The most expensive Apple iPhone 5 in the world, a Guiness Record (David Lim, Auckland, 0212640000)

Stuart Hughes, a Liverpool-based jeweller had earlier built a diamond iPhone 4, Platinum MacBook Air and Gold iPad 2. Now, the enthusiast has built an iPhone 5 with gold and diamonds, making it the world's most expensive smartphone.

  
The iPhone with gold and diamonds

According to the designer, the custom made iPhone 5 took him 9 weeks to build and the complete device has been made by hand. The outside casing of the smartphone is said to be made up for 24-carat gold, while the home button consists of 26-carat black diamond.

The Apple logo and the corners of the smartphone are built using the white diamonds. The device is encrusted with 600 precious stones, out of which, 53 are housed in the Apple logo at the back. The world's most expensive smartphone was ordered by a Chinese based businessman, who owns the black diamond that went into the construction.

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Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Largest Insect In The World! (record, giant, huge, Auckland, David, Lim)

You thought cockroaches are gross? Take a look at this “little” critter… the giant insect you see in these pictures is the largest in the world, and it’s so big, that it can eat a carrot like a regular Bugs Bunny. 53 year-old Mark Moffett found the huge creature well hidden, in a tree on Little Barrier Island, in New Zealand. The giant weta weighs the equivalent of three mice, and it has a wingspan of seven inches. The scientist picked her up with amazement and fed her a carrot, which she would’ve practically devoured if the humans hadn’t been so very concerned with the insect’s indigestion.

When asked about this endangered species of female weta, Mark had this to say:
We spent many hours with no luck finding any at all, before we saw her up in a tree.

“The giant weta is the largest insect in the world, and this is the biggest one ever found, she weighs the equivalent to three mice. She enjoyed the carrot so much she seemed to ignore the fact she was resting on our hands and carried on munching away. She would have finished the carrot very quickly, but this is an extremely endangered species and we didn’t want to risk indigestion. After she had chewed a little I took this picture and we put her right back where we found her.”

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£350,000 for the world's most expensive dog (world, record, costliest, pet, buying)

A Tibetan mastiff with the catchy name of Yangtze River Number Two has reportedly been sold to a woman in the Chinese province of Shaanxi for around £350,000, making it the most expensive dog ever.

The previous record of £90,000 was paid out by a family in Florida for Lancelot Encore - a cloned version of Lancelot, a much-loved but deceased Labrador.

The Times reports that Yangtze River Number Two's new owner, identified only as Mrs Wang, is rumoured to have spent years searching China for the perfect Tibetan Mastiff. When she located her dream dog in Qinghai province, she was determined to do whatever was necessary to make it hers.

The canine's newfound celebrity status was confirmed when a motorcade of 30 luxury cars turned up at Xi'an airport to collect it. Mrs Wang's wealthy friends sent their Mercedes limousines to the airport, and also organised a welcoming committee of local dog-lovers, complete with banners.

Dog-ownership is becoming increasingly popular in China, and is already causing problems in some of the country's over-crowded cities. A ban on pets in many public areas is being considered in Shanghai, while the city of Guangzhou has introduced a limit of one dog per family.

 

Cat-sized rat discovered in South Pacific

If you have a tendency to jump shrieking on to a table when you see a mouse, look away now: a species of rat the size of a cat has been discovered.

The outsized rodent, which has been named the Bosavi woolly rat, is almost a metre long and weighs in at 1.5kg. It was found trapped inside the crater of Mt Bosavi, an extinct volcano on Papua New Guinea, which has been described as a "lost world" in which scientists have found some 40 previously undiscovered species.

The rat has dense silvery grey fur and the shape of its teeth suggests it is primarily a vegetarian. It is thought to live in subterranean nests.

The animal was found by a BBC Natural History Unit film crew and Dr Kristofer Helgen, of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.

"This is one of the world's largest rats," he said. "It is a true rat, related to the same kind you find in the city sewers, but a heck of a lot bigger."

Despite the BBC's claims, there have been previous reports of the species existence.

In 2007 Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, reported the rat was "about five times the size of a typical city rat".

Dr George McGavin, the head scientist of the BBC Natural History Unit, however, suggested the rodent was not aggressive.

"This rat was incredibly tame," he told the Guardian newspaper. "It just sat next to me nibbling on a piece of leaf. It won't have seen a human before."

Some of the other new species found include a fanged frog, a fish that grunts and a gecko. The fish has been called the henamo grunter because of the noises it makes with its swim bladder.

The Bosavi silky cuscus, a marsupial that lives up trees and feeds on fruits and leaves, was another creature not to feel threatened by the human visitors, climbing on to the shoulder of Steve Backshall, a climber and naturalist.

