Saturday, 31 May 2014
Reverse Pregnant Guppy: The Four-Place DeltaWing Looks Insane
We won’t lie, the Reverse Pregnant Guppy sounds like a euphemism for something better left unexamined on these pages. But upon our first glimpse of this rendering a four-seat variant of the DeltaWing, we were reminded of a backward version of Aero Spacelines’ ungainly rocket-parts transport plane. See? It’s all very innocent.
While the racing variants of the DeltaWing (and the Nissan-built Hatfields to the Real McCoy, the ZEOD RC and BladeGlider), have a certain X-plane middle-finger salute vibe, this multi-passenger version just looks ungainly and ill-conceived. At least from an aesthetic standpoint.
But Don Panoz has never been a guy to fear a new idea, and he’s pushing the benefits of the design, selling it as a means to help automakers meet the looming 54.5-mpg CAFE requirement. The narrow front track helps the car slice through the air. The lightweight construction means smaller, more efficient engines are adequate for moving the thing around. DeltaWing Technologies claims that a DeltaWing with an 85-to-110-hp engine could hit 60 in around six seconds, touch 130 mph, and return 70 mpg.
1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible
The early 1970s was a grand time for American muscle cars with plenty of iconic iron rolling off the Big Three’s assembly lines. But few cars have reached the level of rarity as the Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda. Production numbers of these legendary street machines were rather low compared to other muscle cars of the era. In the case of this particular ‘Cuda and its combination of options, the number is one.
Yes, out of the total 16,159 Barracudas sold in 1971, only 11 were fitted with the sportiest ‘Cuda option powered by the 426 Hemi and ordered as convertibles. Of those 11 cars, only three came with the four-speed manual transmission. Over 40 years later, one — yes o-n-e — B5-coded “Bright Blue” ‘Cuda is the only numbers-matching, 426 Hemi-powered, four-speed, convertible in existence. Talk about rare.
Yes, out of the total 16,159 Barracudas sold in 1971, only 11 were fitted with the sportiest ‘Cuda option powered by the 426 Hemi and ordered as convertibles. Of those 11 cars, only three came with the four-speed manual transmission. Over 40 years later, one — yes o-n-e — B5-coded “Bright Blue” ‘Cuda is the only numbers-matching, 426 Hemi-powered, four-speed, convertible in existence. Talk about rare.
Porn 'can be productive’: Scarlett
Though she recently starred in "Don Jon," a movie about a porn-obsessed man, Scarlett Johansson doesn't spend much time thinking about porn, reports New York Daily News.
"I'm sure I should have some very well-developed view on (porn's) effect on society, the ethics behind it and how it affects the kind of relationship between men and women, and how it objectifies women," Johansson told Marie Claire UK "But I don't really think about it."
"I think porn, like anything else, can be enjoyed," she continued. "It can be productive for both men and women."
But the 28-year-old actress has some boundaries. She would not, for example, be excited if she found out that her sweetie consumed as many skin flicks as Jon in "Don Jon."
"If I found out my boyfriend watched that much porn, I would be totally flabbergasted, for sure," she said.
She also opened up about her relationship with journalist Romain Dauriac. The two announced their engagement in September.
"It takes a lot of growth and searching to understand that it is the differences in relationship that enrich and strengthen the relationship, that help us evolve as people and partners," she said
Rihanna strips again
Rihanna stripped down to her skimpy black bra on Friday to twerk for the cameras to T-Pain's Up Down (Do This All Day) while backstage in New Orleans, reports Daily Mail.
It was the last stop on her gruelling eight-month-long Diamonds tour so the session could have been a much-deserved victory dance.
On Sunday the 25-year-old made jaws drop even more when she exited New York City's SL Lounge in a legless catsuit, over-the-knee boots and a bob haircut that's her most conservative 'do in years.
She took the new style up a notch on Monday as she left a New York City hotel in a black leather coat over a black turtleneck.
Rihanna had her short, shiny black hair down and looked smouldering in the all-black ensemble.
The singer added a pop of colour with bright red lipstick.
Money alert: Erudio Student Loans and the Ombudsman
Former students being aggressively chased for debts are being advised to turn to the Financial Ombudsman Service if they are unhappy with the way they've been treated.he Ombudsman said: "If you feel you've not been treated fairly by a debt collector, or that they are not taking your circumstances into account, get in touch – we are here to get things sorted."
Students from the 1990s are being targeted by Erudio Student Loans, which bought the debts from the Government last autumn. Those concerned have repayments deferred because their wages have stayed below an earnings threshold. Yet many have had money wrongly snatched from their accounts by Erudio, owned by Arrow Global.
When the wrong payments have been pointed out to the firm, Erudio has apologised and repaid the money, or the fed-up former students have reclaimed it under the direct debit scheme after confirming money was taken in error.
But if they don't get satisfaction they can turn to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Details at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
Students from the 1990s are being targeted by Erudio Student Loans, which bought the debts from the Government last autumn. Those concerned have repayments deferred because their wages have stayed below an earnings threshold. Yet many have had money wrongly snatched from their accounts by Erudio, owned by Arrow Global.
When the wrong payments have been pointed out to the firm, Erudio has apologised and repaid the money, or the fed-up former students have reclaimed it under the direct debit scheme after confirming money was taken in error.
But if they don't get satisfaction they can turn to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Details at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
One in five loan ads fail watchdog scrutiny
One in five adverts from consumer credit firms, such as payday lenders, fail the City watchdog's marketing rulesThe Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said yesterday that 108 of 554 ads it examined last month fell short.
In some examples, consumers were encouraged to hit the "apply" button before they had a chance to look up important information about a loan – a tactic that breaks consumer credit rules.
The FCA slammed other ads that targeted young audiences – by, for example, distributing branded colouring-in sheets with pamphlets for high-cost, short-term loans.
Other rule-breaking actions included a claim that a product would help repair credit ratings, and another that said a product would clear a customer's debt, when it just substitutes one debt for another.
Clive Adamson, director of supervision at the FCA, said: "It is particularly important in this sector that advertisements for financial products enable customers to make informed decisions. We think that more can be done to ensure that advertisements are fair, clear and not misleading."
Of the rogue adverts, 38 were produced by payday lenders, many of which failed to give enough prominence to risk warnings. The FCA said that 75 firms have so far responded by amending or withdrawing their promotions..
World’s Most Expensive Golf Course
Dutch Docklands, a player in the world of floating technologies, (or making land where there was no land), has announced plans to build a $500 million floating golf course off the Maldives coast. While there are plenty of golf courses that claim to be “on” the water, this one would quite literally be atop the Indian Ocean.
The concept is a series of man-made islands with one or more holes on each, linked by transparent undersea tunnels. Golfers walk or ride through these submerged pathways, taking in the seafloor sights while pondering which iron to use next. And the clubhouse? You’ll have to take an elevator to the sea bottom to get to it. At half a billion dollars, it will be by far the most expensive golf course ever built.
More pictures below.
The floating golf mecca, which is scheduled to be open for play in 2013, will be run by industry leader Troon Golf, the gold standard of international high-end golf course and club management. The yet-to-be-named project is part of a larger government-approved development which will include 200 villas and about 45 private islands off the Maldives coast.
