Facebook provides a wealth of opportunities for individuals looking to maximize their social presence, and the two primary ways in which it allows you to do this are Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups.

On the surface it’s easy to say, Aren’t they, like, basically the same thing? What does it matter if I pick one over the other?

News flash: It matters a lot.

Although fundamentally similar in some regards – such as both being a platform with which to spread news and information – they differ in how that flow of information, well, flows.

What is a Facebook Page?

Similar to an individual’s Facebook profile, a Facebook Page allows businesses, celebrities, organizations, establishments, public figures, blah blah blah, to create an online presence through the Facebook platform. They are visible to everyone on the Internet (by default), and (by default) anyone can connect with the Page, so as to receive news and information from the Page.

But therein lies the key: a Facebook Page is designed to allow information to flow primarily from the Page to its audience. The Page holds the authority and communication power.

What is a Facebook Group?

On the flipside of the situation, a Facebook Group is designed to bring like-minded individuals into a common online space to discuss a specific topic. To do this, the Facebook Group comes with tools to organize events, post photos, share content, and create admins. (Even with admins, though, the group is still generally an all-around equal bunch of individuals.)

And that’s the key: a Facebook Group provides its users with a much more balanced level of power than a Facebook Page. Whereas a Page is an audience interacting with the subject of that Page – the lightning rod, if you will – a Group encourages users to interact with each other.

Basically, one is a lecture hall (Page) and one is a circle discussion (Group).

A Few Important Points:

About Pages:

• Unless designated as admin-only, Pages are public and can be discovered via searches, and anyone can join the Page. (However, there is an option to make Pages invisibile to individuals from certain countries or, to an extent, of a certain age demographic.)
• Fans of a Page cannot necessarily see every other fan of that Page.
• Page posts appear (by default) within the newsfeed.

About Groups:

• Groups can be public, private, closed (Group can be found through search but only members can see the posts), or secret (no one can see the Group unless added by an admin).
• Joining a Group can be done via 1) a Facebook friend adding you to the Group, or 2) you ask to join and an admin accepts the invitation.
• Groups do not allow much for branding. A small profile pictures is pretty much it.
• In addition, Groups do not allow for much customization, such as tabs or applications. Which means no competitions, contact page, welcome page, or any other fancy add-on.
• Group posts do not typically show up in the newsfeed. Instead, depending on an individual’s Facebook settings, Group participants receive a notification about Group activity.

So Which is Better?

That’s really a stupid title, because it’s not about which is better. It’s about which is more effective at transforming information within a specific audience situation. Both serve a purpose, and understanding their respective purpose makes it easier to determine which is, in fact, better. Both for you and your audience.

So…

If you want to create a brand based around a single entity, go with a Page.

If you want to create a networking or discussion circle, go with a Group.

Added Bonus: Differences Between Page Categories

When you create a Facebook Page, there are numerous options presented to you – all of which are covered in a previous part of this guide, How to Create (and Promote) a Facebook Page. Still, it’s important to reiterate the differences between the categories of Facebook Pages, as picking the wrong one could hinder a Page’s success.

To choose the right category for your Page, think about the demographic you want to target with your Page. Is it the local population around your business? Go with “Local Business or Place.” Is it a more international audience for your business? Go with “Company, Organization or Institution.” Is it a specific product? Go with “Brand or Product.”

In a nutshell, your Facebook Page category provides an individual with a succinct, accurate description of the Page. So use it to your advantage.

Previous FB Guide Chapters You May Be Interested In:

1. Chapter 1: How to Create (and Promote) a Facebook Page

So you want to create a Facebook Page, huh? Great! I’m here to make it possible. And not just possible – easy! Using the following information, you too will soon be the proud owner of a finely tuned, highly functional Facebook Page, which could help generate sales as soon as today.

But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. First we have to ask:

What is a Facebook Page?

Facebook’s official response:

Pages are for businesses, organizations and brands to share their stories and connect with people. Like Timelines, you can customize Pages by adding apps, posting stories, hosting events and more.

It’s a Facebook for your business, basically; the go-to spot for customers wanting up-to-the-second info about what you’ve got going on. And in today’s Internet-driven world, having a Facebook Page is crucial.

So let’s get to creating it.

How to Create a Facebook Page

• Step 1: Open www.facebook.com/pages/create/ in a new tab or window.
• Step 2: Click on the Page category most appropriate for your business, company, organization, event, etc.
• Step 3: Choose the appropriate subcategory and enter your company’s name.
• Step 4: Check the box labeled “I agree to Facebook Page Terms.”
• Step 5: Click “Get Started.”
• Step 6: Profit!

For anyone wondering why Facebook categorizes Pages, categories make it easier for people to find your Page, and it tells visitors a bit about the Page before even reading through the Page’s info. An automobile and parts company named Milwaukee’s Best Parts definitely won’t be mistaken for a bakery in downtown Boston.

Which actually brings up an important note: Don’t rush creating your Page! If your name for whatever reason happens to be Boston and you create a Page called “Boston’s Best Donuts,” but you aren’t located in Boston, you’re just going to confuse and frustrate people. Think about it for a bit before committing.

Make your Page’s name relevant and succinct.

Completing Your Facebook Page

So the Page is up, but it’s looking a little – what’s the word? – lacking. You need content. Info. Pictures. A banner. A logo. There’s so much to be done!

Let’s take it one step at a time.

Updating Info – On your Facebook Page, scroll down to the navigation bar located right below the banner. Click the “Update Page Info” button. The screen should now display a list of fields, such as “Name,” “Facebook Web Address,” and so forth. Click “Edit” on the right to update the info. (I recommend starting with “Short Description” and “Long Description.”)

