← Previous Story Lunde Haraldsen “uncomfortable” in Gyor Next Story → Silvio Heinevetter stays Fuchse until 2014! Right back of Montenegrin national team and former player of Cepelin, Jugovic Kac, MKB Veszprem, VfL Gummersbach and Buducnost Podgorica, Zarko Markovic (24) sign seven months contract with the champion of Saudi Arabia, Al Ahly. Informations from Montenegrin PRESS telling about a figure of 150.000 EUR (salary). Markovic was one of the most talented lefthanded players in his generation (won U 18 World and European Championships with Serbia and Montenegro in generation with Sesum and Nenadic), but he didn’t aprove that in senior competition. After a little playing time in MKB Veszprem in couple with Marko Vujin, Markovic spent just a few weeks in Vfl Gummersbach, before he moved to Podgorica in summer 2009. Season in Buducnost is ended by team bankrupt, after he stayed without a team, until now. Al Ahly handballZarko Markovic
Sutjeska Niksic has a new coach – Zoran Kastratovic
HC Sutjeska NiksicSEHA leagueZoran Kastratovic ← Previous Story Gro Hammerseng is pregnant Next Story → Kretzchmar tips: “Kiel to win Bundesliga” Third team of Montenegrin handball League, Sutjeska Niksic appointed a new coach, Zoran Kastratovic. Kastratovic is the head coach of Montenegro national team, took a challenge from last June. Team from Niksic will compete in the SEHA Regional League, after Montenegrin champion, HC Mojkovac decided to step out from the competition.
INVINCIBLE Veszprem Arena melts German Lions
hallveszpremVeszprem Arena “Veszprem Arena” staying unbeatable fortress for the European TOP names. Team of Antonio Carlos Ortega showed once again how strong is and what ambitions has in the new season of the EHF Champions League. Rhein Neckar Lowen were the strong opponent in the first half, but in the last 30 minutes, Gensheimer and Co. were melted by the noise of 5.000 home fans and good defensive performance of Nagy, Ilic, Schuch, etc…At the end, Momir Ilic broke the resistance of the Germans with a few goals in series – 9 in total.MKB-MVM Veszprém – Rhein-Neckar Löwen 27:24 (10:11)MKB-MVM Veszprém: Mikler, Alilovic (n.e.); Gulyas (2), Ivancsik, Schuch, Ruesga (1), Ilic (9/4), Nilsson, Nagy (4), Zeitz (2), Ugalde (3), Marguc (1), Rodriguez (1), Terzic, Sulic (4), KancelRhein-Neckar Löwen: Landin, Rutschmann; Schmid (2), Gensheimer (9/2), Kneer (1), Suton (n.e.), Sigurmannsson (n.e.), Myrhol (1), Mensah (2), Groetzki (2), Reinkind, Guardiola (1), Petersson (5), Ekdahl du Rietz (1) ← Previous Story EHF CL Saturday: First success for Meshkov – Dunkerque wins in Ukraine Next Story → VIDEO: New hall in Skopje – Sandanski like Lanxess Arena!