In historic terms, our understanding of golf excess first shifted in 1990, when the Las Vegas wunderkind Steve Wynn built mega-course Shadow Creek. To say no expense was spared in construction is a gross understatement. It is said Wynn gave architect Tom Fazio a blank check and a blank desert canvas. Serious earth moving on the 320-acre site boosted the elevation from less than six feet to more than 213 feet. Nearly 21,000 fully mature trees, mostly pines and cottonwoods, were transplanted. While no numbers were released, the best guess in the business is that Shadow Creek cost about $40 million to build, then the most expensive course in history. That’s about $70 million today or less than one-seventh of the proposed Maldives course cost.
These days the title of most expensive golf course on earth belongs to one of two New Jersey neighbors (private clubs do not have to release cost reports). The number $250 million has been tossed around for valuations of Liberty National, the pet project of Reebok founder Paul Fireman. The ultra-exclusive course is known for its granite walking bridges and $500,000 joining free. Nearby Bayonne Golf Club has merely been rumored to have cost in the $150 million-plus range, mainly due to a huge undersea dredging project required as part of the permitting. If the new Dutch Docklands project comes to fruition – even on budget – these bragging rights will have to move halfway around the world.
Source: Forbes & Yahoo News
Friday, 30 May 2014
Bunny born with two noses
A Connecticut pet shop worker found the nosey bunny in a delivery of 6-week-old dwarf rabbits that arrived at the Milford store last week. Both noses have two nostrils.
The owner of the Purr-Fect Pets shop says he’s never seen anything like it in 25 years in the business. He says the bunny eats, drinks and hops around like the rest of the litter.
Beardsley Zoo director Gregg Dancho says the deformity could be the result of too much inbreeding or the parents’ exposure to pesticides or poisons.
Store workers have begun a naming contest with Cyrano de Bergerac and Deuce among the contenders so far.
Men judge women in milliseconds
Men take a fraction of a second to decide if they are attracted to a woman or not – but they should not be called shallow because they are genetically programmed to do so, scientists say.
Men weigh up potential partners almost instantaneously based on their appearance because their “ancient” genetic preference for attractive mates leads them to, experts claim.
According to research, a woman with an attractive face is taken by men to be fertile and able to continue the family line, appealing to the man’s survival instinct.
In contrast women take longer to decide their feelings for a man because they need to weigh up whether he will be a committed partner who will provide for them well – part of their survival programming.
Professor Mark van Vugt and Dr Johanna van Hooff, from the University of Amsterdam, and postgraduate student Helen Crawford, from the University of Kent, were behind the study which is to be published by the Oxford Journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
They tested men and women’s bias towards looks by conducting a series of tests on 20 women and 20 men, making them perform tasks while recording their brain activity.
While the subjects were doing the task they were shown a series of photographs of faces of the opposite sex, ranging from attractive to ugly.
Men were easily distracted when they saw a pretty face but women stuck to the task.
Prof van Vugt said: “Men definitely have the most wandering eye but it is because they have evolved to pay attention to cues of fertility and one of those cues is facial beauty – it’s not that men are shallow.
“But we found they do make snap judgments about women, much earlier than was previously thought. They make that decision on whether a woman would be a good mating partner in milliseconds.
“This is something very ancient and a way of helping men find the best mate to produce children.
“Women were not distracted by attractive male faces because women need more proof of whether a man is a good mate.
“Women make that decision on behaviour, whether a man is trustworthy and committed. They make their decision much later than men.”
Source: Daily Telegraph
Men weigh up potential partners almost instantaneously based on their appearance because their “ancient” genetic preference for attractive mates leads them to, experts claim.
According to research, a woman with an attractive face is taken by men to be fertile and able to continue the family line, appealing to the man’s survival instinct.
In contrast women take longer to decide their feelings for a man because they need to weigh up whether he will be a committed partner who will provide for them well – part of their survival programming.
Professor Mark van Vugt and Dr Johanna van Hooff, from the University of Amsterdam, and postgraduate student Helen Crawford, from the University of Kent, were behind the study which is to be published by the Oxford Journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
They tested men and women’s bias towards looks by conducting a series of tests on 20 women and 20 men, making them perform tasks while recording their brain activity.
While the subjects were doing the task they were shown a series of photographs of faces of the opposite sex, ranging from attractive to ugly.
Men were easily distracted when they saw a pretty face but women stuck to the task.
Prof van Vugt said: “Men definitely have the most wandering eye but it is because they have evolved to pay attention to cues of fertility and one of those cues is facial beauty – it’s not that men are shallow.
“But we found they do make snap judgments about women, much earlier than was previously thought. They make that decision on whether a woman would be a good mating partner in milliseconds.
“This is something very ancient and a way of helping men find the best mate to produce children.
“Women were not distracted by attractive male faces because women need more proof of whether a man is a good mate.
“Women make that decision on behaviour, whether a man is trustworthy and committed. They make their decision much later than men.”
Source: Daily Telegraph
Modern Day Chastity Belt – GPS Lingerie
Feminists around the world have reacted with horror to a new line of lingerie that comes equipped with a GPS tracking system.
The ‘find me if you can’ range of underwear has been described as a modern-day, high-tech chastity belt.
‘It is outrageous to think that men can buy this, programme it and give it to their partners and then monitor them,’ said Claudia Burghart, leader of a Berlin feminist group.
‘It is nothing more than a chastity belt for insecure men.’
Lingerie maker Lucia Lorio of Brazil says her design targets the ‘modern, techno-savvy woman’.
The lingerie combination set consists of lace bodice, bikini bottom and faux pearl collar, with the GPS device nestled in the see-through part of the bodice next to the waist.
‘This collection… is a wink to women and a challenge to men because, even if she gives him the password to her GPS, she can always turn it off,’ Lorio said.
‘It’s not a modern chastity belt. Some men think they can keep tabs on their girlfriends with it, but they’re wrong,’ she added.
Unconcerned with the controversy her collection has raised, Lorio is also dismissive of the global financial crisis and its adverse impact on luxury items sales.
The GPS lingerie sells from a cool £500, complete with a standard Global Positioning System, to £700 with a more advanced model.
‘Some women are now interested in buying it for protection,’ she said, programming it for partners themselves so they are safe on a night out alone.
‘In London, New York, Rio de Janiero – wherever there is danger, the underwear may prove to be a lifesaver,’ she added.
But feminists in her homeland have called her a modern-day slaver and urged women to boycott the GPS underwear.
Source: dailymail
World’s Oldest Twins
Twins Ena and Lily declared the oldest in the world after celebrating their 102nd birthday together
Two sisters celebrated their 102nd birthday today as officially the oldest twins in the world – and were determined to spend it together.
Ena Pugh and Lily Millward, who were born on 4 January 1910, have always shared their big day with each other.
Lily was yesterday laid up in hospital with a broken hip – nevertheless, she had one special visitor when her twin Ena called to wish her happy birthday.
Family life: Sisters Ena Pugh, right, and Lily Millward have celebrated their 102nd birthday today, making them the world’s oldest twins. They still talk on the phone every day
Lily, front left, and Ena, front right, pictured as toddlers before the beginning of the First World War
The pair were given 102nd birthday presents of copies of the Guinness World Records book by their family so they could see their own entry.
Lily’s proud daughter Dianne Powell, 65, told Wales News Service: ‘My mum’s recovering in hospital after she slipped and fell just before Christmas. But she’s in good spirits and enjoying the attention of being one of the world’s oldest twins.
‘Ena pops in to see her in hospital when she can – they are very close. And despite the terrible weather she made a special effort to get together on their birthday.’