Changing Privacy Settings – On your Facebook Page, scroll down to the navigation bar located right below the banner. Click the “Update Page Info” button. Then click “Settings” at the top. This displays a list of fields controlling the Page’s visibility and privacy settings. Click “Edit” on the right to change a setting.

Adding a Logo – On your Facebook page, scroll down to the small square located in the bottom-left corner of the banner. Hovering your mouse over it brings up the “Edit Profile Picture” button. Click that. From there, click “Upload Photo,” if uploading a new photo, or “Choose From Photos” to use an already uploaded photo.

(Note: You’re probably asking, “What size should my Facebook profile picture be?”.  Facebook logos should be at least 180 pixels by 180 pixels in size, even though the box itself only displays 160 pixels by 160 pixels.)

Adding a Banner – On your Facebook page, scroll down to the large horizontal area located just above the “Update Page Info” button. Hovering your mouse over the large horizontal area brings up the “Change Cover” button. Click that. From there, click “Upload Photo” to upload a new photo, or “Choose From Photos” to use an already uploaded photo.

(Note: What size should your Facebook banner be? The dimensions of Facebook banners should be at least 851 pixels by 315 pixels.)

How to Promote a Page

Let’s get this out of the way: Do not beg your Facebook friends for Likes. It’s annoying. It’s obtrusive. And it’s a great way to drive away potential clients. If you don’t know what I’m trying to say, you might want to visit The Oatmeal’s hilarious article: “How to get more likes on Facebook“.

Instead, starting posting informative content on your Facebook Page. Write about company updates. Link to your blog posts. Link to other people’s blog post. Find other Facebook Pages related to your field and comment on their updates or posts.

To attract interest you need to be interesting.

Think about your Page like it were at social gathering. You don’t want to be the guy screaming for attention, right? You want to join conversations that you can understand and contribute to in a meaningful way. That’s what earns attention and respect, which in turn earns customers.

Lastly, be patient. A Facebook Page isn’t the golden ticket. It’s just another tool for interesting with and finding customers. Spend a little time each day posting info and people will come.

In response to a fan’s tweet about her birthday, Oprah said, “In bed with an ice pack most of today. Moved a bushel of roses sent by @tylerperry and sprained a back muscle.”

Perry later expressed on Facebook that he “felt so bad” about the injury. “I like to send really large flower arrangements to people for whatever occasion. Well, I sent one to Oprah yesterday for her birthday. She strained her back picking it up. No joke! Feel better Oprah. Happy birthday. Sorry.”

Perry later joked that for Oprah’s next birthday he’d only be “sending her one rose.”

Oprah then replied to Perry’s apology, writing, “No need to feel bad. Love the roses and got an extra day in bed. Can you say #icepack?”

Many believe Oprah had planned to spend her day lounging around anyway, so the back strain simply gave her a reason to stay in bed. Earlier that say day she uploaded a photo of her wearing pajamas while having lunch with her longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham.

“No plans to leave p.j.’s all day,” she wrote.

Clearly, the back strain made sure she really had no plans to leave. For someone as rich and wealthy as Oprah, though, one can imagine back strain is actually quite frustrating. After all, success grows from those who toil, and we all know how much Oprah toils away each day.

Earlier this week Oprah said she was adding the “finishing touches” to a commercial expected to air during the Super Bowl. Here’s to hoping the time in bed didn’t mess with her plans too much.

While enjoying her 59th birthday, Oprah Winfrey injured herself by trying to pick up a massive flower delivery from her friend Tyler Perry. The injury occurred in Oprah’s back.

In response to a fan’s tweet about her birthday, Oprah said, “In bed with an ice pack most of today. Moved a bushel of roses sent by @tylerperry and sprained a back muscle.”

Perry later expressed on Facebook that he “felt so bad” about the injury. “I like to send really large flower arrangements to people for whatever occasion. Well, I sent one to Oprah yesterday for her birthday. She strained her back picking it up. No joke! Feel better Oprah. Happy birthday. Sorry.”

Perry later joked that for Oprah’s next birthday he’d only be “sending her one rose.”

Oprah then replied to Perry’s apology, writing, “No need to feel bad. Love the roses and got an extra day in bed. Can you say #icepack?”

Many believe Oprah had planned to spend her day lounging around anyway, so the back strain simply gave her a reason to stay in bed. Earlier that say day she uploaded a photo of her wearing pajamas while having lunch with her longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham.

“No plans to leave p.j.’s all day,” she wrote.

Clearly, the back strain made sure she really had no plans to leave. For someone as rich and wealthy as Oprah, though, one can imagine back strain is actually quite frustrating. After all, success grows from those who toil, and we all know how much Oprah toils away each day.

Earlier this week Oprah said she was adding the “finishing touches” to a commercial expected to air during the Super Bowl. Here’s to hoping the time in bed didn’t mess with her plans too much.

The girl, 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, was with a group of 10 to 12 teenagers beneath a canopy in Vivian Gordon Harsh Park in Chicago. The group was hiding out from the rain. Around 2:30pm, someone leaped over a nearby fence, ran up to the group, and opened fire.

Days before, Pendleton had performed with her high school band at President Obama’s inauguration.

Witnesses said the teenage group scattered, running in blind panic throughout the park as shots were fired. Pendleton, and another boy who was also shot, collapsed approximately one block away, in front of an upscale row of houses.

The bullet hit Pendleton in the back, and she died less than an hour later at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. The boy who was also shot was hit in the leg, and he is still recovering in the hospital.

A resident near the area where Pendleton collapsed said shootings are rare in the neighborhood.

“We hardly … have any crime. There’s been a few break-ins over the past two years since we’ve been here, but nothing that’s ever caused alarm.”

