Could this form of yoga save your relationship?

AcroYoga is bringing couples together. Picture: Yoga Beyond Source: Supplied

A fast-growing form of partner yoga could be the key to rekindling your relationship — and it's more fun than couples counselling.

AcroYoga, thought to have started in Canada in 1999, combines acrobatics and yoga and relies heavily on trust as much as strength and flexibility.

Australian-based devotees Honza and Claudine Lafond, who have amassed a huge following on Facebook and more than 200,000 followers on Instagram for their high-flying exploits as both halves of Yoga Beyond, say the practice is increasing in popularity every day, particularly with couples.

"Human beings are always looking for new ways to connect, whether they know it or not, Claudine told news.com.au.

"Acro is hugely popular with couples and a part of that is because it's a real testing ground."

She said the practice can either make or break a relationship.

"It's so interesting to watch how couples interact when they come in," she said.

"You can't hide it and conflict will arise when you're in a situation where you're facing fear or doubt. It forces people to communicate and if they can get through that then it translates into other parts of their lives."

AcroYoga could help you reconnect with your partner. Picture: Yoga Beyond Source: Supplied

AcroYoga has taken Claudine and Honza around the world. Picture: Yoga Beyond Source: Supplied

Trust is a big part of AcroYoga. Picture: Yoga Beyond Source: Supplied

Vicky Chapman discovered AcroYoga in Bali almost five years ago and now runs Forever Evolving on Sydney's north shore and northern beaches.

She teaches private lessons to couples and has new husband and wife pairs routinely sign up for the practice.

"You learn how to trust and how to work with each other's bodies," she said.

"It can be a really beautifully sensual practice that brings with it intimacy and closeness and compassion."

She said adults often forget what it was like to be a child.

"It's playful. It's fun. As we get older we stop playing and we stop doing things that are slightly dangerous."

Vicky Chapman from Forever Evolving wants people to become more playful. Picture: Facebook Source: Supplied

03.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

How to fall in love with anyone

Mandy Len Catron found love with the help of science. Source: Supplied

IS IT possible to choose to fall in love?

Mandy Len Catron says it is — and her story has captured the imagination of thousands.

The 33-year-old tried to replicate a study that said intimacy could be achieved with a set of 36 questions and a four-minute exercise.

And it worked.

Her New York Times essay, 'To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This' has become an internet sensation in just a weekend.

The writer and lecturer says she doesn't believe in soulmates. Source: Supplied

"Everybody wants to be loved and the chance to love someone," Catron, who teaches writing at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, told news.com.au.

"We like the possibility that we don't have to be passive in that process."

Catron, from rural Virginia, found the idea particularly appealing.

After she ended a 10-year relationship in 2011, she decided she wanted to write about love stories and how they make us see the world.

Catron's Love Story Project dwells on how we find love in the modern world. Source: Supplied

"I wasn't convinced they make us better at love, in fact, I thought they may make us worse at it," she says.

While researching the subject, she came across a 20-year-old study by psychologist Arthur Aron, in which he succeeded in making two strangers fall in love in a lab.

"A heterosexual man and woman enter the lab through separate doors," she writes in her essay. "They sit face to face and answer a series of increasingly personal questions. Then they stare silently into each other's eyes for four minutes. The most tantalising detail: Six months later, two participants were married."

After three years of online dating, Catron was feeling disenchanted.

The 33-year-old says vulnerability is vital. Source: Supplied

"You never know what the other person is thinking," she says. "They're usually keeping their options open ... I felt a lot of anxiety."

Last summer, she was talking to an old university acquaintance she occasionally saw at the gym when he started asking about her research. When she brought up the study, they quickly agreed to try it out.

"With this guy, there was no anxiety," she says. "I thought, 'Maybe we'll have a relationship, maybe we'll just be close friends'."

She admits that there were flaws in her version of the study. "First, we were in a bar, not a lab. Second, we weren't strangers. Not only that, but I see now that one neither suggests nor agrees to try an experiment designed to create romantic love if one isn't open to this happening."

