Philippines Takes 24th Spot In World's 'Happiest' Countries Ranking

Philippines, 24th happiest country (Photo: Mylot)

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has released on Thursday its Happy Planet Index (HPI), which ranks the "happiest" countries in the world based upon the health and happiness produced per unit of environmental output.

NEF ranked 151 countries using a global data of life expectancy (LE), experienced well-being (WE) and ecological footprint (EF). Each country's HPI was computed by dividing the product of LE and WE with EF.

The data for experienced well-being is taken from the Gallup World Poll, ‘life expectancy' is based upon the 2011 UNDP Human Development Report and ‘ecological footprint' is calculated from data provided by the WWF.

Costa Rica topped the list with its 64 HPI while Vietnam, which has an HPI of 60.4, ranked 2nd.

Columbia, Belize, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Guatemala completed the top 10.

Meanwhile, the Philippines scored an HPI of 52.4 and was ranked 24th in the list. The Philippines' low per-capita ecological footprint helped the country score a better HPI than more than 80% of the countries ranked.

The complete ranking can be viewed on the Happy Planet Index website.

Coca Cola Security Cameras (Viral Video)

A new viral video is encouraging viewers to "look at the world differently."

Titled "Coca Cola Security Cameras," the video features coca-cola security camera footage from different countries which captured  random acts of kindness, heroism and some happy moments which often go unreported.

The feel-good clip is actually an ad from Coke Latin America.

"People tend to associate security cameras with negative events, but we wanted to disprove that assumption by demonstrating the abundance of happy events and actions they capture," said creative director Martin Mercado.

Check out below the said video, which has amassed more than 2 million hits on Youtube as of posting time:

X-37B 120614: Secret Mini Space Shuttle May Land Today

X-37B 120614 (Youtube)

X-37B, a clandestine mini-space shuttle of the US Air Force, is likely to land this week. Some reports say the much anticipated return of X-37B is happening today, June 14, 2012 (June 15 Manila Time).

Air Force officials, however, said the landing day for the unmanned space plane depends on weather conditions at its intended landing site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, as well as other factors.

The X-37B spacecraft has been in orbit since March 5, 2011 but the Air Force has not issued any information of what the craft is doing or where it is orbiting as they are considered as classified.

X-37B is about 29 feet long (8.8 meters) 15 feet wide (4.5 m), and has a payload bay about the size of a pickup truck bed. It is powered by a solar panel that allows it to stay in orbit for months at a time.

'Game Of Thrones' Creators Explain Decapitated George W. Bush Head

"Game Of Thrones" scene featuring fake head of Bush

"Game of Thrones" creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said they were not making any political statement when they featured a decapitated head resembling former US President George W. Bush in a scene.

"It's not a choice, it's not a political statement. We just had to use whatever heads we had lying around," they explained. "We use a lot of prosthetic body parts on the show: heads, arms, etcetera. We can't afford to have these all made from scratch, especially in scenes where we need a lot of them, so we rent them in bulk. After the scene was already shot, someone pointed out that one of the heads looked like George W. Bush."

They added: "We meant no disrespect to the former president and apologize if anything we said or did suggested otherwise."

Home Box Office (HBO), meanwhile, has released a statement addressing the graphic prop choice.

"We were deeply dismayed to see this and find it unacceptable, disrespectful and in very bad taste," the network said. "We made this clear to the executive producers of the series who apologized immediately for this inadvertent careless mistake."

HBO added that the scene would be removed from future DVD production.

Vacuum Climber Device Lets You Climb Walls Like Spider-Man (Video)

Vacuum Climber Device (Youtube)

A vacuum climber device, invented by a team of engineering students from Utah State University allows one to climb walls a little like Spider-Man.

The PVAC, short for personal vacuum assisted climber, consists of two hand-held paddles attached to a vacuum pack that creates a powerful suction force — enough to scale a wall with. A stirrup hang beneath the pads, where users can place their foot.