Another resident claims to have heard a total of six shots fired.

“There has to be an end to it,” said Bonita O’Bannion, another Chicago resident. “The children cannot go to school. They’re in fear.”

Chicago police believe Pendleton had no gang affiliation and was likely not the intended target. Police say some of the other teenagers in the group are believed to be gang members.

Pendleton was simply collateral damage in what seems to be a gang-related shooting.

The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is currently only one of five known to exist, and it’s back story sounds like a fiction novel gone so, so right.

Illegally cast, the nickel was discovered in a car wreck that killed its owner. Then the nickel was declared a fake, forgotten in a closet for decades, and eventually found to be an authentic coin. Now, the coin is going to auction on April 25 in suburban Chicago, where it is expected to fetch well over $2.5 million.

“Basically a coin with a story and a rarity will trump everything else,” said Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic Association Money Museum. Mudd believes the coin may even fetch $4 million or even up to $5 million.

“A lot of this is ego,” said Mudd. “I have one of these and nobody else does.”

The nickel was cast at the Philadelphia mint in late 1912, the final year of its issue, but it was cast with the year 1913 on its face. Apparently a mint worker named Samuel W. Brown is suspected of creating the coin and altering it with the incorrect date.

Brown soon offered the coin for sale at the American Numismatic Association Convention in Chicago in 1920, where a North Carolina collector named George O. Walton purchased the coin for $3,750. That same coin was with Walton when he died in a car crash on March 9, 1962.

Melva Givens, one of Walton’s heirs, was given the 1913 Liberty nickel after experts deemed it a fake because of the 1913 date. Givens put the coin in an envelope, stuck it in the closet, and left it there for 30 years.

A family attorney soon heard of the coin and offered to buy it for $5,000 on the spot, but Givens declined. Finally, Givens brought it to the 2003 American Numismatic Association World’s Fair, where it was verified as an authentic coin.

Now, it makes its way to the auction block for millions.

The outage stretched from 11th Street west to 20th Street, from Leavenworth to Farnam. The OPPD claims it will have the power restored sometime Monday evening.

According to Omaha’s local news station, the “OPPD says a transformer blew around 5:45 p.m. Smoke was coming from an open manhole after two underground explosions blew off the cover near 17th Street and St. Mary’s Avenue. OPPD is still trying to figure out why a cable failed, causing the fire in a network vault.”

The sewage fires apparently were extinguished around 7:15pm, and the OPPD crews immediately went to assessing the damage and working to restore power. At the peak of the blackout, around 3,000 customers were without power.

“I had no idea what floor I was on,” said Dakota Braun who was stuck in an elevator. “There was probably about five minutes where the lights were off and it was pitch black. All by myself. Never been stuck in an elevator before. It was really scary, actually.” Braun was stuck in the elevator for about 30 minutes.

“We used our cellphones and navigated out way in there,” said Jen McCune, who was walking to a restroom in a local restaurant when the power went out.

Photographs of the downtown fire explosion are currently circulating the Internet. One such photograph is below, taken with a cellphone camera from the roof of a local building.

The crocodiles escaped from Rakwena Crocodile Farm, a tourist location some nine miles from the small town of Pontdrif, which borders Botswana.

The Guardian writes that “although ‘a few thousand’ have since been recaptured, including one at a school rugby ground 75 miles away, more than half of the reptiles are still at large.”

Zane Langman, the farm owner’s son-in-law, claims many of the crocodiles escaped into dense bush and then into the Limpopo River, the second largest river in South Africa.

“There used to be only a few crocodiles in the Limpopo River. Now there are a lot. We go to catch them as soon as farmers call us to inform us about the crocodiles,” said Langman. “I heard there were crocodiles in Musina [about 72 miles away] on the school’s rugby field.”

Langman added that he rescued some friends from a flooded house in the area by boat on Sunday, during the intense flood waters.

“When we reached them, the crocodiles were swimming around them. Praise the Lord, they were all alive,” said Langman.

Photos posted on the farm’s website show the crocodiles vary in size, though one is shown to be more than 18 feet long. Imagine that: an 18-foot crocodile, one of thousands, now roaming the area looking for food. Scary stuff, indeed.

At the time of writing, sources claim many crocodiles have been recaptured, though more than half are still on the loose.

Now, Aisling McCarthy Brady, the jailed nanny charged with assault, could be facing charges of murder in last week’s death of Rehma Sabir, an infant hospitalized on January 14 due to head injuries. It was the infant’s first birthday, and she died two days later.

An upstairs neighbor told police that on the day the infant was hospitalized, she heard the infant crying for almost an hour before it changed to “extreme crying.” The neighbor claims to have knocked on the apartment’s door for about 90 seconds, timing the knocks in between the infant’s gasping to make the knocks more audible.

Unfortunately, no one answered her knocks. She told the police that she heard the infant crying for another 10 minutes.

“It started to slow and settle down before completely stopping,” said police.

State police later searched the room to find a bloody blanket and pillow in the crib and blood-stained baby wipes discarded in a diaper pail.

According to court documents, Dr. Alice Newton, medical director of the Child Protection Team at Boston Children’s Hospital, diagnosed Rehma as a victim of abusive head trauma.

“Abusive head trauma includes injuries caused by violent shaking as well as impact to the head either by directly striking the head or causing the head to strike another object or surface,” said the court documents.

Brady told police she believed Rehma wanted to sleep and put her in the crib. She went back into the bedroom three hours later and noticed that “Rehma was ‘clenching her fists and her arms and legs were stiff.’”

The decision of whether Brady killed the infant now lies in the court’s control. We’ll keep you posted with further updates later.

