Facebook’s mindshare of popular culture and it’s goal of world domination is now becoming apparent …don’t laugh, I am sure that a Facebook TV channel is not far away, a movie about Facebook is about to be released and I am sure thatbranded pens and cups are also around the corner!!

He will answer your questions and if you make fun of him he blushes and walks away.

In fact Milo is just like any other boy his age only with one important difference - he is a computer programme.

The four-year-old has been unveiled by Microsoft as the world’s first real virtual character who is convincing enough to be considered‘human’.

The player’s voice commands and physical movements are picked up by an infra-red sensor which works with artificial intelligence to interpret the player’s intonation and meaning, and respond accordingly.

On demonstrations his conversation is utterly believable and he replies to questions just like a real four-year-old.

At one point he throws the player a pair of goggles, and so enthralled is she that she bends down to pick them up, even though there is nothing to grab.

When asked if he has finished his school project, Milo sulks off with his head down, not looking at the camera to show that he has been chastised.

Microsoft claims the game marks a major shift away from joystick-based entertainment and brings Science Fiction into life.

And whilst the demonstrations are astonishing, one problem the company has to get over is just how creepy it is.

Milo is being designed for use by millions of people and that the more people play the game the smarter he will get - which sounds like a recipe for creating a Lawnmower Man-style nightmare.

‘Milo’ is a story-telling game about a little boy who's unhappy because his family has moved from London to New England in America and his parents are too busy to listen to what's on his mind.

Developer Peter Molyneux said he wanted to recreate the feeling he had as a four-year-old boy when his father told him a story about a robot.

Milo works with the soon-to-be released Xbox 360 Kinect controller - as series of sensors, microphones and cameras interpret the player’s actions movements.

Read the entire article here.

1. Buying clothes from the junior section. Stop being a skank

2. Forgetting her parents’ birthdays. An all time scum bag move, they gave you birthday presents for 25 years straight, get them something, anything.

3. Making out with her BFFs at bars for attention.

4. Making out with her boyfriend at bars for attention. It’s just gross to tell you the truth

5. Filling her bed with stuffed animals (really, even one is too many).

6. Carrying a torch for anyone she hasn’t seen in the last five years.

7. Rebelling against her parents for the sake of rebelling against her parents. Get a face tattoo they will really hate that.

8. Declaring an entire gender “all jerks.” Ever think your the problem psycho.

9. Holding a grudge against anyone who wronged her in high school. Grow up you sound pathetic.

10. Skipping regular gyno exams.

11. Going to bed without washing and moisturizing her face. The catchers mit face of yours aint getting any younger.

12. Being “that person” who had a bit too much to drink at the office party.

13. Crushing on Justin Bieber. He’s like 8 it’s illegal and not cute.

14. Thinking she’s got it all figured out. Your god like plan isn’t impressive when your still unemployed.

15. Calling her father “daddy.” I just want to right hook girls when they use “daddy”

16. Engaging in sibling rivalry.

17. Trying to get by on her looks. Unless your Megan Fox it doesn’t work anymore. News flash you don’t look like her.

18. Living paycheck to paycheck.

19. Expecting a man/knight in shining armor to swoop in and save her.

20. Aimlessly jumping from job to job. McDonald’s to Burger King to Wendy’s isn’t a good career path.

21. Using MySpace to pick up guys.

22. Expecting a man to do all the wooing.

23. Wishing she had someone else’s life.

24. Expecting everyone to drop everything because it’s her birthday …

25. … or because her “boyfriend” of two weeks dumped her.

26. Measuring her self-worth by a number on the scale.

27. Being cheap.

28. Quitting a job without having a new one lined up first (especially in this economy!).

29. Blaming her mother for all her issues.

30. Romanticizing her college days.

“Horses are the most gossipy,” says Lisa Greene, a pet psychic from Houston. “They’ll always tell me everything that’s going on in the barn. Snakes usually have a pretty bizarre sense of humor. And rodents like to spell for me.” Recently on the schedule: a reading for a whale.

With pet ownership at an all-time high, and spending on animals increasing steadily despite a recession, the progression from providing our family pets a comfortable goose-down feather bed to wanting to know what is going on in their little heads seems natural.

Although the American Pet Products Association keeps no data about animal psychics specifically, it attributes spending on pets’ well-being during a recession to an increasing humanization of animals. “I think it’s that more people are owning pets, and more people are treating their pets like a part of the family,” says Alison Anderson, an APPA spokesperson. “Products keep getting stranger.”

