An Age of Magic

When is a crater NOT a crater…?

Answer: When it is a certain ‘crater’ in Latvia.
Scientists investigating a large crater initially believed to have been caused by a meteorite said a closer analysis today revealed it was nothing but a hoax. Specialists in the Baltic country rushed to the site after reports that a metorite-shaped object had crashed late last night in the Mazsalaca region near the Estonian border.

‘This is not a real crater. It is artificial,’ Uldis Nulle, a scientist at the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Center, said after inspecting the site today. Earlier Uldis had said his first impression late last night was that the crater had been caused by a meteorite. He said there was smoke coming out of the hole when he arrived.

Dainis Ozols, a nature conservationist, said he believes someone dug the hole and tried to make it look like a meteorite crater by burning some pyrotechnic compound at the bottom. He added he would analyse some samples taken from the site. Experts outside Latvia said it would be unusual for such a large meteorite to hit the Earth. The planet is constantly bombarded with objects from outer space, but most burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the surface.

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A page for the dead…on Facebook?

‘Please don’t talk about me when I’m gone…’ – that quote is exactly what some people wont be saying on Facebook soon. Already when a person dies their ‘friends’ post commemorative messages on their wall – soon Facebook (short of selling you an life insurance rate online) will be offering to ‘memorialise’ deceased Facebookers after their death.

The deceased person’s profile will also no longer appear in the ‘Suggestions panel’, which links friends of friends together. There have been some cases where grieving relatives have been reminded about their loved one in this way. Friends will also be able to leave remembrance posts on the deceased person’s wall.

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Bosses give employees the tug from tweeting

It had to happen; employers are starting to feel the effects of how popular the site ‘Twitter’ has become. Like Facebook, YouTube, Bebo, etc – Twitter has become the thing to do to fill in time while you work. I could imagine those who work in areas like insurance online would be needing something interesting to do to fill in time – but it is costing employers billions!

With an estimated 59% of workers ‘tweeting’ online while on the job this has become a huge problem in the workplace – with computers in every office and just about every place of business you can understand what those bosses are on about. Personally I don’t ‘do’ Twitter…haven’t got the time!

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