Nevertheless, as the pair took turns to ask each other increasingly personal questions, they felt a deepening bond.

The original study is also known as the "sharing game". Source: ThinkStock

By the time they headed out on to a bridge to stare into each other's eyes, they were falling in love.

"It was scary, but I'm glad I did it," says Catron. She insists the four-minute gaze is crucial to the experiment.

"Two minutes is just enough to be terrified," she told the New York Times. "Four really goes somewhere."

Six months later, she and her 38-year-old partner are still happily together.

"I don't know how much was him — it was great talking to him — and how much was the study," she says.

The test has also been used to help create bonds of friendship. Source: News Limited

Since its invention, the experiment has been used to connect people in other scenarios. including students of psychology and people with different political ideologies.

It is also known as the "fast friends" experiment, or the "sharing game".

"It always has the effect of bring people closer," says Catron. "It's about being vulnerable, letting your guard down.

"An individual could fall in love with any number of people. I don't buy into the idea of a soulmate.

"It's about timing, patience and also a willingness to be vulnerable with people. Rejection is so painful, I experienced that with online dating.

"You have to put yourself out there. Don't wait for love to find you."

Read more of Mandy Len Catron's writings on love on her website.

THE 36 QUESTIONS TO FALL LOVE

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

4. What would constitute a "perfect" day for you?

5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

6. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?

7. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

8. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

9. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

10. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

11. Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.

12. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

13. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?

14. Is there something that you've dreamt of doing for a long time? Why haven't you done it?

15. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

16. What do you value most in a friendship?

17. What is your most treasured memory?

18. What is your most terrible memory?

19. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?

20. What does friendship mean to you?

21. What roles do love and affection play in your life?

22. Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five items.

23. How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people's?

24. How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?

25. Make three true "we" statements each. For instance, "We are both in this room feeling ... "

26. Complete this sentence: "I wish I had someone with whom I could share ... "

27. If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know.

28. Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time, saying things that you might not say to someone you've just met.

29. Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.

30. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

31. Tell your partner something that you like about them already.

32. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

33. If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven't you told them yet?

34. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?

35. Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

36. Share a personal problem and ask your partner's advice on how he or she might handle it. Also, ask your partner to reflect back to you how you seem to be feeling about the problem you have chosen.

03.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gunman spoke of terror ‘hit list’

French police are hunting Hayat Boumeddiene, the girlfriend of Paris supermarket gunman Amedy Coulibaly.

Kosher supermarket siege ... Amedy Coulibaly shot dead four people and took more than a dozen others hostage. Picture: AP Source: AP

FRENCH authorities have warned its citizens to prepare generally for further terrorist attacks but one hostage from the siege in Paris has told police a chilling account of an apparent "hit list" of targets.

Esther Bekerman visited her cousin Meryl Bekerman in hospital after the latter was shot in the arm during the siege at the Jewish market in the east of Paris where gunman Amedy Coulibaly shot dead four people and took more than a dozen others hostage.

Tragedy ... Eliahou Rouas-Cohen and Esther Bekerman lay tributes outside the kosher supermarket where the siege took place. Picture: Ella Pellegrini Source: News Corp Australia

INNOCENT VICTIMS: Hostages killed in Paris supermarket siege named

SHOW OF UNITY: Sydneysiders gather in Martin Place for rally

Ms Bekerman described how her wounded cousin hid in the kosher supermarket and overheard chilling telephone calls Coulibaly made calling for further attacks.

"He (gunman) came running inside and killed a few people," Ms Bekerman told News Corp Australia.

Chilling ... Amedy Coulibaly, with accomplice Hayat Boumddiene, was reportedly heard discussing further attacks on the phone. Picture: AP Source: AP

"Straight away Meryl ran to the back of the shop and hid behind large food stacking trolleys. He came in she was hiding behind there all by herself and she was hit in the arm by a bullet which wouldn't stop bleeding but she was hiding there all by herself for five hours.