Farmer’s daughters Ena and Lily were born before the outbreak of the First World War when Queen Victoria’s son Edward VII was king.
The pair, who still live in their own houses near Brecon in the Welsh countryside, meet up for weekly shopping sessions and chat on the telephone virtually every night.
Great-grandmother Lily revealed the secret of their long life is ‘laughter and having a joke with each other.’
‘We used to work on the farm all day, but we would enjoy ourselves,’ she said. ‘It was a lot of fun and sociable. We’ve been very lucky and we have always had good health.’
Their family had no idea Ena and Lily were the oldest twins in the world until a pair in France claimed the record. But checks showed Ena and Lily were more than three years older.
Mrs Powell said: ‘They have been very close all their lives and they are still very close now.
‘Until my mum’s accident they would jump on a bus on their own every Friday so they can go shopping together and have a chat over a cup of tea.
‘And they ring each other almost every evening although they are both very hard of hearing – they can’t really always know what the other is saying but just enjoy talking to each other.’
Ena was born first, with Lily a few minutes later, on a chilly day in January 1910 in their family farm cottage in the tiny village of Garthbrengy, near Brecon in mid-Wales.
Their parents, Charles and Laura Thomas, had ten children – including twin brothers – but Ena and Lily are the only survivors.
Ena married railwayman Ivor who died more than 20 years ago. She still lives in her country cottage where she raised their three children – and now has ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Lily lives in a smallholding and has been a widow for nearly 20 years after the death of husband Evan, a former timber merchant. She had two children, five grand-children and nine-great grandchildren.
Both of the twins shun some of the luxuries of modern life – neither has central heating in their home.
The sisters live just a dozen miles away from each other in the fresh air of the Welsh countryside – Ena at Erwood, near Builth Wells, and Lily still in her home village of Garthbrengy, near Brecon, but in a different house.
The pair believe the last time they were separated on their birthday was due to illness when they were both 79.
So they were determined to see each other for their big day yesterday. The sisters spent half an hour together at Lily’s bedside in Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, where they each had a slice of birthday cake.
Mrs Powell said: ‘They took great delight at seeing their picture in the Guinness Book of Records – they are both very proud of their title.’
Source: Daily Mail
Chinese husband sues wife for being ugly, wins $120,000
Northern Chinese resident Jian Feng divorced and sued his wife for $120,000 and won! The story goes that Mr. Feng was deeply in love with his beautiful wife until they had a baby girl.
Feng was horrified at how ugly the baby was and demanded to know who his wife had cheated on him with because the baby resembled neither of the parents
As it turns out, his wife didn’t cheat, but did gloss over the fact that she had spent $100,000 on intense plastic surgery to severely change how she looked before she met him. It’s the kind of thing that can slip your mind on the first date. After his wife revealed this to him, Feng took the only right-minded course of action and divorced and sued her, claiming that she got him to marry her under false pretences. The false pretence presumably being that she was good looking. Incredibly, the (presumably male) judge sympathised with Feng and he won $120,000 in the case.
He won the amount he requested, $120,000 while his now divorced wife had spent $100,000 on extensive plastic surgeries by apparently very gifted South Korean surgeons.
Source: Daily Mail
Two-headed turtle at San Antonio Zoo
A two-headed turtle has hatched at the San Antonio Zoo and officials have named her Thelma and Louise.
The female Texas cooter arrived June 18 and will go on display Thursday at the zoo’s Friedrich Aquarium.
Zoo spokeswoman Debbie Rios-Vanskike (van SKYKE’) said Wednesday that the two-headed turtle appears healthy and is able to swim and walk. She says experts at the zoo don’t foresee any health issues for Thelma and Louise, named for the female duo in the 1991 Oscar-winning road movie of the same name.
The San Antonio Zoo is no stranger to two-headed reptiles. The facility was home to a two-headed Texas rat snake named Janus from 1978 until the creature’s death to 1995.
Teacher Wears Same Outfit to Picture Day for 40 Years
After a good long career in education, Dale Irby has retired. And so have his groovy shirt and sweater vest.
In every school picture for the past 40 years, Dale wore the same 1970s-era polyester shirt and coffee-colored sweater.
And let me just say he aged a whole lot better than his clothes did.
It began as an accident — a product of his sparse wardrobe back in the day.
“I was so embarrassed when I got the school pictures back that second year and realized I had worn the very same thing as the first year,” said Dale, 63.
But his wife, Cathy, dared him to do it a third year. Then Dale thought five would be funny. “After five pictures,” he said, “it was like: ‘Why stop?’”
So he just never did, right on through this, his final year as every kid’s favorite physical education teacher at Prestonwood Elementary in the Richardson school district.
Dale and Cathy, 62, met in 1973 as first-year teachers at Titche Elementary in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas. He remembers getting the announcement that school-picture day was coming and that teachers should “wear something nice.”
In his case, that was the patterned, pointy-collared shirt with matching wool vest he had just bought at Sanger-Harris in Big Town Mall. “I really didn’t have anything else,” said the man who got to wear coaching shorts almost every day of his career.
n the later years of his tradition, Dale carried the disco-era ensemble to school and put it on just long enough for the photo. Still, I congratulated him on being able to button up the shirt at all.
“Uh, yeah, if I suck it in a little,” he confessed.
The fashion world will probably survive the retirement of Dale’s shirt and sweater vest. But his departure is a real loss for education.
“He took his job so seriously in teaching good sportsmanship — both in athletics and in life,” Prestonwood principal Pam Aitken said. “He taught a lot of kids to be fair and respectful of others. That’s a great legacy to leave.”
Here’s a measure of the respect for Dale. The gym at Prestonwood now has a big sign over the door: “Irby Gymnasium.”
Not only did Dale retire this year but so did Cathy. The language arts teacher had most recently served as assistant principal at Lister Elementary in Garland. “We’re going to miss it,” she said. “We’re going to miss the kids — and the teachers. But not the red tape and the politics.”
“And not the alarm set at 4:50 a.m.,” added Dale. He helped augment teacher salaries by driving a school bus every morning for the last 36 years.
The Garland couple looks forward to traveling on their schedule, not by the school calendar. They already have a trip to New England planned in September. “Every teacher wants to go see the leaves in the fall,” Cathy said.
They also relish trying a new daily routine.
“We have promised ourselves we’re not going to eat lunch in 20 minutes,” Cathy said with a laugh.
As for the shirt and sweater vest, Dale figures they will spend a quiet retirement in the back of his closet.
“I don’t think the Smithsonian would want them,” he said.
Source: Dallas News
Iran link to social media spying on military leaders
Fake social media accounts have been used by Iranian hackers to spy on senior military and political staff worldwide, a report suggests.
The accounts aided a four-year campaign that aimed to befriend targets, said computer security firm iSight Partners.
Accounts were used to make it appear that bogus identities set up by the spies were real people.
iSight said it was the most elaborate net-based spying campaign using social media it had ever seen.
Stealth campaign
US Navy admirals, politicians, ambassadors and lobbyists, as well as senior government and military figures from the UK, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, were all targeted, said iSight.
"If it's been going on for so long, clearly they have had success," said Tiffany Jones, a spokeswoman for iSight, told Reuters.
In total, said the report, fake personas for 14 people were created and maintained on a variety of social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube and Blogger. The bogus identities were for staff who supposedly worked for a fictitious news agency as well as defence workers, an accountant and a naval IT administrator.