Presov and Bregenz to host EHF CL qualifications
EHF CL Presov and Bregenz will be the hosts of the VELUX EHF Champions League qualifications tournaments on September 3 and 4, which will give two last participants of the elite handball competition. On Tuesday draw in Vienna, Slovakian champions Tatran Prešov got Luxembourgish champions Red Boys Differdange for the rivals, while Rk Gorenje Velenje face the debutants from Finland, Cocks.Bregenz must overcome Achilles Bocholt from Belgium to reach the Group 2 final against the winner of the match between another newcomer – Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel and the reigning Challenge Cup winners ABC/UMinho who went all the way to the final in the EHF Champions League maiden season in 1993/94.The two winners will join 26 seeded teams in the group phase which will start 14-16 October. The group phase draw will take place on Friday 1 July at 13:00 hrs in Glostrup, Denmark.SOURCE: EHF ← Previous Story THW Kiel to change main sponsor after 38 years! Next Story → EHF CL DRAW: Veszprem, Barca, PSG, Kiel and Flensburg in Group A
Buy tickets for SEHA Gazprom Final4 2018
← Previous Story Denmark, Norway and Montenegro qualify for Women’s EHF EURO 2018 Next Story → EHF Cup: Frisch Auf Goppingen furious in Nasice to win the first place SEHA Gazprom League announced that tickets for Final event in Skopje will be available online since April 2.Here is the statement, interesting for those who are planing trip to the city of reigning EHF Champions League winners – RK Vardar Skopje.“We would like to announce that the tickets for Final 4 SEHA Gazprom League which will be held in Skopje from 13th until 15th of April, are now available for purchase. There are two types of tickets. The package tickets include all four matches that will be played during Final 4. You can buy this type of tickets from now until the Sunday, 1st of April, in ticket office in Sports center Jane Sandanski every day, from 10 AM until 6 PM. From Monday, 2nd of April, daily tickets, which include both matches played on a selected day of the Final 4, will be available online on www.ticketplus.mk Reserve your seat and experience handball on Final 4! SEHA Gazprom League Final4
Department of Health hopes to regulate ecigarettes this year
As they are not presented as medicinal products for smoking cessation or as medical devices with a therapeutic purpose, e-cigarettes do not fall under the medicinal products or medical devices legislation. As electronic cigarettes do not contain tobacco they are currently not regulated under tobacco legislation.The Department spokesperson went on to say that the devices fall under general product safety legislation.They did, however, say that a plan to make e-cigarettes childproof was among regulations that were being proposed.“The new EU Tobacco Products Directive, the ultimate purpose of which is to reduce the numbers of people smoking, includes provisions for the regulation of e-cigarettes. These provisions include specifying that only electronic cigarettes that deliver the nicotine doses consistently should be allowed, and that e-cigarettes should be child- and tamperproof.“The Commission hope that the Directive will be adopted in 2014.”Read: Smokers spend an average of 25 minutes a day outside work smokingRead: HSE says hospitals will be smoke-free by 2015 THERE ARE NO specific regulations governing electronic cigarettes in Ireland, with the Department of Health saying that they plan to have rules in place this year.Concern has been raised about the safety of the liquid inside the e-cigarettes, which if ingested on its own can be harmful.In the US, poison control centres reported a nationwide hike of 161 per cent in the number of calls related to the devices last year.However,a spokesperson for the Department of Health confirmed to TheJournal.ie that the devices fall under catch-all European legislation.“Tobacco Free Ireland, Ireland’s tobacco control policy, points out that the general consensus at European level is that there is a lack of research in relation to the longterm health effects of e-cigarettes, and a lack of sufficient evidence that they aid with smoking cessation.
Ivor Callely sentenced to five months in prison
IVOR CALLELY HAS been sentenced to five months in prison.The 56-year-old was handed down a sentence of five months for making false expenses claims while he was a Senator. He will serve the time in jail concurrently.The former Fianna Fáil TD pleaded guilty in March for using invoices from three phone companies as false instruments at Leinster House.Callely made the claims for expenses between November 2007 and December 2009 and was making retrospective claims for mobile phone expenses back over his time as a TD.Defence counsel Michael O’Higgins SC made reference to a number of other instances in which politicians had faced legal proceedings over breach of trust. Mr. O’Higgins compared the former senator’s case to that of former Fianna Fáil TD Ray Burke who was jailed for six months for tax offences in 2005.Mr. O’Higgins made the point that the scheme that had been abused in this case was not a “not a statutory scheme” and that in Ray Burke’s case, he had “put himself above the law”.After a Freedom of Information Act request was made in 2010 by an Irish Mail on Sunday journalist in