Fatal siege ... police officers stand guard outsid the kosher supermarket. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images

"She was hearing the gunman calling people on the telephone and saying who they needed to kill next, this person in this place that person in that place. He was giving them orders. He was giving them exact times and exact places."

PARIS SIEGE: Female terrorists nothing new

AFTERMATH: What's next for Charlie Hedbo?

Ms Bekerman said her cousin told police what she has heard when they interviewed her.

"She was really scared and could not believe it was happening to her especially since she had been talking to friends a few days ago about events here in Paris and saying 'it wouldn't happen to us'," her cousin said.

Miraculous survival ... Esther Bekerman, right, says her cousin hid behind trolleys during the terrifying siege. Picture: Ella Pellegrini Source: News Corp Australia

She said her cousin believed gunman Coulibaly had walked into the shop with a second man but did not know what happened to him. But it was Coulibaly that warned the hostages "if you say one word I will kill you" she said.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Britain was on the brink of raising the terrorist threat level to its highest level in seven years as security chiefs warned that up to 150 jihadists in the UK could carry out gun attacks similar to the Paris atrocities.

03.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

The bug hijacking smartphones

Smartphone users are frustrated with a bug that is redirecting their web clicks. Picture: Sean Gallup / Getty Images Source: Getty Images

IT IS truly a 21st century problem, but one with potentially very serious implications. It may have even happened to you.

Mobile phone users browsing the internet are increasingly having their link clicks hijacked and being diverted from pages they are viewing towards pornography websites or advertisements or even the App Store.

The good news for both iPhone and Android users is that both parent companies — Apple and Google — say they are doing everything they can to protect customers from malicious software on their smart phones.

The bad news is that even the experts don't know what is causing the problem.

Professor Nigel Phair, a former Australian Federal Police officer and head of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre, said the problem is not a new one, but tracking down its origins is almost impossible.

"In cybercrime, attribution is really difficult," Professor Phair told news.com.au.

In recent months users have reported being driven away from web pages towards the App Store, commonly to the landing page for popular puzzle game Candy Crush Saga, which was released in 2012 and was one of the most downloaded games on Android and iPhone.

"It might be a company that promises Candy Crush they can drive content in their direction but I'd be surprised if Candy Crush had to do that," professor Phair said.

Redirects are sending users to the popular Candy Crush Saga game. Picture: Philippe Huguen / AFP Source: AFP

"There are a lot of organisations that are paid to move eyeballs around the internet."

He said the problem was not a precursor to "the next big hack", but that smartphones presented a number of security issues, particularly when users were downloading apps.

"With Android in particular, any man and his dog can make an app and it can be full of anything including malicious software, redirects, anything."

Professor Alistair McGibbon from the University of Canberra and the Centre for Internet Safety agreed.

"Apps generally have proven quite problematic," Professor McGibbon said.

"Often, when you purchase an app you give permission to the creator to access your contacts, all of your to-and-from emails, all of your past and ongoing communications, granular information in exchange for a free game," he said.

The problem affects iPhone and Android devices. Source: Supplied

"I wonder if people know what they're trading off sometimes."

A spokesman for Google Australia told news.com.au that security checks are in place "before and after purchase".

"When you download an app it lists all the permissions it requires and you have to click yes to approve," he said.

Even after the app is downloaded there's security built in to the phone to prevent one app from accessing another app.

Apple provided a statement saying it would not discuss the security issues.

"For the protection of our customers, Apple does not disclose, discuss or confirm security issues until a full investigation has occurred and any necessary patches or releases are available."

03.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

This could be the ���deadliest massacre’ in history

Hundreds of bodies remain strewn in the bush in Nigeria from an attack deemed Boko Haram's most deadly.

This photo from November 2014 shows children displaced after attacks by Boko Haram playing in the camp of internal displaced people. AP Photo/Sunday Alamba. Source: AP

HUNDREDS of bodies — too many to count — remain strewn in the bush in Nigeria from an Islamic extremist attack that Amnesty International suggested Friday is the "deadliest massacre" in the history of Boko Haram.