"I can't begin to describe how it feels to have an animal in my hands that in all probability has never before been seen by science," he told the Guardian. "Most biologists would consider it a great achievement to name one new species but at some points on this trip it seemed like everything we were looking at was new. The end of every day was like a massive party. It was very special."

Taken there by local trackers, the group stayed in the crater for two weeks in January to film a BBC series on Mt Bosavi called Lost Land of the Volcano.

The area was so remote the expedition team had to organise for fields of sweet potato and spinach to be planted in the jungle six months in advance so they would have a ready food source.

Weeks were also devoted to negotiations - which had to be translated into the local language, Kasua, spoken by fewer than 1000 people - to gain permission to cross land owned by local clans.

Some strange news and people!

A 65-year-old amateur pilot was allegedly so drunk when flying his light Cessna over eastern Germany he could not read the instruments telling him where the airfield was. "Come on, I know you're down there," he radioed. "Where the bloody hell have you hidden yourself?" Control tower staff say he sang a few songs, cracked a mother-in-law joke and told them to "pull their fingers out as I've got a party to go to". Although he landed safely, he was breathalysed on the way home and found to be nearly four times over the limit. He lost his driver's and his pilot's licences. (Source: Telegraph.co.uk)
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The Red Cross claim their emblem is being abused when it's used to market businesses and products unrelated to their humanitarian deeds. "How many times have you seen a bottle of 'hair emergency' shampoo with a Red Cross on the packaging, or the local computer doctor's van sign written with a Red Cross emblem?" The Red Cross, who have 20 organisation they are in communication with over the issue, are trying to educate people that they can't just use the red cross symbol on a white background willy nilly. They say it "undermines its protective power in armed conflicts, potentially putting lives at risk".
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The public's watching you Rodney: "If you think it's bad seeing Rodney Hide texting or using his blackberry while driving, try being in the passenger seat while it's happening," writes a reader. "I had the dubious honour once and I feared for my life! He was trying to answer an email on his phone and was swerving all over the road. It was pretty scary because I knew we'd come off second-best in a collision given the size of his Smart car."
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Thousands of camels in Australia will be shot from helicopters and turned into burgers to stop them barging into people's homes and ripping up their bathrooms looking for water, reports Sky News.com. Tony Peacock, chief executive of the University of Canberra's Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Center, said: "To be shot from a helicopter is actually quite humane, even though that sounds brutal. If I was a camel, I'd prefer to just get it in the head."
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Best tweet about Random Acts of Kindness Day: "Embarrassing - misread it as Kingness. Five peasants needlessly beaten, plus a smutty phone call to Camilla."
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WHO Influenza A (H1N10 update 51, Swine Flue

I have collect some data for your update on the H1N1, see this link

Influenza A(H1N1) - update 51

Laboratory-confirmed cases of new influenza A(H1N1) as officially reported to WHO by States Parties to the International Health Regulations (2005)

19 June 2009 07:00 GMT

Country, territory and area	Cumulative total		Newly confirmed since the last reporting period
	Cases	Deaths	Cases	Deaths
Argentina	918	4	185	3
Australia	2199	0	87	0
Austria	8	0	1	0
Bahamas	2	0	0	0
Bahrain	12	0	0	0
Barbados	4	0	1	0
Belgium	19	0	0	0
Bermuda, UKOT	1	0	0	0
Bolivia	11	0	0	0
Brazil	96	0	17	0
British Virgin Islands, UKOT	1	0	0	0
Bulgaria	2	0	0	0
Canada	4905	12	856	5
Cayman Islands, UKOT	4	0	0	0
Chile	3125	2	790	0
China	519	0	137	0
Colombia	60	1	7	0
Costa Rica	149	1	0	0
Cuba	15	0	8	0
Cyprus	1	0	0	0
Czech Republic	5	0	1	0
Denmark	22	0	7	0
Dominica	1	0	0	0
Dominican Republic	93	1	0	0
Ecuador	86	0	0	0
Egypt	29	0	3	0
El Salvador	160	0	35	0
Estonia	5	0	1	0
Finland	13	0	1	0
France	131	0	13	0
French Polynesia, FOC	1	0	0	0
Martinique, FOC	1	0	0	0
Germany	238	0	43	0
Greece	31	0	8	0
Guatemala	153	1	25	0
Honduras	108	0	8	0
Hungary	7	0	3	0
Iceland	4	0	0	0
India	30	0	0	0
Ireland	16	0	4	0
Israel	219	0	67	0
Italy	88	0	16	0
Jamaica	14	0	2	0
Japan	690	0	24	0
Jordan	2	0	0	0
Korea, Republic of	84	0	19	0
Kuwait	18	0	0	0
Laos	1	0	1	0
Lebanon	12	0	1	0
Luxembourg	2	0	0	0
Malaysia	23	0	6	0
Mexico	7624	113	1383	5
Morocco	8	0	5	0
Netherlands	87	0	19	0
Netherlands Antilles, Curaçao *	3	0	2	0
Netherlands Antilles, Sint Maarten	1	0	1	0
New Zealand	216	0	89	0
Nicaragua	144	0	26	0
Norway	17	0	4	0
Oman	3	0	3	0
Panama	272	0	0	0
Papua New Guinea	1	0	1	0
Paraguay	27	0	2	0
Peru	141	0	29	0
Philippines	311	0	118	0
Poland	7	0	0	0
Portugal	5	0	2	0
Qatar	3	0	0	0
Romania	18	0	2	0
Russia	3	0	0	0
Samoa	1	0	0	0
Saudi Arabia	22	0	5	0
Singapore	77	0	28	0
Slovakia	3	0	0	0
South Africa	1	0	1	0
Spain	512	0	13	0
Sri Lanka	1	0	0	0
Suriname	11	0	11	0
Sweden	43	0	6	0
Switzerland	27	0	0	0
Thailand	518	0	208	0
Trinidad and Tobago	18	0	13	0
Turkey	20	0	4	0
Ukraine	1	0	0	0
United Arab Emirates	2	0	1	0
United Kingdom	1752	1	291	0
Isle of Man, Crown Dependency	1	0	0	0
Jersey, Crown Dependency	1	0	0	0
United States of America	17855	44	0	0
Uruguay	36	0	0	0
Venezuela	60	0	15	0
Viet Nam	27	0	0	0
West Bank and Gaza Strip	5	0	3	0
Yemen	4	0	3	0
Grand Total	44287	180	4667	13

