Meaning of 'Gangnam Style'

PSY

Hundreds of millions have watched the dance and listened to the song — most without understanding a word — but very few have any idea what "Gangnam" is and what, if any, particular "style" it might have.

The Gangnam in the title of the global hit by South Korean rapper Psy is Seoul's wealthiest residential and shopping district, lined with luxury boutiques, top-end bars, night clubs and restaurants frequented by celebrities.

But even among those Koreans who live or party regularly in Gangnam, which literally and unglamorously translates as "south of the river", there is little consensus on what constitutes the district's signature style.

US Secretary GeneralBan Ki-Moon with PSY

Translating the song's lyrics, which some see as satirising the district's self-importance and ostentatious wealth, offers little in the way of concrete insights.

Psy sings about being the "guy who downs boiling coffee in one shot" and who "goes completely crazy when the right time comes."

Kwon Yu-Bi, a 23-year-old student and Gangnam night-life regular, said the song was less about any particular place and more about a new-found hedonism in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

"Gangnam is just a symbolic place and I think the song really reflects Korea, where young people, including myself, enjoy a hectic and crazy night out," Kwon told AFP.

A Gangnam residential address doesn't come cheap, with the average apartment price — even with Seoul going through an extended real estate slump — set at around $720 000.

One particular street, lined on both sides with outlets of global luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Cartier and Prada has been compared to Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills in California.

Hulk Hogan's sex tape has "embarrassed" his family

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan's sex tape has "embarrassed" his family.

The TNA IMPACT star was stunned earlier this month when intimate footage of himself and Heather Clem appeared online, and though his ex-wife Linda Hogan is "devastated" by the clip - which was filmed while they were still married - she wasn't shocked by the film.

Linda - who has children Brooke (24) and Nick (22) with the wrestler - said: "It really is quite an embarrassment for our family. I'm a little devastated, but I'm not really shocked.

"I knew that he was having affairs and I knew that he was cheating."

Although Linda claims Hulk - whose real name is Terry Bollea - had affairs during their marriage, she insists she didn't know he had slept with Heather, who is the estranged wife of his best friend Bubba the Love Sponge.

She told Access Hollywood: "I didn't know about this girl."

Linda says she wanted to watch the tape to find out if she knew the woman in the video and to see whether it took place during their marriage.

She admitted: "[Watching it] actually did make me upset.

"I mean, to watch him in a room with another woman... and at the end of the day he came out and said it was definitely during the time [we were] married."

Steven Tyler is single again

Aerosmith

Steven Tyler has reportedly split from his fiancee.

The Aerosmith rocker is said to have called time on his relationship with Erin Brady because he wants to focus 100 per cent on the band's Global Warming Tour - which kicks off for a second leg on 8 November, two days after they release their first new album in 11 years, Music from Another Dimension!

Tyler rejoined his bandmates earlier this year for the new projects and Brady has taken a back seat in his life.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: "Steven has quietly ended it with his fiancee. Steven has been trying to maintain his lifestyle. The tour is really important to him and the band. So he decided to end it.”

It has also been claimed that Brady has had a divisive influence on the group, with her being described as a "kind of Yoko Ono character - a reference to the widow of the late John Lennon who was perceived to be the catalyst for The Beatles eventual break-up.

A representative for Aerosmith has confirmed the couple are going through difficult times, but denies they have split.

The spokesperson said: "Just as any couple goes through trials and tribulations in a relationship, Steven and Erin are asking for their privacy at this time. They are engaged to be married and each is committed to their sobriety. Any claim to the contrary is absolutely false and misleading."

Former American Idol judge Tyler (64) got engaged to Brady (38) in December 2011 after proposing to her in Hawaii. He has been married twice before.

BMW Classics

BMW

Combining a Germanic knack for sturdy, reliable engineering with a European flair for design, BMW has been gracing the automobile industry for over 95 years. Ahead of their 100th milestone, and for those too impatient to wait for the celebrations, a new BMW book chronicles the brand's development - from its early days as a restructured aircraft company to its current status as one of the world's most recognised saloon manufacturers. The book also delves into BMW's thoughts for the future of automotive design and technology - all that can be certain is that the German behemoth will play a leading role in whatever happens next. 

BMW

BMW

BMW

The BMW Book (£80.00) is published by teNeues in December 2012.

