BIZARRE: Read What The woman Who Ate Yoghurt Made From Her Own Vagina Has To Say!

When PhD student Cecilia Westbrook
found out there was an entire cookbook of
recipes based on sperm and nothing
similar about vaginal secretions, she
didn’t just get angry – she decided to do
something about it.
That something was making two batches
of yoghurt out of her own “jazz juice”, with
nothing more than a wooden spoon, a pan
and her own ingenuity (for ‘ingenuity’ read
‘vaginal flora’).
The process was chronicled by Janet Jay
on Vice, who reported Westbrook ate the
first batch, which tasted like “Indian
yoghurt”, with blueberries while the second
batch tasted like “slightly-spoiled milk”. In
her piece Jay also spoke to scientists and
America’s Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), which advised against the process
on the basis it is risky and could
potentially spread disease.
After Jay’s story broke it generated a
predictable backlash, with some
commentators accusing Westbrook of
being mentally ill and others vowing never
to eat yoghurt again.
For her part, Westbrook has no plans to
culture any more vagina yoghurt and told
Jezebel she believes much of the criticism
is “gendered”: “The tenor of comments
here have just been ‘who would even do
that’ and ‘why’ and ‘this is terrible’ and
‘that’s just gross.” And it’s kind of hard not
to feel like that’s a little gendered.”

NEW MUSIC: Iyanya – Nakupenda (Remember) ft. Diamond Platnumz

Triple MG superstar Iyanya teams up with
Tanzanian superstar Diamond Platnumz to
drop this new jam titled ‘Nakupenda’ which
means remember…

Download the AUDIO below and don’t
forget to share with friends.

Enjoy.

Download

Akpos Joke: Bank robbery

Akpos went to rob a city bank. “Everybody down!” Akpos shouted.

 

Everyone laid flat on the ground. “Where is the bank manager?”

 

He asked. A young, scared man stood up and said, “Here I am.”

 

Akpos: Open the safe and bring out all d money.

 

MANAGER: (stammering) No,I can’t sir. Akpos; What?! Are you crazy?! You are lucky I’m with a toy gun, I would have blown your brains off!…

 

Akpos is currently receiving treatment at the prison hospital.

25 Unbelievable football facts:

1)Alex Song has 27 siblings – 17 sisters and 10 brothers.
2) Liverpoolkeeper Simon Mignolet speaks 5 languages and has a degree in politics.
3) Dundee United have played and beaten Barcelona 4 times in professional fixtures, giving them a 100% win record.
4) Former Manchester United player Alan Smith scored vs Sheffield United in a League One fixture in April 2012. His previous goal in all competitions was against AS Roma in the Champions League in a 7-1 win for Manchester United.
5)There is only one team out of the 4 divisions in England and the 4 divisions in Scotland that have a ‘j’ in their name. It’s Saint Johnstone. 6)Ronaldo (the Brazilian) has never won the Champions League despite playing for 5 teams that did. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has also never won the Champions League.
7) Manuel Neuer stars in the German version of the 2013 Disney/ Pixar film’ Monsters University’. He provides the voice for the character Frank McCay.
8) Former Liverpool man Charlie Adam is younger than Cristiano Ronaldo.
9)The first English team to win a European trophy is West Auckland Town FC. They won the Sir Thomas Lipton trophy, one of football’s first European competitions, twice in 1909 and 1911.
10) AC Milan was actually founded as a cricket team.
11) Kuba Blaszczykowski watched his father stab his mother to death when he was 10 years old.
12) Gary Lineker pooped his pants whilst playing against Ireland at the 1990 World Cup.
13)Real Madrid Luka Modric and Mark Viduka are cousins.
14) Arsene Wenger has an asteroid named after him called 33179 Arsénewenger.
15) Rio Mavuba was born in international waters. His birth certificate does not have a nation listed, it just says “Born at sea”.
16) The younger brother of Joey Barton, Michael, is a convicted murderer. He murdered his victim with an ice axe.
17) Steve Finnan (former Liverpool right back) played in the Conference, Division 3 (won the league), Division 2 (won the league), Division 1 (won the league), the Premiership, the World Cup, the Champions League Final, the UEFA Cup Final, the FA Cup Final, the League Cup Final, the Club World Cup Final, the Super Cup and the Intertoto during his career. 18)Xabi Alonso enjoys Gaelic Football.
19)Javier Zanetti didn’t get a red card in Serie A til his 548th match. Ryan Giggs has never received a red card in the EPL.
20) Former Tottenham Hotspur player David Ginola has an unfortunate tale to tell. His name is an anagram for Vagina Dildo. 21)Ronaldinho first gained media attention when his youth team won a game 23-0. He scored every single goal.
22)Eden Hazard has a son named Leo. Garry Cahill has a son named Leo. Fernando Torres has a son named Leo. There is a lion in the Chelsea FC crest. Leo is the Latin word for lion.
23) Mark Hughes once played two games in a single day; In the morning he played for Wales against Czechoslovakia in Prague, drove across the border, and then turned out for Bayern Munich in the afternoon.
24) Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Ledley King holds the record for the quickest Premier League goal. He scored 10 seconds after kick-off in a match against Bradford in the 2000/01 season.
25) England came up with the word soccer. It’s a shortened version of “Association Football” which got changed to “Assoc Football” which then got changed to “Soccer”. In 19th century England, it was popular to add the “-er” sound to shortened words.

