Hong Kong man caught for 5th time crossing border with 150 iPhones taped to body

Photo: People.com.cn

A Hong Kong man has been caught trying to cross the border into China with almost 150 iPhones strapped to his body… for the FIFTH time!

The man, who was apparently picked out by customs because of his android-like gait (lol), was intercepted while attempting to cross the Lo Wu border checkpoint with 126 iPhones taped to his back and another 20 taped to his calves.

While that may be amazing in itself, what’s really ming-boggling is that, according to the People’s Daily Online, this dude has been caught trying to pull the same stunt four times before.

In total, he has been nabbed with 511 phones strapped to his body on separate occasions.

Imagine how many he actually got through!

The body-strap method is popular among parallel traders, with border officials reporting 23 similar cases, sometimes involving diamonds, gold and guns, since the start of the year.

And let's not forget this guy, who was arrested in January with 94 iPhones taped to himself.

​Kind of seems like a poor effort now though.

Source: Coconuts Hong Kong

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Two Cathay Pacific pilots die in violent Hong Kong Porsche crash

Police examine the burnt-out remains of the Porsche. Photo: Metro Daily

Two Cathay Pacific pilots were killed in a car accident in Kwai Chung in the early hours of Thursday, Apple Daily reported Friday.

Ian Wong, 27, and Michael Tam, 28, co-pilots for the airline, were going for a late-night drive with three Dragonair pilots of similar age at the Container Port Road South.

Witnesses reported seeing a BMW M3, believed to be driven by Tam, performing “drifting” maneuvers in an open space.
At about 4:35 a.m., Wong was believed to be driving his 2006 Porsche Cayman S, with Tam in the car, at high speed down the Container Port Road.

The high-powered sports coupe, which cost HK$1.13 million (US$150,000) new nine years ago, smashed into a bridge column after hitting a road divider.

The car burst into flames within three minutes as the three Dragonair pilots and workers at the container terminal about 600 hundred meters away looked on helplessly.

The pair could not escape and were burnt to death.

Firefighters removed their charred bodies after putting out the fire.

Inspector Ma Wai-hung of New Territories South police said the location is not a hot spot for car racing and that no alcohol was found at the scene.

Police are investigating the accident to determine whether it was related to speed, driving attitude or medical reasons.

A Cathay Pacific representative said the company is very sorry for the losses suffered by the two employees’ families and will provide them with support and any necessary assistance.

Source: ejinsight

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Man cooks rice at HK airport after missing flight

Man cooks rice at HK airport after missing flight

A Chinese man drew curious stares from passengers when he was spotted using an electric rice cooker to steam rice at the departure hall in Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday (Mar 9).

Wu Jia Yong, 46, was photographed squatting outside a bakery and beside him was a rice cooker plugged into a wall socket.

“There was steam rising from it, I think it (the rice) was about to be ready,” said a passenger named Miss Hui.

According to Hong Kong media, Wu had missed his connecting flight to Jinan, Shandong, and with little money left, he had no choice but to cook his own dinner.

Wu told reporters that he had been dismissed from his job in Singapore and was returning home to Shandong. While waiting for his 12pm flight, he decided to take a nap but overslept and missed his flight.

After forking out HK$200 (S$30) in extra fare for a noon flight the next day, Wu was left with around HK$20 (S$3) and 40 yuan (S$8), which was barely enough for a meal, so he decided to steam rice using the electric cooker and bag of rice that he brought with him from Singapore.

“I had no choice… I have no money and had not eaten,” said Wu.

According to airport officials, electrical outlets at the airport are meant for use by cleaners and maintenance staff and are not provided free of charge to the public.

A person found using one improperly could face a fine of up to HK$10,000 and three months’ imprisonment if charged.

Source: Xin MSN

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Towelette with Malaysia Airlines logo washes up on beach

The paper towel was found in July last year, but the discovery has only just become public knowledge

The small, unopened, pre-moistened towel has been dispatched to Canberra for testing and verification, Nine News has reported.

If it is identified as being from the wreckage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the small paper towel will be the first scrap of evidence from the doomed plane.

The Boeing 777 aircraft –with 239 passengers and crew on board – vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 last year.