Funny Images

Ban Ki-Moon with Korean rapper PSY

Ashley Greene finds dating hard

Ashley Greene

The Twilight Saga actress - who has previously dated Joe Jonas and Chace Crawford - admits she struggles to find a relationship because of the nature of the industry, and sometimes thinks moving back to Florida would be her best option.

She said: "Dating is a hard, hard thing when you have this job.

"Sometimes I wish I could just go back to Florida and, like, date my home-town boyfriend.

"Listen, when I'm dating a guy and he says, 'I don't like press,' and then says, 'Let's go to Katana for dinner,' I'm like, 'Really? You don't want to just walk down the road to some dive? You don't want to get photographed, but you want to go to a place where you know there's paparazzi?' "

She also finds the attention on her love life difficult to deal with.

She added to GQ magazine: "It's really frustrating whenever I can't go and do something because I know it's going to be in the internet."

Birthday cake

Birthday cake pic

NY police officer was planning to cook, eat women

NEW YORK: A New York City police officer was charged with conspiring to kidnap, torture, cook and eat women whose names he listed in his computer.

In a criminal complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court, Gilberto Valle III, 28, of Forest Hills, Queens, was charged with conspiring to cross state lines to kidnap the women and with illegally accessing a federal database.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Investigators uncovered a file on Valle’s computer containing the names and pictures of at least 100 women, and the addresses and physical descriptions of some of them, according to the complaint. It said he had undertaken surveillance of some of the women at their places of employment and their homes.

Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman, in denying Valle bail at a hearing on Thursday evening, said: “the allegations in the complaint are profoundly disturbing. I have never seen allegations similar to this in 16 years on the bench.”

Valle’s court-appointed attorney, Julia Gatto, had vigorously argued to the judge that her client, a 6-1/2 year NYPD veteran who appeared before the judge in a red T-shirt and jeans, was all talk and deserved to be released on bail.

“The best this complaint alleges is talk, just idle talk,” Gatto said. “There is no actual crossing the line from fantasy to reality, your honor.”

In an excerpt of a July online conversation with an unnamed co-conspirator, Valle is quoted in the complaint as saying:

“I can just show up at her home unannounced. It will not alert her, and I can knock her out, wait until dark and kidnap her right out of her home.”

“I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus … cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible,” he said. The woman in question is identified only as “Victim 1.”

Online fantasy game?

A Manhattan federal prosecutor, Hadassa Waxman, told the judge on Thursday that Valle was as “close as he could possibly come,” short of “kidnapping a woman, drugging her, cooking her and actually eating her.”

Federal prosecutors, in announcing the charges, said Valle had created a document called “Abducting and Cooking: A Blueprint.” Valle also told an unnamed co-conspirator he would kidnap another woman for $5,000, they said.

“This case is all the more disturbing when you consider Valle’s position as a New York City police officer and his sworn duty to serve and protect,” Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

Valle, who an official said had no prior criminal record, was not charged with carrying out any of his suspected plans.

A law enforcement official involved in the investigation characterized Valle’s actions as an online “fantasy game.”

“He was titillated by it,” said the official, who is not authorized to discuss the case publicly. “It looks like he was having these fantasy conversations with people he’s talking to in foreign countries.”

Valle’s attorney, Gatto, agreed. “This was a fantasy, a sexually deviant world where people talk about unreal things,” she said.

Valle’s estranged wife contacted the FBI after discovering pornography on his computer, according to the law enforcement official, who said the couple is separated. Valle was arrested Wednesday by the FBI. He is due back in court on November7.

A spokesman for the Police Department could not be reached for comment.

Student of the Year, Movie review

Young, good-looking, high schoolers in love and competition – with each other and the eponymous title/award. 

Excuse me, but, Shah Rukh who?

Karan Johar’s new half-sparkly, romantic Bolly-fable about high school love and antipathy, may be his first directed film that sidelines Shah Rukh Khan in favor of younger, bare-chested youngsters; and it may (partially) hark back to his debut “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” (with an overarching shadow of “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar”); and it may feature SRK’s co-production stamp (the film is co-produced by SRK’s wife and Johar’s friend Gauri Khan) – but what it doesn’t do is ramble on pomposity, or worrisome self-consciousness.

Student of the Year – SOTY – is Johar’s clean-break from his gradually maturing mindset (re: the warped family break-up drama “Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna” and the flaky political statement “My Name is Khan”), and boy, is it woozy, fresh, if somewhat unoriginal. But that doesn’t actually bother Johar – and he doesn’t let it pester you either.