relation to his phone expenses, Callely, who had been informed of the request, repaid over €3000 of the money he had fraudulently claimed. The repayment was made prior to a Gardaí investigation being launched.Last Thursday, Calleley’s first character witness told the court: “I hardly recognised him in the hall today your honor because he is a different man. I suppose pressure of life does that to people.”Mr. O’Higgins told the the court that ”Mr Callely is remorseful, he is aware that he has let himself down”.Mr. O’Higgins told the court that he believed the attention given to Callely was disproportionate to that which would be given to a civilian: “If a person stole from their employer €4000 and repaid it before the guards got involved investigating it, nobody would bat an eyelid”Judge Mary Ellen Ring made her sentencing ruling today, noting that custody was important because of the “breach of trust” by a public representative.Judge Ring noted that ‘breach of trust’, “often involves people in Mr Callely’s position without a risk of reoffending”.She also noted: “No excuse has been advanced as to why the claims were made other than entitlement to the money.”During today’s hearing, Callely’s legal team apologised to his former constituents on his behalf.The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation had launched an investigation into Callely after newspaper claims that the former Fianna Fáil TD had submitted expenses claims in 2007 for receipts dated 2002 and 2006 from a company that had ceased trading in 1994.Using six invoices, Callely fraudulently claimed €4,207.45.No decision yet: Sentencing of former minister Ivor Callely delayed‘Nothing short of contemptible’: 5 winners and 5 losers from the political week
House prices in the Irish market are still undervalued says ESRI
HOUSE PRICES IN the Irish market still appear to be undervalued, finds the latest report from the Economic and Social Research Institute.Report author Dr Kieran McQuinn said that prices, particularly in Dublin, were likely to rise in the coming years due to the absence of a significant housing supply response.Dr McQuinn said: Slow supplyHe added that much of the upward pressure on house prices is due to the slow supply response. “The focus of housing market policy should be to address this issue,” he said. “Assessing the state of the property market has arguably never been more important – it has massive implications for those in negative equity, for household consumption, and for our overall financial stability,” said Dr McQuinn.He said it was almost inevitable that since the downturn house prices have “overcorrected” and recent developments in the Irish housing market must be seen in that context. Despite the strong increases in house prices observed of late, particularly in the Dublin area, house prices in the Irish market still appear to be undervalued. At present, there is no sign of a ‘bubble’ in the domestic market and any recovery occurring at this point is almost a ‘credit-less’ one. 
This is not to say that increasing house prices are either inevitable or desirable. Indeed as the economy continues to emerge from the recent recession, keeping key cost of living factors affordable, such as housing, is imperative as the economy seeks to maintain the competitiveness advantage that has been gained in recent times.Read: Asking prices up nationally for first time since peak of property boom>Read: Good news: Fewer homes are in negative equity>
Phonofone III A NoPower iPhone Amplifier
Bose, Altec Lansing, Logitech, and all the other high-quality iPhone speaker manufacturers better watch out; there’s competition in town, and this one doesn’t even need power to impress. The Phonofone III ($195 CAD) looks like a gramophone from the future. Just like the smaller, less elegant-looking Bone Horn Stand ($25), the Phonofone amplifies the volume emitted from your iPhone’s internal speaker without any electronics. Though the Bone Horn only magnifies the sound to 13 decibels, the Phonofone III amplifies the speaker roughly 4x, or about 60 decibels. And, unlike the Bone Horn’s silicone body, the Phonofone is handmade from ceramic. If you think it looks heavy, you’re wrong; the Phonofone weighs only 1.75 lbs. This is the third model in the Phonofone series from Canadian designers geek-cetera and Sons. According to TreeHugger.com, the first Phonophone was released three years ago. It had a larger body and an even heftier price of $875. You can see the Phonofone I and Phonofone II at geek-ceteraandsons.com.This is the first batch to be released, and there are only 50 pieces to be sold at the moment. If you’d like a Phonofone by Christmas, make sure to get your order in before December 5.Some may think it’s too much to spend on a $230 (with shipping) iPhone speaker that has no other features besides making your music louder. For example, for about the same price you can get the Altec Lansing Mix iMT800 iPod dock for $199 down from its $299.95 list price at Amazon. This is a PCMag Editors’ Choice due to its tremendous power, built-in subwoofer, user-adjustable EQ, two aux inputs and cable for additional MP3 players, and its FM tuner. Just think, you can get all that for the price of a really, really cool-looking iPhone “speaker.” So, the question is, do you choose beauty, over bells and whistles?
