Diversity win in shock Talent final

Street dancers Diversity are celebrating a shock victory over singer Susan Boyle in the Britain's Got Talent final.

The dance group beat show favourite Boyle, who took second place, scooping the first prize of £100,000 and a place on stage at the Royal Variety Performance. Saxophonist Julian Smith came third.

Diversity, who include three sets of brothers in their number, put in a stunning performance, weaving in a cheeky reference to the judges' buzzers.

Judge Simon Cowell said: "If I had to give marks on that, that is the only performance tonight I would want to give a ten to. There was not a step out of place. It was sheer and utter perfection what you just did there."

Scottish singer Boyle, who had been the bookies' front-runner for most of the ITV1 series, said: "The best people won. They're very entertaining. Lads - I wish you all the best."

The 48-year-old earlier gave a triumphant performance following a week of reports that she was failing to cope with the sudden media attention.

There was no repeat of the emotional scenes that saw ten-year-old Hollie Steel perform twice after bursting into tears while performing Edelweiss on Friday.

The other acts were dancers Aidan Davis, Flawless, and Stavros Flatley and singers Shaun Smith, Shaheen Jafargholi, Hollie Steel and Two Grand.

It had long been predicted that Boyle would win the talent show after her audition attracted millions of hits on YouTube and sparked an appearance on Oprah Winfrey's television show.

But the singer experienced a backlash and was accused of four letter outbursts at the Wembley hotel where the contestants stayed.

After her performance of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables, the same song that propelled her to fame, Cowell said: "A lot of people said you shouldn't even be in this competition, that you weren't equipped to deal with it.

"For what? For you to sit at home with your cat and say 'I've missed an opportunity'. I totally disagree with that. You had the guts to come back here and face your critics and you beat them."

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said: "Susan Boyle should hold her head up high - she has put her home town of Blackburn, West Lothian, well and truly on the map."

Via: Yahoo! News

The Result

Diversity Performance

Susan Boyle Performance

though she is not in the final, but how can I not include this kid sensation... Hollie Steel...

Happy 1st Birthday to Khairiatul Adawiyah

Carl Rinsch to Direct Alien Prequel

Earlier yesterday, rumors were coming out of horror site Bloody-Disgusting that 20th Century Fox was interested in relaunching the "Alien" franchise with some sort of reboot or remake, following the recent news that Robert Rodriguez would be doing the same thing for 20th Century Fox's other sci-fi creature franchise, Predator.

While there was no confirmation from the Fox camp or the trades, Collider's roving reporter "Frosty" cornered director Tony Scott at the press conference for his own remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 to get confirmation and learned that Scott-Free Productions is indeed producing a remake with director Carl Rinsch helming. They hope that the movie, which is meant act as a prequel to Ridley Scott's original 1979 classic Alien, will be shooting by the end of the year.

The original B-D story suggested that they would return to the original concept of just one alien creature, and that they'd be looking for a new "Ripley."

Mad Catz Releases Fender for Rock Band, More Guitars to Come

The much anticipated (and repeatedly delayed) Fender Precision Bass guitar for Rock Band is going to ship later this month. This announcement means that the new Fender will be coming out a couple of months ahead of the new Beatles inspired guitars scheduled to be released in September of this year.

Bringing the Fender out now is definitely a good business move on Mad Catz's part. It'll be out early enough that it should have a few weeks to make some serious sales before any new competing guitars hit the market.

Another news, Mad Catz just signed a contract with Microsoft that gives them the ability to, “manufacture, market and sell Xbox 360-branded wireless specialty videogame controllers.”

This means a whole lot of new specialty instruments coming on down the line, and it also opens up the potential for new peripheral devices for other Xbox games. The fact that Microsoft signed such a lucrative contract with Mad Catz says good things about the quality of the new Fender controller.

Night At BSB

15 Tips of Using the Nikon D5000

Sony Cyber-shot W180 and W190 unveiled

Sony unveiled the new Cyber-shot W180 and W190 pocket cameras with high smart zoom features.

Smart zoom boosts maximum magnification to a frame-filling 18x for the Cyber-shot W190 and 17x for Cyber-shot W180. Both cameras have a 3x optical zoom.

Other features of the W180 and W190 are 10.1/12.1 effective megapixels, 2.7" Clear Photo LCD screen, SteadyShot and High Sensitivity ISO 3200, Improved Face Detection recognizes up to 8 faces in a scene and Smile Shutter.

The new Sony W180 and W190 come in silver, black and red. The Cyber-shot W180 and W190 compact digital cameras are available from July 2009 in Europe.

Via: Sony Europe

Barcelona win the Champions League

Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi scored the goals as Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in the Champions League final in Rome.

Cameroon international Eto'o struck after ten minutes and Messi added the second with a superb header 20 minutes from time.

United can have no complaints as they failed to find their usual fluency and defended hesitantly with many of their key performers well below-par.

Barcelona lifted the trophy for the third time in their history and matched United's own treble in 1999 as Pep Guardiola's men added Europe's premier competition to domestic League and Cup success.

The Catalan club scored with their first real attack after United started in electric fashion.

