News: Facebook will soon crack 1 billion users

Friend trend: Facebook almost has 1 billion

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has claimed his social network will soon break through the 1 billion users barrier … and that’s without cornering the gargantuan markets of Russia and China. The network was sitting somewhere around the 800 million user mark at the end of 2011. The last speculative value of the company, as it considered a public offer, was around $100 billion. The more users, of course, the more lucrative it is to advertisers.

World more uncertain on nuclear threats

As Israel prepares for an Iranian nuke test ‘within the next 12 months’, a group of international scientists in charge of the world’s Doomsday clock have moved the hands one minute closer to midnight. Cheerily, midnight represents world destruction. The hands now rest at five minutes to midnight, for those playing along at home. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists have overseen the clock since it was created in 1947. Collectively they measure global conditions, sentiment and politics to determine how stable we’re keeping our nuclear stocks. The last time the clock was at this time was in 2007.

You spent how much now, Beyonce and Jay Z?

Now, take this with a grain of salt, but apparently Beyonce and Jay Z have spent about $1.5 million on their newborn Blue Ivy Carter in an attempt to give her some of the, er, finer things in life. How can you spend so much? Well those infamous ‘sources’ say there’s a golden rocking horse, Swarovski-studded high chair, more than $300,000 on room renovations for the nursery, a miniature version of one of the world’s most expensive cars (the Bugatti) and rattles and other baby knick-knacks from Tiffany and Co, as you do. Now … if even half of this is true, yikes. Anyone here as extravagant with their own kids?

The most complained about ads … ever

The Advertising Standards Bureau has released a list of the worst ads on records, judging by the tastes of the public. But even the most ‘offensive’ only received 359 official complaints. And that dubious honour goes to Nando’s for the television ad which shows a mother pole dancing. And remember the ad for mints that showed the nipples on the man stretch? That was number two on record with 284 complaints. The ‘want longer lasting sex’? billboard rounded out the top three. Any others that spring to mind? What do these ones say about us as a country?

Here’s the Nando’s ad:

Pope says gay marriage a ‘threat to humanity’.

While calling for an end to discrimination against Christians which leaves them as ‘second class citizens’, the Pope addressed the Vatican diplomatic corps this week and explained same-sex marriage was a ‘threat to humanity’. “This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society. Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself. The family unit is fundamental for the educational process and for the development both of individuals and states; hence there is a need for policies which promote the family and aid social cohesion and dialogue,” he said.

Sea Shepherd won’t pay recovery costs of captured activists

A bitter war of words has broken out between the Prime Minister and the head of Sea Shepherd Paul Watson. Ms Gillard yesterday called the actions of the activists who boarded a Japanese whaler security ship illegally ‘unacceptable’. Mr Watson wrote a response listing 10 reasons why Sea Shepherd ‘should not and will not’ pay a cent for the rescue. “The suggestion by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Attorney General Nicola Roxon that Sea Shepherd help foot the bill for the recovery of three Australian citizens from the Shonan Maru #2 is absurd,” he wrote. The Prime Minister said the retrieval of the men would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Anything else on your mind, news-wise?