Leaked video of BlackBerry Storm 3 Monaco
We reported back in January that Crackberry got their hands on a leaked 2011 CDMA BlackBerry roadmap which included the mention of a new BlackBerry touch screen device codenamed Monaco. According to the roadmap, Monaco is set for release in July or August of this year. We even got a peek at the specs for Monaco thanks to a leaked slide: Dimensions: Sleek, thin profile – 11.5mm thick (120 x 62 x 11.5 mm)Processor: Qualcomm 1.2GHz ProcessorRadio:Dual band CDMA, EV-DO Rev A, RX Diversity ; Quad band EDGE / Single Band UMTSDisplay: 3.7″ – 800×480 resolution, 15:9 aspect ration, 253 DPICamera: 5 MP – Flash – Image Stabilization – HD Video Recording (720p)Navigation: Capacitive touch + BlackBerry navigation keys + optical navigation module. One convenience keyMemory: 4GB storage + 768MB RAM + up to 32GB MicroSDWiFi/GPS: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n + GPS + Bluetooth 2.1 EDR + Mobile HotSpotConnectivity: Micro USB – Bluetooth – NFCSensors: Magnetometer – Accelerometer – ProximitySoftware: Enhanced BlackBerry SW v.6.1, BlackBerry Evolution 6, Open GL ES 2.0, APIs for magnetometer and augmented reality appsNow CrackBerry have outdone themselves again. Rather than be content with static photos of the device, the site has been able to get their hands on a YouTube video which shows the Monaco device in action. Luckily, the video was downloaded before the user who posted pulled it. He probably decided it wasn’t a good idea to post video about a device which isn’t even supposed to be known to the public yet.AdChoices广告It’s not clear whether Monaco will receive the Storm brand, but based on the video it will have many of the same features that made the BlackBerry Storm popular.It is believed that Monaco will be officially announced in May at BlackBerry World.Read more at CrackBerry
Windows Phone 7 speeds past AndroidiOS for HTML5 in IE9
When it comes to running HTML5 content on a mobile browser, it looks as though Microsoft is setting the pace with its Internet Explorer 9 and Windows Phone 7 combination. The key factor? Hardware acceleration in the browser.A demonstration given during MIX11 in Las Vegas today pitted an iPhone 4 and Nexus S against a HTC Windows Phone 7 device. iOS vs. Android vs. Windows. The test was called HTML5 Speed Reading and performed a render test. The clear winner was the Windows Phone running IE9 due to the fact it takes advantage of hardware acceleration.While the iPhone could only manage 2fps during the test, Android got up to 11fps. But IE9 made it to an animation-friendly 23fps and finished the test long before either of the other handsets.While that alone will be a bit embarrassing for Google, and especially Apple, Microsoft has another feature to boast about. iPhone does not do Flash by choice, Android does, but it isn’t great yet. However, Microsoft is building Silverlight into IE9 mobile potentially giving it the best implementation of a browser-based animation and gaming platform away from HTML5, as well as running graphically heavy content fast regardless.The challenge has certainly been made clear for the competition and both Google and Apple have some browser development work to do to catch up.Read more at Winrumors
Using Facebook and Twitter releases the same hormone as cuddling
From the “more research required” department comes an study performed last year that connects the hormone oxytocin (not to be confused with the narcotic painkiller oxycontin) to the use of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Dr. Paul J Zak, a professor at Claremont Graduate University, performed a series of studies where a user’s blood samples were taken before and after using sites like Facebook and Twitter, and then again afterward. Sure enough, the samples afterward showed higher levels of the so-called “cuddle hormone,” while levels of stress hormones declined.Zak’s initial experiment was designed to examine the hormone’s broader role in human emotion and perception. In the course of that study, Zak found that people with higher oxytocin levels were more likely to donate to charity and respond positively to public service announcements. While reporting on the study, FastCompany reporter Adam Penenberg volunteered to have his blood drawn before and after firing up Tweetdeck to catch up with his friends on Facebook and Twitter.Ultimately, the results were that Penenberg’s oxytocin levels spiked over 13% after he started talking to friends, and his cortisol (a stress hormone) level decreased by almost 11%. You can’t dispute the results, but you can dispute the conclusions. Many have pointed out that the statement was based on the samples taken by one person. Also, the event was part of a organized activity at the University of Maryland (called A Day Without Media) to raise awareness about addiction.The