Friends, relatives, workmates and acquaintances of targets were initially contacted via social media to establish ties that were later used to lend more credibility to requests to connect to the true targets of the campaign.
About 2,000 people were used to establish these lower-level ties, which were used to go after a smaller group of about 200 higher-profile individuals.
Alerted the FBI
Initially links free of malware were shared through the connections set up on social media. Later, links to sites seeded with malware were used to attempt to catch out victims and gain access to useful data.
"This campaign is not loud. It is low and slow," said Ms Jones. "They want to be stealth. They want to be under the radar."
Evidence gathered during the investigation pointed the finger squarely at Iran, iSight said in its report, but it did not know whether the campaign was state-sponsored or carried out by a third party.
iSight said it had contacted many of the people targeted by the campaign and had alerted the FBI and law enforcement agencies.
Facebook said it independently spotted the fake accounts as part of its regular site-wide sweeps for bogus users. LinkedIn said it was investigating but noted that none of the fake 14 accounts were currently active. Twitter did not comment.
Microsoft's ex-CEO Steve Ballmer 'wins Clippers bid'
A source familiar with the negotiations told the BBC the bid was accepted, without giving further details.
Clippers owner Donald Sterling was banned from the sport for life after he was recorded making racist remarks.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) later agreed to begin the process of selling the team.
A forced sale of the LA Clippers would require the approval of three-quarters of the 30 team owners in the NBA
The bid was reportedly accepted by Mr Sterling's wife, Shelly.
Mr Ballmer is believed to have outbid two rival groups for the team, one of which was led by media mogul David Geffen and included talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Mr Ballmer retired from Microsoft in February, but he still owns shares in the company.
A forced sale of the LA Clippers would require the approval of three-quarters of the 30 team owners in the NBA.
But Mr Sterling could still oppose the sale in the courts, according to sports lawyers.
Light bedrooms 'link to obesity' By James Gallagher
Sleeping in a room with too much light has been linked to an increased risk of piling on the pounds, a study shows.
A team at the Institute of Cancer Research in London found women had larger waistlines if their bedroom was "light enough to see across" at night.
However, they caution there is not enough evidence to advise people to buy thicker curtains or turn off lights.
The study of 113,000 women was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
The women were asked to rate the amount of light in their bedrooms at night as:
Light enough to read
Light enough to see across the room, but not read
Light enough to see your hand in front of you, but not across the room
Too dark to see your hand or you wear a mask
Their answers were compared to several measures of obesity. Body Mass Index, waist-to-hip ratio and waist circumference were all higher in women with lighter rooms.
Prof Anthony Swerdlow, from the Institute of Cancer Research, told the BBC: "In this very large group of people there is an association between reported light exposure at night and overweight and obesity.
"But there is not sufficient evidence to know if making your room darker would make any difference to your weight.
"There might be other explanations for the association, but the findings are intriguing enough to warrant further scientific investigation."
Body Clock
One possible explanation is that the light is disrupting the body clock, which stems from our evolutionary past when we were active when it was light in the day and resting when it was dark at night.
Light alters mood, physical strength and even the way we process food in a 24-hour cycle.
Artificial light is known to disrupt the body clock by delaying the production of the sleep hormone melatonin.
Continue reading the main story
Prof Derk-Jan Dijk, from the Surrey Sleep Centre, said there would be no harm in trying to make bedrooms darker.
He told the BBC: "People in general are not aware of the light present in their bedroom, I think people should assess their bedroom and see how easy it would be to make it darker."
Street lights, some alarm clocks and standby lights on electrical equipment such as televisions could light a room, he said.
"Overall this study points to the importance of darkness," he concluded.
Cancer
The study was funded by Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the findings emerged from a long-term study to understand the risk factors for breast cancer. Obesity is known to increase the odds of the disease.
Dr Matthew Lam, from the charity, commented: "It's too early to suggest that sleeping in the dark will help prevent obesity, a known risk factor for breast cancer, but the association is certainly interesting.
"Whilst we are learning more and more each day about the environmental, genetic and lifestyle factors that affect breast cancer risk, it is not yet possible to predict who will get breast cancer, and for women who have been diagnosed with the disease, we can't yet say what caused it."
India gang rapes: Outrage over police 'discrimination'
There is outrage over police inaction in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh where two teenage girls were gang raped and hanged from a tree.
The father of one victim said he was ridiculed by policemen when he sought help in finding his missing daughter.
He said when the policemen found out he was from a lower caste, they "refused to look for my girl".
At least three men, including one policeman, have been arrested in connection with the incident.
The victims' families have complained that police had refused to help find the missing girls, aged 14 and 16.
India has numerous castes and divisions among them run deep. Violence is often used by upper castes to assert power and instil fear in lower castes.
Police said two men had been arrested for the gang rape and murder of the two girls, who were cousins from a low caste.
A constable was also detained for conspiring with the suspects and for dereliction of duty, authorities said, adding they were looking for one more suspect and one constable.
"[When I went to register a complaint to the police station about my missing daughter] the first thing I was asked was my caste. When they found out that I came from a low caste, they shooed me away and refused to look for the girls," the father of one of the victims told the BBC.
He said instead of helping him, the police "helped the accused as both were of the same caste".
Though both the victim and the accused belonged to a caste grouping 'Other Backward Classes', the victims were placed lower in the caste hierarchy.
Senior police official Atul Saxena said there would be a "thorough investigation" into the allegations of caste discrimination by the police.
People in Katra Shahadatganj, a village of 10,000 people in Badaun district where the incident took place, say caste "plays an important role in social affairs" in the community.
Rape cases that have shocked India
23 January 2014: Thirteen men held in West Bengal in connection with the gang rape of a woman, allegedly on orders of village elders who objected to her relationship with a man
4 April 2014: A court sentences three men to hang for raping a 23-year-old photojournalist in Mumbai last year
15 January 2014: A Danish woman is allegedly gang raped after losing her way near her hotel in Delhi
17 September 2013 : Five youths held in Assam for allegedly gang-raping a 10-year-old girl
4 June 2013: A 30-year-old American woman gang-raped in Himachal Pradesh
30 April 2013: A five-year-old girl dies two weeks after being raped in Madhya Pradesh
16 December 2012: Student gang raped on Delhi bus, sparking nationwide protests and outrage
A neighbour of one of the victim said the police "discriminated" against people from the lower castes in the village.
"Even though the police has suspended some constables, the ones who replace them would not be any better, they would discriminate too," he said.
"People from our caste are poor and illiterate and do not get employed in positions of power and influence."
Mr Saxena denied that caste biases played any part in "influencing police behaviour" in the state.
"The police follows its rule book and considers all criminals equal before the law. There might be one or two cases like this one and we will make sure that the culprit doesn't go scot-free," he said.
The father of one victim said he was ridiculed by policemen when he sought help in finding his missing daughter.
He said when the policemen found out he was from a lower caste, they "refused to look for my girl".
At least three men, including one policeman, have been arrested in connection with the incident.
The victims' families have complained that police had refused to help find the missing girls, aged 14 and 16.
India has numerous castes and divisions among them run deep. Violence is often used by upper castes to assert power and instil fear in lower castes.
Police said two men had been arrested for the gang rape and murder of the two girls, who were cousins from a low caste.