Chinese Taipei has reported 60 confirmed case of influenza A (H1N1) with 0 deaths. Cases from Chinese Taipei are included in the cumulative totals provided in the table above.

Cumulative and new figures are subject to revision

Abbreviations

UKOT: United Kingdom Overseas Territory
FOC: French Overseas Collectivity
OT: Overseas Territory

Street view, Auckland, New Zealand, April 2009 (David Lim, s, y)

Some street views to share with you all via this blog. Sorry for the low-res as I used only my Nokia E71 phone to take these pictures.

Views are from Karangahape (K'Road) Road, Upper Queen Street, Aucland Central (CBD)

Strange facts you might not know! David Lim, Auckland, New Zealand

Cats do not taste sweetness.

Whales still have hip bones.

The glue used on Israeli postage stamps is kosher.

The city of Austin,TX was originally named “Waterloo”.

The 50 tallest mountains on Earth are all located in Asia.

Winston Churchill’s mother was an American born in New York.

Bagpipes weren’t invented in Scotland, but in ancient Persia.

Michelangelo died in 1564, the same year Shakespeare was born.

The human bone most often broken is the clavicle (collar bone).

Marie Osmond goes by her middle name. Her actual first name is Olive.

Contrary to the widely held belief, there are no wild tigers in Africa.

Only one U.S. state has a state flag with a green background: Washington.

Geologists believe that about half the unmined gold in the world is in South Africa.

The toilet featured in Hitchcock’s “Psycho” was the first flushing toilet to appear on-screen.

Elephants are the only animal physically unable to jump. This is because of their enormous weight.

If the tracks on a typical compact disc ran in a straight line, they would travel for about three miles.

Abraham Lincoln wasn’t the only U.S. president with a “Gettysburg Address.” Dwight Eisenhower owned a farm in the Pennsylvania town.

The Latin phrase “libra pondo” was used in ancient Rome to indicate weight, which is why today the abbreviation for “pound” is “lb.”

Leatherback sea turtles have fleshy backward-pointing spines in their throats so that jellyfish, their favorite food, can be swallowed more easily.

Plastic bags take up less landfill space than paper bags. According to one study, two plastic bags take up 72 percent less landfill space than one paper bag.

Not only are all automobile taillights in the U.S. red, they’re a specific shade of red (with a specific color wavelength and intensity) mandated by the federal government.

Bridgestone Corporation, maker of the Bridgestone tires, is a Japanese company. The title is derived from founder Shojiro Ishibashi’s last name, which translates literally to “stone bridge”.

The number “five” is important to the Pentagon in many ways. Sure, it has five sides, but the building also has five stories, and the courtyard in the center encompasses an area of five ac

The fortune cookie was invented in the early 20th century by Makato Hagiwara, who designed the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. He intended the cookie to be a snack for people walking through the garden.

Despite its 6.5 million square feet of floor space, the Pentagon in Washington was constructed in such a way that no point in the building is more than seven minutes’ walk from any other point in the building.

Built in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was lambasted by Parisians for its industrial ugliness. The only thing that saved it from being demolished in 1909 was its potential use as a radio tower during World War I. Luckily, by the end of the War, it had won over enough hearts to stay.