Clocking in a typical-Bollywood 146 minutes, SOTY’s screenplay (by Rensil D’silva and dialogues by Niranjan Iyengar) rakes in character development, drive, and half-remixed sound-track, into a pitch-perfect starring vehicle for his debuting trio. Two of whom are Sidharth Malhotra (as Abhimanyu “Abhi” Singh) and David Dhawan’s son, Varun Dhawan (playing Rohan “Ro” Nanda). These chiseled-bodied, soft-hearted leads start off as enemies, become friends, graduate into frenemies over the McGuffin that’s the eponymous, school competition.

The third leading-debut is their mutual love-interest, Shanaya (Alia Bhatt, once-director, now producer Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter) – a dolled-up rich babe, who is the desire of every boy and the jealously of every other babe in school (we don’t get to see that either).

Shanaya, although is the lead who gets to disco, boogie and twirl in almost all the film’s musical numbers, her “Ishq Wala Love”, is simply a picturesque wall-decoration. SOTY is less interested in telling a love story; it instead tries to win-over a persistent, if-uneasy, bromance fable.

Abhi, the underdog, is a career-oriented youngster who gets into the upmarket, semi-swanky St. Teresa’s High School on a sports scholarship. Ro is the son of alumi-turned-tycoon (Ram Kapoor); semi-spoiled, seeking his father’s adoration (he gets put-down often), he is the black-sheep who dreams of having a career as a pop/rock artist. Ro’s longtime girlfriend is Shanaya, born to indifferent, rich parents, who push her to maintain her class-conscious relationship.

There are no initial sparks between Abhi and Shanaya, but they do get it on in a Malaysian wedding trip (actually one of the film’s many excuses to undress the leads, splash them in dripping water for slow-mo beauty shots); And then of course, the Student of the Year competition is initiated by Dean Yoginder Vasisht (Rishi Kapoor, effortless and charismatic, innocently pining after film’s happily-married college coach Ronit Roy) which turns them – and the film’s supporting cast – into enemies.

This group of friends and lackies are – superficially – your usual fodder. The slutty cheerleader is Sana Saeed (who played SRK’s daughter in “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”). Shanaya’s “bff” is played by Mansi Rachh, a tomboy with a semi-prominent drive that matures with the film’s duration. The bespectacled geek is SODO, played by Kayoze Irani (Boman Irani’s son, who may be epitomizing some of Johar’s personal anguish). And finally there’s Sahil Anand, who plays Ro’s lackey.

What’s consistent about Johar’s filmmaking is that he scales and balances weight on his leads and their supporting actors. So, when Fareeda Jalal enters the movie as Abhi’s grandmother (he lives with his uncle and aunt, after his parents died), we believe that she’s his emotional center .

SOTY’s hardly visible plot, is slickly decorated around big, glossy sets and an immediately hummable music by Vishal-Shekhar, who meld their style with the Karan Johar-touch, incorporating “Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehra”, “Gulabi Aankhen” and Nazia Hasan’s “Disco Deewane” with renewed juice (watch out for Rishi Kapoor doing a “Dafli Walay” routine in “Radha”, one of the star-songs of the movie; the other star-song is “Ratta Maar”).

SOTY is auteurism at work. There’s a bold, visible sign at the door that says: “Hassle-free, escapist entertainment. Park your incisive, over-assessing criticisms at the door, and enjoy that bag of expensive pop-corn you just bought!”

Pak Heroes : Sir M.M. Alam

Sir M.M. Alam

Air commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam (Urdu: محمد محمود عالم, Bengali: মুহাম্মদ মাহমুদ আলম) is a retired Pakistani fighter pilot, North American F-86 Sabre Flying ace and one-star general who served with the Pakistan Air Force. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat ("The star of courage"),Squadron Leader Muhammad Mahmud Alam, Commander of No 11 Squadron in 1965, was already a notable leader and highly experienced pilot. He also excelled in gunnery competition as a skill that without a doubt contributed greatly to his becoming the first and the only jet ace in one mission. a Pakistani military decoration, for his actions during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

 In earning his decorations, Alam downed five Indian aircraft in less than a minute — the first four within 30 seconds — establishing a world record. Early life Alam's brothers are M. Shahid Alam, an economist and a professor at Northeastern University,[3][4] and M. Sajjad Alam, a particle physicist at SUNY Albany.[citation needed]

 His family moved to West Pakistan around 1971. Contrary to later accusations that also embittered him towards the establishment, ethnically Bengali Alam remained loyal to Pakistan and not to the newly created Bangladesh Retirement In 1982, Alam retired as an Air commodore and took up residence in Karachi. Since retiring, Alam has become more deeply interested in religion.[11] M. M. Alam Road in Gulberg, Lahore, is named after him.