A constable was also detained for conspiring with the suspects and for dereliction of duty, authorities said, adding they were looking for one more suspect and one constable.
"[When I went to register a complaint to the police station about my missing daughter] the first thing I was asked was my caste. When they found out that I came from a low caste, they shooed me away and refused to look for the girls," the father of one of the victims told the BBC.
He said instead of helping him, the police "helped the accused as both were of the same caste".
Though both the victim and the accused belonged to a caste grouping 'Other Backward Classes', the victims were placed lower in the caste hierarchy.
Senior police official Atul Saxena said there would be a "thorough investigation" into the allegations of caste discrimination by the police.
People in Katra Shahadatganj, a village of 10,000 people in Badaun district where the incident took place, say caste "plays an important role in social affairs" in the community.
Rape cases that have shocked India
23 January 2014: Thirteen men held in West Bengal in connection with the gang rape of a woman, allegedly on orders of village elders who objected to her relationship with a man
4 April 2014: A court sentences three men to hang for raping a 23-year-old photojournalist in Mumbai last year
15 January 2014: A Danish woman is allegedly gang raped after losing her way near her hotel in Delhi
17 September 2013 : Five youths held in Assam for allegedly gang-raping a 10-year-old girl
4 June 2013: A 30-year-old American woman gang-raped in Himachal Pradesh
30 April 2013: A five-year-old girl dies two weeks after being raped in Madhya Pradesh
16 December 2012: Student gang raped on Delhi bus, sparking nationwide protests and outrage
A neighbour of one of the victim said the police "discriminated" against people from the lower castes in the village.
"Even though the police has suspended some constables, the ones who replace them would not be any better, they would discriminate too," he said.
"People from our caste are poor and illiterate and do not get employed in positions of power and influence."
Mr Saxena denied that caste biases played any part in "influencing police behaviour" in the state.
"The police follows its rule book and considers all criminals equal before the law. There might be one or two cases like this one and we will make sure that the culprit doesn't go scot-free," he said.
Thursday, 29 May 2014
Google sets up 'right to be forgotten' form after EU ruling
Google has launched a service to allow Europeans to ask for personal data to be removed from online search results.
The move comes after a landmark European court ruling earlier this month, which gave people the "right to be forgotten".
Links to "irrelevant" and outdated data should be erased on request, it said.
Google said it will assess each request and balance "privacy rights of the individual with the public's right to know and distribute information".
"When evaluating your request, we will look at whether the results include outdated information about you, as well as whether there's a public interest in the information," Google says on the form which applicants must fill in.
Google said it would look at information about "financial scams, professional malpractice, criminal convictions, or public conduct of government officials" while deciding on the request.
Earlier this month, the BBC had learnt that more than half of requests sent to Google from UK individuals involved convicted criminals.
This included a man convicted of possessing child abuse images who had also requested links to pages about his conviction to be wiped.
'Fraudulent requests'
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
As we regulate the internet, I think we're not going to see the kind of innovation we've seen”
Larry Page
On 13 May, the European Court of Justice ruled that links to "irrelevant" and outdated data on search engines should be erased on request.
The case was brought by a Spanish man who complained that an auction notice of his repossessed home, which appeared on Google's search results, infringed his privacy.
On Friday, Google said that EU citizens who want their private details removed from the search engine will be able to do so by filling out an online form.
However, they will need to provide links to the material they want removed, their country of origin, and a reason for their request.
Individuals will also have to attach a valid photo identity.
"Google often receives fraudulent removal requests from people impersonating others, trying to harm competitors, or improperly seeking to suppress legal information," the firm said.
"To prevent this kind of abuse, we need to verify identity."
Less innovation?
However, in an interview given to the Financial Times, Google boss Larry Page said that although the firm would comply with the ruling, it could damage innovation.
He also said the regulation would give cheer to repressive regimes.
Mr Page said he regretted not being "more involved in a real debate" about privacy in Europe, and that the company would now try to "be more European".
But, he warned, "as we regulate the internet, I think we're not going to see the kind of innovation we've seen".
Mr Page added that the ruling would encourage "other governments that aren't as forward and progressive as Europe to do bad things".
Romanian Gypsy Village
The hypnotherapist cat
The regulation of hypnotherapists in the UK is so lax that even a cat can become accredited, the BBC has found.
Chris Jackson, presenter of Inside Out in the North East and Cumbria, registered pet George with three industry bodies.
Each one accepted a certificate from the non-existent Society of Certified Advanced Mind Therapists as proof of George’s credentials.
It follows a similar investigation by an American clinical psychologist.
Dr Steve Eichel suspected industry bodies in the US were not running checks on their members.
He said: “I felt I’d test my hypothesis and I did that by getting my cat certified by a number of the most prominent lay hypnosis organisations in the United States. It was a frighteningly simple process.”
In the UK, George was registered with the British Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming (BBNLP), the United Fellowship of Hypnotherapists (UFH) and the Professional Hypnotherapy Practitioner Association (PHPA).
The UFH welcomed the Inside Out investigation and admitted the mistake, which it said has since been corrected.
A PHPA spokesman said the organisation makes great effort to ensure every applicant is a fully-qualified hypnotherapist.
The BBNLP said it exists only to provide benefits to its members, not to check or certify credentials.
Source: BBC News
Russian man beats a bank at its own game
Disappointed by the terms of the unsolicited offer for a credit card from Tinkoff Credit Systems in 2008, a 42-year-old Dmitry Agarkov from the city of Voronezh decided to hand write his own credits terms.
The trick was that Agarkov simply scanned the bank’s document and ‘amended’ the small print with his own terms.
He opted for a 0 percent interest rate and no fees, adding that the customer “is not obliged to pay any fees and charges imposed by bank tariffs.” The bank, however, didn’t read ‘the amendments’, as it signed and certified the document, as well as sent the man a credit card. Under the agreement, the bank OK’d to provide unlimited credit, according to Agarkov’s lawyer Dmitry Mikhalevich talking to Kommersant daily.
“The opened credit line was unlimited. He could afford to buy an island somewhere in Malaysia, and the bank would have to pay for it by law,” Mikhalevich added.
Agarkov also changed the URL of the site where the terms and conditions were published and hedged against the bank’s breaking of the agreement. For each unilateral change in the terms provided in the agreement, the bank would be asked to pay the customer (Agarkov) 3 million rubles ($91,000), or a cancelation fee of 6 million rubles ($182,000).
However, after two years of active use, the bank decided to terminate Agarkov’s credit card because of overdue payments. In 2012, the bank sued Agarkov for 45,000 rubles ($1,363) – an amount that included the remaining balance, fees, and late payment charges, which violated the actual agreement. The court decided that the agreement Agarkov crafted was valid, and required him to settle only his balance of 19,000 rubles ($575).
The bankers had to admit the mistake, says Agarkov’s representative Dmitry Mikhalevich.
“They signed the documents without looking. They said what usually their borrowers say in court: ‘We have not read it,’” says Mikhalevich.
Despite the victory, Agarkov decided to sue Tinkoff Credit Systems for fines of 24 million rubles ($727,000) for not honoring the terms of the agreement, and the decision to terminate the contract without paying 6 million rubles ($182,000) fee.
“Our lawyers think, he is going to get not 24 million, but really four years in prison for fraud. Now it’s a matter of principle for @ tcsbank,” founder of the bank Oleg Tinkov tweeted.