A record-breaking international search operation for the missing passenger plane has been taking place over the past 12 months in the Indian Ocean. Relatives of passengers and crew this weekend marked the anniversary of the mysterious disappearance.

Malaysian Prime Minster Najib Razak told mourning families he was still "hopeful" the Boeing 777 would be found.

Cervantes residents Kingsley and Vicki Miller stumbled across the towelette branded with a Malaysia Airlines logo some 125miles north of Perth.

The couple told Nine News the discovery was "very unusual".

They added: "If it had of been opened and found lying there it would have been completely different".

The paper towel was found in July last year, but the discovery has only just become public knowledge.

Officials have said it is "unlikely" the Malaysia Airlines towelette will definitely be linked back to the missing plane.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau told Agence-France Press: "A 6cm x 8cm moist towelette in wrapping branded with the Malaysia Airlines logo was found at Thirsty Point on 2 July, 2014.

"It was handed in to the WA [Western Australia] police.

"It is unlikely, however, that such a common item with no unique identifier could be conclusively linked with MH370."

The ongoing search for Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 has been narrowed to a patch of ocean floor some 1,000 miles from the coast of Perth.

Source: Express UK

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House for sale in Indonesia - with free wife

Wina Lia, a 40-year-old widow and beauty salon owner, stands in front of her house in Sleman on March 11. (Agence France-Presse)

Sleman, Indonesia:  An advert for a house in Indonesia has gone viral online after the woman selling it offered to throw in an unusual extra feature for free - her hand in marriage.

The Internet ad reads for the most part like a regular house listing, saying that the single-storey property has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a parking space and a fish pond.

But it also proposes to buyers a "rare offer" - "when you buy this house, you can ask the owner to marry you", alongside a picture of Wina Lia, a 40-year-old widow and beauty salon owner, leaning against a car in front of the house.
The ad said that terms and conditions apply, and notes the offer is "for serious buyers and non-negotiable". The house in Sleman, on the island of Java, is on the market for 999 million rupiah (about $75,000).

News of the offer quickly spread among Internet users in social media-crazy Indonesia.

Boldies99, a user on popular online forum Kaskus, said Lia was "quite smart - even though the house will be sold, she will remain the owner."

Lia told AFP she was "shocked at the reaction", as she had been overwhelmed by journalists coming to interview her, and even the police in the conservative, Muslim-majority country had been asking questions.

The police "came to verify the news as they consider it as an improper advertisement. But I explained to them that it was not my idea," she said.

The mother of two explained that she had asked a friend who was a property agent to help her find a buyer - and in the process a husband - but she had expected him to pass on the news to a limited number of people, not put an ad online.

"I told a friend of mine who also works as property agent that if there is a buyer who is a single man or a widower who wants to buy a house, and at the same time look for a wife, he can let me know as I'm also a widow," she said.

She added that there was only one potential buyer, who had visited on Wednesday, but refused to give further details.

Source: NDTV

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Meet Apple's super-thin new MacBook

Forget all your wires and cables. You won't need them if you buy Apple's new MacBook -- it only has two ports.

Apple's new MacBook is its thinnest and lightest laptop to date. To achieve this feat, Apple (AAPL, Tech30) engineers streamlined many features traditionally associated with portable computers, and eliminated some as well. Here's what you need to know:

1. The body is tapered like the MacBook Air. At its thickest, the new 12-inch MacBook is 13.1mm high (about half an inch) -- 24% thinner than the existing 11-inch MacBook Air.

"Can you even see it? I can't even see it," Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said on stage at an Apple event Monday afternoon, holding a closed laptop.

2. It weighs two pounds. For comparison, the MacBook Air weighs almost two-and-a-half pounds. The iPad Air 2 weighs just under one pound.

3. Taking a page from the iPhone design book, the new, all-metal body MacBook comes in three different colors: silver, gray, and gold. 4. The new MacBook is fanless, which is partly why the laptop is so thin and light.

5. There are only two ports. One is a headphone port, and the other port is for a new kind of USB connector called the USB-C. The USB-C port is about a third of the size of a standard USB port, and serves as a single connection point to charge the laptop's batteries, transfer data, and transmit video.

For consumers who want to use their existing, standard USB devices with the laptop, this new USB format will most likely be a pain point. An adapter dongle for the USB-C port costs $80 on the Apple store.