Mike Omeri, the government spokesman on the insurgency, said fighting continued Friday for Baga, a town on the border with Chad where insurgents seized a key military base on January 3 and attacked again on Wednesday.

"Security forces have responded rapidly, and have deployed significant military assets and conducted air strikes against militant targets," Omeri said in a statement.

District head Baba Abba Hassan said most victims are children, women and elderly people who could not run fast enough when insurgents drove into Baga, firing rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles on town residents.

This photo from April 2013 shows a young girl standing amid the burned ruins of Baga, Nigeria. (AP Photo / Haruna Umar file ) Source: AP

"The human carnage perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists in Baga was enormous," Muhammad Abba Gava, a spokesman for poorly armed civilians in a defence group that fights Boko Haram, told The Associated Press.

He said the civilian fighters gave up on trying to count all the bodies. "No one could attend to the corpses and even the seriously injured ones who may have died by now," Gava said.

An Amnesty International statement said there are reports the town was razed and as many as 2,000 people killed.

If true, "this marks a disturbing and bloody escalation of Boko Haram's ongoing onslaught," said Daniel Eyre, Nigeria researcher for Amnesty International.

In Washington, U.S. State Department Spokesman Jen Psaki condemned the attacks.

"We urge Nigeria and its neighbours to take all possible steps to address the urgent threat of Boko Haram. Even in the face of these horrifying attacks, terrorist organisations like Boko Haram must not distract Nigeria from carrying out credible and peaceful elections that reflect the will of the Nigerian people," Psaki said in a statement.

This photo from April 2013 shows a photo of a man trying to cool down another man burnt during fighting in Baga, Nigeria. Picture: AP Photo/Haruna Umar. Source: AP

The previous bloodiest day in the uprising involved soldiers gunning down unarmed detainees freed in a March 14, 2014, attack on Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri city. Amnesty said then that satellite imagery indicated more than 600 people were killed that day.

The 5-year insurgency killed more than 10,000 people last year alone, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations. More than a million people are displaced inside Nigeria and hundreds of thousands have fled across its borders into Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria.

Emergency workers said this week they are having a hard time coping with scores of children separated from their parents in the chaos of Boko Haram's increasingly frequent and deadly attacks.

Another photo from April 2013 shows the ruins of burnt out houses in Baga village in Nigeria. AP Photo/Haruna Umar. Source: AP

Just seven children have been reunited with parents in Yola, capital of Adamawa state, where about 140 others have no idea if their families are alive or dead, said Sa'ad Bello, the co-ordinator of five refugee camps in Yola.

He said he was optimistic that more reunions will come as residents return to towns that the military has retaken from extremists in recent weeks.

Suleiman Dauda, 12, said he ran into the bushes with neighbours when extremists attacked his village, Askira Uba, near Yola last year.

"I saw them kill my father, they slaughtered him like a ram. And up until now I don't know where my mother is," he told The Associated Press at Daware refugee camp in Yola.

03.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Emergency bushfire warning for WA

DFES have confirmed that the fire is fast moving and difficult to contain and urge people to adhere to all fire warnings.

Residents living in WA's Swan district have been told it's too late to leave as bushfires approach homes.

Aerial crews fight the flames of the Bullsbrook blaze. Photo: Chris Lujiez Source: Supplied

UPDATE: THREE homes are on fire in Pinjar in Perth's northern suburbs as a bushfire that started in Bullsbrook continues to spread and rage out of control.

Firefighters were battling flames at three properties on Perry Road in Pinjar at 5pm on Saturday.

A woman was also treated for breathing difficulties after being rescued by fire fighters.

Fanned by strong, gusty winds, the blaze is threatening parts of Nowergup, Ridgewood, Butler, Emerald Valley, Clarkson and Quinns Rocks.

The "out of control and unpredictable" fire has jumped over Perry Road and is burning in Gnangara Pine Plantation towards Wanneroo Road.