actual science behind the study is murky, and there’s no reason to immediately start clinging to Facebook and Twitter as a way to relieve stress. Additional study is required before anyone can claim that Facebook is the best thing for emotional well-being since anti-depressants and therapy.At the same time, Penenberg pointed out that his own perceptions of Facebook and Twitter are largely positive and he has a close-knit group of friends on both services that he enjoys interacting with. On the other hand, if your Facebook news feed is full of people you haven’t spoken to since high school, and just looking at it stresses you out, it’s likely not going to do much to make you feel more cuddly. Your milage may vary.Read more at All Facebook and FastCompany
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Android 30 tablet flies off the shelves
Motorola’s Xoom might not be selling quite so well as the company had hoped, but it looks like Asus isn’t going to have any such trouble selling its Eee Pad Transformer. The Transformer — which also runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb — clocked in at a much more reasonable $399 for the Wi-Fi only version. That’s about $200 less than the Xoom, and apparently much more in line with what consumers want to pay for an Android tablet.The Transformer’s impending release generated a significant amount of buzz on Android enthusiast sites, so strong sales were a definite possibility. Yesterday the device finally went on sale in the United States, and the reception was indeed warm. In less than 24 hours, Amazon.com’s entire stock had been depleted.AdChoices广告The two devices are very similar in terms of what’s under the hood, making the $200 price break on the Transformer an even bigger attraction. Each sports Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chip, 1GB of RAM, 802.11 b/g/n wireless, 5MP rear-facing camera, Bluetooth, HDMI output, and a microSD expansion slot. The Xoom does offer twice as much internal storage at 32GB and its front-facing camera packs a 2MP sensor — compared to the Transformer’s 1.2MP (it’s worth noting that a 32Gb Transformer will debut soon, though it will retail at $499).Those don’t seem like very significant differences, especially when you consider that microSD expansion cards are dirt cheap. And it’s clear from the way shoppers snapped up the initial supply of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer that they’re generally in agreement. I’ll be curious to see if Acer’s Iconia Tab 500 disappears as quickly when it debuts in the coming weeks.More at Android Community
Wikipedia creates WikiLove button to give newbie editors a virtual highfive
Everyone needs a little encouragement when doing a thankless job, and Wikipedia knows it. The crowdsourced web encyclopedia counts on people to volunteer and edit the site. However, according to the 2011 survey of Wikipedia editors, editors feel that being looked down on by more experienced editors is the main reason that people stop editing. Wikipedia thinks these people just need a virtual high-five and, in order to help them get those, the organization is introducing a new WikiLove button to let users show their appreciation.According to the Wikipedia survey, 78 percent said that having people compliment them on their edits or on their articles was the No. 1 reason that sparked them to edit more often. New users are receiving more and more corrections and criticism from other editors, and for those easily discouraged, it can deter them from further editing.AdChoices广告Wikipedia said in a blog post that WikiLove is “an experiment in appreciation.” When you visit a userpage or a talk page, you’ll notice a read heart icon on the left of the search box. This is where you can send your WikiLove to the editor. Clicking the heart button will give you a selection of awards. You can send barnstars, which is something Wikipedia already uses to reward its contributors for “hard work and due diligence.” Additionally, you can send little awards like beer, kittens, or “whimsical messages of appreciation to other uses.”It’s currently only available on the prototype site, but WikiLove plans to launch on June 29 for the public, barring any issues that surface between now and then. The tool has a built-in feature that will allo Wikipedia to measure how effective it is. If you’d rather not receive these “rewards,” users will have the option to disable the WikiLove feature.Read more at the WikiMedia blog
Canadian experts warn Canucks not to float toys into space