The device also has a gauge which indicates safe vacuum levels and a volt meter that let climbers know if they were about to run out of juice.


The students, who call themselves the Ascending Aggies, presented the technology to the U.S. military during the  2012 Service Academy and University Engineering Challenge, where it took the first prize and won $100,000 grant. The competition required teams to design gadgets that would allow soldiers to safely and quickly ascend vertical surfaces. The devices also had to be reusable, permit multiple pitches within one climb, allow the operator to keep one hand free for using other equipment, and be capable of getting three people each carrying 300-pound (136 kg) loads up a 90-foot (27.5-meter) vertical silo within 20 minutes.
 
But using the PVAC in a military setting could prove somewhat problematic, depending on the context: Those powerful vacuums give off an equally powerful, ear-piercing engine noise.

4.0-magnitude Earthquake Jolts Southern California

California Earthquake Map, June 13, 2012

An earthquake with a Richter Scale reading of magnitude 4.0 struck Southern California on Wednesday evening, June 13, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

According to a USGS bulletin, the quake, which has a depth of 9.8 km (6.1 miles), hit at 8:17 p.m. local time. Its epicenter was 3 km (2 miles) north of Yorba Linda, California, about 28 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

There are no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The temblor was followed by a 2.4 magnitude aftershock a few minutes later.

Burger King Bacon Sundae Introduced In The US

Burger King Bacon Sundae

Burger King has added bacon sundae on its menu, in time for summer.

The Burger King bacon sundae "features the rich and creamy vanilla Burger King soft serve, drizzled with chocolate fudge, caramel and topped with bacon crumbles, complete with a thick-cut, hardwood smoked bacon garnish." Its suggested retail price starts at $2.49.

Bacon sundae is part of the food chain's BBQ-inspired summer menu which also include the following Memphis Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwich, Carolina BBQ Whopper or Chicken Sandwich, BBQ Whopper or Chicken Sandwich, Sweet Potato Fries and Frozen Lemonade

"BBQs are synonymous with summer; we gather together with family and friends to eat great food, and now Burger King offers guests a chance to sit back and let us take over the grilling," said Alex Macedo, senior vice president, North America marketing, Burger King Corp. "The new BBQ-inspired menu offers something for everyone, from our loyal Whopper Sandwich fans to our more adventurous guests looking to try surprising new favorites."

The new Summer BBQ menu, including the Burger King bacon sundae, is available for a limited-time-only at participating Burger King restaurants across the US.

Tortoises Divorcing After 115 Years Together

Tortoises divorcing (Photo: Reptilien Zoo Happ)

Two giant tortoises at an Austrian  zoo are divorcing after 115 years of being together.

"We get the feeling they can't stand the sight of each other anymore," zoo's director Helga Happ told the Austrian Times.

Tortoises Bibi and Poldi, have been together since they were young, eventually growing up to become a bonded pair. But recently, Bibi has been attacking Poldi, biting off a chunk of his shell,  which prompted zoo staff to transfer him in another enclosure.

"But for no reason that anyone can discover they seem to have fallen out, they just can't stand each other," said Happ.

The zoo management has asked the help of animal experts to give the pair counselling - feeding them romantic good mood food and trying to get them to join in joint games - but to no avail.

"We were told that it's very rare that after so many years animals who are a pair will fall apart, but that's where we are. We hope though we can bring round a reconciliation." Happ added.

Blue Lobster Caught Off Canadian Coast

Blue Lobster (Courtesy of Bobby Stoddard)

A blue lobster was recently hauled by a fisherman off the coast of Canada.

The extremely rare blue lobster turned up last month in one of the traps set up by Bobby Stoddard of Nova Scotia.

"This is the only one that I've ever seen," Stoddard told CNN. "And my dad has been a lobsterman of about 55 years, and he caught one about 45 years ago, but hadn't seen one since."

The blue lobster has been placed inside a holding tank at Stoddard's business while he is trying to figure out what to do with it.

