Facebook To Buy Instagram for $1 Billion

Facebook has announced that it will be buying Instagram for $1 billion. They will not be messing with Instagram's structure, only becoming a parent company, so as to gain the profits and avoid competition.

Instagram is an app for smart phones that allows a user to take a picture and then add a filter to it, to change the look. It then allows them to share it to social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. Instagram also has it's own friend structuring, so you can follow other picture takers, without involving them into your other media.

From Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook wall:

"I'm excited to share the news that we've agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

For years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram's strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That's why we're committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram's experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook's strong engineering team and infrastructure.

This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

We're looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we're going to be able to build together."

North Korea Planning Nuke Test

North Korea's already heavily condemned plans to launch what it calls a satellite into space, have met with even greater worries from the world. South Korean and US intelligence officials reported that they see evidence the North is also planning a nuclear test.

Evidence of the test has been caught on satellites. Pictures show a massive excavation taking place near Punggye-ri. Punggye-ri was the site for North Korea's two previous underground tests.

The launching of the satellite, is condemned by the South, US, Japan, and other countries as actually being a long range missile test. Japan and South Korea have threatened to shoot down any parts of it that cross into their air space, prompting the North to change the trajectory further south. The new path, has expectations of landing off of The Philippines. President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines has publicly condemned the launch as a "needless provocation".

The allied states around North Korea have stated that the launch would be a breach of a truce agreement, in which the North pledged to end nuclear enrichment and long range missile research in exchange for food. A nuclear test would be an undeniable violation of the agreement.

China continues to state they they've asked the North to not launch the rocket. Either they haven't, or North Korea no longer listens to what China has to say. Most likely China is enjoying watching the North make the world sweat.

Mike Wallace, Dead at 93

Mike Wallace, who helped make 60 Minutes a long term show, died Saturday at the age of 93.

Known for his hard hitting style of interrogation interviews, he was at times feared by those who were to be on camera with him. Unslowed until a heart surgery was required, he had done news for sixty years. Even after he retired in 2006, he returned regularly for interviews.

Over his career he was awarded twenty-one Emmys, five DuPont-Columbia journalism, and five Peabody awards.

All the while he also acted in various movies, TV shows, and on Broadway.

No one else on TV, ever, has had the presence of Wallace. Only he tried to ask some of the questions he did, and only he could've gotten away with asking them.

Remembering: The Confederate Surrender

April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrenders his forces to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

Lee's army was without supplies and had been trying to retreat, but found itself surrounded. He asked Grant to meet him.

Grant agreed to the meeting and then surprised Lee with generous terms, which were quickly accepted.

The surrender of Lee's army effectively ended the war, and almost all of the other armies were quick to surrender as well.

The last shots were fired June 22, by the CSS Shenandoah off the Aleutian Islands.

The war, which lasted three days short of four years, saw over 600,000 Americans killed.

Classic Pick: Theodora Goes Wild

Theodora Goes Wild is on TCM 1 AM Tuesday. Here's a great example of screwball comedy done right, as well as being an important movie in the career of star Irene Dunne.

Dunne plays a Sunday school teacher from a small town, who, unbeknownst to anyone is actually the author, under a pseudonym, of a racy, scandalous novel titled The Sinner, which has been running in installments in the local paper.

Melvyn Douglas plays the commercial cover artist with whom Dunne does the obligatory romantic "dance/chase" which involves Douglas posing as a gardener in her small town, threatening to expose her, then returning to New York where Dunne follows him to serve up a nice juicy scandal to help him get out of his unhappy marriage.

After more than five years of weepy women’s dramas, epics, romances, and musicals, all of which Dunne did beautifully, Theodora Goes Wild was her first big screwball comedy, and as such surprised many critics, while also defining and boosting her career. It was a genre in which she would further improve her timing and talent, and would handily make her own in a way distinct from the other comedy queens like Carole Lombard, and Theodora shows just how she did so.

Dunne strikes the most perfect balance between being a nutty but grounded screwball comedienne, intelligent but with a great capacity for being ridiculous, especially when it’s meant to skewer and spoof both herself and conventions meant to keep her reigned in. She’s zany like a fox, for a purpose and just at the right moments, and only “playing” the naive small town lady with a knowing wink. And as a bonus she sings!

Another figure for whom Theodora was a comedy first was director Richard Boleslawski, who kept the farcical events going at a great steady pace with lots of laughs and a few homages to his fellow native Soviet filmmakers thrown in, because really, what would a comedy be without those?

He is Risen

He is risen. Words that should echo through our lives daily. Today, the day we remember His resurrection, we repeat them. For a day, or maybe the weekend, we focus on the story of what He gave for us. But it is so much more than simply a man dying on a cross so that all could live their lives better and be nicer to others.

Jesus was the fulfillment of every promise that God gave to the Jews throughout the Old Testament. Prophecy after prophecy was answered by Him. But when His time came, most would not recognize Him, because they looked not for a spiritual Savior, but an earthly warrior. As the fulfillment He was everything they'd taught themselves to look for, but not the packaging they expected.

