Twitter Turns Five as Site Registers 200Million Users

'Inviting coworkers'. Two words. Not spectacular. Yet, as the first ever Twitter message – made five years ago today – those two words sparked a revolution in internet communication. It took three years to pass the billion-tweet mark. Now it posts that many every week.

Since co-founder Jack Dorsey posted it on March 21, 2006, Twitter has registered nearly 200million users. Dorsey has spent the last few days tweeting a timeline of sorts, sharing what he was doing just before the big launch.

On Sunday, he wrote : '5 yrs ago today, the eve of launching twttr to the company. Moving from @Biz, @florian & me, to all of our peers using it. Nervous. #twttr'

He needn't have worried. The site, which invites people to say 'what's happening' in 140 characters or fewer, was initially dismissed as a platform of very little value.

Now, it is an internet giant and even its sternest critics would be hard-pressed to dismiss its significance. Since its launch, Twitter has played a role in a wide range of headline-making events, from the Egyptian revolution to Charlie Sheen's battle with CBS.

Pop sensation Justin Bieber meets wax double

London - Teenage pop sensation Justin Bieber took time out from touring on Tuesday to visit the Madame Tussauds museum in London and pose next to a waxwork model of himself.

The model, dressed in a a red and black checked shirt and black jeans, was one of three Bieber replicas being unveiled -- the others were in Amsterdam and New York.

"It`s pretty incredible to see," said the 17-year-old, before joking about how small the waxwork was. "As you can see, you know, I`m at least six feet taller than this guy."

Liz Edwards, spokeswoman for the museum, said the real Bieber would naturally change quickly over the eight months it took to create the life-like model.

"So we really wanted to make sure we made a `moment in time` figure," she said. "But it`s the hair that everyone is paying the biggest attention to. So, I`d say it`s the hair that`s been the biggest challenge."

The singer, already one of the world`s biggest pop stars with albums "My World" and My World 2.0", was accompanied to the event by his mother, and he greeted a small crowd of fans.

He said that he would ideally like his waxwork figure to stand next to U.S. rapper Tupac Shakur.

"Biebermania" has hit Britain during his visit, with hundreds of screaming fans crowding outside his hotel in the northern city of Liverpool last week forcing police to close down the area.

Bieber has two more concerts in London before playing in several other British cities and then heading for mainland Europe. (Sewa Crane)

Cat lovers join Yogya Cat Carnival

Around 80 cat lovers participated in a Cat Carnival to mark the first anniversary of Yogya Cat Carnival held at state University of Gajah Mada.

"In the province there are two cat lovers communities who are actively communicating through a twitter service. The number of their members reach 200 but only 80 participated in the carnival," event coordinator Darliana Surbakti said here on Saturday.

The Jogja Cat Carnival from March 19 to 20 was initiated by the Study Group on Pets of the Veterinary Department of the University of Gajahmada.

The activities in the carnival include cat contest, cat fashion show, eating and running competition, vaccination and a seminar on how to take care of cats and training them.

Various kinds of cats took part in the event such as Anggora, Persian, Scottish, Bengal, Sphinx and Maine Coon.

"Through the activity it is hoped cat lovers could exchange information as cat rearing has become a life style," he said.

The director of a veterinary hospital, Prof Soeparwi Ida Tjahajati said at the seminar that looking after and treating cats could not be done carelessly.

"They must pay attention to their food, vaccination and correct grooming," he said.

She said cat lovers also had better conduct consultations not only when their pet is ill but also when they are healthy.

Among the bacteria and virus that could attack cats include rabies, feline rhinotracheitis, feline panleukopenia, feline calicivirus.

"These diseases must be monitored and when they have attacked the cats must be immediately treated by vet," she said.

(Rental Crane)

Nuclear radiation risk

Thyroid cancer for sure. Leukemia, probably. Too much radiation can raise the risk of developing cancer years down the road, scientists agree, and the young are most vulnerable. But just how much or how long an exposure is risky is not clear.

Those are among the unknowns scientists are contemplating as the crisis unfolds at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant.

In Japan, the Science Ministry said radiation levels about 19 miles northwest of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant rose at one point Friday to 0.15 millisieverts per hour, about the amount absorbed in a chest X-ray. But levels have been fluctuating, and radiation at most sites that distance from the facility have been far below that.

Long term, it is clear radiation can induce cancer. But researchers can't just count cancer cases after a disaster and declare radiation responsible. Rates before and after must be compared to know if more cases occurred than would be expected.

That is why, 25 years after the Chernobyl accident, there is still controversy over its effects beyond the undisputed 6,000 cases of thyroid cancer. Of these cases, only 15 had proved fatal as of 2005, even though the Soviets were slow to treat victims of the catastrophe.