"I don't know what the best thing is to do," Stoddard told CNN. "It probably belongs back in the ocean, but I'd like for as many people as possible to see it."

Catching a blue lobster is said to happen once in a blue moon since according to scientists, only one out of every two million lobsters are blue.

The Lobster Institute says that "the coloration comes from a genetic defect that causes the lobster to produce an excessive amount of a particular protein that gives the lobster that unique coloration."

If you're wondering if a blue lobster retains its color after being cooked. No, it turns red, too, like its red brethren.

Holding Hands Prank Video Goes Viral

Holding Hands Prank Video Screencap (Youtube)

A video of a "Holding Hands" prank has gone viral online.

The video shows Utah Valley University student Andrew Hales holding the hands of random students in his school.

"Hi, I’m Andrew Hales and today we are going to walk close to people and hold their hand. Or try to hold their hand," Hales said before doing his prank.

While many gave him strange looks and moved away, two students, a guy and girl, actually just went along with it.

The 22-year-old regularly posts prank videos on Youtube. He has 12 videos so far which have accumulated 2.7 million views as of posting time. This new prank of his has amassed more than 600, 000 views since it was posted 2 days ago.

Check out the video of Hale's "Holding Hands" prank below:

Gun-toting Aussie Swimmers Prohibited From Using Social Media

Gun-toting Aussie Swimmers

As punishment, the gun-toting Aussie swimmers have been banned from using social media by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).

Australian swimmers Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk posted on Facebook photos of themselves at a gun shop in the United States where members of the Australian Olympic swimming team had been training and competing in the qualifiers for the London Olympics. They were slammed by anti-gun groups in Australia and later deleted the pictures under pressure from governing body Swimming Australia.

The AOC said that the gun-toting swimmers are not only banned from using their social media accounts but will be also sent back to Australia after their events at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

"Australian Olympians are required to meet very high standards of conduct and we cannot risk the reputation of the team," the AOC said in a statement.

The AOC added that the punishment was separate to a disciplinary process being carried out by Swimming Australia (SA).

SA supported the AOC's decision and added that that they had yet to finish their own internal process.

"We will be speaking with the athletes involved further about this matter, and reminding them about their responsibilities as representatives of the Australian swim team," SA said in a statement on Saturday.

Hemingway Home Sold: Writer's Former Oak Park Residence Bought For $525,000 (Photo)

Hemingway Home Sold (EHFOP)

Ernest Hemingway's home in Oak Park, Illinois has been sold for $525,000.

The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park (EHFOP) put the said boyhood home of the writer on the market in February. On Tuesday, it closed a deal with couple Kurt and Mary Jane Neuman who shelled out $525,000 to purchase the house.

The suburban Chicago home is believed to be where Hemingway wrote some of his earliest works.

"It’s a gorgeous home with a rich history, and we are excited about the opportunity to return it to its former glory," said Mary Jane.

The couple said  they plan to restore the building that has been divided into three apartments to a single-family home.

The foundation, which owned the home since 2001, had earlier planned to turned it into a cultural center and scholarly retreat. However, because of economic pressures they sold it instead.

The new owners said fans of the novelist are still welcome to visit their home.

"We don't want anyone to feel like we're going to shutter it up or minimize the historical significance" Kurt said. "We appreciate curiosity in the home. We just need to balance the reality that it's going to be our family home."

The EHFOP is planning to use the proceeds from the sale to pay for the $420,000 loan taken to buy the house in 2001. The rest of the cash will go to its educational and cultural programs.

Town Swears Off Swearing In Public, Imposes Fine

Town Swears Off Swearing In Public

A Massachusetts town will be handing out $20 tickets for swearing in public.

Residents of Middleborough, Mass, have voted at their annual town meeting on Monday the implementation of a $20 fine for swearing in public.

"Kids were standing on the sidewalks, well, adults too, really, and yelling at someone like 100 feet down the block, using incredible profanity," 63-year-old Mimi Duphily told ABC News. "It was gradually getting worse and worse."