While a surprise to some, many already had suspicions after she tore out her earpiece halfway through the performance. In addition, Beyonce had posted a photo to her Instagram account of herself holding the sheet music to “The Star Spangled Banner” in her recording studio.

However, Col. Michael J. Colburn, who serves as the director of the US Marine Corps Band, claims all music is prerecorded in case of bad weather. This allows the inauguration to continue without any musical hiccups.

But if that were the case, what hiccup caused Beyonce to opt for using her prerecorded version rather than singing live?

“All music is pre-recorded for the ceremony because there are so many eventualities and conditions that day,” said Kristin DuBois, the United States Marine Band representative. “We performed, live, the band. But we received last-minute word that Beyonce was going to use the pre-recorded vocal track. Those were the instructions we were given. We don’t know what the reason why.”

The Marine Corps Band later released a statement saying, “…there was no opportunity for Ms. Knowles-Carter to rehearse with the Marine Band before the Inauguration so it was determined that a live performance by the band was ill-advised for such a high-profile event.”
Although surprising, Beyonce isn’t the first performer to do lip-sync at a large event. Back in 1991, Whitney Houston lip-synced her interpretation of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl. Also, at Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, Yo-Yo Ma hand-synced his performance due to his cello not working properly in the cold weather.

Quite simply, the act of lip-syncing is not a new phenomena created by Beyonce, though it definitely cheapens what many previously thought to be an outstanding performance.

Many of the injured had to be extracted using special cranes, accompanied by 25 fire engines, multiple helicopter ambulances, and a special accident train. The injured have since been transported to a local hospital for treatment.

“Two of the seriously injured at in a life-threatening condition, one of whom is one of the train drivers,” said emergency services spokesman Ronald Packert. “In total 41 people were hurt.” He added, “One good thing was that the crash happened right next to an emergency services station, meaning that our people were there in seconds.”

Although many of the injured were easily rescued, one of the seriously injured had to be cut out of the twisted wreckage after being trapped.

The cause of the crash is believed to be a technical fault that caused both trains to be travelling towards each other along the same track, said Austrian Railways. How or why the fault happened, Austrian Railways has yet to release a statement.

“There was a technical problem,” said company spokeswoman Sarah Nettel. “One of the trains received a signal to proceed that it shouldn’t have.”

Evacuating the injured from both trains took approximately two hours. The trains crashed head-on at 8:45am in the Penzing district of western Vienna.

This incident is reminiscent of another train derailment that happened last September in the same area, though that accident resulted in no injuries and was blamed on human error.

Train accidents in today’s world remain a rare occurrence, but when one does happen, fear ripples throughout the train-commuting community. It’ll be interesting to see how Austria Railways, or Austria train passengers, react to this accident.

Each plane did sustain damage, with one having its wingtip battered and the other its tail section. Several flights were then delayed due to authorities needing to move the planes.

“Neither plane will be flying tonight,” said MIA spokesman Marc Henderson.

Here’s what happened: An Aerolines Argentinas Airbus arrived around 5:45pm between concourses J and H. The plan was carrying 240 passengers. As it drove down the tarmac, it struck an Air France 777-300 plane carrying 350 passengers as the 777 readied at the gate for takeoff to Paris.

Rescue units and airport workers flooded the tarmac after the planes collided.

Aerolines passengers were immediately allowed off the plane, but Air France passengers had to wait in line for hours with their luggage trying to reschedule their flights. These passengers waited up to four hours, causing tensions to rise until people eventually broke out into fights.

“The first altercation I saw was a group of guys that got fed up with people cutting in front of them,” said Alex Legion, 24, a Hungarian professional basketball player. “The second altercation I saw was when people from business class started to cut the economy line and a lady and a guy got into an argument.”

Veronica Ramudo, 29, described the feeling of the collision as “like an earthquake was happening.”

“The plane shook up a bit but the hit wasn’t strong enough to make it lose stability,” said Aina Taberner, 29, a student in Valencia.

Henderson stressed that no one was injured and that these events are extremely rare. “This is not a very common occurrence,” said Henderson. “I can’t recall the last time we had planes collide.”

The police reports claim the man actually punched the young woman in the head, dragged her by the ankles, and then threw her onto the train tracks.

The man, William Clark, of Philadelphia, now faces charges of assault, robbery, theft, and reckless endangerment. At the time of writing, the suspect is thought to be between ages 25 and 30 years old.

Clark attacked the woman around 3:30pm Tuesday in Philadelphia’s Chinatown. Before attacking her, the man had approached the 23-year-old woman and asked for a lighter. The suspect and victim were the only two at the Eighth and Race street stops, leaving the woman alone at the mercy of Clark’s beating.

A surveillance camera captured the attack. The video clearly depicts the man attacking the woman, dragging her off the bench, and then pulling her all the way to train tracks. Somehow, the woman managed to stand up at the edge of the platform, just before being hurled off by the man.

“I started trying to fight him back as much as I could,” said the woman. “After it was over, the first thing that popped in my head was my son.”

Unfortunately, the male suspect managed to escape from the scene, and police are still searching for leads. This incident continues a current trend of people pushing others onto train tracks, although in the previous two – one involving a man crushed by a train and another involving a woman pushing a man onto the tracks – the suspects were captured.

The man, who is believed to be homeless, took the woman’s cell phone and fled onto the streets. Police have since increased manpower in stations, hoping the extra help with either deter further attacks or lead to the man’s capture.

It’s still there, too, stuck on the reef and unable to get free. Reports claim all 81 of the ship’s crew are uninjured and there are no indications of a fuel leak.

Still, it’s there, and the Navy has yet to find a way to free the ship without causing damage to either the ship or the environment.