Star Wars-7 News, Disney is buying LucasFilm

Disney characters

If Disney is buying LucasFilm, how will that affect Star Wars: Episode 7 and other Star Wars projects?

LOS ANGELES: Disney is to buy George Lucas’s renowned film studio including his “Star Wars” franchise, the entertainment giant said Tuesday, announcing plans for more films in the legendary sci-fi series.

“Star Wars 7” will be released in 2015, “with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future,”said the Walt Disney Co, announcing the deal worth over $4 billion for Lucasfilm.

The deal “combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity,” said Disney chief Robert Iger.

“Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas,” said Iger, head of global entertainment giant Disney, which is headquartered in Burbank, just outside Los Angeles.

Director George Lucas with Star Wars characters

The transaction is valued at $4.05 billion – based on current stock value – with Disney paying about half in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing. Lucasfilm is 100 per cent owned by Lucas.

Lucas, who runs his company from its San Francisco base, added: “For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next.

“It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime.”

The first “Star Wars” film came out in 1977, and there have been two trilogies – three films from 1977-1983 and three prequels from 1999-2005 – while the brand has expanded into theme parks and a huge merchandising arm.

The movies have earned some $4.4 billion at the box office globally over the last 35 years, and offer “a virtually limitless universe of characters and stories to drive continued feature film releases,” said Disney.

“The franchise provides a sustainable source of high quality, branded content with global appeal and is well suited for new business models including digital platforms,” it added.

The acquisition comes after Disney’s takeover of animated film giant Pixar and comic book character-driven Marvel Studios.

Those deals had “demonstrated the company’s unique ability to fully develop and expand the financial potential of high quality creative content with compelling characters and storytelling,” said Disney.

Lucas will be succeeded as head of Lucasfilm by his current co-chairman, Kathleen Kennedy, who will report to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, said the Disney statement.

“I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come,” said Lucas.

“Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products,” he added.

Yoda character from the Star Wars movies

In addition , you should know that there is an official canon concerning the Star Wars universe. Those stories cover the years after rebel victory (i.e., after Return of the Jedi). It's written in a series of books called the Thrawn Trilogy, by author Timothy Zahn. Die-hard Star Wars fans know the trilogy well, and they say that a big-screen adaptation of the first book, Heir to the Empire, would make the most logical Episode 7.

So what happens in "those books?"

"It's an original story," a LucasFilm source tells me.

In other words, forget the Star Wars novels. Forget the graphic novels. Forget everything you think you know about what happens to Luke Skywalker. According to my sources, Episode 7will literally be nothing you've ever seen or read before from the Star Wars universe.

I also hear from several sources that, no matter what you may hear to the contrary, no director has been officially attached to the project.

Disney is paying how much for LucasFilm!?!?

Lastly, there's the live action series, which has been bubbling around since 2008 and which is supposed to take place between Episodes 3 and 4, when Luke Skywalker is growing up.

As reported earlier, Lucasfilm was still talking in enthusiastic terms about Star Wars: Underworld less than a year ago. At that time, the show had a lot of scripts in the can but no financing. But if there's one thing that Disney has, it's money. Still, insiders tell me it's too soon to expect any announcements on either series.

What are Macro and Micro nutrients and why we need them

Everyone knows that it’s vital we get enough nutrients in our diets to survive and be healthy. We also know that different foods contain different nutrients. Some of us may even know that these nutrients are divided into two categories: micro and macro nutrients. But what do these titles really mean, and what are the functions for each group?

The Nutrients Defined

Let’s start at the beginning. Nutrients, at their most basic definition, are chemicals that any living organism needs to continue their survival. They help give us energy to perform daily functions, as well as fuel to build tissues and grow. These nutrients, however, are broken up into two distinct categories.

