'Killer Kismot curry' contest leaves two in hospital in Edinburgh

World's hottest chilli contest: Competitors tuck in to the 'Kismot Killer' curry, trying to prove it's not too hot to handle. It left two people in hospital

Ambulances were called to the restaurant, with one of those taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI) having to return there within hours of being released, for more treatment.

At the heart of the ‘Kismot Killer’ is the bhut jolokia chilli, considered the world’s hottest edible variety – 20 times more potent than some Cayenne peppers.

The blood red and brown dish containing three of the chillies gives off an air of menace and the disclaimer gives customers a taste  of what they are letting themselves in for.

‘Kismot Restaurant will take no responsibilities for the bodily functions after you eat the curry,’ it says. ‘If you die whilst eating or as a direct result of eating the curry, members of the table will share the cost of your Kismot Killer.Kim Curie had to be taken by ambulance to hospital twice in a matter of hours

‘If you become ill due to the Kismot Killer or if you find that you are experiencing any problems with your lover(s) then under no circumstances are you entitled to blame Kismot Restaurant or any members of its staff.’

Participants in the charity event had to eat spoonfuls of increasing strength ‘Kismot Killer’, with those who took a drink of milk before the end being disqualified.

Kim Curie, 21, a Korean exchange student at Edinburgh University, came second in the competition, which was in aid of the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland. She said: ‘I’ve always enjoyed spicy foods and thought this was for a good cause. But it came with a price: I had to be taken to the ERI twice. I have never endured such pain in my life.’

Restaurant owner Abdul Ali admitted his surprise at the violent reaction to the dish, especially as the man who finished fifth also ended up in hospital.

 

Abdul Ali, manager of the Kismot restaurant, with his Kurry King or Queen crown and trophy

‘People were in agony,’ said Mr Ali, who was criticised by the ambulance service after the event. ‘I might have overestimated what I could give them. We made it a bit hotter than it is on the menu. I was a bit shocked at how people reacted. I think we’ll tone it down in future. We do not want any more ambulances.’

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dies at 56

 

Apple boss Steve Jobs, seen here delivering one of his last public speeches, has died at 56

Described as a 'visionary' by president Barack Obama and 'brilliant passionate and energetic' in a statement from his company itself, Jobs is widely credited with transforming the world of computer and smartphone technology.

Apple's iPod also revolutionised the music world by making digital music and music players 'cool' again.

Microsoft boss Bill Gates also paid tribute to Jobs, who died on Wednesday, saying it had been an 'insanely great honour' to work with him.

 

A tribute to Jobs, left on the Apple store front in Santa Monica

'I will miss Steve immensely,' Gates added.

In a short tribute, Mr Obama hailed Jobs' contribution to American life in general, saying he 'made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun'.

'Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it,' the US president added.

Many other tributes poured in for the Apple co-founder after the news of his death emerged, with influential figures from across the world united in their respect.

Apple's statement said: 'The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.'

Tributes and flowers were laid by Apple staff and fans at the company's iconic headquarters in Cupertino, California.

 

Candles are lit at a makeshift memorial for Steve Jobs at the Apple headquarters

The Apple boss' death comes just a matter of hours after his company's latest announcement - the next generation iPhone 4S.

The presentation of the new device, which has received a muted response from fans and critics so far, was made by new chief executive Tim Cook - his first public presentation after taking over from his predecessor.

Jobs' impact across different spheres was perhaps encapsulated best by the tributes paid to him from all walks of life.

American tennis star Serena Williams called Jobs 'the Thomas Edison of our day' in a Twitter post, adding: 'You will be missed but your legend will live forever.'

Will Findlater, editor of Stuff Magazine, added: 'Steve Jobs created the modern technology landscape. He made gadgets front-page stories and objects of desire, and his uncanny ability to predict what we would need and want from our gadgets led to the products that have defined the 21st century.

'He understood above all else that it’s not the technology itself, but the way in which you use it that can enhance your life. As a result, he forever changed the way we entertain ourselves, communicate with one another and interact with our devices.'