“We don’t have small print, everything is clear and transparent. Try to open a card – then we’ll talk. Stealing is a sin – in my opinion, of course. Not all in Russia think so,” Tinkov tweeted.
The next hearing will be held in September.
Source: RT.com
Kareena amazingly sporty: Saif on gender-bending role
When asked what was Kareena's reaction to his look, he said: "Kareena is amazingly sporty... she laughed looking at me. Had I been in her place I would have filed for divorce. She found my chest too large (laughs)."
Director Sajid Khan has reportedly infused many fun elements in the film, which includes a song where Saif is seen romancing Riteish Deshmukh.
Talking about it Saif said: "Riteish is great and I had a great time with him. He is very attractive."
Not new to the genre, thanks to his roles in "Hum Tum", "Salaam Namaste", and "Kal Ho Naa Ho", Saif said he was keen to return to comedy.
"I personally wanted to do a comedy. I love Sajid and this is the funniest film I have ever done. It's lovely to do a comedy film."
Also starring a bevy of stars like Bipasha Basu, Tamannaah Bhatia, Esha Gupta and Ram Kapoor, the film is coming out June 20.(IANS)
»
Google is to start building its own self-driving cars
Google is to start building its own self-driving cars, rather than modifying vehicles built by other manufacturers.
The car will have a stop-go button but no controls, steering wheel or pedals.
Pictures of the Google vehicle show it looks like a city car with a "friendly" face, designed to make it seem non-threatening and help people accept self-driving technology.
Co-founder Sergey Brin revealed the plans at a conference in California.
"We're really excited about this vehicle - it's something that will allow us to really push the capabilities of self driving technology, and understand the limitations," said Chris Urmson, director of the company's self-driving project.
He added that the cars had the ability to "improve people's lives by transforming mobility".
But some researchers working in this field are investigating potential downsides to driverless car technology.
They believe they could make traffic and urban sprawl worse, as people accept longer commutes as they do not have to drive themselves.
Flexible windscreen
The BBC was given access to the Google team to talk about the secret project, and see early renderings of the car.
It looks almost cartoon-like, it has no traditional bonnet at the front, and the wheels are pushed to the corners.
It will seat two people, propulsion will be electric, and at the start it will be limited to 25mph (40km/h) to help ensure safety.
The most significant thing about the design is that it does not have any controls, apart from a stop/go button.
For early testing, extra controls will be fitted so one of Google's test drivers can take over if there is a problem.
The controls will simply plug in, and Mr Urmson believes that over time, as confidence in the technology grows, they will be removed entirely.
The front end of the vehicle is designed to be safer for pedestrians, with a soft foam-like material where a traditional bumper would be, and a more flexible windscreen, which may help reduce injuries.
The vehicle will use a combination of laser and radar sensors along with camera data to drive autonomously.
It will depend on Google's road maps, built specifically for the programme, and tested on the company's current fleet of vehicles.
Google says it expects its self-drive cars to be on the road 'within a year'
Ready in a year
Google recently announced that its self driving cars had covered 700,000 miles of public roads in autonomous mode, and that they were now tackling the tricky problem of busy city streets.
The company plans to build a fleet of around 200 of the cars in Detroit, with the hope of using them as an autonomous technology test bed.
"We'll see these vehicles on the road within the year," says Mr Urmson.
Advocates claim that autonomous cars have the potential to revolutionise transport, by making roads safer, eliminating crashes, and decreasing congestion and pollution. In the year to June 2013, more than 23,500 people were killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents in the UK, according to government figures.
The view from Google's self-drive car and its computer during tests
Ron Medford, previously the deputy director of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and now the safety director for the self-driving car team at Google, believes that number could be drastically reduced by removing the chance of driver error.
"I think it has the potential to be the most important safety technology that the auto industry has ever seen," he said.
But Sven Beiker, executive director of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford, cautions that driverless cars may still require human input in extreme circumstances and that people may forget how to operate their vehicles if they do not do it regularly.
This could be particularly dangerous in an emergency situation where the computer does not know how to react, and asks for input from a human who may not have been paying attention, he warned.
"You will not be able to fiddle around looking for the instruction manual in the glove box that you've never looked at before," he said.
He equates it to people who drive automatics forgetting how to easily drive a car with a manual gearbox.
The car will have a stop-go button but no controls, steering wheel or pedals.
Pictures of the Google vehicle show it looks like a city car with a "friendly" face, designed to make it seem non-threatening and help people accept self-driving technology.
Co-founder Sergey Brin revealed the plans at a conference in California.
"We're really excited about this vehicle - it's something that will allow us to really push the capabilities of self driving technology, and understand the limitations," said Chris Urmson, director of the company's self-driving project.
He added that the cars had the ability to "improve people's lives by transforming mobility".
But some researchers working in this field are investigating potential downsides to driverless car technology.
They believe they could make traffic and urban sprawl worse, as people accept longer commutes as they do not have to drive themselves.
Flexible windscreen
The BBC was given access to the Google team to talk about the secret project, and see early renderings of the car.
It looks almost cartoon-like, it has no traditional bonnet at the front, and the wheels are pushed to the corners.
The most significant thing about the design is that it does not have any controls, apart from a stop/go button.
For early testing, extra controls will be fitted so one of Google's test drivers can take over if there is a problem.
The controls will simply plug in, and Mr Urmson believes that over time, as confidence in the technology grows, they will be removed entirely.
The front end of the vehicle is designed to be safer for pedestrians, with a soft foam-like material where a traditional bumper would be, and a more flexible windscreen, which may help reduce injuries.
The vehicle will use a combination of laser and radar sensors along with camera data to drive autonomously.
It will depend on Google's road maps, built specifically for the programme, and tested on the company's current fleet of vehicles.
Google says it expects its self-drive cars to be on the road 'within a year'
Ready in a year
Google recently announced that its self driving cars had covered 700,000 miles of public roads in autonomous mode, and that they were now tackling the tricky problem of busy city streets.
The company plans to build a fleet of around 200 of the cars in Detroit, with the hope of using them as an autonomous technology test bed.
"We'll see these vehicles on the road within the year," says Mr Urmson.
Advocates claim that autonomous cars have the potential to revolutionise transport, by making roads safer, eliminating crashes, and decreasing congestion and pollution. In the year to June 2013, more than 23,500 people were killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents in the UK, according to government figures.
The view from Google's self-drive car and its computer during tests
Ron Medford, previously the deputy director of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and now the safety director for the self-driving car team at Google, believes that number could be drastically reduced by removing the chance of driver error.
"I think it has the potential to be the most important safety technology that the auto industry has ever seen," he said.
But Sven Beiker, executive director of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford, cautions that driverless cars may still require human input in extreme circumstances and that people may forget how to operate their vehicles if they do not do it regularly.
This could be particularly dangerous in an emergency situation where the computer does not know how to react, and asks for input from a human who may not have been paying attention, he warned.
"You will not be able to fiddle around looking for the instruction manual in the glove box that you've never looked at before," he said.
He equates it to people who drive automatics forgetting how to easily drive a car with a manual gearbox.
Google 'poised to produce 3D imaging tablet'
A tablet computer capable of taking 3D images is set to be put into production by Google, according to reports.
The Wall Street Journal quoted sources close to the company as saying a run of 4,000 devices will be manufactured next month.
The tablet will have two rear-facing cameras and advanced imaging software - and will be shown off at the firm's forthcoming developers' conference.