Andres Iniesta got past Anderson too easily and found Eto'o who cut inside Nemanja Vidic and toe poked the ball under Edwin van der Sar from close range.

Until then it had been all United.

After just two minutes Cristiano Ronaldo's 30-yard effort bounced viciously in front of Victor Valdes who spilled the effort and it required a superb block by former United defender Gerard Pique to deny Park Ji-sung a tap-in.

The Portuguese then volleyed just wide from 16 yards before United fell behind with Serb Vidic, named Barclays player of the year earlier in the day, culpable with a lackluster challenge.

Ronaldo looked to get his side back on terms and his run through on goal was ended by a Pique block for which he received a yellow card.

But Barca then began to boss the game and Messi came to the fore with a scorching drive just missing the top corner, with Van der Sar beaten, before Xavi curled a free-kick just over the top.

It was the 11th effort on goal in a frenetic opening half-hour.

United had an escape on the brink of half-time when Van der Sar spilled a low cross from Messi but there was no-one at the near post to capitalise and Sir Alex Ferguson gambled at the interval by replacing the ineffective Anderson with Carlos Tevez.

But Barca relished the extra space in midfield and twice came close to extending their advantage within the space of four minutes.

Iniesta sent Thierry Henry away down the left, in a big hole vacated by John O'Shea, and he turned Rio Ferdinand inside out before seeing his shot saved by the legs of Van der Sar.

Then a surging run from man-of-the-match Iniesta was ended a yard outside the penalty area by Vidic and Xavi curled the resulting free-kick around the wall and against the post.

United did regroup however and Ronaldo swung in a cross from the right which Yaya Toure completely missed only for the ball to bounce off the hard pitch and over the head of the unmarked Park six yards out.

Park was then replaced by Dimitar Berbatov as Ferguson threw caution to the wind with a 4-2-4 formation only to concede a second.

Patrice Evra hooked his clearance aimlessly to Xavi who picked out an unmarked Messi and the little Argentine climbed high to guide the ball past Van der Sar and into the far corner for his first goal against an English club.

United should have pulled a goal back almost immediately as the ball fell to Ronaldo at the far post only for Valdes to smother his shot.

Paul Scholes replaced Giggs and he was booked along with Ronaldo as United chased the game with the Premier League champions almost conceding a third when Carles Puyol's thumping header was saved by Van der Sar before the advancing Dutchman saved a shot from the Barca captain after the best move of the match.

Berbatov headed over from close range late on but there was no way back for United who failed in their bid to become the first team since Milan in 1990 to retain the European crown.

Victory for Barca also ended United's record 25-match unbeaten run in the competition and inflicted a first defeat in a European final on the Old Trafford club.

Via: Eurosport

Japan's Nikon to cut 1,000 jobs

Japanese camera and precision equipment maker Nikon Corp. said Tuesday that it would cut about 1,000 jobs, mostly at its domestic plants, as it braces for a loss this year.

Nikon said it would overhaul its operations making devices for use in the production of semiconductors. It will also downsize its subsidiary in Singapore and transfer part of the business to Taiwan.

The group aims to reduce its annual costs by about eight billion yen (84 million dollars).

Nikon has been hit by weak demand. Earlier this month it forecast a net loss of 17 billion yen for the current business year to March.

Many manufacturers in Japan have announced job cuts in recent months to cope with the global economic downturn, which has depressed demand for the country's cars, electronics and other exports.

Source: AFP

The Caffeine Rush

Nikon D5000 Hands On Review by Photo360

Canon EOS 500D Hands On Review by Photo360

J-Horror Tale Unravels on Toilet Paper

The latest horror story from the author behind "Ringu," "Dream Cruise" and "Dark Water" won't be found in Japanese book stores next month. Instead it will be told on a roll of toilet paper.

Koji Suzuki's nine-chapter novella "Drop" - a thriller set in a public restroom - takes up about three feet of Hayashi Paper-printed toilet paper.

A roll is going for 210 yen, just a bit over two bucks. We're sure, somewhere, there's a Hollywood studio exec looking into the American screen rights now.

Via: AP

Transformers Qosmio Netbook USB Hub

Here is a Qosmio netbook that was touched by a fragment of the All Spark cube that turns it into a robotic alien lifeform. The netbook doesn’t necessarily work, the body serves as a 4-port USB hub. It comes with four USB 2.0 ports on the front and a fake image of the Windows XP desktop on the display.

Via: amiami.com

Tony Hawk's Ride Launch Day Announced

The latest Tony Hawk video game called Ride with the skateboard controller has a launch date thanks to GameStop. The Ride game and the sweet skateboard controller we have talked about before are available for pre-order at GameStop with the delivery date of October 13, 2009. The PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 versions with the skateboard controller are pre-ordering for $119.99.

Via: GameStop

Canon announces update for EOS 5D Mark II

Canon announced today it will release a firmware update for the EOS 5D Mark II allowing users to manually control exposure when shooting video. The new firmware will be available for download from 2 June 2009 on Canon Europe’s support web site.

Following the launch of the EOS 5D Mark II in September 2008, Canon’s Research and Development team has listened closely to customer feedback to develop additions to the camera’s movie recording functionality. 