BMW New Grand-Touring Coupe

We’ve already seen the Convertible version, and now BMW has released pictures and details of its new 6-Series Coupe. The hard-topped Six is again a two-plus-two GT car aimed at rivals such as the Jaguar XK and higher-end versions of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe. It’s 75mm longer, 39mm wider and 5mm lower than its predecessor.

BMW’s newest, 5-Series-based Coupe will arrive in local showrooms later this year offering the same engines initially as the Convertible. The 650i is fitted with the 4.4-litre turbocharged V8 with 300kW and 600Nm, sprinting from 0-100km/h in 4.9 seconds and using 10.4 litres of petrol per 100km on average.

There’s 235kW and 450Nm produced by the 640i’s 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder, resulting in a 0-100km/h time of 5.4 seconds. Stop-start technology helps to reduce fuel consumption to an official 7.7L/100km.

Both engines are teamed with an eight-speed automatic. A 640d twin-turbo diesel model is anticipated further down the line and the M6 flagship model will materialise in 2012 – powered by a twin-turbo V8 that should be good for about 410kW.

The new 6-Series Coupe features LED headlamps and tail-lights, with options – including variable suspension – in line with those offered on the Convertible. The outgoing V8-powered 6-Series coupe starts at $227,300.

Electric Cars Run out of Charge

The electric cars revolution has hit its first bump in the road. According to reports from the United States several owners of Nissan's electric hatchback, the Leaf, have reported the car unexpectedly running out of charge and stopping.

Range-anxiety - the fear of an electric car running out of charge - is one of the biggest challenges facing the car industry as it attempts to convert motorists from fossil fuel to electricity.

The owners are reporting the remaining range indicated on the car's dashboard is rapidly dropping before putting the car into a "limp home mode" that slows the car to a crawl to conserve the remaining charge in the battery. One owner reported the car went from showing 27km of range to coming to a halt in only eight kilometres of driving.

"Part of me is amused that I may go down in history as the first dumbass to drive the car into submission," the owner wrote. "But I am slightly shaky and upset as I thought there should have been no problem getting home."

Another reported the a similar situation with the car again dropping into the "limp home mode" before grinding to a halt. A spokeswoman for Nissan USA said the company was investigating the reports but claimed they were "isolated" incidents.

The Nissan Leaf is due to go on sale in Australia next year and a spokesman for the local operation said he had not heard of the US reports, but said the company would look into them to find out what went wrong.

Japan: New radiation leaks harmful to health

Radiation is spewing from damaged reactors at a crippled nuclear power plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan in a dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The prime minister has warned residents to stay inside or risk getting radiation sickness.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Tuesday that a fourth reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex was on fire and that more radiation was released

Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned that there are dangers of more leaks and told people living within 19 miles (30 kilometers) of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex stay indoors.

US teens, young adults 'doing it' less, study says

Fewer teens and young adults are having sex, a government survey shows, and theories abound for why they're doing it less. Experts say this generation may be more cautious than their predecessors, more aware of sexually spread diseases. Or perhaps emphasis on abstinence in the past decade has had some influence. Or maybe they're just too busy.

"It's not even on my radar," said 17-year-old Abbey King of Hinsdale, Ill., a competitive swimmer who starts her day at 5 a.m. and falls into bed at 10:30 p.m. after swimming, school, weight lifting, running, more swimming, homework and a volunteer gig working with service dogs for the disabled.

The study, released Thursday, is based on interviews of about 5,300 young people, ages 15 to 24. It shows the proportion in that age group who said they'd never had oral, vaginal or anal sex rose in the past decade from 22 percent to about 28 percent. The findings are sure to surprise some parents who see skin and lust in the media and worry that sex is rampant.

"Many parents and adults look at teens and sex and see nothing but a blur of bare midriffs. They think things are terrible and getting worse," said Bill Albert, chief program officer for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Controversial mascots for the 2014 Olympics

A snowboarding leopard, a figure-skating bunny and a polar bear wearing a scarf will be the three mascots for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. Though those are some of the safest choices imaginable, the decision has led to charges of plagiarism, corruptibility and vote-rigging.

The winners were announced on a live television show broadcast throughout the country. Viewers cast over 1 million votes for the nine candidates and officials selected the top-three to serve as Sochi's official mascots. The snow leopard came out on top with 28 percent of the vote.

The announcement was not without some controversy. Ded Morez, the Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, had led in early polling but was pulled from the ballot at the last second when Russian organizers feared that their country's folk hero would become official property of the IOC. That decision left room for the following three winners, which are said to "encapsulate much of Russia's self-image."