Google has said it will not comment on "rumour and speculation".
But in March, Google showed off Project Tango, an effort to bring 3D technology to its handheld devices. A prototype smartphone had been given out to 200 developers to try out.
The technology makes use of infrared sensors to measure depth of surroundings.
While the ability to create 3D images with small devices is by no means a new technological feat, Google's strategy will be to harness the hardware to contribute to, among other things, its mapping effort.
For instance, the devices could be used to create quickly a 3D map of indoor environments.
Virtual reality race
According to the Wall Street Journal, the 3D tablet will be shown off at Google's annual developers' conference at the end of June.
As it did with the Google Glass eyewear product, it is expected the firm will allow a select number of developers and engineers to experiment with the technology before a consumer launch is planned.
Although still a relatively minor industry, the race to create the "killer app" for building and viewing virtual reality environments is building apace.
In March, Facebook swooped in on a $2bn (£1.2bn) deal for Oculus VR, a company making a virtual reality headset.
A mini-site for Project Tango has highlighted a few of the firm's plans in the area.
"Project Tango is an attempt to create a mobile device unlike like any other," the site explains.
"A mobile device that shares our sense of space and movement, that understands and perceives the world the same way we do."
In the past few years, devices able to view and create 3D images have made it to market, but suffered heavily from a lack of consumer interest, said Jack Kent, an analyst at IHS.
"If Google really pushes it, that might change the dynamics of the market," he told the BBC.
Two India girls gang raped and hanged in Uttar Pradesh
Two teenage girls found hanging from a tree in a village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh had been gang raped, police say.
A man has been held over the murders of the girls, who police said were 14 and 16.
Three policemen have been removed from duty for not registering cases when the girls were reported missing.
Violence and discrimination against women in India remains deeply entrenched.
Scrutiny of sexual violence in India has grown since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus.
The government tightened laws on sexual violence last year after widespread protests following that attack.
Senior police official Atul Saxena told the BBC the two girls, who were cousins, went missing on Tuesday night.
Their bodies were found in Katra Shahadatganj village in Badaun district on Wednesday morning.
Mr Saxena said the police were looking for two more men in connection with the crime.
A post-mortem examination has confirmed rape and death due to hanging, police say.
"We are still investigating how the girls went missing and were raped and hung from a tree," Mr Saxena said.
Earlier this year, a 20-year-old tribal woman was gang raped in eastern West Bengal state - allegedly on the orders of village elders who objected to her relationship with a man.
Brad Pitt 'attacked' at Maleficent premiere
Ukrainian reporter Vitalii Sediuk - who is known for pranking celebrities - was reportedly seen jumping over a barrier, hugging and then striking the star.
The 25-year-old was wrestled to the floor by bodyguards before being led away in handcuffs by police.
Pitt, who had been signing autographs at the time, was not seriously hurt.
Vitalii Sediuk was led away in handcuffs at Maleficent premiere
Maleficent is Disney's modern retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale, starring Pitt's partner Angelina Jolie as its villain.
A spokesperson for the film company said: "This was an unfortunate and inappropriate incident that is being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department."
A police spokesman said Mr Sediuk was held in custody on Wednesday night pending $20,000 (£12,000) bail.
"The officers who were handling him said it looked like [the attack] was intentional, but at this point, it remains to be determined," Sgt Leonard Calderon told Reuters.
Mr Sediuk has a history of red carpet stunts and pranking celebrities.
Last week, he hit headlines after he crawled under the skirt of Ugly Betty actress America Ferrera at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Ukranian 'reporter' Vitalli Seduik has pulled 'pranks' on red carpets around the world
Sediuk forced a hug on Bradley Cooper at the SAG Awards
At the SAG Awards in January he was seen on his knees hugging Bradley Cooper's crotch - a stunt he also pulled on Leonardo DiCaprio at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in February.
Last year, he crashed the stage during the Grammys, running up to Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull to accept Adele's award for best pop solo performance before the singer reached the stairs.
He was charged with entering a performance area and interfering with the ceremony but was not jailed.
In 2012, Mr Sediuk also received a slap on the face from actor Will Smith after he tried to kiss him on the lips while on the Men In Black 3 red carpet in Moscow.
Rolf Harris trial: Daughter's 'anger over allegations'
Rolf Harris's daughter smashed two of his paintings in anger when she first heard claims he had sexually abused one of her friends, a court has heard.
The 84-year-old TV entertainer said Bindi Harris had been "beside herself" after her friend made the allegations.
Southwark Crown Court heard Bindi confronted him in a phone call.
Mr Harris denies 12 indecent assaults between 1968 and 1986. He says he had a consensual relationship with the friend when she was an adult.
Seven of the counts relate to the friend of his daughter.
The friend claims he first assaulted her when she was 13 while on holiday, but Mr Harris, from Bray, in Berkshire, contests this.
In court
Rolf Harris was cross-examined by prosecutor Sasha Wass QC
Sarah Falkland, BBC News
It's 9am on day 13 of the Rolf Harris trial and the press are photographing the entertainer arriving at court with his wife Alwen and daughter Bindi.
Mr Harris has told the jury it was a way for his family to "show support".
But the court has heard how furious Bindi was when a friend first told her Mr Harris had abused her from the age of 13. She was so angry she smashed two of her father's paintings.
Sasha Wass QC has been determined and robust in her cross-examination, at times wagging an accusatory finger at Mr Harris.
Earlier on, he was so softly spoken the judge had to ask him to raise his voice.
He has been batting off the prosecution's suggestions - at one point even suggesting Ms Wass was not listening to him.
"I never met Tonya Lee, " he insisted, referring to an alleged victim who has waived her right to anonymity.
"So you keep saying," was the prosecutor's retort.
'Shock'
On his third day in the witness box, Mr Harris said his daughter had not confronted him "face to face" but over the telephone when the friend told her of the alleged offences several years after they are said to have taken place.
In cross examination, Prosecutor Sasha Wass QC asked Mr Harris why he did not tell his daughter that nothing happened with her friend until she was 18.
However, Mr Harris said he could not remember what he told his daughter during that conversation.
The prosecutor said Bindi Harris was "beside herself with shock" when she found out what was alleged, which Mr Harris agreed had been the case.
He added: "I don't recall her being angry with me in person but I recall her breaking some paintings I had given her so I assumed she was very angry."
'All lies'
Mr Harris also denied ever meeting alleged victim Tonya Lee, who has waived her right to anonymity.
The Australian woman said Mr Harris assaulted her while she was on a theatre group trip to the UK in 1986, when she was 15.
But he told the jury: "I can't imagine why she would say that, but it's all lies."
He also said another woman who claims she was groped at a community centre in Portsmouth while getting an autograph from him was "lying".
Mr Harris said: "It never happened, I wasn't there. I wasn't there, she must be making it up."
The 84-year-old TV entertainer said Bindi Harris had been "beside herself" after her friend made the allegations.
Southwark Crown Court heard Bindi confronted him in a phone call.
Mr Harris denies 12 indecent assaults between 1968 and 1986. He says he had a consensual relationship with the friend when she was an adult.
Seven of the counts relate to the friend of his daughter.
The friend claims he first assaulted her when she was 13 while on holiday, but Mr Harris, from Bray, in Berkshire, contests this.