Americans spent a total of $45.5 billion in 2009 on their animals. That was up 5.4 percent from 2008. Such booming services as massage therapy, antidepressant treatment, and grief counseling account for the increase. An annual study by the APPA noted that “pet services continues to be a growing category as they become more closely modeled after those offered to people.” So it stands to reason, perhaps, that pet communicators who can help us know what our little friends are thinking are a relatively easy find these days.

Greene, who has worked as a pet psychic for just over 10 years, may, in a busy week, receive anywhere from 15 to 40 calls. “Not all the animals want to talk to me,” she says. “I have some animals flip me the paw.” She considers her services a luxury item, with rates of $120 for an hourlong telephone consultation during which she speaks with the owner, who asks her questions to communicate psychically to the animal, and $240 for in-home/in-barn treatment.

And while clients have more typically been women, Greene has noticed a change. Recently cowboys have begun to call her to ask about their horses. “These are good ol’ boys from Texas,” she says. “You wouldn’t think they would call a pet psychic. It changes the way they compete and train.

“The majority of people call because they have a problem,” she says. “They’re not getting along, or [their animals] have a health issue. A lot of times people call because their animals are dying.”

“A lot of it’s curiosity,” says Susan Hoffman Peacock, a dressage instructor and ranch owner in Corona, Calif. “It’s justification for what you’re doing with the animals on a daily basis, and to see if there’s any way you can get more information.” For nearly two decades she has had animal communicator Lydia Hilby visit her barn to tell her what the horses are thinking. “I think most people go with the idea [that] if anything comes out of it, [it] may be useful.”

She remembers Hilby interacting with one horse that had a pinched nerve in its neck, a condition about which, she says, the psychic had no way of knowing. “She said, ‘He said he doesn’t need surgery, and he can, most of the time, feel his right front foot, and he’s fine.’ ” Peacock tells favorite stories about one horse admitting he preferred a purple saddle blanket with gold trim, and another confessing that he had stolen a lollipop from a child.

“I don’t think most people expect a psychic to change everything you do with your horse,” she says. “You’re hoping to get some little piece of information that might help out.”

Read the entire article here.

While the average British woman of 31 may be married with a child, the survey noted they are at a prime age because they have youthful beauty but also more confidence and a better sense of style than fresh-faced teenagers.

Almost two thirds of women surveyed agreed with the proposition 'With age, comes beauty', and over half said that as they age they shed their insecurities and feel more beautiful, while 55 per cent felt they knew the best make-up to wear.

Self- confidence varied widely across the country in the survey: London women emerged as the most confident about their looks, with 37 per cent describing themselves as beautiful, compared with just 28 per cent of Welsh women.

Meanwhile, East Midlands women spend the most on beauty regimes - £129.69 monthly - compared with a national average of £105.50.

The research was carried out for TV shopping channel QVC to mark the launch of its 'Beauty Month'.

QVC marketing director Sue Leeson said: 'This research shows what many have always suspected - real beauty is about more than just good looks but a combination of confidence, style and personality too.'

Since former One Show host Miss Bleakley's birthday in February, she has signed up to front ITV's new breakfast line-up.

Meanwhile the Northern Irish presenter's relationship with England and Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has become so serious that friends of the couple are predicting a proposal soon.

Read the entire article here.

Touch a germ-infected surface, then rub your nose or mouth, and the next thing you know, microbes are dancing the mambo in your body.

Men are all over the map on the cleanliness scale. Some are total slobs, while others are neat freaks. But, don't let impeccable grooming and a squeaky clean apartment fool you: Under that perfectly coiffed cut and woodsy scent may lurk a nose-picker, or worse... a rogue toenail clipper.

1. Clipping toenails in the living room

Umm, newsflash, dude: When you clip your toenails, they don't just disappear into some mystical toenail land. Those suckers post-clip are sharp as knives and could easily harm your lady friend, guests and pets. Don't leave them in a pile on the coffee table, either. Organization does not make this less foul. Here's a genius idea: Try a bathroom and a garbage can.

2. The pick-and-flick

Speaking of nasty things being flung around at full speed and "disappearing" -- ugh! Tissues: Please get a box!

3. Drooling

No one is drool-proof, especially during cold and flu season. But some guys are just out of control. Learn to use your nose when you breathe -- and stay away from the pretty pillows!

4. Leaving beard shavings all over the sink

We know you see those tiny trimmings all over the sides of the sink. It's time to take some responsibility, man!

5. Stink bombs

Some men take pride in having really offensive, faint-inducing gas. Save this "fun" for your college buddies, not cuddle time on the couch. And if you always emit fumes that smell like toxic waste, lay off the milk or see a specialist, puh-lease! (PS: Dutch ovens are not funny.)

6. Public scratching

What are the reasons behind the constant scratching and shifting around? Take it down a notch, bud.