In an official statement, the Navy said the USS Guardian (MCM-5) ran into the Tubataha Reef, located 400 miles south of the Philippine capital of Manila, at 2:25am local time. The Avenger-Class mine countermeasures ship was transiting the Sulu Sea when it suddenly ran aground.

“The ship is currently stuck on the reef, approximately 80 miles east-southeast of Palawan Island,” said the official Navy statement. “The crew is currently working to determine the best method of safely extracting the ship.”

The Navy also said the incident is currently under investigation, though they did not say who or what specifically they were investigating. As said before, reports claim there are no fuel leaks, and all 75 enlisted men and six officers are uninjured.

The Navy’s 14 Avenger-Class ships “are designed as mine sweepers/hunter-killers capable of finding, classifying and destroying moored and bottom mines.” They feature a wooden hull sheathed in fiberglass, and the 224-foot-long vessels “use sonar and video systems, cable cutters and a mine detonating device that can be released and detonated by remote control. They are also capable of conventional sweeping measures.”

These ships were initially released in the Persian Gulf over the past year to counter any Iranian threats close to the Strait of Hormuz. Now, it appears the real threat is running aground on reefs.

The woman, 67-year-old Sabine Moreau, wanted to pick up a friend from a train station in Brussels, just 93 miles away from where she lived in her home town of Hainault Erquelinnes, Belgium. The trip should have taken no more than two hours – three if she were going really, really slow. Instead, however, the trip took days, and Moreau didn’t even make it to the right train station.

Moreau turned on her GPS and punched in the destination, and the device told her to drive south, and south, and south, all the way to Zagreb, Croatia, a city 900 miles on the other side of Europe.

During this time spent driving 900 miles, did Moreau ever once stop to wonder why she had been in the car for so long? Yes and no.

“I was distracted, so I kept driving,” said Moreau. “I saw all kinds of traffic signs, first in French, then German and finally in Croatian, but I kept driving because I was distracted. Suddenly I appeared in Zagreb and I realized I wasn’t in Belgium anymore.”

Yes, Moreau, you suddenly appeared in Zagreb, 900 miles away from your home. And you were distracted while driving. For two whole days. Never once noticing the GPS error.

Still, the whole thing wasn’t all fun and distractions. Moreau’s son was actually nervous when his mother didn’t arrive back the first night, and he contacted the police to start a search. The police turned up nothing, obviously, since they had no idea that Moreau was actually all the way across Europe.

Honestly, stories like this one are outstanding. No one was hurt, everyone got home safely, and the rest of us get to sit back and laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

However, at a backstage interview, Foster went on to say, “No, I am not retiring.” She added, “I could never stop acting. You’d have to drag me with wild horses.”

The vagueness in Foster’s speech came from her claim of never again stepping foot on any stage – leaving people to assume she meant award ceremony stages.

“It’s just that from now on, I may be holding a different talking stick,” said Foster, evoking tears in the audience.

One can assume Foster means directing or some other off-camera, off-stage part in the grand scheme of theatrics, but Foster herself has yet to clarify exactly which stick she wants to hold.

In addition to the vague non-retirement announcement in her Golden Globes acceptance speech, Foster also came out as a homosexual woman, though she expected few to be surprised by this announcement.

“I’m just going to put it out there, loud and proud … I am, uh, single,” said Foster, pausing for effect. “I hope you’re not disappointed that there won’t be a big coming-out speech tonight. I already did my coming-out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age.”

She went on to joke that today’s celebrities are expected to announce their homosexuality “with a press conference, a fragrance, and a prime-time reality show. And you guys might be surprised, but I am not Honey Boo Boo Child. No, I’m sorry, that’s just not me. It never was and it never will be. But please don’t cry, because my reality show would be so boring.”

Even with all the vague announcement, Jodie Foster’s acceptance speech left the audience emotionally overwhelmed and utterly stunned by her convictions.

The birth occurred this past Saturday, approximately two hours before the Armavia airplane landed in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. The flight had been coming from Siberia.

When the woman began giving birth, flight attendant Asmik Gevondyan noticed the woman was in distress. Upon further inspection, she determined the woman had entered labor and would potentially give birth before the plane landed.

“All of our crew helped to deliver the baby,” said Gevondyan, when asked if she had delivered the child by herself. Apparently Gevondyan rallied the other crewmembers to bring supplies, blankets, and other such items to comfort the birthing mother and her soon-to-be child.

The woman who gave birth claimed to be only 6-and-a-half-months pregnant during the flight’s check-in, but that obviously wasn’t the case. The woman named the child Asmik, after the flight attendant who took charge of the delivery.

According to reports of the incident, the child was born healthy and well, and the new mother is excited for the adventure of motherhood.

However, one of the looming questions is, in which nation was the child born, and what are the legal ramifications of giving birth while on a flight?

Regardless, we wish the mother who gave birth on a flight all the best of luck and hope she appreciates the gift of giving life.

As if straight out of a novel, siblings Betty Billadeau and Clifford Boyson were sent to separate foster homes when Betty was five and Clifford was three. Though the two spent years searching for each other, they could never find link leading them together.

“Nobody would help me until I came and met little Eddit,” said Boyson, referring to the 7-year-old who helped reunited the two lost siblings.

The story goes that Eddie was moved by Boyson’s story of a lost siblings, so he went on Facebook and began searching.

“I went on Facebook and I typed in Boyson,” said Eddie. “There were a whole bunch of pictures that showed up. One of them kind of looked like Clifford and I zoomin in on it and it started to really look like Clifford, [so] I showed it to my mom and dad.”

Eddie’s father then contacted Billadeau’s daughter, to arrange a meeting between the siblings. This past Saturday was that meeting, when the two siblings were finally reunited after 65 years apart.