Duphily was responsible for bringing up the issue to the Downtown Business Coalition.

The word eventually got around to Middleborough Police Chief Bruce Gates, who later called on the citizens of Middleborough to give police the authority to fine swearing citizens with a $20 ticket.

In his interview with The Wall Street Journal, Gates said that the new provision is not targeting ordinary swear words like an understandable expletive uttered after a Red Sox loss. Instead it aims at offenses like "profane language at some attractive female walking through town,"  he said.

Middleborough, a town of 23,000 located about 40 miles (64km) south of Boston, already had an old public profanity law, passed in 1968, that made swearing a crime. But police long ago decided it was not worth their time to book cursers as criminals, said Gates, who cannot recall the law being enforced.

With reports from Fox DC, ABC, and The Wall Street Journal.

Most Bedbugs Infested US City Is Philadelphia

Mos Bedbugs City Named

Philadelphia has the most bedbugs among US cities, according to the annual Most Bedbug-Infested Cities ranking by pest control provider Terminix.

"Bedbugs continue to increase their presence across the U.S.," said Stoy Hedges, an entomologist with Terminix. "While major metropolitan areas are most at risk, it is important to note that bedbugs have been spotted in cities and towns across the country."

Philadelphia took the top spot from New York City, which held the title for two years.

Here are this year's cities with the most bedbugs:

1. Philadelphia
2. Cincinnati
3. New York City
4. Chicago
5. Detroit
6. Washington, D.C.
7. Columbus, Ohio
8. San Francisco
9. Denver
10. New Haven, Conn.
11. Dallas
12. Houston
13. Indianapolis
14. Miami
15. Cleveland

The list was created by compiling data from the 300 Terminix branches across theUS. The company created the ranking by evaluating service calls from customers, as well as confirmed cases by service professionals.

From a press release posted on PRNewsWire

University Of Southeastern Philippines Debuts In Asia's Top 300 Universities List

University Of Southeastern Philippines Logo

Five Philippine tertiary schools made it in this year's list of "Top 300 Universities In Asia" by education and career network Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

For the very first time, University Of Southeastern Philippines (USP) in Davao City was included in the list. It was among the schools listed in the 251-300 bracket.

USP was joined by The University of the Philippines-Diliman (ranked 68th), Ateneo de Manila University (86th), De La Salle University (142nd), and the University of Santo Tomas (148th).

For the second straight year, QS named the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as the top Asian University.

Completing the Top 10 are National University Singapore, University of Hong Kong, Seoul National University (South Korea), Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong), Peking University (China), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (South Korea), University of Tokyo (Japan), Pohang University of Science and Technology (South Korea), and Kyoto University (Japan).

The ranking was based upon the following criteria: Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Faculty/Student Ratio, Papers Per Faculty, Citations Per Paper, International Faculty Review, International Student Review, Student Exchange Inbound, and Student Exchange Outbound.

Gold Overvauled Says Investment Officer

Gold is 15% to 20% overvalued, according to Jack Ablin, the chief investment officer of BMO Harris Bank. Here's a video of his interview with Yahoo! Finance's "Breakout":

On Monday, the price of gold was flirting with the milestone value of $1,600 per troy ounce.

A highly respected figure in the investment world, Ablin is a frequent contributor to CNBC, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and Barron’s and was named one of the top 100 wealth advisors in North America by Citywealth magazine in 2006, 2010, and 2011. He is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Reading Minds and Markets: Minimizing Risk and Maximizing Returns in a Volatile Global Marketplace.

Identical Triplets Born To Pennsylvania Couple (Photo)

Identical Triplets (Image: PennLive)

Rare identical triplets were born to a Pennsylvania couple earlier this week.

Jennifer and Daniel Price welcomed their identical triplets they named Daniel Jeffrey (weighted at 5 pounds 7 ounces), Ryder James (4lbs 8oz) and Garrett Cambell (5lbs 8oz) at the Harrisburg Hospital last Tuesday, June 5th.