Women Wahala

One day, a woman asked her son to call her
husband to ask him what he wanted her to cook
for dinner.After the sixth time the boy
complained to his mother that a female voice
was what he heard everytime he called and the
lady would not let him speak to his dad. By the
time the man got home that evening, his wife
was fuming seriously.
She was so angry that she met him at his car
and grabbed his shirt right there in the front
yard.
"How dare you cheat on me?" she shouted,
attracting the neighbors instantly. "How could
you? After all we have been through?"
The confused man stared at her - he could not
fathom why she was so mad at him. The
neighbors tried to calm her down but she
refused, and when someone asked for evidence,
she recounted the phone call episode and called
on Junior to repeat everything the lady on the
phone said.
"The number you are calling is not reachable at
the moment. Please try again later," Junior said.

HOW TO GET 2GB FOR #2000 on mtn. 1. Load N2000 on ur mtn sim 2. Dial *123*4*3*1# .Your money deducts and u get whooping 2gb. Enjoy!

TREYARCH IS MAKING 2015'S CALL OF DUTY

Treyarch is developing 2015's Call of Duty game, Activision announced today.

During an investor call, Activision said this year's CoD title will be the first from Treyarch to have a three-year development cycle. The first Call of Duty game to receive three years of development time was last year's Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

Treyarch was the developer behind Call of Duty 3, World at War, Black Ops, Black Ops II, and other non-mainline Call of Duty games. Treyarch's studio head Mark Lamia recently shared at the Las Vegas DICE Summit that the series' beloved Zombies mode almost didn't exist.

When we know more about the new game, including the title, we'll let you know. As for right now, Advanced Warfare's Havoc DLC is coming to PS4, PS3, and PC on February 26.

Since its launch in 2003, the Call of Duty franchise has earned over $11 billion USD.

THE ORIGINAL PLOT FOR GAME OF THRONES HAS BEEN REVEALED But will any of it still come to pass?

A three-page letter sent from George R.R. Martin to his publisher in 1993 has revealed the original plot for Game of Thrones, and possibly hinted at what's to come.

Book retailer Waterstones originallytook the snaps of the letter and, though they've since been deleted, the evidence is still floating about for those keen to find it.

There's heaps of information in the outline and, though some of it has already been diverged from, there are a number of hints at what the future may hold including a list of five characters Martin originally intended to survive the books.

As you can probably imagine, spoilers for the book and show follow, along with possible spoilers for the future.

Though Martin pitches the books as a trilogy (HA!) there are some bits that are unchanged in the published versions. For example, Ned Stark dies in almost the exact same manner, discovering the truth about Jon Arryn's murder and then being sentenced to death by Joffrey. The biggest difference here is he manages to send Arya and Catelyn Stark out of King's Landing beforehand.

