Your Facebook Like Is Worth $174.17
SHAFAQNA - Are you generous with your Facebook Likes? Do you click that thumbs up button for anything that even just slightly amuses you? Maybe you should start charging for liking things. According to a study, your Likes of a brand on Facebook are worth about $174.17 to that brand.
Syncapse, a social intelligence company, conducted a study with more than 2,000 Facebook users who liked a brand and considered a Facebook user's product spending, loyalty, recommendations, brand affinity and more to come up with the number. It turns out Facebook fans spend more money on the brands they like—$116 a year more than nonfans—even if their income was equal. In addition, those who liked brands were 18% more satisfied with the brand and 11% more likely to continue buying the brand. I guess all those little percentages add up to $$$ for the brand.
Is space exploration worth the cost?
SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Scientists have seen further back in time than ever before. The powerful Hubble telescope is giving astronomers a look at galaxies formed shortly after the birth of the universe.
That was more than 13 billion years ago.
NASA scientists are getting very excited about their latest photo album. It is full of pictures of the universe when it was just a baby – snapshots taken shortly after the so-called Big Bang, the even that triggered the first generation of stars.
The experts say the discovery will allow us to learn more about how we came to be.
The universe is estimated to be some 13.7 billion years old – or thousands of millions of years. The newly-discovered galaxies are seen as they looked a few hundred million years after that.
And this is the mind-boggling part – their light is just arriving here on earth now – it has taken that long to get to us.
NASA spent nearly $200bn on its space programme between 1971 and 2011; the average cost per flight of US shuttles is estimated at $1.5bn; the agency's budget for 2012 is $17.7bn; it has launched a total of 131 space shuttle missions between 1982 and 2010.
India's first satellite was launched by Soviet Union in 1975; in 1981 India launched a satellite using its own locally-built rocket; in 2008 it created a record by launching 10 satellites in one go; it has 11 remote-sensing satellites orbiting the earth; nearly 400 million people in India live on less than $1 a day.
It is 40 years ago this month since man was last on the moon. But what has been achieved since then? Now man is asking if there is life on Mars, and we have sent a Rover to find out.
But critics argue that we should take a more down-to-earth approach – staying here on terra firma and sorting out problems a little closer to home.
In this episode guests on Inside Story discuss our fascination with outer space, how exploration is helping us here on earth and if all that is worth the cost.
Joining presenter Hazem Sika are: Kamal Chenoy, a professor of international studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University and a member of the Right to Food Campaign; Max Raskin, a journalist with Business Week; and Francisco Diego, a senior research fellow in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London, and the vice-president of the UK Association for Astronomy Education.
Man swallows diamond worth almost $14,000
SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — A man visiting a gem exhibition in Sri Lanka's capital swallowed a 1.5 carat diamond in front of the owner and was taken by police to a hospital, where an X-ray showed the $13,000 stone inside him.
Exhibitor Suresh Wijekoon said the man was behaving suspiciously at his stalls and when he reached closer to the suspect, the man suddenly swallowed the diamond at his hand before Suresh alerted police at the exhibition venue.
Chou Wan, a 32-year-old from China, is in custody pending further investigation, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said.
An X-ray proved the diamond was inside Chou's body, said hospital director Dr. Anil Jasinghe at Colombo National, where the suspect was taken for the test.
Suresh, owner of Belgrade International Pvt Ltd, said the diamond weighed about 1.5 carats. It was worth 1.8 million Sri Lankan rupees ($13,636), Rohana said.
Sri Lanka does not mine diamonds but is renowned for other highly treasured gems. Facets Sri Lanka 2012 is the island nation's annual largest gem and jewelry exhibition and it attracts a large number of local and foreign buyers.—www.shafaqna.com/English
Source: CS Monitore
Saudi Arab bought arms and weapons worth 33.4 billion US Dollars
SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — Saudi Arab, considered by a vast majority of Muslims as an "Icon and standard-bearer of Islam" is the largest buyer of American weapons among developing countries. In 2011, it bought arms and weapons worth 33.4 billion US Dollars, while the
2nd largest buyer India spent only 6.9 Billion US Dollars.
The reason cited for this huge weapons transaction was mainly a 'fear of (nuclear) violence by Iran', which is a Muslim country.
Saudi Arab bought weapons worth 20 Billion dollars (in a single transaction, besides numerous other purchases periodically) in the era of President Bush.
The US, champion for Peace in the world, is the single largest manufacturer and seller of destructive weapons, while it also uses them directly in attacking other countries, Pakistan(Drone attacks), Afghanistan and Iraq to name a few.
US is also the ONLY country to have used 'atom Bombs' on common citizens, killing at-least 1.5-2.0 lac people In Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Unsurprisingly, the US has banned many banks from dealing with Irani companies and Projects, in an attempt to fuel an economic crisis for Iran and its people. UK, France and other countries have also put restrictions on their financial institutions, prohibiting them to do any kind of transaction with Iran. Iran officials have said they will not bow to these pressures, and have started chalking out strategies to deal with the situation. The top military commander of US recently admitted that sanctions put by world powers have so far yielded no result.
Iran is the only country which has stood against the 'Super Power' for last 3 decades, whereas extremist groups in Pakistan involved in spreading hatred for Shias and some other communities, resulting in killings of hundreds of innocents.—www.shafaqna.com/English
Source: Shafaqna
National Post: Australian police seize 306kg of crystal meth, 252kg of heroin in bust worth $525M
SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — Australian police have seized 558 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and heroin with a street value of up to US$525 million smuggled into the country in a shipment of terracotta pots.
Australian Federal Police say four Hong Kong nationals and three Australians were arrested in Sydney on Monday. Each faces a potential life sentence if convicted on drug charges.
Police said Tuesday that the 306 kilograms of crystal meth is the largest seizure of the drug in Australia. The 252 kilograms of heroin is the third-largest haul of its kind.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration alerted Australian authorities to the plot last August.
Police will not say where the drugs came from.—www.shafaqna.com/english
Survey shows high number of women suffer low self worth in Saudi Arabia
SHAFAQNA (Shia News Association) — A whopping 90 percent of Saudi women are not satisfied with their appearance, according to a study conducted by a health intelligence office in the kingdom's eastern region.
Nahida al-Zuhair, general manager of the office, said the low self esteem was responsible for the rise in beauty clinics, like the 400 clinics in the western city of Jeddah alone.
The study revealed Saudi women are increasingly opting for plastic surgeries whose numbers are estimated to be at 40 percent between the age groups 28 and 37, 25 percent for the age group of 37-50. About 37 percent of girls between the age of 15 to 17 admitted to wanting to undergo plastic surgeries, according to the survey.
Only 17 percent of the women polled said they did not want plastic surgeries.
Zuhair said that materials used for cosmetic procedures can cause allergies, headaches, sores and other skin disorders.
She warned women interested in getting skin lightening procedures
that 45 percent of the products that are used for such procedures contains poisonous mercury. Beauty clinics in high demands coming from Saudi women concerned about their appearances.— www.shafaqna.com/english/