Canada. America’s neighbor to the North where men are men, women are women, and Lego minifigs are astronauts.In case you missed it last week, a pair of Canadian highschool students had a bit of fun with a few pounds of electronics and a handful of Lego bricks. With a total spend of around $600, they built a stryofoam capsule that contained a GPS beacon and cameras, and then tethered it to a helium balloon. The video and images from their flight were a viral smash, and the world press jumped all over the story.Over the weekend, however, the Toronto Star spoke with one aviation expert who has some worries about the launch. An object that size weighing a few pounds would actually be capable of doing quite a bit of damage to a plane at cruising speed — and could even bring it down were the capsule sucked into an engine. It’s happened before with birds, after all.Capt. Barry Wiszniowski said that in 25 years of flying, he’d seen weather balloons float past on two occasions. With the amount of interest generated by the Lego launch — and the minimal expense involved in pulling it off — there’s every chance that more Canucks would want to take a stab at amateur space exploration. That could put additional balloons in the air and additional planes at risk.Balloon flights like these aren’t subject to aviation regulations in Canada, but Transport Canada asks that anyone who does attempt a similar launch notifies them in advance. Based on what Wired dug up, that’s probably a good idea. While no balloon-related plane crashes were reported, there have been several incidents where the capsules damaged cars, trucks, and SUVs upon their return to earth. Should something like that happen with your balloon, you could be on the hook for a little more than $600.More at Toronto Star and Wired
Red pixel people invade Moscow for unique art project
Just thirteen red blocks. That’s all you need to construct a varied assortment of stick-figure people that speak to something within the collective human consciousness. The Moscow-based art collective known as the Pprofessors has been building and leaving the “Red People” around the Russian capital for some time now, but as the Red People become a more common sight, they’ve begun to infiltrate the popular culture.The Red People might be no more than a foot tall, lurking around the corner, or behind a retaining wall. Alternatively, they might be huge, towering over mere mortals; maybe they will even be driving a makeshift car or riding a scooter. From displays so elaborate and conspicuous that everyone can see, to subtle window decorations, the Red People are showing up everywhere. Red People have even started turning up in music videos as if they were the mascots of Moscow.The Red People have only the faintest suggestion of humanity about them. After all, each one is made from just 13 red blocks, but the displays manage to be somehow both beautiful and bizarre. If the artistic appeal doesn’t do it for you, they’re also just plain cool as far as pixel art goes. In addition to the holiday season video above, the Pprofessors have a LiveJournal with a plethora of work they’ve deployed in and around Moscow.via KillScreen
Yahoo Axis Chrome extension leaks private key
Google takes a lot of pride in how secure Chrome is, and they’ve worked hard to bulletproof their browser. But you can’t plug all the holes all the time — especially not those created by extension developers that work for other companies. Companies like Yahoo!, who mistakenly shipped a private key inside their new Axis extension for Google Chrome.A Chrome Extension (.CRX) is really just a .ZIP archive, and it’s quite easy to expose the contents inside. That makes shipping bits like a private key rather dangerous, especially when they’re sitting in plain sight amongst the other files on the extension manifest. With the Yahoo! key in hand, someone with malicious intent could easily spoof an extension and ship it off to unsuspecting Chrome users — who would probably never notice that it wasn’t really provided by Yahoo!.Developer Nik Cubrilovic spotted the slip-up, and quickly notified Yahoo! — while simultaneously calling them out for the egregious error on Twitter and his own blog. To their credit, Yahoo! moved quickly. They pulled down the original extension, issued a new private key, and then repacked the Axis .CRX without spilling the beans a second time. The original key has been nuked, so it can’t be used for nefarious purposes at this point. That’s a good thing, since the whole thing is exposed in Cubrilovic’s images and anyone with a fair amount of patience could simply type it in and save it with the original file name.But at the end of the day, who really wants to impersonate Yahoo! anyway?More at New Web Order and Naked Security
Growing complaints OS X Mountain Lion halves battery life