This death then causes war to break out between the Starks and the Lannisters, though Robb was originally planned to fight Joffrey on the battlefield, with the spoiled young lion facing Robb without fear but ending up maimed. Sansa, meanwhile, would have married Joffrey and born him a son and heir. Eventually, she would have had to make a choice between her Stark family and her husband and would end up coming down on the side of the Lannisters, before coming to bitterly regret this later.

In more family disagreements, Tyrion would have removed Joffrey from the throne after being horrified by his actions. Jaime then proceeds to kill anyone with a greater claim to the throne than him, including Tywin, before taking the crown himself and blaming all the crimes on Tyrion. The Imp is exiled and decides to ally himself with the Starks, which is where things get really interesting.

Having left King's Landing before Ned's death, Catelyn and Arya flee north, picking up Bran on the way and seeking refuge with the Night's Watch, where Jon is. While here, Arya and Jon fall in love with each other but refuse to act on it because of the whole incest thing along with his Night's Watch vow of celibacy. Interestingly, Martin says the situation changes once Jon's true parentage is revealed, adding fuel to the fire of another popular fan theory about who they may be. Tyrion also falls in love with Arya, thus creating a love triangle in which Jon and Tyrion loathe each other. Arya doesn't reciprocate The Imp's feelings, however.

Unfortunately, the Night's Watch aren't really allowed to help their family out, so Cat, Arya and Bran are forced to flee further North beyond the Wall. They end up encountering Mance Rayder and Cat meets her death at the hands of one of the Others (the White Walkers from the TV show). Still, Jon manages to become commander of the Night's Watch. So that's nice.

The final plot point involves Daenerys, who not only invades Westeros a lot sooner, but does so after killing her husband Khal Drogo out of revenge for the death of her brother Viserys.

The final paragraph of the letter is blacked out, so we don't know exactly how it was all supposed to or still could end. Having said that, Martin identifies five characters who would survive: Daenerys, Arya, Jon, Bran and Tyrion. Does this still hold true? We'll have to wait and see.

Sadly the sixth book, The Winds of Winter, isn't coming out this year so we'll have a fair bit of time to kill before we know for sure. In the meantime, check out the new trailer for the upcoming fifth season of HBO's Game of Thrones.

Young Thug Says Jay Z's Too Old To Rap

GQ continues to unload interviews from its
Legacy Project, which profiles 19 of the top
music makers who've made a lasting impact on
the entertainment industry.
Several Hip Hop artists have been included thus
far, such as Rick Ross, Future, Nas and Pharrell.
Also included among those aforementioned
artists is ATL upstart Young Thug.
Thugger's rise through the Hip Hop industry
took off in 2013, when he signed to Gucci
Mane's 1017 Brick Squad Records.
Now, the rapper tells GQ he would like to
remain relevant forever.
"I'ma be here forever," Thug says in the Q&A. "I
don't want to rap forever. But I want to be rich
forever. I don't want to be 50 years old and
rapping, man. I'm pretty sure nobody wants to
do that."
Thug, born Jeffrey Williams, is currently 23-
years-old. As he gets older, he believes the
youth may not find him as appeasing, due to
the generational gap.
Jay Z, who is 45-years-old, has proved
otherwise, but Thug isn't looking to follow in the
Hip Hop mogul's footsteps.
"If you're 30, 40 years old, you're not getting
listened to by minors," Thug said. "Like, Jay Z
has some of the sickest lyrics ever, but I would
never buy his CD, just because of my age and
because of his age. By the time I turn that old, I
ain't gonna be doing what he's doing... I'm
pretty sure Jay Z don't wanna rap right now."
Instead, the "Lifestyle" rapper hopes his career
will pan out like Bill Gates' or Lil Wayne's.

29-Year-Old Man Tries To Sell His Virginity For $1,000 … Guess How Many Offers He Got?