Yanchep residents have also been put on alert as an out-of-control bushfire continues to burn across Perth's northern suburbs, fanned by 50km/hr winds.

It has now burnt through more than 4000 hectares, WA fire boss Wayne Gregson confirmed.

LATEST WA BUSHFIRE UPDATES

EMERGENCY WARNING

The latest alert from the Department for Fire and Emergency Services said an emergency warning was now in place for an area bounded by Wesco Road, Old Yanchep Road, Nisa Road, Cyprus Road, Wanneroo Road, Joondalup Drive, Wandoo Road, Seismic Road.

An emergency warning is also in place for an area bounded by Old West Road, Kirby Road, Railway Parade, Chitty Road and Wandoo Road.

"You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes," DFES said.

DFES warned there is an ember attack ahead of the fire and urged residents to close all doors and windows, and turn off evaporative air conditioners, but keep water running through the system if possible.

Two evacuation centres have been set up at Wanneroo Recreation Centre, 440 Scenic Drive, Wanneroo and at Gum Blossom Hall on Tapping Way, Quinns Rock.

WATCH AND ACT WARNING

Yanchep residents have also been put on alert as an out-of-control bushfire continues to burn across Perth's northern suburbs, fanned by 50km/hr winds.

The Department for Fire and Emergency Services at 6.40pm Saturday said another bushfire "watch and act" alert had been issued, this one for Yanchep residents north of Tomar Road and up to Pigeon Road.

Two other watch and act alerts remain in place as firefighters prepare to try to stop the blaze at Old Yanchep Rd.

It has now burnt through more than 4000 hectares, WA fire boss Wayne Gregson confirmed.

DFES said one person would be spending the night at the Quinns Rocks evacuation centre as they were unable to get back to their property after fleeing.

EVACUATION CENTRE

A SECOND evacuation centre has been set up as a bushfire in Bullsbrook continues to rage out of control.

The blaze has now jumped Neaves Road and has taken hold in the Gnangara pine plantation, which has a 50-year fuel load, the Department for Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said at 2.15pm Saturday.

The second evacuation centre has been set up by City of Wanneroo at Wanneroo Recreation Centre on Scenic Drive.

The first evacuation centre was set up by the Department for Child Protection at Altone Park in Beechboro, where residents who fled the fire are waiting desperately for news.

A mammoth firefighting effort continues, with hundreds of career and volunteer firefighters battling the blaze assisted by water bombers overhead.

The fire is so intense there was no way to tackle it head on, a DFES spokesman said.

Instead, firefighters are focused on protecting homes from the blazing embers.

BULLSBROOK BLAZE IN PICTURES

BATTLE TO SAVE HOMES

While many residents have fled, others have stayed behind the defend their homes.

Gusty easterly winds and temperatures up to 30C are making conditions treacherous.

The blaze is believed to have started in shrubs outside a storage depot on Railway Parade.

A business owner who keeps equipment at the storage depot where the Bullsbrook fire started says he has no idea how the blaze broke out.

Mark Davis, 39, keeps equipment from his company Dynamic Drill and Blast at the Railway Parade property where the fire started just before 10am.

He said he got a phone call from a friend who lives nearby alerting him about the fire. By the time Mr Davis arrived to remove his equipment, firefighters were at the scene but strong winds had spread the blaze to long grass and scrub bordering the property.

"The gate was locked when I left the compound last night and we did not have anyone there until I got there this morning" he said.

Smoke rising from the flames of Bullsbrook bushfire. Photo: Peter Law Source: Supplied

At a briefing at 1.30pm, firefighters were warned of burning embers landing up to 400m ahead of the fire front, while live Western Power poles were an electrocution risk.

They were also told to "watch your arses" ahead of an expected southerly wind change.

The Outback Splash water park was being used to fill up fire tankers, while wildlife including kangaroos were also scrambling to avoid the flames.

Meanwhile, furious residents took to social media to complain about a speed camera that caught several motorists as they fled the Bullsbrook fire.

