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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jan 21, 2014
January 21, 2014
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Bad luck:
A guy in England has a severe case of the hiccups.
19-year-old CHRIS McKERNAN has been hiccupping nonstop since November 20th. In that time, he's hiccupped more than one million times with no sign of stopping. He says folk remedies like breathing into a bag aren't helping at all. So far, doctors have no clue how to help him.
The world hiccupping record was set by an American guy named CHARLES OSBORNE whose hiccups lasted from 1922 until 1990, racking up an estimated 430-million individual hiccups. (Still)Stars and their movies:
More news about the upcoming "Star Wars" movie --director J.J. ABRAMS says "Breaking Bad" star JESSE PLEMONS could have "a major role" in the upcoming sequel.
Abrams told the crowd at the Television Critics Association press tour on Sunday the script is finished and he's almost ready to start filming and Jesse "is one of the actors that we've talked to."Zero-tolerance:
Researchers with the MIT Media Lab's Software Agents Group have developed an algorithm that can detect online bullying based on linguistic patterns. Boston's WGBH News reports the program is designed to work with social-media sites as a kind of preventive measure by scanning the texts of posts. It might prompt users to think twice before hitting the "enter" or "send" key.
The app uses a database of commonly used words and slang. When it detects language that may indicate bullying --words or phrases that could be hostile or inappropriate-- it asks the user "Do you really want to say this?"
The anti-bullying app is already in use at MTV's social site for teens, A Thin Line, in conjunction with its "Draw Your Line" campaign against "digital abuse." (Kaye)Royalty report:
Is PRINCE CHARLES finally getting a shot at the throne? Sources tell the UK's Sunday Times that the 65-year-old has been stepping in to perform lots of royal duties since his parents, QUEEN ELIZABETH II and PRINCE PHILIP, are getting on in years. Word is her highness has been job sharing with her eldest son and they're even merging press offices. (Lee)
Anniversaries:
20 years ago, LORENA BOBBITT was found not guilty by temporary insanity of charges that she cut off her husband's penis (1994). John later went on to make such fine films as "JOHN WAYNE BOBBITT Uncut," "The Trial of Lorena Bobbitt" and "Frankenpenis." Lucky us.
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