Allowing EOS 5D Mark II owners to achieve even more stunning video results with the camera, the firmware update will include the following manual controls when shooting video:

• Full aperture selection
  
• ISO speed: Auto, 100 – 6400 and H1
  
• Shutter speed: 1/30th – 1/4000th second
  

The EOS 5D Mark II integrates full HD movie capability into a high-end 21.1 Megapixel camera; opening a multitude of new possibilities for photojournalists and news photographers. Since its launch the camera has proved its appeal to professionals working in diverse fields, from studio and wedding to nature and travel. Now, following customer feedback, Canon has improved functionality for professional video users, further unleashing the potential of the EOS 5D Mark II for cinematographers and photographers alike.

Click HERE on 2 June 2009 to download the firmware.

Talk To The Hand - Part Two

Talk To The Hand

BIBD's Wish Campaign sees increase in new account holders

Since the launch of the Wish Campaign in March, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) has had an increase in its new account holders.

According to Hj Mohd Rozaiman SDLJ Abd Rahman, the idea of BIBD's Wish Campaign has always been to encourage savings. "And since its launch we have seen a great influx," he told the Bulletin.

In order for wishes to be granted during the Wish Campaign, wish makers are required to meet the main criterion of maintaining an average balance of $2,000.

BIBD revealed that when deciding on the winners for the first award, which was held a week ago, a majority of the wish makers were not eligible because they did not maintain their monthly average balance.

To create more awareness on the Wish Campaign, every new person who signs up for the CASA Account with BIBD will get a Wish Campaign polo shirt.

According to Wan Hefnie Hj Hamidon, BIBD Marketing Officer, BIBD's aim is for the bank to achieve its goal, which is to cultivate a saving culture.

"With this Wish Campaign, we are aspiring people to save more. We want the people in Brunei to be disciplined in their savings, especially for the bigger things in life," he said.

He then added, hopefully with the campaign, even if they do not get their wish granted, they will continue to save and BIBD is there to help them every step of the way.

"We want to journey with them (BIBD account holders) in their life. We want to be there for them, to see them achieve want they want in life," said Nurul Akmar Jaafar, the Head of Sales and Distribution Channel for BIBD's Consumer Banking Division.

Wan Hefnie added that BIBD does not know what the wish makers wish for up until the judges have read the stories and decide on which ones are worth granting.

The Bulletin was told that BIBD has ensured that the judges have been impartial and only two of them are from the bank.

"What we are trying to achieve here is that these judges represent all walks of life in Brunei. And these judges have also declared that their family members should not enter the wish campaign," Hj Mohd Rozaiman said.

He added that BIBD hopes for future wish makers to provide some serious challenge on what they actually wish for.

BIBD wants wish makers to know that during the campaign, they will sponsor wish stories that are sincere and accurately portrays their current state and how savings can improve their current state.

Wish makers will have to convince BIBD why their wish should be granted and it should explain areas such as their current state, why they made that wish, how will savings transform their current life, what are their future plans, how will they work towards their dream, as well as who will benefit from their wish.

Nurul Akmar said some of the stories they have received so far, even though very well written do not have an inclusiveness of the society. Most of the wishes are targeted for their own benefit.

If wish makers should experience any problems entering their wish code on BIBD's website, they can contact BIBD Marketing hotline at 2233555.

Wan Hefnie said the wish code is not a lucky draw and does not have to be submitted immediately. Wish makers can submit their wish whenever they are ready and have put in some thought.

Therefore, they have until January 2010 to submit their wish.

The Wish Campaign is open to all citizens and permanent residents of Brunei who hold a CASA Account with BIBD and customers will receive one wish code for every $500 deposit and maintained.

The total value of the Wish Campaign's Awards is B$2,020,000.

Up to 10 wish makers will get their wishes, worth a total of more than B$80,000, granted each month until December, starting May this year.

A lucky wish maker will be granted a $100,000 Wish Award every quarter (July, October and January 2010) and a grand wish award of B$1 million, January next year.

Via: Borneo Bulletin Online

The DSLR IRCC iPhone Remote Camera Control

New iPhone camera remote from onOne software - Turn your iPhone into a remote control for your camera with the help of onOne software.

OnOne software have developed a new application called the DSLR Remote.

Designed to work with Canon EOS DSLRs, the new wireless cable release is designed to be triggered by an iPhone application. From your iPhone you can control settings such as the white balance as well as using it to fire the camera shutter. If you have a camera that supports Live View you can even get a live stream of the camera’s viewfinder on your iPhone.

The DSLR Remote application is available from the iTunes App Store at an introductory price of $9.99 (The application usually retails at $19.99.) A “Lite” version will also be available for $1.99 that only fires the shutter. The required server software that runs on your Mac or Windows computer will be a free download from the onOne website.

Visit onOne software for more details.

Via: ePHOTOzine

Football Friendly - BIBD vs RBC

The Referees

Waiting for the kick-off

Adegan garu kepala

RBC scoring the equalizing goal

During Half-time break

Any idea what the GK is doing?

After the game..

End result, RBC hammered BIBD 6 -1... better luck next time boys...