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Each January, Glasgow thrills to the sounds of the Celtic Connections festival and each January the organisers promise and deliver a festival like no other. Not for nothing is the annual roots gathering viewed as one of Scotland’s cultural gems by both participants and punters. Folk music is an inappropriate description of what the festival offers, but not in the sense that it’s about music and musicians and music-loving folk, and what happens when you combine the three. With maybe a dram or two to help ease the introductions, of course. But this year’s promise of a festival like no other has new meaning to it and a different edge. Participants and punters there will be, just not in the same space at the same time. We know why. In its 28th iteration, Celtic Connections will follow so many other festivals in the pandemic era and turn to the digital realm to deliver gigs and events, in this case a special channel on video streaming platform Vimeo. A few will also be aired on BBC Alba. Pre-filmed in November and December in venues both new and familiar – among them the Old Fruitmarket, the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, St Luke’s…

The first batch of 60 high-speed Starlink internet satellites, each weighing about 500 pounds, flat-packed into a stack prior to their launch on May 23, 2019. SpaceX via Twitter SpaceX added sun visors to its Starlink internet satellites to prevent moving lights from marring views of the night sky. The result: the visors may have darkened the satellites to 31% of their former brightness, according to a new study. That makes them mostly invisible to the naked eye, but it probably doesn’t change the impact Starlink will have on astronomy if SpaceX launches 42,000 satellites as proposed. Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories. SpaceX is on course to rocket tens of thousands of satellites into Earth’s orbit, part of Elon Musk’s plan to blanket the planet in high-speed internet. For the first time, data shows that the company may be able to accomplish this feat without marring everyone’s view of the night sky. When the first bright trails of the company’s Starlink satellites paraded across the night in May 2019, scientists feared that it was a preview of a future in which points of moving light swarm the skies and overshadow the stars. But Starlink may now be largely…

New Film Features the Dependable People Who Maintain U.S. Wheat Export ReliabilityARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. Wheat Associates has created a new film titled “Wholesome: The Journey of U.S. Wheat” that shows how the people in the export supply system maintain the wholesome, reliable character of U.S. wheat. USW premiered the film on  Jan. 12 on its Facebook page.“In our organization’s mission to promote U.S. wheat exports, our representatives focus on the consistently high quality of our supplies,” said USW Vice President of Communications Steve Mercer in a news release. “Through this film, the people at every step of the journey to export tell their own stories about how they thoughtfully produce new varieties, care for the land and the crop, and handle the wheat responsively to ensure it meets customer needs. This is an educational program that makes the stunning beauty of the land and the emotional attachment of these dependable people to the industry a key part of the story.”The 25-minute film was produced in cooperation with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and Federal Grain Inspection Service, state wheat commissions, local elevators and export elevators. It will be available to 13 overseas USW offices for use at seminars, courses…

It appears Facebook is cracking down on local hate sites with group administrators reportedly being removed. A New Zealand far-right Facebook page posted that they do not know how much longer they will be able to operate on the social media platform. "We are well and truly caught up in the great purge with most of the admins being removed from the pages." A similar Facebook page which appears to be linked to the group is also reportedly losing administrators. The pages have about 2500 likes and 3600 followers between them. A Trade Me link is included in the "about" section of the pages where MAGA (Make Ardern Go Away) hats are being sold. Both have posted links to back-up accounts they intend on using instead. It follows a week of action from social media giants after the riot in the US Capitol Building on Thursday. Twitter and Facebook both temporarily blocked Donald Trump. Facebook subsequently extended its ban until the end of the US president's term in 12 days. Twitter followed suit with a lifetime ban. Other services have made similar moves over the past 48 hours, including Facebook-owned Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest and Reddit, while popular e-commerce platform Shopify…

Federal Liberal MP Craig Kelly has accused social media companies of attempting to “purge” comments about unproven Covid-19 treatments after he received a warning from Facebook over his claims regarding the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin.Labor’s health spokesman, Chris Bowen, seized on the controversy, arguing the social media giant had “called out ‘Conspiracy Craig’s’ medical disinformation campaign” after the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and federal health minister, Greg Hunt, failed to do so.The stoush between Kelly and Facebook comes as Australia approaches the rollout phase of voluntary vaccinations from mid-February, with the government’s leaders appearing unwilling to contradict misleading claims from within its ranks.On Sunday, Hunt released market research suggesting four in five Australians are likely to be willing to get a Covid vaccine. He also revealed details of a $24m advertising campaign to boost take-up.Migrants, Indigenous Australians and young women will be targeted after a Quantum Market Research survey of 1,000 people found women aged 30 to 39 were the most likely to hold concerns about the vaccine’s safety.According to the Sun Herald, Quantum found that 27% of respondents had concerns about the vaccine’s safety, rising to 42% for women in their 30s. The results suggested there was “a need to…