6. Apple has also redesigned the keyboard, which now extends to the edges of the laptop. The keyboard has also been updated to respond to lighter touches, meaning less pounding when typing. The surface of each key is also 17% larger and is lit by individual LED lights underneath "for more precise illumination," Schiller said.

7. The computer's track pad also got a nice upgrade. Like the new Apple Watch, the track pad is now powered by Apple's new Taptic Engine, which picks up on how forceful a touch or tap is. For example, instead of clicking repeatedly on the fast forward button on Quicktime to speed up a video, you only need to press down on the new track pad a little longer and harder than a tap to achieve the same goal.

8. On stage at the event, Schiller said the new MacBook is the "world's most energy-efficient notebook." The laptop's Intel Core M processor consumes five watts of power, and its newly designed and contoured battery cells have 35% more capacity.

9. The new MacBook has a battery life of up to 10 hours.

10. The cost for a new 12-inch MacBook 1.1 GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor with 256GB of flash storage starts $1299. A 12" 1.2 GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor MacBook with 512GB of flash storage starts at $1599.

11. Shipping starts April 10.

Source: CNN Money

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Apple Watch launches April 24, starts at $350

During today's press event, Apple took the lid off the upcoming Apple Watch. When the device launches on April 24, you can expect a number of features working in congress with the company's iOS and Mac ecosystem. And prices range from $350 USD/£299 GBP/$499 AUD  all the way to a staggering $10,000 USD/£13,500 GBP/$14,999 AUD.

Apple claims every Apple Watch is super accurate, within 50 milliseconds of UTC. And speaking of speed, the new "Glances" feature allows you to check notifications, the weather, or even your heart rate, with just a quick swipe.



Of course, Apple Watch will also contain a number of communication options, working with the just announced iOS 8.2. You can receive iMessages, as well as answer voice calls like Dick Tracy. But one of the newest features is Digital Touch, which allows you to communicate with friends from Apple Watch to Apple Watch, even sending doodles you make on the watch face. Apple Watch will communicate with your iPhone either through WiFi or Bluetooth. An Apple Watch app for iPhone will be available via the App Store.

Apple played up the health and exercise benefits of Apple Watch during today's event, pointing out how the device will send helpful reminders for your exercise routine. Of course, the workout app will track your daily movement, and deliver stats like calories burned and miles traveled.



But Apple Watch's biggest conveniences likely come from its use of notifications and its sense of place, making it easy to do things like check into a hotel and even use the watch as your room key. Be sure to check out IGN's coverage of all the apps for Apple Watch discussed today.

Apple claims the Apple Watch should last for about 18 hours. And charging the watch is simple, thanks to a magnetic charger.

Apple Watch Sport



The Apple Watch, as previously announced, will be available in more than one flavor. The Apple Watch Sport features an aluminum body, and will be available in Space Grey and silver. The Sport is $350 USD/£299 GBP/$499 AUD for a 38mm version, or $400 USD/£339 GBP/$579 AUD for a 42mm version.

Apple Watch Steel



The stainless steel variety of the Apple Watch is 80 percent harder, and more resistant to scratches. The model, available in Space Black, will retail for $550 USD/£479 GBP/$799 AUD to $1050 USD/£899 GBP/$1549 AUD, or $600 USD/£519 GBP/$879 AUD to $1100 USD/£949 GBP/$1629 AUD, depending on the watch band associated with the model.

Apple Watch Edition



Finally, the--"very limited"--third version of the Apple Watch is clearly not for the general public. Boasting an 18K solid gold body, the Edition will start at $10,000 USD/£8,000 GBP/$14,000 AUD. Yowza.

Pre-orders of the Apple Watch will begin on April 10. The device will launch in Australia, Canada, United States, Japan, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, and United Kingdom on April 24.

Source: IGN

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Taiwan ship carrying 49 crew missing in South Atlantic; 13 Pinoys on board

TAIPEI - A Taiwanese ship carrying 49 crew has vanished in the remote South Atlantic Ocean without any sign of a mayday call but shortly after its skipper reported it was taking on water, authorities said Sunday.