Every so often, somebody makes international
headlines by offering to give their virginity away
to the highest bidder. It’s not often a dude,
though … and when it is, it apparently doesn’t go
so hot.
Seb Ciercies, 29, of Romania, needed to pay off
some debts that he’d accrued while helping out
his diabetic brother, so he took out a newspaper
advertisement, Yahoo News reports: “Man, 29 …
Athletic and toned, dark haired. I’m selling my
virginity. Price: 850 Euros. Transport not
included.”
Maybe it’s because nobody reads newspapers
anymore, or maybe it’s because he should’ve
offered to include transport, but Ciercies says
he got exactly zero offers. 850 Euros is about
$1,000, which (we’re guessing?) is a pretty
steep price to deflower some bro.
“I don’t understand it,” Ciercies said, according
to Yahoo. “I’m a good looking guy with a good
physique. I thought someone might even offer
me more. … It doesn’t do much for your self-
esteem to be rejected by absolutely everybody
in the world.” He reportedly added, “I’m no Brad
Pitt but I’m not ugly either.”
Now that he’s a viral news star, though, maybe
he’ll get some offers … or at least he can sell
the movie rights to his life story. At the rate
Hollywood reboots franchises, it’s about time for
a new version of Steve Carell’s breakout film ,
right?

The village that just got its first fridge

Three-quarters of the world's homes have a
fridge - an appliance that can revolutionise a
family's life. A tailor in one Indian village has
just become the first person in his community to
own one - something he has dreamed of for 10
years.
Santosh Chowdhury is pacing up and down
speaking into his mobile phone.
"How much longer? It's left past the auto-
rickshaw stand, yes that's right," he shouts, and
then continues his nervous pacing.
It's a big day for him and indeed for the village
of Rameshwarpur, just outside Calcutta in north-
east India.
Santosh has bought a new fridge - not just his
first but also the first in the entire community of
200 people. "Owning a fridge is quite rare in a
village like ours," he says.
The lack of fridges in Rameshwarpur reflects the
situation across the whole of India. Only one in
four of the country's homes has one. That
compares to an average of 99% of households in
developed countries.
But change can be rapid when linked to an
emerging middle class. In 2004, 24% of
households in China owned a fridge. Ten years
later this had shot up to 88%.
"Ours is the first generation to own a fridge in
my family," says Santosh. "No one in my father's
and grandfather's time had ever seen one."
Rameshwarpur has a distinctly rural feel. People
bathe in a pond in the middle of the village,
children fly kites in the dusty lanes. The homes
are little more than simple huts, made of mud
and brick. But the village has electricity and
many houses have televisions.
Santosh works as a tailor. He lives in a modest,
two-room hut which doubles as his home and
workplace. "I don't have a regular job as such,"
he says. "Sometimes I also work part-time in a
factory. I make about three to four dollars a
day."
Life is quite hard, especially for his wife
Sushoma.
She cooks lunch, stirring a pot of rice on a wood
fire outside their hut. It's something she does
every day because they have no way of storing
leftovers. So Santosh has to go the market early
each morning to shop for groceries.
He's always wanted to make life easier for his
wife and has been dreaming of buying a fridge
for 10 years. "Owning one will be so convenient,"
he says. "You don't have to buy vegetables every
day, you can store food - especially in the
summer."
So he's been saving hard, putting away a bit of
money every month for a purchase that costs
more than a month's salary. "I don't make that
much money, that's why it's taken me so long.
But now I have enough," he says, smiling.
At one of Calcutta's high street stores, about
15km from his home, Santosh had several
models to choose from. Peering inside, he ran
his fingers along the side of a bright red model.
"It was quite confusing. It was my first time you
know. I couldn't figure out which one to get," he
says shyly. "My wife wanted a red one. I wanted
one that will consume the least power. We need
to keep our bills down."
Finally, the deal was struck. Santosh got a
discount because it was the final week of the
winter sales. The price was 11,000 rupees
(£120) - but more importantly, he was able to
pay in instalments, having paid just under half
the money up front.
"No one pays cash any more like they used to,"
says store manager Pintoo Mazumdar. "Everyone
can get a loan from the bank or the store - all
you need is a bank statement and ID. That's why
so many lower income people can afford to buy
a fridge these days."
Santosh's fridge finally arrives on the back of a
cycle rickshaw. He walks along next to it with a
broad smile. Many of the villagers come out on
to the lane as well, craning their necks to get a
better look.
"Careful, careful," he cries out as a couple of
them help carry the fridge into his house.
Then it's time for a religious ceremony.
His wife applies a dab of vermillion to the fridge,
to keep away evil spirits, and then blows on a
conch shell to seek divine blessings and
welcome the fridge into their home. The fridge
has pride of place - next to Santosh's sewing
machine and their tiny television set.
They simply cannot stop smiling.
"We've dreamt of this moment for so long," says
his wife Sushoma. "Some of our neighbours have
already asked us if they, too, can store some
food in our fridge. "And I can't wait to drink cold
water in the summer."
As Santosh shows off his fridge everyone crowds
around, excited. "Imagine, they won't have to
shop for fresh vegetables every day," says one
woman. "I'm thinking of getting one too,"
another man says.
It's a special moment for the Chowdhurys. This
acquisition could potentially transform their lives.
"I can focus on finding more work and not worry
about buying food for the family," Santosh says.
"My wife will get more free time and perhaps she
can give me a hand as well."
With those words, he opens his fridge and places
the first contents inside - tomatoes, an
aubergine, eggs and some milk.

