A picture of Michael Phelps using a bong has been posted by News of the World on its website.

Commonly known as water pipe, bong is a smoking device generally used to smoke marijuana.

According to the British tabloid, Phelps was caught smoking pot (weed) on November last year, more than two months after his record-breaking performance at the Beijing Olympics.

“He looked just as natural with a bong in his hands as he does swimming in the pool. He was the gold medal winner of bong hits. Michael ended up getting a little paranoid, though, because before too long he looked like he was nervous and ran out of the place,” the website’s source revealed.

Here’s the photo:

The picture above was allegedly taken at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Robots and Underpants

Out Where the Dreams All Hide: a review of The Killers’ “Day and Age”

January 31, 2009

By Kevin Quigley

Have you heard the new Killers album, “Day and Age”?  Because, seriously, stop reading now and go out and buy it and then listen to it all the way through, and then listen to it again because it’s AWESOME.  Seriously, AWESOME, with a capital A (or, in the case of an internet article where the HTML has gotten slack enough for me to hold down the shift key instead of italicizing, AWESOME is in ALL CAPS).  Really, go buy it and upload it to iTunes and go to the gym with it or listen to it in bed as you’re drifting to sleep or brushing your teeth or something.  I’ll wait.

Still waiting.

Okay, by now I assume you’ve listened to it nine or ten times like I have since getting it for Christmas.  (Here I am also assuming that you are hyped up on Red Bulls and Bawls and eggnog chai from Starbucks, because this is how everyone wakes up, right?  Right?)

Let’s start with the first single, “Human,” which I purchased from iTunes after I saw The Killers on “Saturday Night Live” a few months back and which I have since done a near-pitch-perfect version of at karaoke.  (Seriously, I know when I’ve fucked up at the karaoke.  Note: Alanis’s “Thank U” is not my song.)  The song’s chorus has stirred some controversy – not from religious groups or from concerned parents, as most rock and roll does, but from staunch grammarians.  The verbal disagreement in the line, “Are we human / or are we dancer?” has caused what can only be deemed a hilarious uproar.  According to singer Brandon Flowers, the line is a paraphrase from Hunter S. Thompson … which makes the whole thing a little bit more understandable.

Regardless of all that, the song is full-textured KICK, with a side of RAWK and BITCHIN.  Does it make any real sense?  Of course it doesn’t.  It’s The Killers, the band who made famous the line, “I’ve got soul / but I’m not a soldier.”  But there’s an earnestness to Flowers’ singing, especially when he asks, “Will your system be all right / when you dream of home tonight?”  As on the genius album “Sam’s Town,” The Killers make mythic the themes of home and youth and lost love.  Nostalgia isn’t passive; it’s vibrant and sometimes violent.

That’s not to say the album is dire.  After their glam-pop debut of “Hot Fuss” and their bid for epic Americana on “Sam’s Town,” they have figured out how to merge the two sounds on “Day and Age.”  (This reminds me of how U2 found a way to merge the electronica of “Pop” and “Zooropa” with the soaring, ambitious rock and roll of their early albums on “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.”  Except “Day and Age” is just a little bit better than that.)  Their obsession with Bruce Springsteen – an obsession I fully endorse – is on full display here (especially on the absolutely perfect “A Dustland Fairytale,” which seems like a New Wave take on something from the Boss’s “The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle,” and “Losing Touch,” which could have been on Springsteen’s newest effort, “Magic.”)  But there’s also some Elton John and David Bowie on “Spaceman,” early Blondie on “This is Your Life,” and “Joy Ride” is the most Duran Duran the Killers can possibly be without becoming a straight-up cover band.  It’s eclectic all the way through, in ways that neither “Hot Fuss” nor “Sam’s Town” were, and that’s this album’s greatest strength.

The album isn’t without flaws.  It’s a little unfortunate that the album’s final two songs – “The World We Live In” and “Goodnight, Travel Well,” are its weakest.  It’s not for lack of trying, though: the former has a full string section and its lyrics strive for depth, and the latter is a brooding, spooky closer that weirdly recalls Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight.”  By the end, when the drums and synths kick in big time and try to bring the song (and album) to a rousing close, they fall just a little short.  Flowers tries to sound mournful but often comes across a little bored.  It’s a terrific title, though.

But focusing on the shortfalls is a disservice to “Day and Age,” which is a really fantastic record.  I honestly can’t get over how amazing “A Dustland Fairytale” is – especially some of Flowers’ more interesting vocal inflections, which manage to break out of his “bombast AND NOW MORE BOMBAST!” mode more than ever.  And I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t mention the fantastic “Neon Tiger,” which seems to be told from the point of view of a, um, neon tiger, looking out over the Killers’ beloved/hated Las Vegas.  Lyrics you don’t expect keep popping up, keeping us all on our toes.  It’s exciting and fun, which are words that can be used to describe most of “Day and Age.”  This is the perfect third album for The Killers, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

A new computer game went online Friday, inspired by the crash landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in to the Hudson River.

Online gamers can now have the chance to become the “Hero of the Hudson” using the left and right arrow keys on their computer keyboard.