In court
Rolf Harris was cross-examined by prosecutor Sasha Wass QC
Sarah Falkland, BBC News
It's 9am on day 13 of the Rolf Harris trial and the press are photographing the entertainer arriving at court with his wife Alwen and daughter Bindi.
Mr Harris has told the jury it was a way for his family to "show support".
But the court has heard how furious Bindi was when a friend first told her Mr Harris had abused her from the age of 13. She was so angry she smashed two of her father's paintings.
Sasha Wass QC has been determined and robust in her cross-examination, at times wagging an accusatory finger at Mr Harris.
Earlier on, he was so softly spoken the judge had to ask him to raise his voice.
He has been batting off the prosecution's suggestions - at one point even suggesting Ms Wass was not listening to him.
"I never met Tonya Lee, " he insisted, referring to an alleged victim who has waived her right to anonymity.
"So you keep saying," was the prosecutor's retort.
'Shock'
On his third day in the witness box, Mr Harris said his daughter had not confronted him "face to face" but over the telephone when the friend told her of the alleged offences several years after they are said to have taken place.
In cross examination, Prosecutor Sasha Wass QC asked Mr Harris why he did not tell his daughter that nothing happened with her friend until she was 18.
However, Mr Harris said he could not remember what he told his daughter during that conversation.
The prosecutor said Bindi Harris was "beside herself with shock" when she found out what was alleged, which Mr Harris agreed had been the case.
He added: "I don't recall her being angry with me in person but I recall her breaking some paintings I had given her so I assumed she was very angry."
'All lies'
Mr Harris also denied ever meeting alleged victim Tonya Lee, who has waived her right to anonymity.
The Australian woman said Mr Harris assaulted her while she was on a theatre group trip to the UK in 1986, when she was 15.
But he told the jury: "I can't imagine why she would say that, but it's all lies."
He also said another woman who claims she was groped at a community centre in Portsmouth while getting an autograph from him was "lying".
Mr Harris said: "It never happened, I wasn't there. I wasn't there, she must be making it up."
German World Cup stars in car crash
Two members of the German World Cup squad have been involved in a car accident at a driving event which left two others injured in northern Italy.
Benedikt Hoewedes and Julian Draxler were passengers in separate cars in the Mercedes event on a closed circuit.
One of the cars, with professional touring car driver Pascal Wehrlein at the wheel, struck two men near the team hotel, leaving one seriously hurt.
The footballers were not injured in the accident, and have resumed training.
The other car was being driven by Mercedes Formula One driver, Nico Rosberg.
Hoewedes and Draxler play for German Bundesliga side Schalke 04 and have been selected to represent their country in next month's World Cup in Brazil.
Mercedes-Benz Motorsport said in a statement: "We will work in full cooperation with the authorities in determining the exact circumstances of the accident."
The seriously injured man was a 63-year-old German tourist, local media said.
The other man is believed to be a circuit marshal. Both men were taken to hospital.
Rosberg, currently in first place in the driver's championship, expressed shock at the accident.
"My thoughts are with the two people who were injured and I wish them a fast recovery" he said on twitter.
The German football team will continue to train in the South Tyrol area of Italy until 1 June.
Benedikt Hoewedes and Julian Draxler were passengers in separate cars in the Mercedes event on a closed circuit.
One of the cars, with professional touring car driver Pascal Wehrlein at the wheel, struck two men near the team hotel, leaving one seriously hurt.
The footballers were not injured in the accident, and have resumed training.
The other car was being driven by Mercedes Formula One driver, Nico Rosberg.
Hoewedes and Draxler play for German Bundesliga side Schalke 04 and have been selected to represent their country in next month's World Cup in Brazil.
Mercedes-Benz Motorsport said in a statement: "We will work in full cooperation with the authorities in determining the exact circumstances of the accident."
The seriously injured man was a 63-year-old German tourist, local media said.
The other man is believed to be a circuit marshal. Both men were taken to hospital.
Rosberg, currently in first place in the driver's championship, expressed shock at the accident.
"My thoughts are with the two people who were injured and I wish them a fast recovery" he said on twitter.
The German football team will continue to train in the South Tyrol area of Italy until 1 June.
Ukraine army helicopter shot down near Sloviansk
Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have shot down a military helicopter near Sloviansk, killing 14 people, the country's outgoing president says.
Olexander Turchynov said the rebels used a Russian-made anti-aircraft system, and a senior general was among the dead.
The town of Sloviansk has seen fierce fighting between separatists and government forces in recent weeks.
President-elect Petro Poroshenko has vowed to tackle "bandits" in the east.
The helicopter was hit during heavy fighting between Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, reportedly after it had dropped off troops at a military base.
President Turchynov said the 14 dead included Gen Serhiy Kulchytskiy, head of combat and special training for Ukraine's National Guard.
It is one of the worst losses of life for government forces in the conflict so far. Last week at least 14 soldiers died in a rebel attack on an army checkpoint near Donetsk, some 130km (80 miles) from Sloviansk.
Earlier this month the separatists shot down two army helicopters, also near Sloviansk, killing a pilot and another serviceman.
The helicopter had just taken off after transporting soldiers to a Ukrainian base
This is a significant blow for the Ukrainian military and the government in Kiev as it pursues what it calls its "anti-terror operation" in the east. Sloviansk, a town taken by the rebels early in this uprising, has long been the epicentre of the heaviest fighting here.
Two other Ukrainian helicopters were downed there at the start of May, a reminder that Kiev is not simply facing an amateur group of fighters here.
This has been a week in which the conflict in eastern Ukraine has escalated. After Kiev launched an air-and-ground assault on separatist groups at Donetsk airport to retake control, the rebels have vowed to regroup.
They hold patches of land and are clearly equipped with significant weapons. When Ukraine's new President-elect, Petro Poroshenko, vows to crush what he calls the "terrorists" within "a few hours, rather than a few months", this latest loss of life illustrates the immense challenge he faces.
Olexander Turchynov said the rebels used a Russian-made anti-aircraft system, and a senior general was among the dead.
The town of Sloviansk has seen fierce fighting between separatists and government forces in recent weeks.
President-elect Petro Poroshenko has vowed to tackle "bandits" in the east.
The helicopter was hit during heavy fighting between Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, reportedly after it had dropped off troops at a military base.
President Turchynov said the 14 dead included Gen Serhiy Kulchytskiy, head of combat and special training for Ukraine's National Guard.
It is one of the worst losses of life for government forces in the conflict so far. Last week at least 14 soldiers died in a rebel attack on an army checkpoint near Donetsk, some 130km (80 miles) from Sloviansk.
Earlier this month the separatists shot down two army helicopters, also near Sloviansk, killing a pilot and another serviceman.
This is a significant blow for the Ukrainian military and the government in Kiev as it pursues what it calls its "anti-terror operation" in the east. Sloviansk, a town taken by the rebels early in this uprising, has long been the epicentre of the heaviest fighting here.
Two other Ukrainian helicopters were downed there at the start of May, a reminder that Kiev is not simply facing an amateur group of fighters here.
This has been a week in which the conflict in eastern Ukraine has escalated. After Kiev launched an air-and-ground assault on separatist groups at Donetsk airport to retake control, the rebels have vowed to regroup.
They hold patches of land and are clearly equipped with significant weapons. When Ukraine's new President-elect, Petro Poroshenko, vows to crush what he calls the "terrorists" within "a few hours, rather than a few months", this latest loss of life illustrates the immense challenge he faces.
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