Santosh's fridge finally arrives on the back of a
cycle rickshaw. He walks along next to it with a
broad smile. Many of the villagers come out on
to the lane as well, craning their necks to get a
better look.
"Careful, careful," he cries out as a couple of
them help carry the fridge into his house.
Then it's time for a religious ceremony.
His wife applies a dab of vermillion to the fridge,
to keep away evil spirits, and then blows on a
conch shell to seek divine blessings and
welcome the fridge into their home. The fridge
has pride of place - next to Santosh's sewing
machine and their tiny television set.
They simply cannot stop smiling.
"We've dreamt of this moment for so long," says
his wife Sushoma. "Some of our neighbours have
already asked us if they, too, can store some
food in our fridge. "And I can't wait to drink cold
water in the summer."
As Santosh shows off his fridge everyone crowds
around, excited. "Imagine, they won't have to
shop for fresh vegetables every day," says one
woman. "I'm thinking of getting one too,"
another man says.
It's a special moment for the Chowdhurys. This
acquisition could potentially transform their lives.
"I can focus on finding more work and not worry
about buying food for the family," Santosh says.
"My wife will get more free time and perhaps she
can give me a hand as well."
With those words, he opens his fridge and places
the first contents inside - tomatoes, an
aubergine, eggs and some milk.

Jokes of the day

A husband and wife are trying to set up a new
password for their computer. The husband
puts,
"Mypenis," and the wife falls on the ground
laughing because on the screen it says, "Error.
Not long enough."
Wife: "How would you describe me?"
Husband: "ABCDEFGHIJK."
Wife: "What does that mean?"
Husband: "Adorable, beautiful, cute, delightful,
elegant, fashionable, gorgeous, and hot."
Wife: "Aw, thank you, but what about IJK?"
Husband: "I'm just kidding!"
A blonde, a redhead, and a brunette were all
lost
in the desert. They found a lamp and rubbed it.
A
genie popped out and granted them each one
wish. The redhead wished to be back home.
Poof! She was back home. The brunette
wished
to be at home with her family. Poof! She was
back home with her family. The blonde said,
"Awwww, I wish my friends were here."
Teacher: "If I gave you 2 cats and another 2
cats
and another 2, how many would you have?"
Johnny: "Seven."
Teacher: "No, listen carefully... If I gave you
two
cats, and another two cats and another two,
how
many would you have?"
Johnny: "Seven."
Teacher: "Let me put it to you differently. If I
gave you two apples, and another two apples
and
another two, how many would you have?"
Johnny: "Six."
Teacher: "Good. Now if I gave you two cats,
and
another two cats and another two, how many
would you have?"
Johnny: "Seven!"
Teacher: "Johnny, where in the heck do you
get
seven from?!"
Johnny: "Because I've already got a freaking
cat!"