The Weeknd - Save Your Tears Video screen | Republic It may have arrived late in the January 1-7 tracking period, but The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears” still attracted big interest on YouTube. Credited with 18.0 million views, the buzzy video arrives at #12 on the Global YouTube Music Videos Chart. “Save Your Tears” received 3.9 million tracking period views from other official/eligible uploads, bringing its total tracking period play count to 21.9 million. The count thrusts “Save Your Tears” onto the Global YouTube Songs Chart at #21. “Save Your Tears” fared proportionately well in Canada and the United States. It debuts at #3 on the Canada YouTube Videos Chart and #2 on the Canada YouTube Songs Chart. It flips positions in the US, earning #2 on the Videos Chart and #3 on the Songs Chart. save your tearsthe weeknd Written by Brian Cantor Brian Cantor is the editor-in-chief for Headline Planet. He has been a leading reporter in the music, movie, television and sporting spaces since 2002. Brian's reporting has been cited by major websites like BuzzFeed, Billboard, the New Yorker and The Fader -- and shared by celebrities like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj. Contact Brian…

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 19: Kurt Russell (L) and Goldie Hawn attend Netflix's "The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two" Drive-In Event at The Grove on November 19, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Netflix) Goldie Hawn introduced her followers to the newest addition to her familyThere is a new puppy in the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell family. While the longtime couple already has four pups at home, they are adding a new puppy to the pack. And after seeing the adorableness on display, we are not surprised at all about this new pup being added to the family.Over on Hawn’s Instagram page, she shared a picture of herself hugging the chubby puppy. In the caption for the post it simply says, “Look what Santa rescued for me. Introducing Roy Hawn Russell. #Goodboyroy.” The caption also included a Santa emoji and a heart as well.Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have a new puppyAccording to People Magazine, the addition of Roy to the pack means that Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell now have five dogs. In the past, Hawn has shared pictures of the rest of the pack, including one picture featuring all four dogs together with…

by: Cassie Nichols Posted: Jan 9, 2021 / 06:59 PM CST / Updated: Jan 9, 2021 / 07:00 PM CST TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – A concerned Topeka mother is revealing the disturbing dangers of a popular messaging app after she was accidentally added into her 13-year-old son’s group chat. Terri Bayless filed a police report with the Topeka Police Department after discovering different forms of cyberbullying and manipulation taking place in her son’s Snapchat groups. Other minors in the group chats convinced her son to hurt himself, according to Bayless. “Something seriously dangerous,” Bayless said. “That’s what’s happening. These parents don’t know this is what’s happening right now in this group chat.” The children in the groups range from ages 10 to 15 and live all over Kansas; some of them don’t even know each other. Bayless decided to track down some of the parents who have children in the chat, with hopes to make them aware of what’s going on. “These kids are doing anything because they are starving for attention,” Bayless said. “They are doing anything to get it. And that’s what I’ve realized in these group chats. When I have gotten ahold of some of these parents…

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A Twitter user has come up with a new and innovative way to play Pokemon Red. Earlier today, Constantin Liétard, a 3D programmer for Gameloft, announced that followers could now "play" Pokemon Red on Twitter, with his Twitter profile picture acting as a screen and commands inputted by commenting on one of his tweets. Liétard's system operates similarly to the popular Twitch channel Twitch Plays Pokemon, with commands inputted every 15 seconds based on the most popular command chosen by commenters. Players could choose between any of the original Game Boy buttons - Up, Down, Left, Right, A, B, Start, and Select.Liétard later restarted the game to add a "save" functionality so that previous frames would be saved for posterity. To date, followers have chosen Squirtle as their Starter Pokemon, but haven't made much progress otherwise. Comments are pulled every 15s and the most commented input is then sent to the game. — Constantin Liétard (@screenshakes) January 8, 2021 Pokemon fans have found some very innovative ways to play through the Pokemon games. In addition to Twitch Plays Pokemon, in which the game follows every command made in the chat, resulting in players needing to coordinate efforts to slowly progress…