First, macronutrients are substances that provide caloric value (calories) which are metabolized for energy. Macronutrients are called “macro” because we need them in large amounts and because they are large in molecular standards: -macro literally means very large in scale, or in its Greek understanding, “big” or “far”. Essentially, we need more of these large nutrients, making them ‘macro’.

On the other hand, micronutrients are nutrients we need in smaller quantities: hence, -micro, which is Greek for “small”. These are just as important as macronutrients in the sense that we need them, but the key difference lies in the sheer amount of the nutrients we need to digest.

Why They’re Important: Macro

Macronutrients are vital for every function we perform in the body because they provide us with fuel for the body. Without that energy, our bodies would not be able to perform the constant upkeep required and we would eventually perish.

We have three main macronutrients in our diet, each with their own caloric value. They are as follows:

Carbohydrate: 4 kcal/gm

Fat: 9 kcal/gm

Protein: 4 kcal/gm

So which nutrients are most important?

As I’ve stated in a previous article, “All About Energy: The Sources and the Systems”, “Regularly, we do not want to burn protein as it has important structural uses in our bodies. For example, it shares a vital relationship with amino acids, is important to muscle development, and it performs regular ‘housekeeping’ tasks in every one of our cells. In fact, we rarely burn protein unless we are in a period of starvation or, alternatively, have a high protein diet where we train our bodies to burn it…That said, carbs and fats are our main sources of energy with the three macronutrients.”

Even at that, our bodies most prefer to burn carbs – they are smaller than fats, making them easier to burn, and fat performs special purposes with the construction of cells and gives our skin its elasticity. Because of this, many argue an optimal diet looks something like this (along with regular exercise):

Calories from carbs –       Recommended: 65-75%              Consumed:40-50%

Calories from fat –             Recommended: 10-15%              Consumed: 30-35%

Calories from protein –   Recommended: 15-20%              Consumed:15-20%

As we can see, the recommended value is hardly representative of what people usually consume, leading to health risks like obesity. That is, however, another topic in and of itself.

In sum, let’s take a quick look at the reason why we need each macronutrient (special thanks to the McKinley Health Center for a straightforward list!):

Carbs: These are our main source of fuel; they are easily converted into fuel; our cells require the glucose of energy; the central nervous, kidney, brain, and muscles need carbs; they can be stored for later use; they help with intestinal health and waste elimination; and they are in many foods, making them easy to acquire.

Fats: fats help with normal growth and development; a great source of energy; helps with absorption of vitamins; provides cushioning for organs; help maintain cell membranes; and provide taste, consistency, and stability to food.

Proteins: proteins helps with growth, especially in children, teens, and pregnant women; tissue repair; immune function; the making of essential hormones and enzymes; providing energy when nothing else is available; and preserving of lean muscle mass.

Why They’re Important: Micro

Micronutrients, while in smaller quantities, are just as important for healthy living. When the body uses oxygen, it undergoes wear and tear. That wear and tear is a little something we call aging, and it can be destructive to our health (common sense, no?); you can think of this like biological rust. Micronutrients, which include vitamins – like Vitamin C, B, and E – and minerals – like Zinc, Magnesium, and Iron – help to safeguard our bodies.

One area of special importance is the brain. When our brain uses oxygen, it promotes the creation of free radicals. These can get out of control – as the name implies – and can cause damage to our cells. Antioxidants, in this case, are our saviors. Because free radicals are a normal occurrence in the brain, the regular “input” of antioxidants in your diet is vital. Free radicals are more “attracted” to antioxidants than cellular components, which means with the increase in antioxidants, you’ll be more protected from these free radicals.

Because our bodies do not manufacture all of the needed vitamins, and the ones they do are usually in insufficient amounts, we have to be vigilant with our diets.

Great Sources for Great Nutrition

When aiming at your desired levels of macro and micro nutrients, keep in mind some of the basic tenets of a good diet. Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, lean fatty meats, and nuts and grains – these contain a ton of vitamins and minerals like Vitamin A (carrots, spinach, milk, eggs), Folic Acid (asparagus, dark leafy greens), Iodine (seaweed, fish), Iron (lentils, red meats, leafy vegetable), and Zinc (eggs, buts, cereals, seafood), just to name a few.

I suggest starting a daily meal planner or consulting a nutritionist for extra direction in getting the most nutrition out of your diet. Above all, remember to avoid food high in fat content, salt, and sugars!

Thanks to the Franklin Institute for helpful information on nutrients and their uses!