“You’re about the same height mom was!” said Boyson, embracing his sister. He gave Billadeau pink flowers, and they gave him a suitcase, so he would have “no excuses” for not visiting his reunited sibling.

“The one thing he said is he has someone to send a Christmas card to now,” said Billadeau.

As for 7-year-old Eddie, he’s still helping the siblings achieve their dreams. His next venture is to bring Boyson on a vacation.

“He’s never been on a vacation,” said Eddie. “And I want him to go on vacation to Disney World with me.”

These kind of happy stories are few and far between, but it’s astonishing to see so many individuals enriched by the wonder of one little boy.

The man, named Robert Hall, 54, went into a surgical care unit on Thursday at the Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. He is being treated for a broken pelvis, brain bleeding, and broken facial bones.

Reports claim the attack took place in New Smyrna Beach, a Florida resort town, where Hall often stayed in the home of his ex-wife, Jeanette Morris, 61, when she was away working as a truck driver. The attack came about when Morris suspected Hall of letting his girlfriend into the house.

Hall had asked the local sheriff department to supply a deputy to escort his girlfriend out of the house. When Morris said she was not coming home, instead going to her brother’s, the deputy left the house.

But Morris didn’t go to her brother’s place. Instead, Morris, her brother, and a woman named Joan Hobart began drinking vodka with Hall. Some drinks into the night the three turned on Hall, shocked him three times, punched him, put a gun against his head, and then tied him up.

The three then tied him to the bumped and dragged him down the road for half a mile. After the truck stopped, they threw him in the truck’s bed, shaved some of his hair off, and talked of scalping and burying Hall in a large hole.

As the truck took off again, Hall leaped out of the truck bed and ran for help. Now, Morris, her brother, and the woman named Hobart are all charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, false imprisonment, aggravated battery and aggravated assault.

The crane toppled sometime around 2:30pm, in the New York City borough of Queens. It actually crashed into a two-story framework for a residential building, cutting through it “like a hot knife in butter,” as one witnessed later said. The crane came to a rest sprawled across the broken framework.

The three seriously injured had to be pulled from beneath the crane, and only one of them appears to have broken a bone. All three are now in stable condition.

Preston White, a carpenter on his first day on the job, said he heard a popping sound as he turned to speak to a friend. He turned back and “saw the cable whipping toward the deck. You could just hear it buckling.” The crane then smashed into the framework and shook the scaffolding White was standing on.

The crane had only been up for four days, though it took much shorter to bring the whole thing down. Afterward, city officials investigated the scene using a cherry picker, and authorities had to rescue a few individuals injured from the incident.

Many New Yorkers view these kind of cranes with suspicion ever since two of them collapses within two months of each other in Manhattan back in 2008. These two accidents killed nine people.

After those events, NYC created new measures to prevent more injured people due to collapsed cranes, such as hiring more inspectors and expanding inspection checklists, but it appears the measures have not gone far enough.

Another crane fell in April at a construction site, killing one worker. Another crane collapsed during Superstorm Sandy, though this one could be blamed on the winds and rain.

Still, cranes collapsing in NYC remains a problem, and today’s incident proves much work must be done for the city to be safe.

Fisher-Price told the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that it heard from more than 600 consumers about the mold problem. In addition, Fisher-Price claims at least 16 infants have been treated for mold-related medical concerns, including respiratory issues.

The CPSC claims the Fisher-Price recall applies to 800,000 infant recliner sleepers that were sold nationwide and online since September of 2009. The seats are designed to hold babies weighing up to 25 pounds, and the seats typically sold for anywhere between $50 and $85.

The mold apparently forms between the sleeper’s hard plastic frame and the removable seat cushion if the sleeper remains wet or unclean for a prolonged period of time. Consumers are advised to check for dark brown, gray or black spots under the removable seat cushion, as these are signs of mold. If mold is found, stop using the product and immediately contact Fisher-Price for further assistance.

Alternatively, consumers can contact Fisher-Price through their website or via telephone at (800) 432-5437 weekdays between 9am and 6pm EST.

Units currently in retail stores are said to not be affected by the recall warning, but consumers are advised to take caution with all Fisher-Price sleeper products. It’s best to be wary of any company conducting a recall of this size, especially when the victim of the recall is an infant.

Respiratory problems are no joke. If you or someone you know owns a Fisher-Price sleeper, immediately contact them about the mold risk. As the old cliché says, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and you do not want to wake up one day to your infant sharing a sleeper with invasive mold. Gross.

Urooj Khan, the lottery winner, purchased two scratch tickets in June from Ashur Oshana, a clerk at a 7-Eleven on Chicago’s North Side. According to Oshana, Khan said he was on hajj, a Muslim pilgrimage, and that he wanted to lead a better life – a life without gambling – but Khan bought two scratch tickets anyway.

Khan immediately scratched the tickets to reveal he won a $1 million prize. Rather than take the amount in installments, Khan opted for a single $600,000 payout check, which came out to about $425,000 after taxes. The winning check was issued by the state Comptroller’s Office on July 19, but according to police reports, Khan the lottery winner was poisoned by cyanide on July 20.

Khan’s body was transported to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, which found no signs of trauma and conducted no autopsy – the office generally did not perform autopsies on individuals 45 and older unless the death was suspicious. Therefore, Khan was considered dead and his winnings were passed off to his estate.

Days later, an unnamed relative came forward to request a more extensive examination of Khan’s body. The Examiner’s Office then conducted an expansive toxicology screening, which includes all major drugs, prescription drugs, and such poisons as cyanide.

The full results of the screening came back in November, showing signs of cyanide in Khan’s system, leading police to initiate a full investigation into Khan’s death.