Meanwhile, British business magnate Lord Sugar - his own fame born from the computers market - said he was 'gutted' by the news.

'We started our computer biz at same time and were competitors tru 80's. Great visionary. Sadly missed RIP,' he told his followers.

Jobs started his career in tech in 1969 when he got a summer job at Hewlett-Packard, before going on to launch the Apple 1 computer with fellow Apple founder Steve Wozniak in 1976.

She refused to wash off make-up for two years

she was dissatisfied with her appearance and wanted 

cosmetic surgery on 10 areas of her face

For two years, this South Korean lady did not wash her face, reported The Daily Chilli.

20-year-old Bae Dal-mi wanted to "look perfect all the time", and even slept with thick make-up on. She said that she first started applying make-up as a 14-year-old and eventually progressed to thicker, mask-like makeup.

She added that the most important object in her life was her mirror, which she keeps by her side at all times.

Despite being considered rather pretty, Bae revealed to a South Korean variety show that she was dissatisfied with her appearance and wanted cosmetic surgery on 10 areas of her face.

Bae's mother, appalled at her daughter's lack of hygiene, had contacted the variety show in an attempt to force her to change her behavior.

A visit to the doctor revealed that Bae's skin was twice her actual age due to the make-up, reported online media.

According to experts, leaving make up on for too long not only clogs pores, but can also cause early aging.

Meat Glows Blue in Shanghai

Straight out of a science fiction tale comes this true story of blue glowing meat in Shanghai, China. Some pork purchased in supermarkets in Changsha City emitted a blue glow much to the surprise and fear of those who had cooked some of the meat and eaten it in various appetizers.

Oddly, the blue color is only seen at night, making it possible for one

who has had one  drink too many to think they are having an hallucination. The morning after, so to speak, the meat looks normal.

The media picked up the story and forced the hand of the Changsha Food Safety Commission, who immediately mobilized the efforts of the business, livestock, industry and commerce, health, and other departments and at invited experts and professors to participate in the investigation.

Although none of the experts consulted admitted they had never seen such a thing, they all concurred that “blue glowing pork” is caused by secondary bacterial contamination.

Shanghai Health Supervision Department food experts say the pork that has been contaminated by phosphorescent bacteria is still safe to consume after cooking and heating.

So far, no one has tested this theory.

Maybe more colors are needed before consumers feel safe eating meat that comes in different shades and hues.

Red roasts and green sirloins, coming up!

Dead alien' turns out to be stale bread

Dough: Fake alien was made of bread crumbs and chicken skin

A video of the find shot by Timur Hilall, 18, and Kirill Vlasov, 19 - supposedly showing the alien's mangled body frozen in snow in  Irkutsk, Siberia -  became a world-wide sensation after appearing on YouTube.

Now the pair have admitted it was a prank after being quizzed  by police over the stunt.

A Russian interior ministry spokesman said: 'We found the alien in one of the student's homes.

'It was lying under his bed and an examination of it revealed it had been made of bread crumbs which were then covered in chicken skin.' 

Now police and prosecutors are considering whether the pair have committed any crime.

'What are we going to do with them? We have not yet decided.' 

The bogus body appeared after locals reported seeing an alien spaceship crash in the region last month.

Local UFO expert Alex Komanov from the Russian UFO Research Centre immediately dismissed the find saying: 'The body is interesting. The texture is similar to a real biological entity.

'However, the creature has no clothes and I am sure that intelligent beings would be dressed in something like a space suit or coveralls.'

But UFO fans are already accusing the Russian government of staging a cover up.

'We know what we saw. Powerful people in the military just don't want us  to see this,' said one.

Look before you buy that smartphone

YOU'RE in the market for a smartphone now, forget it. Cancel your plans, save your money and avoid frustration.

This is the worse time to buy a smartphone. (Then again, there is no good time to buy anything related to technology because it just becomes old after three months.) It's definitely not the time to be buying a smartphone now if you're living in Southeast Asia, more so if you're in Brunei.