Apple launched the OS X Mountain Lion update at the end of last month. It received good initial reviews and logged more than 3 million downloads in its first four days on sale. However, there seems to be a bit of a hangover now that the buzz has died down.A growing number of users running Mountain Lion on their laptops are noticing their battery life isn’t what it used to be. In fact in some cases installing Mountain Lion has cut the time between charges in half.A thread appeared soon after release on the Apple Support Communities entitled “Battery life dropped considerably on Mountain Lion.” To begin with it just seemed like a minor issue a few users were experiencing, but that thread has now grown to 39 pages and close to 600 posts.For the moment Apple doesn’t seem to be commenting. Information is surely being collected about the diminished battery life, and there’s sure to be testing underway to figure out why it is happening.Users are putting forward their ideas as to what is causing it, but they vary and get discounted quickly by others running different configurations, yet experiencing the same issue. One of the latest suspects, as highlighted by poster yantaialec in the support thread, is that the problem stems from a kernel issue. Apparently there’s hundreds of failed Kernel tasks being run in the background.Users are understandably frustrated seeing as this issue has been complained about in increasing number since July 25. If you rely on a MacBook for your daily work, suddenly losing 2-3 hours of battery life can make all the difference.Read more at Apple, via ZDNet
Buyer beware unbranded battery packs may be full of sand
There’s a good reason we are urged to only buy branded products from trusted sources. If you don’t, then the product you are purchasing may be counterfeit, faulty, or even dangerous, and won’t be covered under warranty. Inevitably, counterfeit products end up costing the consumer money while allowing the individuals selling them to keep on trading.An example of these counterfeit products was discovered back in 2011 when one Chinese store was offering very cheap external hard drives that seemed to good to be true. And that’s exactly what they turned out to be. The 500GB drive was in fact a 128MB flash drive and some metal to make up the weight. Now we’ve come across another example, only this time in the form of an external battery pack.The pack is being sold by a Shenzhen company located in the Guangdong Province of China. It is meant to act as a quick charge solution for your gadgets when a power outlet isn’t available. The capacity rating on the back states a generous 24000mAh, and sure enough if you plug in a device to test it, your battery will begin to charge. But this isn’t a 24000mAh capacity battery pack.Opening up the case shows you what’s really going on. Packed inside is a small battery and the board allowing it to function. In place of the other cells you’d expect to find are two bags of sand. That makes the battery pack feel like the right weight in your hand, but saves the seller a lot of money.Anyone purchasing this battery pack will be left scratching their head when the charge runs out after only a few minutes of use. And you can bet attempting to return it as faulty will be met with a reminder of the seller’s no refund policy, or no seller at all if they’ve moved on to a new location.
Wringing a wet cloth in space looks pretty neat
Our favorite Canadian hero, Astronaut Chris Hadfield likes to send pictures and videos back from the International Space Station to make everyone further down the gravity well really jealous. Well, there is probably some scientific value as well. In the newest video from the Canadian Space Agency, Hadfield shows us what it’s like to wring a wet washcloth out in zero gravity. Like everything in space, it’s incredibly cool.Down here on Earth, the effects of wringing out a cloth are typical — the water falls away from the source. Water is one of the many things that simply don’t behave the way we expect in space. Commander Hadfield starts out by pointing out that he can’t dunk the washcloth in a bag of water, because bags don’t hold water in zero gravity. Instead, he shoots the liquid into his cloth from a nozzle.Even the washcloth is unexpectedly cool. NASA compresses each one down into a small disc and wraps it in plastic. Commander Hadfield compares it to a hockey puck, but he’s Canadian so of course he did. After freeing the cloth from its plastic prison and getting it moistened, it’s time to squeeze.In the video above, you can see the water just doesn’t go anywhere. It comes to the surface of the washcloth, but there is no gravity to make it drop away. Instead, the surface tension (a consequence of hydrogen bonding) of the water causes it to form a column around the fabric, which eventually runs up onto Commander Hadfield’s hands. It actually stays there, too. Like a glove made of water molecules.It shouldn’t come as a surprise this looks so bizarre to us. We’re a species that evolved without weightlessness in mind. This might look like magic, but it’s just science.
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