Officers are interviewing residents on Railway Parade where the blaze broke out, with one Arson Squad member saying the site is a potential crime scene.

A neighbour of the property where the fire was believed to have started told fire investigators that the fire spread within seconds.

"There is so much fuel here," the mother-of-two, who did not want to be named, said.

Meanwhile, dozens of fire trucks are refilling their water tanks at a bushfire control post on Railway Parade as water bombers fly overhead.

Wildlife are also scrambling to avoid the flames, including kangaroos fleeing in the opposite direction.

BUSHFIRE BEHAVIOUR:

The bushfire is moving rapidly at 2.2km per hour in a north-westerly direction.

It is out of control and unpredictable.

The fire has jumped over Perry Road and is now burning in Gnangara Pine Plantation towards Wanneroo Road.

The fire is expected to reach Old Yanchep Road at 7pm tonight.

Burning embers are likely to be blown around your home. Spot fires are starting ahead of the fire.

Flames are higher than roof tops.

WHAT TO DO:

If the way is clear, leave now for a safer place.

Do not wait and see, leaving at the last minute is deadly.

There is ember attack ahead of the fire, so close all doors and windows, and turn off evaporative air conditioners, but keep water running through the system if possible.

If your plan is to stay and actively defend, do not rely on mains water pressure as it may be affected. If you have access to a water tank and plan to defend your home, start patrolling with your hose and put out spot fires.

If you cannot leave, you need to get ready to shelter in your home and actively defend it.

If you are not at home, it is too dangerous now to return.

SAFER PLACE:

Your safest option may be to visit family or friends who live away from the area.

Two evacuation centres have been set up at Wanneroo Recreation Centre, 440 Scenic Drive, Wanneroo as well Gum Blossom Hall on Tapping Way, Quinns Rock.

ROAD CLOSURES:

Avoid the area and be aware of fire and other emergency services personnel working on site.

A number of roads have been closed including:

● Neaves Road from Yanchep Road to Railway Parade

● Railway Parade south of Stock West Road

● Wanneroo Road between Old Yanchep Road and Hester Ave has limited access

● Perry Road between Joondalup Drive and Wanneroo Road

● All roads contained with the boundary of Old West Road, Kirby Road, Railway Parade, Chitty Road and Wandoo Road.

Originally published as Emergency bushfire warning for WA

03.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Netflix tight-lipped on Aussie geoblock

At the 2015 International CES WSJ's Wilson Rothman meets with Neil Hunt of Netflix to discuss the extended services of high-quality 4K video streaming.

Global hit ... Netflix is used by people around the world. Picture: AP Source: AP

NETFLIX has refused to answer questions about an alleged crackdown on Australian users of its movie-streaming service, even as it tried to promote better image quality and TV recommendations at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The multi-billion dollar on-demand movie service was this week accused of closing a loophole that allowed Netflix Google Android app users to mask their locations, shutting down access for some paying subscribers outside the United States.

An estimated 20,000 Australians pay for Netflix subscriptions, and access the service by masking their computer's location so they appear to reside in America.

REVEALED: Netflix starts blocking Australians accessing its service

Controversial .. Netflix Chief Streaming and Partnerships Officer Greg Peters and Sony Electronics President and COO Mike Fasulo speak at the Las Vegas CES event. Picture: David Becker/Getty Images/AFP Source: AFP

But the company refused to address the concerns initially raised on TorrentFreak with Australian media at CES, instead instructing journalists not to ask questions about the alleged crackdown, and handing out copies of a news article refuting the claims.

The company also issued a statement saying "virtually crossing borders to use Netflix is a violation of our terms of use".

The statement continued, "We have not recently made any changes."

The movie giant is due to launch its service in Australia this March, but many of its popular shows including Orange is the New Black and Better Call Saul, are unlikely to screen on the local service due to licencing agreements, potentially providing little incentive for existing subscribers to switch.