Reporters trying to call Khan’s family received no answer, and even knocks on the house were unanswered. Clearly, the family either wants to be left out of the investigation, or they have something to hide.

Only police can now figure out who used cyanide poisoning to kill a lottery winner.

According to police, the flash mob consisted of over 200 juveniles meeting at the mall’s food court approximately at 6pm. Police were called when fights reportedly broke out between juveniles, and three separate police agencies responded to the scene.

“We think there was some sort of post on social media about a flash mob for tonight which drew such a large crowd of juveniles,” said Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.

Although no one was injured due to the mall emptying after the flash mob turned ugly, video of the incident clearly show officers chasing juveniles throughout the mall, with ambulances waiting outside to cater to anyone injured.

“Never been that scared in my life,” said Juston D’Nea Millet on Facebook. “People were running everywhere. It was like a movie, but you were in it.”

Witnesses claim some flash mob participants flipped over tables, jumped over railings, and clogged escalators and elevators. Some even heard rumors of a juvenile carrying a gun, though police found no evidence backing this rumor.

“I grabbed my son and took off running, but all the doors to the stores were closed,” said a witness remaining anonymous. “I ran through a side door into the parking lot and ran around trying to find my car.”

Police closed down the mall and kept it closed for the rest of the night. Many juveniles were held in custody by the police, able to be picked up by their parents only when the situation was completely under control.

Up to 10 people are expected to face criminal charges for inciting a riot.

Over the past couple months Curiosity has found numerous objects scattered across Mars’ surface, though all of these have been plastic pieces that have broken off from Curiosity itself. The flower-like object, however, is not one of these plastic pieces, claims NASA officials.

“I would guess that the ‘flower’ was someone’s descriptive term for its appearance, not meant as an interpretation that flowers exist on Mars,” said NASA spokesperson Guy Webster.

In addition to the martian flower, the Mars rover Curiosity also found a snake-like rock so large that it took numerous photos to capture the rock’s total size. NASA scientists are calling it “Snake River.”

“It’s one piece of the puzzle,” said rover mission project scientist John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. “It has a crosscutting relationship to the surrounding rock and appears to have formed after the deposition of the layer that it transects.

The Mars rover Curiosity is currently on a two-year mission to determine if the planet was once habitable for microbial life. Curiosity is now driving toward a 3-mile high mountain, and along the way it is finding such things as the flower and the snake rock.

“The area the rover is in looks good for our first drilling target,” said rover project manager Richard Cook. After the drilling begins, Curiosity will begin to make greater discoveries than the ones recently found. Who knows, Curiosity may in fact find life buried somewhere in Mars’ surface.

In response to the event, British Airways released the following statement:

“Our customers and flying crew deserve a safe and enjoyable flight experience. We do not tolerate any disruptive behavior onboard our flights. They were handed over to the custody of the French police and detained upon arrival in Lyon.”

Various reports claim the women had been heavily drinking throughout the British Airways flight. After enough drinks, the drunk women began swearing in front of children while storming about the plane. When asked to return to their seats, the drunk women refused.

Flight attendants continued trying to get the women back to their seats, but one of the two drunk women reportedly threatened to track down and hurt one of the British Airways flight attendants and her family. The women then tried to force their way into the cockpit of the British Airways plane, followed by smoking cigarettes in the bathroom.

“They decided they were going to meet the captain and marched towards the cockpit,” said one witness. “It was very frightening.”

Both women have since been banned from ever setting foot on a British Airways flight. In addition, French police authorities placed the women under arrest and locked them in a cell, where they sobered up overnight.

The women were later flown back to London on New Year’s Day, and British Airways officials are looking into the incident to see what happened and how the women were allowed to become so intoxicated.

Dr Xiuwen Yan, who led the panda blood research at the Life Sciences College of Nanjing Agricultural University in China, said panda blood “showed potential antimicrobial activities against wide spectrum of microorganisms including bacteria and fungi, both standard and drug-resistant strains.”

The antibiotic agent within the panda blood is thought to be released by a panda bear when they are at risk of infection. Scientists are calling this agent cathelicidin-AM.

“Under the pressure of increasing microorganisms with drug resistance against conventional antibiotics, there is urgent need to develop new type of antimicrobial agents,” said Dr. Yan. “Gene-encoded antimicrobial peptides play an important role in innate immunity against noxious microorganisms. They cause much less drug resistance of microbes than conventional antibiotics.”

The antibiotic agents in panda blood was found to kill bacteria in less than an hour. Conventional antibiotics can take up to six hours.

The problem is, the panda population has dwindled over the years, primarily due to their bamboo forests being destroyed. In addition, pandas are infamously poor at breeding, since the females only come into season once per year, which only makes the panda population problem worse. Quite simply, farming panda blood for antibiotics would be quite the difficult situation.

However, the discovery of panda blood being beneficial for mankind will most likely lead to further conservation efforts for the creatures. After all, more parties will now have an interest in seeing the creatures not only survive but thrive.

Other powerful antimicrobial agents have been found in snail mucus and some amphibians, but neither of these come close to the power of panda blood.

A video published by TMZ shows Sheen addressing the audience at the El Ganzo hotel, where his bar is based. The room was packed with people, one of which was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The video shows Sheen getting angry and then shouting, “How we doing? … Lying bunch of f*ggot a**holes, how we doing?”

Sheen was among many celebrities attending the event, some of which were the mayor of Los Angeles and Slash, the guitarist known from the band Guns N’ Roses. Neither of these individuals have commented on Sheen’s homophobic rant.

In addition, Sheen also Tweeted a photograph of himself and the mayor of Los Angeles, along with a message which read, “From Boyle Heights 2 Mayor of LA..! …. Antonio Villaraigosa knows how to party!”