Even in His death He continued to fulfill prophecies from the prophets of the Bible. Long before crucifixion was even invented prophets of Israel described His death in that way. They also foretold that not a bone would be broken, which breaking knees was common practice for the crucified. Yet Jesus was pierced instead.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever should believe in Him may have everlasting life." Simple words, that even unbelievers know. Jesus willingly shed His life so that we might actually know the Father. Our impure, sinful selves could not survive contact with God and His pure perfection. So Jesus while perfect Himself, allowed the evils of the world to touch Him, so that after His sacrifice we could have direct contact with perfection. He is the conduit that allows such a place as Heaven to exist.

Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we no longer need to sacrifice animals or have a priest work as an intermediary on our behalf. We can directly communicate to God, because Jesus took the place of any earthly thing needing to be in our way.

Today is really our spiritual independence day. It marks the day where religion no longer was the focus. O it can be important, and help build your walk with your Creator and your Savior, but it is no longer where you must start. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we became able to have a truly personal relationship with the Father. And that is what is the most important. Spiritual walks are not something you can cookie cut. Everyone is in a different place on their walk. And He wishes for us to follow Him on our walks, all the way to the Father.

What truly is more free than being able to know you walk with God, at the specific pace meant for you? That no matter what is going on in your earthly life, you are able to choose eternal freedom. And all that is possible because, He is risen.

No Country a Home

Kaiti Tidwell does not have a country which recognizes her as a citizen. Mexico does not recognize her as a citizen, nor will the US.

Since she was three months old, she has been a legal resident of the United States, and even legally been adopted by her parents, living in Centerpoint, Arkansas. But she was born in Mexico. As an infant she was floated across the Rio Grande in an inner tube.

The Tidwells adopted her at the age of four. They have applied for her citizenship six times, over the last 11 years, but the US government continuously rejects her since she wasn't born here, and isn't recognized by anywhere else.

In November 2011, she turned eighteen, and on May 5 will be considered an illegal immigrant, and be facing deportation.

Faced with rejection from the only country she has ever known, Kaiti has turned to Mexico. She is currently attempting to gain a Mexican citizenship, so that she could actually belong somewhere.

But even if successful in gaining one, she has no guarantee that she'll be able to return to the life she's grown up with, or even to the country that she has always considered home.

Thomas Kinkade, Dead at 54

Famed painter, Thomas Kinkade, has died tonight at the age of 54.

He had a style that was most commonly recognized for the glowing highlights and pastel colours that seemed to saturate the world around them.

His works were always quickly mass reproduced by his company, and then sold as prints. Driving down the value of each work, but allowing for many to share in them. It's estimated that one in every twenty American homes holds at least one of his works.

His stated goal was to become the "first million seller artist", and for this the art world reviled him, as they saw him as a commercial sell out. But no matter the critics, his fans adored his works.

Multiple of his paintings were used as the settings for movies. Lifetime especially was known for taking one of the buildings he had painted, and then writing a story for it.

Controversial though he may have been. His works definitely touched many.

Review: Tomorrow, When The War Began

Out of Australia, in 2010, a lot of America missed this movie. But it was popular enough there that two sequels are already planned (due out 2012 and 2013), with a TV show being mentioned. Based on books by John Marsden, the basic story is very similar to that of 1984's Red Dawn (the remake of which comes out November 2).

A group of seven teenager's goes off on a camping weekend. When they come back the find everyone is gone, and that their part of Australia has been taken over by unknown invaders. The group continues on as they struggle against themselves and dealing with the new reality, but mostly to survive. Eventually the decision comes to take the fight to the enemy.

One of the most important parts of the movie comes as they're arguing over the importance of finding out who has invaded them. But as one of them points out, it doesn't matter the flag, they still invaded us, and are the enemy.

I was pleasantly surprised by the random red box pick I made. This movie is well done. That and who doesn't love that much Australian accent? Was great seeing a movie that showed patriotism for home against anything. In an age where we have peace and global unity spewed upon us, normally such movies are scifi related or historical. I shall be looking for the sequels, as well as maybe the books.

Remembering: The Rebirth of The Olympics

April 6, 1896 the Olympic Games are brought to modern times. 280 participants from thirteen nations came to Athens, participating in forty-three events.

The games were first recorded in 776 BC, though they likely started at least 500 years before that. They began as part of a festival honouring the Greek gods. Over time as more participants came, the number of events grew as well.

With the rise of Roman power the Olympics faded. In 393 AD, they were outlawed by Emperor Theodosius I, in an attempt to eliminate pagan rituals.

Pierre de Coubertin, a French baron began in 1892 proposing that the Olympics be brought back as a permanent event to take place every for years. In 1894 a body of seventy-nine delegates from nine countries voted unanimously to hold the first games in Athens. The International Olympic Committee was founded and by 1896 had elected Coubertin as President. In 1924, winter games were added and women began taking part.

Now the Olympics have become a competition amongst cities and countries just for who will get to host them. Millions of dollars are invested to improve and build new sporting arenas. Many events have been added, with each Olympics seeming to see more. The 2010 Winter Olympics, held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, saw eighty-two nations send 2,566 athletes to compete in eighty-six events. The 2008 Summer Olympics, the largest yet, consisted of 302 events participated in by 11,028 athletes, from 204 nations.