002 they were a well-matched pair as they shared these happy years together. 

'A generous couple who were always ready to help out and for a bit of fun.' 

Enlarge   When Dolly Parton's rendition of Keep on the Sunny Side was played during the service, some of the congregation hugged and smiled at happy memories, while others tapped their feet. 

The vicar brought chuckles of laughter when he recounted Mick's gun battle re-enactments. 

He said: 'Mick being a Southern Confederate, was not always on the winning side. 

'I was told when he was shot it took him rather a long time to hit the dust. 

'Mick and Sylvia loved the Country and Western scene and this brought them together with lots of people who shared their interests - good and faithful friends.' 

Enlarge   A man from Bamber Bridge, who came dressed as Swift Eagle, said: 'They were really nice people.

'I have known them for 30 years and it was a sad day.  

'Everybody has given them a good send-off .' 

Speaking after the funeral, the Rev Michael Dolan, said: 'I have done hundreds of funerals but have never seen anything to match this. 

'Although the circumstances were quite tragic it really was a celebration of a good life well lived.' 

The pair, from Lancashire, died on October 19th in the American town where they were married in 2002. 
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Her identity has been one of the great literary mysteries of the past decade.
Now 'Belle de Jour' – whose best selling books lifted the lid on her secret life as a prostitute and inspired a popular TV series starring Billie Piper – is reported to have revealed herself as an obscure research scientist working in Bristol.
Dr Brooke Magnanti, 34, is a neuro-specialist investigating the effects of pesticides on children.
But six years ago, as she struggled to complete her PhD thesis, Dr Magnanti is said to have run out of money and became a £300-a-night escort girl working in London.
She began blogging anonymously about her activities on the internet under the pseudonym 'Belle de Jour'.
Her writing attracted millions of readers across the globe and its quality even sparked rumours that 'Belle' was a well-known author. Yet until last week not even her agent knew her real name.
Only six people in the world knew Dr Magnanti's secret and she is reported to have told her parents for the first time yesterday.
In an interview in today's Sunday Times, Dr Magnanti claims she was working on a doctoral study in the department of forensic pathology at Sheffield University when she took up prostitution in 2003.
'I was getting ready to submit my thesis,' she said. 'I saved up a bit of money. I thought, I'll just move to London, because that's where the jobs are, and I'll see what happens.
'I couldn't find a professional job in my chosen field because I didn't have my PhD yet.
'I didn't have a lot of spare time on my hands because I was still making corrections – and I got through my savings a lot faster than I thought I would.'
Dr Magnanti claims her Jewish roots meant she had a 'pathological aversion to being in debt'.
'There's this hoarding thing, saving, being prepared. It got to the point where I didn't have quite enough money for my rent.
'I thought, "What can I do that I can start doing straight away, that doesn't require a great deal of training or investment to get started, that's cash in hand and that leaves me spare time to do my work in?"'
After several meetings, Dr Magnanti eventually signed up with the Barbarella escort agency and embarked on her secret life.
As well as prostitution, Dr Magnanti also tried her hand at computer programming – but she 'kept up with my other work because it was so much more enjoyable'.
The average appointment lasted two hours and she saw clients two or three times a week – 'sometimes less, sometimes a great deal more'.
Dr Magnanti admitted the number of men she has slept with lies 'somewhere between the dozens and hundreds'.
She said some of the situations she found herself in could have been dangerous.
'You need to be aware of your surroundings: if it goes wrong, how can I get out of this room?' she said. 'It happened to me extremely rarely. I never left an appointment.'
Dr Magnanti's blog led to a six-figure book deal and inspired ITV2 drama The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl starring the former pop star and Doctor Who actress Billie Piper.
Now Dr Magnanti claims she wants to focus on her career as a scientist but assures her readers the Belle de Jour blog 'will continue for a bit – I'd like her to have a happy ending'. She added: 'I've felt worse about my writing than I ever have about sex for money.'
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Tokyo: It's the latest in eyewear for the linguistically challenged: Japanese computer-maker NEC has created a pair of glasses that double as a translator.

The Tele Scouter integrates spectacle frames with a personal mini-computer and a head-mounted display unit, allowing two or more people with no language in common to hold a conversation.

Conversations are, with the press of a button, recorded and sent to a remote server where they are analysed and translated.

The server then sends the translation to the receiving user who can read the words in their own language on the display unit.

While the technology is still in its developmental stages, NEC says a faster unit is on the horizon and that the aim is to break down language barriers.

"With this you don't have to think about having to translate your own words," said NEC manager Kotaro Nagahama.

"All you have to do is speak and you don't have to do any thinking. You just use your own language," he told Reuters.

But Tele Scouter will not be cheap. When it reaches the market it will sell for around $83,000 although the price will come down over time.

If all goes according to plan, NEC says foreign tourists will one day, with great confidence be able to tell their hosts "I see what you're saying".
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