The identical triplet boys were born just a minute apart and appear to be in good health. 

The birth of the identical triplets brings the family’s total to six as the couple already has a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

Identical triplets occur when one fertilized egg splits to create three separate embryos. Non-identical triplets occur when three separate eggs are fertilized.

Research varies on the instances of identical triplets. The Multiple Births Foundation estimates that triplets occur once in every 10,000 naturally conceived births, but the odds of having identical triplets are 150,000 to 160,000. Other estimates range between one in 60,000 and one in 200 million.

Tortoise Couple Calls It Quits After 115 Years Together

Tortoise couple Bibi and Poldi

Two Giant Turtles at an Austrian  zoo are separating after 115 years of being together.

"We get the feeling they can't stand the sight of each other anymore," zoo's director Helga Happ told the Austrian Times.

Bibi and Poldi, have been together since they were young, eventually growing up to become a bonded pair. But recently, Bibi has been attacking Poldi, biting off a chunk of his shell,  which prompted zoo staff to transfer him in another enclosure.

"But for no reason that anyone can discover they seem to have fallen out, they just can't stand each other," said Happ.

The zoo management has asked the help of animal experts to give the pair counselling - feeding them romantic good mood food and trying to get them to join in joint games - but to no avail.

"We were told that it's very rare that after so many years animals who are a pair will fall apart, but that's where we are. We hope though we can bring round a reconciliation." Happ added.

Photos courtesy of Reptilien Zoo Happ

California Wolverine Caught On Camera

California wolverine photographed in the Sierra

A California wolverine was spotted in the Sierra by a hiker who took a picture of the rare protected species.

David Messa reportedly saw the wolverine while camping near Lake Spaulding in May.

"He was like a bull in a china shop running across that lake. He just probably feared nothing,” Messa told Fox40. "He was kind of galloping; actually fell through the snow two or three times, turned around and came back, and came across in front of me. I was actually able to get a photo."

Messa's wolverine sighting marks only the fourth time the creature was photographed in California. Tina Mark, a Tahoe National Forest biologist, said it was "miracle."

"The fact that one showed up in our backyard, not too far from human habitation to me is a miracle.  It's like finding a needle in a haystack," Mark told Fox40.

Wolverines have not been scientifically confirmed in California since the 1920s. In 1998, a photo taken by a motion-sensitive camera on the Tahoe National Forest, the third documented sighting in Ca, provided a verifiable evidence of a wolverine in California.

The wolverine is the largest terrestrial member of the weasel family. Adult males weigh 26 to 40 pounds, while females are 17 to 26 pounds. It resembles a small bear, with a bushy tail and broad head. The wolverine's diet includes carrion, small mammals, birds, insects, berries, and fungi.

U.S. populations are found largely in the Northern Cascades in Washington, the Northern Rockies in Montana and Idaho, and in Alaska. Wolverines have large home ranges that vary greatly depending upon gender, age and food availability.

Giant Squid Attacked By Shark In Australia (Video)

Giant squid attacked by shark (Youtube)

A rare giant squid was found dead off the coast of Australia by the team of "The Fishing Bible" author Al McGlashan recently.

While McGlashanwas filming the 15-foot giant squid, an 8-foot blue shark took advantage of an opportunity to feed.

The footage of the attack has been posted on Youtube and is now a certified viral hit, attracting more than 4 million views in just 3 days. Check out the said video below:


McGlashan's group sailed out to sea last Friday to search for tuna and swordfish but instead they found the dead giant squid 30 miles off Jervis Bay in New South Wales.

"In all my time on the water – and I’ve spent 200-plus days out there – I’ve never see anything like it. The giant squid must have died not that long before we found it because it didn’t smell at all and its colors were still strong. Most giant squid remains are smelly and rotten  and just off-white by the time someone finds them," McGlashan to GrindTV.

Since the sea creature lives at such great ocean depths, spotting it is extremely rare. In fact, images of a live giant squid in the wild were not available until 2004.