Apple posts the biggest quarterly profit in history

U S technology giant Apple has reported the
biggest quarterly profit ever made by a public
company.
Apple reported a net profit of $18bn (£11.8bn)
in
its fiscal first quarter, which tops the $15.9bn
made by ExxonMobil in the second quarter of
2012, according to Standard and Poor's.
Record sales of iPhones were behind the surge
in profits.
Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones in the three
months to 27 December - well ahead of most
analysts' expectations.
In a conference call with financial analysts
Apple's chief executive Tim Cook said that
demand for phones was "staggering".
However, sales of the iPad continued to
disappoint, falling by 18% in 2014 from a year
earlier.
The demand for Apple's larger iPhone 6 Plus
model appeared to help boost profits and
increase the iPhone's gross profit margin - or
how much Apple makes per phone - by 2% to
39.9%.
However, Apple did not give a breakdown of
sales for the iPhone 6 and other models.
Apple shares rose over 5% in trading after the
US markets had closed.
Technology Correspondent
Apple's impressive results represent a
significant
shift towards the massive untapped potential
of
China.
With a strong line-up of devices entering the
final quarter, it was able to reap the fruits of
its
deal with the world's biggest mobile network,
China Mobile.
However, the success of its latest big-screen
iPhones may have contributed to further
cannibalising sales of the iPad.
The once unstoppable tablet is being further
squeezed both by a resurgence in laptop sales,
as well as by competition - both in an
increasingly saturated US market and in
emerging markets by lower-priced, rival
machines.
All eyes now are on the Apple Watch - but with
a
relatively high base price it is not clear
whether
it will be able to woo more than the Apple
faithful.
Currency woes
Apple's revenue grew to $74.6bn in 2014 - a
30%
increase from a year earlier.
However, on a conference call to discuss
earnings, Mr Cook complained of "fierce
foreign
exchange volatility", which added Apple to a
growing list of US firms who have been hurt by
the strong dollar abroad.
Apple said that currency fluctuations shaved
4%
from its first-quarter revenue.
Sales in greater China hit $16bn in 2014 - a
70%
increase from a year earlier, and almost
equalling the $17bn in sales the company
recorded in Europe last year.
A report by research firm Canalys released on
Tuesday said that Apple had overtaken
competitors to become China's number one
seller of smartphones by units shipped in the
fourth quarter of 2014.
Apple also said that its newest product, the
Apple Watch, was still on schedule and would
begin shipping in April.

Michelle Obama headscarf controversy - do Saudis really care?

When Michelle Obama appeared at her
husband's side in Saudi Arabia without wearing
a
headscarf, you might expect a backlash on
social media.
Only it didn't really materialise.
Although someforeignmedia reported a big
social
media controversy, an Arabic hashtag that
translates as "Michelle Obama with no
headscarf" or "Michelle Obama immodesty"
was
in fact tweeted about 2,500 times - not a small
number, but not overwhelming in a country
with
a relatively high Twitter following.
And significantly, this "backlash" was dwarfed
by
another tag related to the US President's visit
to
the kingdom. "King Salman leaves Obama to
pray" attracted more than 170,000 messages.
Saudis used this slogan to show their warm
admiration for new King Salman leaving during
the Obamas' visit to pray, as shown in a news
report that was widely viewed on YouTube.
A Monitoring, which was tracking the
criticism
of Michelle Obama, said most tweeters from
the
Arab world using " Michelle Obama with no
headscarf" were making fun of the situation
and
of conservative Saudi regulations. Some were
sharing pictures of a Michelle Obama wearing
a
headscarf during a trip to Malaysia in 2010,
while
others used the tag to call for more freedoms
in
the kingdom.
Far fewer voices were angry at the first lady's
uncovered head, and a huge number of tweets
came from US users slamming Saudi
traditions.
In fact only 37% of the tweets using the
"Michelle Obama with no headscarf" tag came
from Saudi at all.