World,s oldest flying fish found in china

Flying fish

Palaeontologists in China say they have found the world's oldest flying fish, a strange, snub-nosed creature that glided over water in a bid to evade predators some 240 million years ago.

Fossils in Chinese museum collections have been dusted off, dated and categorised to reveal that the flying fish is a much older creature than thought, the palaeontologists wrote in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
A specimen named Potanichthys xingyiensis lived in the Middle Triassic period between 235 million and 242 million years ago and is up to 27 million years older than the previous record-holder, a species found in Europe, said the study on Wednesday.
The Triassic geological period predated the Jurassic some 200 million to 150 million years ago, when dinosaurs thrived.
P xingyiensis presents "the earliest evidence of over-water gliding in vertebrates", co-author Guang-Hui Xu of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology in China told AFP.
It was already gliding some 80 million years before the emergence of birds, which are thought to be the descendants of small feathery dinosaurs.
Scientists believe that flying fish evolved out of a need to flee attack from predators.
The newly named specimen was only 15cm long and had four "wings" -- two big, adapted pectoral fins and a smaller, auxiliary pelvic pair.
The fish had a large, forked tail fin that may have been used to launch it for over-water gliding.
Xu said this was the first flying fish ever to be found in Asia from the prehistoric Triassic period, a time when the super-continent Pangaea was starting to break up into the different land masses we know today.
The only other Triassic flying fish hitherto known were somewhat younger and came from Austria and Italy.

flying fish

Potanichthys xingyiensis is a composite term meaning "winged fish of Xingyi", the Chinese city near which the fossil was found.

UN Chief Dances 'Gangnam Style'

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon with Korean rapper PSY

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, is taught how to dance 'Gangnam Style' by Korean rapper PSY during a photo opportunity at the UN headquarters in New York, October 23, 2012.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon joined South Korean rap phenomenon Psy in his trademark Gangnam Style dance moves Tuesday at U.N. headquarters.

Speaking to reporters, Ban said he was "a bit jealous" of his countryman, lamenting that Psy's meteoric rise to global popularity means he is no longer "the most famous Korean in the world."

The usually serious Ban loosened up and allowed Psy to teach him some of the dance moves popularized by the music video for "Gangnam Style," which has been viewed more than 530 million times on YouTube.

Masjid-i-Nabawi expansion project at the cost of razing holy sites?

Masjid-i-Nabawi

MADINA: Faced with the problem of accomodating an ever growing number of pilgrims to Makkah and Medina every year, the Saudi Arabian government has launched an ambitious expansion project of Masjid-e-Nabawi, which potentially includes razing of Riyad-al-Jannah (Garden of Paradise) and the graves of Holy Prophet (pbuh) and caliphs Hazrat Abu Bakar (RA) and Hazrat Umar (RA).

According to a report by United Kingdom daily The Independent, the project, due to start after this year’s Hajj pilgrimage ends, will turn the mosque into the world’s largest building, expanding its current capacity to hold 1.6 million worshippers.

Riyad-al-Jannah is believed to be a holy site, with Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) once having decreed that the area between his house and pulpit was one of the gardens (rawdah) of Paradise.

The multi-billion dollar plan further includes demolishing three of the world’s oldest mosques dedicated to the aforementioned Caliphs and Masjid Ghamama, built to mark the spot where the Prophet is believed to have given his first Eid prayers.

This plan has already received a lot of flak from Muslims around the world, including heritage campaigners, having already criticised the Kingdom’s disdain for preserving the historical and archaeological heritage of the country’s holiest city, Makkah.

Most Muslims and heritage campaigners were appalled to see historic locations of Makkah and Medina bulldozed to make way for gleaming shopping malls, luxury hotels and towering skyscrapers.

The Washington-based Gulf Institute had estimates that 95 per cent of the 1,000-year-old buildings in the two cities have been destroyed in the past 20 years.

“No one denies that Medina is in need of expansion, but it’s the way the authorities are going about it which is so worrying,” says Dr Irfan al-Alawi of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. “There are ways they could expand which would either avoid or preserve the ancient Islamic sites but instead they want to knock it all down.” Dr Alawi has spent much of the past 10 years trying to highlight the destruction of early Islamic sites.

With a booming middle class in Muslim countries, both Makkah and Medina are struggling to cope with the 12 million pilgrims who visit each year – a number expected to grow to 17 million by 2025.

