YouTube streamlines its video-viewing page

San Francisco: YouTube on Thursday debuted a revamped video-viewing page that offers larger screens and less clutter.
"We're excited to unveil the first major example of our efforts to simplify and streamline the video page to offer the best possible watching experience," YouTube engineer Igor Kofman and designer Julian Fromar said in a blog post.  The concept at the heart of the redesign is to "make the video the star," according to Kofman and Fromar. "To that end, the new look is more subdued, stripped down and simple than before," the pair said. "The design should help ease users into advanced features, while providing power users with all the functionality they want." New features include letting YouTube users search for videos while watching one, instead of having to break from viewing to conduct searches.
APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2010

Akshay Kumar injured badly while shooting

Mumbai: Akshay Kumar’s daredevil lifestyle and love for the adrenaline rush seems to be taking a toll on his health. The actor, who is known to perform his own stunts and jump off great heights for almost all his films, as badly hurt himself and has sprained his back. The macho hunk was gravely injured while shooting a stunt sequence for his production `Patiala House`.

Concerned over Akki’s condition, the filmmakers were left with little choice but to wrap up the shoot. Confirming the news, a source said, "Since he performs stunts on his own, it takes a greater toll on the back. And he`s had a back problem for a really long time. The pain wasn`t getting any lesser. Akshay decided to call it a wrap and for the day, and the doctor advised the actor physiotherapy and adequate rest."

But more than his health, the workaholic actor was worried about the film. However, being the film’s producer, Akshay realised that the only one who stood a chance to lose money because of his absence was him. "No-one else lost money by his cancelling the shoot, so Akshay didn`t think twice. He`s had a record of working in the industry without ever cancelling a shoot, only because he doesn`t like the producer to suffer losses at his expense,” adds the source.

Talking about Akshay, director Nikhil Advani said, "Yes, Akshay hurt his back while shooting. His back got strained earlier in the day during his exercises, but after the shoot, it got further aggravated."

Taiwan man dies after watching 'Avatar'

Taipei: A 42-year-old Taiwanese man with a history of high blood pressure has died of a stroke likely triggered by over-excitement from watching the blockbuster 'Avatar' in 3D, a doctor said on Tuesday. The man, identified only by his surname Kuo, started to feel unwell during the screening earlier this month in the northern city of Hsinchu and was taken to hospital. Kuo, who suffered from hypertension, was unconscious when he arrived at the Nan Men General Hospital and a scan showed that his brain was haemorrhaging, emergency room doctor Peng Chin-chih said. "It's likely that the over-excitement from watching the movie triggered his symptoms," he told AFP.

Kuo died 11 day later from the brain haemorrhage, and the China Times newspaper said it was the first death linked to watching James Cameron's science-fiction epic "Avatar". Film blogging sites have reported complaints of headaches, dizziness, nausea and blurry eyesight from viewers of "Avatar" and other movies rich in 3D imagery.
AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2010

Proof of life on Mars will come by year-end: NASA

Washigton: Is there life on Mars? The most intriguing question for everyone on the Earth would be answered by American space scientists by the end of this year, a NASA expert has claimed, Times Of India quoted on Saturday. According to the Times of India website, David McKay, chief of astrobiology at NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston said the fact that Mars has bred life will be confirmed this year and the historic discovery will not be made on the Mars, but here on Earth using the chunks of the red planet.

"Powerful new microscopes and other instruments will establish whether features in martian meteorites are alien fossils," said McKay. Using a new instrument, a team of NASA scientists will bombard three meteorites -- known to be from Mars as the gases trapped inside them match those in rocks examined by probes on the red planet -- with a stream of ions to check whether features are geological or biological, Scientific American reported. Two of the three meteorites - ALH84001 and Yamato 593 - were found in the Antarctic by American and Japanese scientists after they were lying in the icy desert for thousands of years. Chunks of the third meteorite, which fell at Nakhla in Egypt in 1911, are preserved at London's Natural History Museum.

AAJ NEWS (aaj.tv)