Hacktivists step up web attack volumes

Hacktivists and gamers are becoming big users
of net attacks that knock sites offline by
bombarding them with data, suggests a report.
Compiled by Arbor Networks, the report looks
at
10 years of distributed denial of service (DDoS)
attacks.
The ease with which they could be staged had
made them a favourite for groups with a
grudge,
said Arbor.
Also, it said, insecure home routers were being
enrolled into large groups of devices that
mounted the attacks.
Extortion attempt
In the early days of DDoS, cybercrime gangs
had
used them to extort cash from websites run by
betting and gambling firms that could not
afford
to be knocked offline, said Darren Anstee, a
senior analyst at Arbor.
Now, he said, attacks were being mounted by
different groups and had grown considerably in
size.
In 2011, the biggest attacks had flung about
100
gigabits per second (Gbps) of data at targets,
found the report. In 2014 that peak had hit
400Gbps and in the same year there had been
four times as many attacks over 100Gbps than
in
the previous 12 months.
"There's been a massive jump in the number of
very large attacks going on out there," said Mr
Anstee.
"In 2014 we saw more volumetric attacks, with
attackers trying to knock people offline by
saturating their access to the internet."
Almost 40% of the organisations Arbor
contacted
for its report said they were being hit by more
than 21 attacks per month, said the report.
Part of the reason for the shift to the large
attacks could be explained by a change in the
technologies being used to stage them, he
said.
When cybercrime gangs had been behind the
majority of attacks, the data barrages had been
generated by the thousands of hijacked home
computers they had had under their control, he
said.
Botnets were still used to mount extortion
attacks, he said, and were also used to divert
the attention of a company's security team so
they did not notice a separate attack on
another
part of a company's infrastructure.
Figures in the report suggested that companies
were getting better at spotting the early stages
of an attack and recovering once they were hit,
he said.
However, said Mr Anstee, building a botnet was
difficult for hacktivists and others, who had
instead turned to other net-connected devices
and technologies to generate the huge data
flows.
Some attacks abused the net's timekeeping
system or the domain servers that kept a list
of
which website was where, he said.
Other groups had found ways to enrol insecure
home net gateways and routers into attacks,
he
added.
Hacktivists, hacker groups such as Lizard
Squad
and gamers who wanted revenge on other
players were the bigger users of these tactics,
said Mr Anstee.
It was now easy to find so-called "booter"
services online that let gamers kick rivals off a
particular gaming network or title by attacking
that network, he said.
DDoS was also being used by people keen to
use
their technical skills express their feelings
about
a real-world conflict.
"If you look at DDoS attacks and try to tie
them
up with geopolitical events in the last few
years,
you will always see those events echoed in
cyberspace," he said.

Best ever view of asteroid Ceres

The best image ever acquired of the largest
asteroid in the Solar System is now in the hands
of science.
The 950km-wide object, known as Ceres, has
been pictured at a resolution that exceeds
anything seen previously by telescopes, even
Hubble.
Nasa's Dawn spacecraft can see details on the
icy rock's surface down to a scale of 22km per
pixel.
And that view will only get better as the probe
heads towards its historic rendezvous with Ceres
on 6 March.
The new picture was taken on Monday from a
distance of 237,000km.
By 12 February, with the gap narrowed still
further, the resolution will be four times better
than Hubble; and by 20 February it will be eight
times better.
Of particular interest is the "white spot" in the
Northern Hemisphere. Hubble could discern this
feature, too, but exactly what it is remains to be
determined.
It is very probably an impact crater. For the first
time, Dawn can see a dark area next to the spot
which could be the shadow cast by the crater's
rim.
Models of the asteroid suggest its interior is
dominated by a rocky core topped by ice that is
then insulated by rocky lag deposits at the
surface. Some researchers suspect there may
even be an ocean of liquid water at depth.
Such a construction would make Ceres' surface
quite responsive, meaning craters would not hold
a defined shape for long before relaxing and
losing some of their structure. For the white
spot to stand so proud may indicate therefore
that its formation was relatively recent.
Ceres is the dominant member of the band of
rocky debris that circles the Sun between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Its great size means
gravity has pulled it into a roughly spherical
shape.
As well as being an asteroid, it is classed as a
"dwarf planet" and has the honour of being the
first such body to be visited by a spacecraft.
The second dwarf to get a visit will be Pluto. It
will receive a flyby from Nasa's New Horizons
probe in July.