Popular show ... Uzo Aduba, Samira Wiley, Danielle Brooks and Vicky Jeudy in a scene from Orange is the New Black. Picture: JoJo Whilden for Netflix. Supplied by Foxtel Source: Supplied

Despite shutting down discussion on its subscribers' concerns, Netflix chief product officer Neil Hunt was willing to discuss other developments for the company, including the addition of HDR content, or movies streamed with a wider colour gamut and higher contrast images.

The HDR or high-dynamic range versions of movies would deliver 10 times the brightness of current streamed movies, he said.

"It makes it a much more vivid, much more real picture that almost feels 3D," Mr Hunt said.

The HDR information would add 20 per cent on to the size of each streamed movie, however.

Mr Hunt said Netflix would also begin recommending televisions to consumers based on their own criteria, though the recommendations would only be issued in the US for now.

03.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pyne’s plan to stop third biggest killer

Stopping the brain drain ... young researchers will be able to apply for grants to work on dementia research from today. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

YOUNG Aussie scientists are being offered lucrative research grants as incentives to trade in overseas academic careers and stay in Australia to help fight dementia.

In a bid to combat fears of a wide-scale research brain drain, Education Minister Christopher Pyne will today announce that scientists and researchers in the early stages of their careers can now apply for a slice of $46 million in grant funding for dementia research.

The fellowship program, which is a part of the federal government's $200 million Boosting Dementia Research Initiative, has been welcomed by dementia and Alzheimer's groups which previously lashed the Coalition for removing an age care subsidy for dementia patients.

TREATMENTS: Virtual forest could help dementia patients

DEVASTATED: 'My mum has dementia'

don't go ... the federal government wants young researchers to stay in the country and work on better understanding dementia. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Dementia is currently the third leading cause of death in Australia, with more than 340,000 people living with the disease across the country.

Mr Pyne said urgent action was needed to find better treatments and Australia could not afford to lose its top young researchers to prestigious international universities.

"To make a real dent in this we need new thinking and creative ideas," Mr Pyne said.

"I believe Australia's up and coming researchers have the drive and the enthusiasm to make an enormous contribution," Mr Pyne said.

Pleding funds ... Minister for Education Christopher Pyne says new thinking and creative ideas are needed to combat the third biggest killer of Australians. Picture: News Corp Australia Source: News Corp Australia

Chief executive of Alzheimer's Australia, Carol Bennett, agreed bright young academics would be critical to advancing dementia research.

"This is an area of brain drain in this country," Ms Bennett said.

"We need to ensure that we can attract the best and brightest researchers."

Finding answers ... more needs to be understood about the treatments for and triggers of dementia. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Ms Bennett said a significant amount of research needed to be done examining all aspects of the illness, including its management and treatment, and determining the lifestyle factors that could trigger its onset.

"There are very big and complex questions still to be answered," she said.

The research fellowships will be funded through the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council.

Growing problem ... more than 340,000 Australians have dementia. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

The federal government had come under fire for its decision last year to cut the dementia and severe behaviours supplement, which is paid to aged care facilities looking after patients with dementia, after the cost of the scheme soared.

It has since committed to developing an alternative support package for dementia patients, and Ms Bennett said she was optimistic that would be included in this year's budget.

03.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

The big change coming to TV

Wearables? Drones? 4K TVs? WSJ's Joanna Stern breaks down the top tech trends to watch out for at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Photo: Getty

Smarter than smart ... Samsung unveiled new TVs at CES that will be smarter, brighter and have more realistic images. Source: Supplied

TELEVISION is poised to make a literal quantum leap this year as two of the world's leading TV makers introduce breakthrough screen technology that is significantly brighter, offers greater colours and more realistic images.

Both Samsung and LG unveiled new televisions using nanocrystal semiconductors, better known as quantum dot technology, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today.

The new screens promise to deliver images "two and a half times brighter" that of conventional TVs, and with 64 times the "colour expression".

Future vision: TVs to be `indiscernible from real life'

Smart life: technology spreads through the home

Plus, the new technology is expected to cost no more than current model televisions when it launches in Australia this April.