The "Hsiang Fu Chun," a 700-ton squid fishing vessel, lost contact with its owners "soon" after reporting that water was leaking on to the deck at around 3:00 a.m. on February 26, officials said.

The vessel was sailing about 1,700 nautical miles (3,148 kilometers) off the Falkland Islands when it vanished, according to recorded satellite data.

Its crew include a Taiwanese skipper and chief engineer, as well as 11 Chinese, 21 Indonesian, 13 Filipino and two Vietnamese sailors.
Taiwan has launched a search effort, and is appealing for assistance from Argentina and Britain as well as other ships in the area.

"We still don't know where the ship is and what happened to it," Huang Hong-yen, spokesman for the Fisheries Agency, told AFP, adding that the government had launched a search-and-rescue effort "immediately" after the ship's owners said it had lost contact.

He said there was no evidence the boat had sunk. The ship was equipped with a system that automatically issues a mayday signal when placed under a certain water pressure, but no such signal was sent, he added.

Huang gave no details on the weather in the area at the time, but said that conditions were often unsettled in there, with high waves. He also did not explain why it had taken authorities so many days to make the ship's disappearance public.

Some Taiwanese media have speculated that the vessel could have lost power and be adrift, or could have been hijacked by crew.

But another official from the agency who asked not to be named said: "To be honest, the hope of finding the ship in that remote area is fading."

The South Atlantic Ocean is a traditional fishing ground for Taiwanese vessels, attracting up to 100 squid boats from the island each year.

The Taiwanese fishing fleet caught around 200,000 tons of squid last year, mostly for domestic consumption, according to the Fisheries Agency.

Source: GMA Network News

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170-year-old shipwreck beer smells gross

When you're picking out a beer, what flavors do you look for? If hints of soured milk and burnt rubber, or a "goaty" taste sound delightful to you, then brews that were aged for 170 years at the bottom of the Baltic Sea might just be your thing.

Scientists recently opened two bottles of beer from a shipwreck off the coast of Finland to get a profile of the 19th century brews.

Some seawater had seeped into the bottles and decades of bacterial activity gave the beer some rather unpleasant notes. But enough compounds from the drinks survived that the researchers were able to tell that the beers' original flavors probably would have been quite similar to those of modern beers, according to a new report. [In Photos: Baltic Sea Shipwreck Yields 200-Year-Old Seltzer Bottle]
The bottles came from 165 feet (50 meters) below the surface of the Baltic, from the wreckage of a schooner that sank near Finland's Aland Islands in the 1840s. In 2010, divers found 150 bottles of champagne at the wreck, as well as five beer bottles, though one did not survive the journey back to land. When that bottle broke in the divers' boat, it started to foam, and some gastronomically adventurous divers attested that the liquid indeed tasted like beer, according to the study authors, who published their findings in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry last month.

For a more scientific examination of the beers' flavor, the research team, led by John Londesborough of the Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT), uncorked two of the surviving bottles. The researchers were hit with a ripe mixture of smells: yeast extract, dimethyl sulfide (think cabbage), Bakelite (a fishy smelling retro plastic), burnt rubber, over-ripe cheese, goat and sulfur. These unsavory notes were likely the result of bacteria growing inside the bottles for decades, overpowering whatever fruity, malt or hop profiles the beer originally had, the researchers wrote.

The beers were also "bright golden yellow, with little haze," and they may have been diluted by seawater by up to 30 percent, the researchers said. So the drinks might have been stronger than their current alcohol-by-volume levels of 2.8 to 3.2 percent.

The scientists acknowledged that the beer had not been stored in ideal conditions, and there is little data on the chemical stability of beer over such a long time. Just from sipping the old beer, the researchers couldn't tell what the drinks may have originally tasted like. Yet, from their chemical analyses, they could speculate a few things.

They found that yeast-derived flavor compounds were similar to those of modern beers. They also think the two bottles contained different beers, with one being hoppier (and thus more bitter) than the other. The less hoppy beer had a higher than normal amount of a chemical called phenylethanol, which may have given it roselike notes. There were unusually low levels of 3-methylbutyl acetate (a compound that gives beer notes of banana) in both bottles, but it's possible that the chemical's concentration plummeted over such a long period of aging, the researchers wrote.

Source: Yahoo! New SG

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