Why? Dual-core phones were announced just this year with LG's Optimus 2X being the first of its kind. What does dual core mean? Imagine this, combine two of the Optimus 2X's, they will be as capable as the Macbook Pro I am using. And then 3D phones are already on the way.

Let's take a look at the breakdown of the major operating systems available.

Windows Phone 7 (WP7)

Many thought this was going to be the next hottest thing for mobile devices. But upon release, reviews went from good to bad. It's been almost a year after release and it hasn't really made much of an impact since.

WP7 came with a semi multi-tasking ability. But the market already had other existing operating systems that were already capable of running a 100 per cent multi-task. WP7 is only planning to introduce the copy-and-paste function, an extremely necessary feature to have, "soon".

The WP7 apps are not growing as fast as users would like them. You won't see many with these in Brunei, but if you're looking to be unique, then yes, buy WP7.

Symbian OS

People love their Nokia. Nokia phones are solid and cheap. Brunei actually has one of the highest users of Opera Web (percentage wise) which is what Symbian users have for web-surfing. With their new E7 recently announced, (at a whopping $900 retail), I'm not particularly convinced. Nokia just announced recently that they'll be moving towards WP7 this year so Symbian fans won't be very happy about that. Nokia, the biggest user of Symbian, however, promises it will keep updates going for two more years or so, but who would really want to sink their money in a product which might or might not be in use or be relevant in the future.

iOS

Apple still refuses to give full Flash support to its devices, insisting HTML5 is the way to go. The iPhone 4 is good but still not good enough to make 3GS users switch, not to mention the ridiculous price tag and oh yeah, iPhone 5 is coming within a few months too.

You can bet that the new iPhone will be running a dual-core processor seeing that the iPad 2 already has it. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the next iPhone update is just as frustrating as the new iPad changes. When the iPad 2 was launched, I was pretty excited to find out what they had changed. Sadly, Apple is still taking advantage of their consumers. Besides a speed bump and front camera, there isn't much to rave about. It would be hard to switch from an iPad to an iPad 2 that's for sure.

Android

This is the first OS to feature a dual-core processor. That's two times the power for your phone. While we haven't seen any of these yet in Brunei, they will definitely be here soon. The latest high-end Android phones in Brunei are the Sony Xperia Arc, HTC Incredible S and Nexus S. All of which are still running a single-core processor. Although the three phones are running Android's latest Gingerbread (very soon for the Incredible S), reviews have been .... sub-par. I played around with the Optimus 2X last week and boy, it was blazing fast. Applications loaded almost instantly while loading web pages in the background and three to four other apps ran simultaneously. A number of dual-core Android phones already released in the West include: Motorola Atrix, Sony Xperia Play and Samsung Galaxy S II. HTC was scheduled recently to host an event to announce their upcoming products just after they showed off the HTC Evo 3D last month.

BlackBerry

The Torch was released almost six months ago and since everyone is going dual core, so is BB. There have been rumours about what RIM's next phone will be, with many expecting the Torch 2 and Dakota. Both expected to have BlackBerry's OS 6.1. RIM is also hosting BlackBerry World next month, so qwerty keyboard fans will have to sit and wait.

Alien body found near UFO crash site in Russia, video

Around one month ago this publication reported on a major UFO event that occurred in the region of Irkutsk in Russia's Siberia. Hundreds of villagers saw a huge object, glowing pink and blue, hurtle towards Earth before loudly impacting the ground  in a wooded area . 

The event received widespread coverage in Russia and was reported by Inter-fax, Russia's government news agency . In the West the event was completely ignored if not deliberately kept from public view.

An enormous team of government officials, including military personal, secret service agents and science ministry officials made their was to the UFO crash site within hours of the event occurring.

Now it seems a video has been leaked onto the Internet showing a dead Alien (see video below), found in the Republic of Buryatia, not far from the site of the UFO crash. Is the alien seen in this video a survivor of that crash who managed to leave the area only to die as a result of Russia's harsh conditions?Warning: the below video contains graphic images.