7. Smoking

Ahhh, the sweet, irresistible scent of an old ashtray (insert gag sound here). Ladies prefer men with fresh, minty breath, pearly white teeth and a general distaste for lung cancer.

8. Peeing on the toilet seat

Do not blame this on waking up in the middle of the night and being too groggy to see what you're doing. No one's asking you to pee into the opening of a soda can, for goodness sakes. It's a big bowl; just aim straight for the middle. And then put the seat down when you're done, ok?

9. Living in squalor

Living in a dump is acceptable when you're a freshman in the dorms. But a grown man with an apartment that smells like a locker room is a major deal breaker. Scrub those dirty dishes, toss your empty pizza box collection and invest in a professional cleaning service ASAP.

10. Talking with your mouth full

Women are all about sharing food on date night, but not when it lands on our faces. Eeew. Remember what you learned in kindergarten. Chew, swallow and then talk!

A 53 year old police inspector was caught at a members-only shopping center, so like Japanese Sam’s Club, stealing women’s clothes. He had about $250 US worth of panties and gloves in his bag when he was caught. No word on whether those were awesome bulk panties or not.

Jiro Oe, an assistant police inspector, said he shops there all the time, but this is the first time he thought “man, I want panties and I don’t want to pay for them.” If you did as we asked and Googled the vending machines, you’ll know panties are big business in Japan. You won’t know why, and neither do we, but you’ll know it.

Tough restrictions are in the cards for fortune-tellers in Warren.

The city is on the verge of passing one of the nation's most stringent regulations for fortune-tellers by requiring licenses, fees, fingerprints, criminal background reports and employment histories for anyone who earns money forecasting the future.

If approved by the City Council on Tuesday, as expected, Warren will join a growing number of communities nationwide to crack down on fraudulent fortune-tellers who prey on the vulnerable. Anyone who violates the ordinance would face up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.

"By registering them, we know who they are and where they are working, so hopefully it will discourage any nonlegitimate fortune-tellers from coming to the area," Councilman Keith Sudowski said. "We also need some enforcement in place to regulate this industry and prosecute anyone who preys on innocent people."

Warren police asked the council to approve the regulations after hearing about fraudulent fortune-tellers victimizing people across the country.

Read more here.

Make your reservations now. The space tourism industry is officially open for business, and tickets are going for a mere $20 million for a one-week stay in space.

American businessman Dennis Tito was the world's first space tourist. Tito flew into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket that arrived at the International Space Station on April 30, 2001. The second space tourist, South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth, took off aboard the Russian Soyuz on April 25, 2002, also bound for the ISS. Greg Olsen, an American businessman, became tourist number three to the ISS on October 1, 2005. On September 18, 2006, Anousheh Ansari, a telecommunications entrepreneur, became the first female space tourist and the fourth space tourist overall. She was also the first person of Iranian descent to make it into space. Charles Simonyi, a software architect, became the fifth space tourist on April 7, 2007.

These trips are the beginning of what could be a lucrative 21st century industry. There are already several space tourism companies planning to build suborbital vehicles and orbital cities within the next two decades. These companies have invested millions, believing that the space tourism industry is on the verge of taking off.

In 1997, NASA published a report concluding that selling trips to space to private citizens could be worth billions of dollars. A Japanese report supports these findings, and projects that space tourism could be a $10 billion per year industry within the two decades. The only obstacles to opening up space to tourists are the space agencies, who are concerned with safety and the development of a reliable, reusable launch vehicle.

More about space tourism, click here.

Sometimes even crack researchers like ourselves fail to parse the Internet's hidden virtues. In other words, we have no idea what's going on at one of the weirdest of Japanese websites.

It's called Bijin-Tokei, which the site's English "translation" helpfully explains is "1 min automatic update site." The site and downloadable apps present a new photo every 60 seconds, featuring a Japanese model holding up the correct time.


About the only other information on the page is a set of biographical stats for each girl. One of them is named Cats. We're not making this up -- although you'll have to wait until sometime between 11:30 and 11:48 to fact-check our work. Oh, and she is a student, 158 centimeters tall, and her blood type is AB.

(In Japan, matching and specific blood types are considered a sign of relationship compatibility. Type AB, according to Wikipedia and crazy people who actually believe this garbage, means you are "cool, controlled, rational.")

Sadly, especially for the girl described as size "B:88 W:57 H:85 (-cup)," they're all wearing far too much clothing for this to even garner an "Is it porn?" post.

The autopsy of 5-month-old Brianna Lopez revealed she had suffered abuse most of her short life in what deputies say is one of the worst cases of child abuse they have ever seen.