Samsung consumer electronics vice-president Phil Newton said the company's SUHD television technology was "superior to OLED" screens and basic quantum dot technology, comparing it to buying an expanded pack of coloured pencils.

Like buying an expanded pack of coloured pencils ... The new Samsung TV adds a nanocrystal layer to an LED television. Source: AFP

The new TV technology works by adding a nanocrystal layer to an LED television. These semiconductors can produce different colours of light to deliver a wider colour gamut, more accurate colours, and brighter images.

They can also be used to produce large television screens, unlike OLED screens which have proven expensive and difficult to manufacture in big sizes.

Mr Newton said Samsung would launch three lines of SUHD televisions in Australia, ranging from 55 inches to 88 inches.

Despite advances in colour, contrast and brightness, Mr Newton said the price of the new TVs would be comparable to TVs available now.

"If you can afford to buy a 78-inch television now, you can afford to buy a 78-inch SUHD TV," he said.

Samsung is not the only company at CES to show off the technology, however, with rival LG planning to show off a 65-inch quantum dot television at its stand when the show officially opens tomorrow.

TV wars ... LG is planning to show off a 65-inch quantum dot television at its stand when the CES officially opens tomorrow. Source: AFP

While the company cannot confirm whether its quantum dot model will be launched in Australia, LG Electronics TV senior vice-president In-kyu Lee said the technology brought "LED LCD TVs to the next level when it comes to picture quality".

But the company is also throwing its weight behind the competing OLED, or organic light-emitting diode technology, revealing seven new OLED TVs at the show.

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson travelled to CES as a guest of Samsung.

03.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

There is no such thing as ‘healthy obesity’

The study measured BMI, cholesterol, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and insulin resistance. Source: AFP

PEOPLE who are obese may appear healthy for a while but their condition declines over time, according to a study that followed more than 2500 people for 20 years.

The research by scientists at University College London is the longest of its kind, and its findings support previous research that has shown people who are overweight face a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and some kinds of cancer than thin people as the years go on.

For the purposes of the research, "healthy obesity" was defined as not having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or other metabolic risk factors.

A total of 2521 men and women between the ages of 39 and 62 were followed for the study that measured their body mass index, cholesterol, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and insulin resistance.

A total of 181 participants were initially classified as obese, including 66 who were considered "healthy obese".

By the time the two decades had passed, just over half of the healthy obese people had become unhealthy obese. Only 11 per cent of those who were obese at the start of the study lost kilos and reached normal weight.

'Healthy obesity' is not sustainable. Source: Supplied

"A core assumption of healthy obesity has been that it is stable over time, but we can now see that healthy obese adults tend to become unhealthy obese in the long term, with about half making this transition over 20 years in our study," said lead study author Joshua Bell.

"Healthy obesity is a high-risk state with serious implications for disease risk."

Nearly 36 per cent of adults in the United States and nearly 25 per cent of adults in Britain are obese, according to estimates from government health authorities. 3 in 5 Australian adults are overweight or obese.

"Healthy obesity is only valid if it is stable over time, and our results indicate that it is often just a phase," added Bell.

The research was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Further research from the Slimming World study of 2, 573 people found that up to 40 per cent of overweight men and women have faced some form of judgment, criticism or humiliation at least once a week.

Asking for clothing in a bigger size induced laughter in stores. Source: Supplied

It included young people winding down car windows to shout abuse, passengers refusing to share a seat on public transport, men in nightclubs feigning romantic interest and teenagers taking pictures or videos on their phones.

Even being a paying customer did not stop comments on food choices from supermarket staff, laughter from shop assistants when asked for clothes in a bigger size, and feeling humiliated as bar staff served slimmer customers first.

Weight discrimination does not motivate people to lose weight, the study found. Instead, it left 47 per cent feeling ashamed, 41 per cent depressed and 30 per cent like they were useless.

03.30 | 0 komentar | Read More