The Independent’s report further says that other historic sites lost to ‘development’ include the Prophet’s birthplace – now a library – and the house of his first wife, Khadijah, which was replaced with a public toilet block.

Neither the Saudi Embassy in London nor the Ministry for Foreign Affairs had responded to the Independent’s requests for comment. However the Saudi government has defended its expansion plans in the past.

Top Ten travel apps

It seems Australian travel apps are coming out faster than you can fold a tourist map. Here are some of the most nifty available, many of them free.

1. There's Nothing Like Australia, free

Launched by Tourism Australia in Shanghai in June as part of its "There's Nothing Like Australia" global campaign, this smart-looking multimedia app opens like a coffee-table book and takes users on 13 journeys via video, interactive imagery and travel stories. Featured destinations include Uluru, Melbourne, Sydney, Hayman Island and El Questro. Apart from the inspirational scenes, it is loaded with detail, including places to stay and things to see, and an itinerary builder.

(iPad, Android)

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2. Appy Travels, free

New to the market this year, this series of apps is being progressively rolled out and covers Australia's capital cities as well as smaller destinations often ignored in the app market. Some of their "small-fry" apps are Byron Bay, the Kimberley, the Blue Mountains, Yarra Valley and McLaren Vale. Regional apps for councils are also coming out, starting with Goulburn, in celebration of the city's 150th anniversary. There's an interactive component and users are invited to post comments and make recommendations.

(iPad, iPhone)

3. Melbourne Peculiar, $2.99

Novelist Narrelle Harris has listed 121 oddball things about Melbourne in her app released last month. She points curious travellers to the resting place of the inventor of Vegemite, to stores that sell subversive books and to crime tours. With 600 photos. Harris previously created the Melbourne Literary app.

(iPad, iPhone, Android)

4. Sydney's Living History $4.49

Also released last month, foodie and prolific guidebook writer Sally Hammond unearths little-known details about 130 places in the city that you may otherwise walk past without a second thought. She includes the oldest pub, an air-raid shelter in a hotel and an ancient watercourse under the streets. Each listing has a photo, map and transport details as well as a "fun fact", highlighted in red, for users not into the fine detail.

(iPad, iPhone, Android)

5. Sydney Cafe Culture, $4.49

Hot on the heels of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age's Good Cafe Guide app, Hammond has also released this cafe guide with photographer/husband Gordon. It now has 330 cafes, many with video links. Half of the listings are inner city, the remainder in beach suburbs and business centres.

(iPad, iPhone, Android)

6. Australian Road Trips, $4.49

Planning a driving holiday is made easy with 40 detailed itineraries from family drives along the coast to 4WD adventures. Each itinerary includes details on what to see and do, where to eat, where to sleep and where to camp. Routes include the three iconic transcontinental journeys: across the Nullarbor from Sydney to Perth; Adelaide to Darwin; and the Savannah Way from Cairns to Broome. Also plenty of day drives and weekend getaways from each capital city.

(iPad, iPhone, Android)

7. Australia Bushwalking, $4.49

Launched last Tuesday by writer/photographer/walker Melanie Ball, this app chronicles 90 Australia-wide bushwalks - with photos - including the breezy Great Ocean Walk and the long-and-hot Larapinta Trail. Walks are broken into categories - overnight, guided, full day, half day, desert, river, ocean - and also listed by state. There are personal insights by the author, such as: "[My highlight] was swimming nude in the Finke River with a whistling kite hovering so close I could see its wing feathers moving."

(iPad, iPhone)

8. Yelp, free

If you are interstate and don't know where to find something - whether it be a restaurant, a pub, a hotel or a petrol station - this app comes to the rescue. Includes reviews, distances and prices. The US-based site was introduced to Australia late last year.

(iPad, iPhone, Android)

9. Stayz, free

Search and book accommodation around Australia. Stayz has 25,000 properties listed with descriptions, rates, reviews and photo galleries. (Stayz.com.au is a division of Fairfax Media).

(iPhone)

10. Grampians Explore Discover, free

Planned for release next month, this app will list the best waterfalls, rock art sites, lookouts and walks. Will also have a "what is it?" function with photos and Melbourne Museum information about plants and animals so visitors can identify things they are seeing in the bush. Another feature is an integrated camera function so photos can be put into albums and shared from the app.

(Apple release in September, Android release in October)

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