Some say the virtual simulation is an excellent tribute to pilot Chesley Sullenberger and his crew while others say it is offensive.

Players have to keep the plane balanced at the right incline and bring it to a smooth landing on the surface of the river.

WATCH:

Click here to play.

For a period of time this morning, Google listed every site on the Internet as malware.

This malfunction has left millions of Google users around the globe confused when links to every search result were blocked with the warning ‘This site may harm your computer‘.

Well, the search engine apparently moved swiftly to fix the problem that was affecting the World Wide Web.

Here’s a screen capture of a Google search for ZDNet:

Marissa Mayer, Google vice president of search products & user experience, attributed the problem to “human error” in a blog posting.

If you did a Google search between 6:30 a.m. PST and 7:25 a.m. PST this morning, you likely saw that the message “This site may harm your computer” accompanied each and every search result. This was clearly an error, and we are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to our users.

What happened? Very simply, human error. Google flags search results with the message “This site may harm your computer” if the site is known to install malicious software in the background or otherwise surreptitiously. We do this to protect our users against visiting sites that could harm their computers. We work with a non-profit called StopBadware.org to get our list of URLs. StopBadware carefully researches each consumer complaint to decide fairly whether that URL belongs on the list. Since each case needs to be individually researched, this list is maintained by humans, not algorithms.

Continue reading here.

President Barack Obama’s Kenyan half brother George has been arrested by Kenyan police for alleged cannabis possession.

George Obama was arrested on Friday in Nairobi with one joint of marijuana police chief Joshua Omokulongolo said.

“They took me from my home,” George told reporters in Nairobi from his jail cell. “I don’t know why they are charging me.”

George and the U.S. president had the same father but barely know each other. He was one of the few close relatives who did not attend the president’s inauguration ritual in Washington.

Millions of Iraqis have gone to polls on Saturday in the country’s first election in four years. Security was tight, and no one had been reported injured or killed.

Protected by armed police and barbed wire, Iraqis voted at polling stations to elect new provincial councils, widely seen as a test of the country’s stability as the U.S. role in Iraq diminishes.

More than 14,000 candidates, including about 3,900 women, are competing for 440 seats in 14 of Iraq’s 18 provinces.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, accompanied by a bodyguard, dipped his finger into an ink box after voting in the walled Green Zone enclave in Baghdad.

“This gives a picture of trust in the government, the elections and the people’s right to take part in this democratic process,” he said.

Watch the video here:

The Oscar nominated film “Slumdog Millionaire” has captured the hearts of many, but the reality for Mumbai’s poorest people is harsher.

Mercury News’ John Boudreau and Dai Sugano spent nearly a month in India last year working on a series of articles about that country’s economic boom and extensive ties to Silicon Valley.

India’s rising prosperity is an extraordinary tale. But this video by Sugano entitled “Left Behind”  shows what that other Mumbai — the one still waiting for prosperity — looks like up close.

WATCH:

American Serena Williams demolished Russian Dinara Safina in the Australian Open final Saturday, 6-0, 6-3, to take her 10th Grand Slam crown.

In one of the most lop-sided finals ever, Williams routed the third-seeded Russian, allowing her challenger to win only eight points in the first set on her way to claiming the championship in just 59 minutes.

With this victory, Williams now moves to the top of the world rankings, replacing Serbian Jelena Jankovic.

“I’m so excited … I clearly love playing here and I get great support here. I don’t get that every place I go,” said the 27-year-old after winning the match.

Safina apologized to the Melbourne Park crowd after the game, saying that she had felt little more than a ballboy in the face of Williams’ offensive.

“Sorry to the people who supported me, today I let you down a little bit but I’ll come back next year and try and do better,” the Russian said.

On Sunday, top-ranked Rafael Nadal will face No. 2 Roger Federer in the men’s final. Federer will be trying to tie Pete Sampras‘ record of 14 major titles, while Nadal is seeking his third Grand Slam.

A former prison secretary has been sentenced to six months in jail Thursday for having a sexual affair with an inmate she was supposed to be supervising.

Janine Sligar, 47, of Wray, Colorado, will also serve 5 years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender for having an affair with inmate Eric McClain.

Sligar worked at the Florence Federal Correctional Complex for 14 years, and was a secretary at the Federal Prison Camp in Florence when the allegations came out.

Sligar said she met McClain in February 2007, when he was assigned to clean her office. The two had 10 to 20 sessions of oral sex and sexual intercourse in a staff restroom, ending in October 2007, according to her plea agreement.

She also confessed to taking graphic images of the male inmate using her cell-phone camera.

In India’s southern state of Karnataka, a monkey emerged as the sole protector of a Lord Hanuman shrine from officials who want to demolish the roadside temple.

The monkey stationed itself at the gateway of the shrine and prevented authorities from entering the temple premises.

Officials in the Kolar region of the state are planning to destroy the temple to widen the national highway on which it is located.

According to the local residents, the monkey normally does not harm anybody but surprisingly turned aggressive towards the officials who came with the purpose of demolishing the ‘holy place‘.

The temple was built around 20 years ago and a dead monkey was buried beneath the idol of Lord Hanuman.

(Via Reuters)