Since the TMZ video’s release, Sheen has backtracked on his homophobic comment, saying that he meant no offense by it. He merely wanted to rile up the crowd for the opening of his bar.

“I meant no ill will and intended to hurt no one and I apologize if I offended anyone,” said Sheen. “I meant to say maggot but I have a lisp.”

How Sheen expects anyone to believe he suddenly developed a lisp capable of changing an em sound into an ef sound, I don’t know. But there it is: his excuse for going on a homophobic rant is that he has a lisp.

We’ll see if Sheen’s lisp makes anymore appearances in the future.

During a routine dental-implant operation, a 60-year-old woman bit down on the dentist’s drill head, causing the drill bit to become loose and then fall into the woman’s mouth, down her throat, and into her right lung. Immediately, the dentist asked the woman to sit up and spit the drill bit out, but it was too late – the damage had already been done.

“She tried to spit it out, and was made to cough, but she’d already swallowed,” said Per Weitz, medical chief of the hospital tasked with removing the drill bit.

In response to the woman swallowing the drill bit after the accident, the dentist proceeded to x-ray her chest. Seeing the drill bit firmly stuck in the woman’s lung, the dentist contacted doctors for assistance. This was when “a pinky-sized tube was sent into her lung with a small camera and pliers to grab hold of the drill,” said Weitz, who said it was a standard bronchoscopy procedure.

The dentist clinic where the incident happened now checks each drill bit before starting a procedure, making sure the drill is properly attached. Also, the dentists check the drill bit in the air before using them.

“Unfortunately, drills are going to be dropped every now and then,” said Weitz.

To prevent such further accidents, scientists are searching for dental drill alternatives. For example, researchers at the University of Missouri created a device that uses gas and liquid to remove plaque and kill bacteria. The device is said to be pain-free, and the lack of a drill bit helps to avoid accidents such as the one above.

Well, flying cars are still out of the equation and jet packs have been deemed too explosively dangerous, but you better believe that virtual reality is on its way into our world.

Let me turn your attention to the Tokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of System Design, which recently revealed their latest creation, a “virtual body technology.”

Revealed at the Digital Contents Expo 2012 in Tokyo, this technology claims to engage an individual’s senses to such a degree that it makes the person feel as if they are inhabiting another person’s body. This is some seriously strange stuff body swapping technology.

To create this kind of sensation, the technology uses a vibrating chair capable of leaning back and forth, fans for creating breezes, foot pedals to create imitation walking, a 3-D monitor, and equipment capable of creating false smells. All in all, it’s an impressive system that makes it capable to artificially live a second life.

“The chair will move to provide directional and vestibular sensations,” said Professor Tasushi Ikei. “The legs will move to create a sense of actually walking or running and a sense of moving in parallel or up and down, or to create a sensation as if the feet are touching the ground. Extremely large vibrations are felt when you are running, so it is possible to create vibrations from the shins to the knees. When you walk in the city there are various scents and breezes, and these are also recreated.”

For anyone wishing to become someone else, this may be the perfect opportunity. Of course, it could serve less ethically questionable purposes, such as allowing someone the experience of walking through an Amazon rainforest or running on a Mediterranean beach, without having to leave the comfort of a chair.

This is most definitely going to be an interesting piece of tech to watch during the next few years.

The tablet is called Way-C, which means “light of the stars,” while the smartphone is called Elikia, which means “hope,” according to Mashable.

VMK claims Elikia is “probably the best entry-level choice for mobile users who wish to be dynamic and connected.” The use of the word “probably” leaves me questioning both the company and its copywriter, but that’s beside the point.

“All options and features of an Android smartphone and more exciting applications, faster download, a Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS on an intuitive interface and attractive user,” writes the VMK website.

Looking at the advertising photos of Elikia, it’s hard not to agree that this is one sexy looking smartphone, possibly even giving Apple a run for its branding money. After all, Elikia has “highly qualitative design with curves studied in order to ensure both a timeless, elegant and modern making you almost forget it is a entry-level product!” (Again, we’ll ignore the number of grammatical errors there. Let’s focus on the product’s appeal.)

In addition to the “elegant and modern” design, the Elikia features a camera with 5 megapixels and autofocus. It also has a front camera of 0.3 megapixels specifically for “self-portraits and video calls.”

For the gamers out there, this African designed smartphone has you covered: VMK has created a multimedia experience that adds a “healthy dose of technology and performance,” meaning that it’s capable of playing games, and sharing files from “your usual applications like on your computer.”

At the time of writing, the tablet is about the size of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and costs approximately $300. The Android-based smartphone runs for about $170 without a contract. We’ll have to wait and see if Elikia catches on in either the United States or Africa. In the meantime, they really need to hire a better copywriter.

Pamela Corbett Murrin, daughter of the former Texas Rangers owner, said her father passed away peacefully in his sleep. She added that he was not sick.

“The Texas Rangers are saddened to hear of the death of Brad Corbett,” said the Rangers team in an official statement. “His tenure as owner was marked by a passion and drive to bring a winning team to the fans of North Texas.” The statement added, “The spirit in which Mr. Corbett served as owner of the Rangers will be remembered always.”

Before getting into the ownership position for the Rangers, the deceased former Texas Rangers owner lived in Fort Worth, Texas, where he turned a $300,000 loan into millions from various piping and tubing businesses. This gave Corbett the financial backing necessary to pursue owning the Texas Rangers.

In 1974, two days before the start of the season, Corbett bought the Texas Rangers for $9.6 million and $1 million in assumed debt. During Corbett’s ownership, the team had six managers in six years, four of them in the 1977 season. According to the Rangers’ website, the team’s 94 victories in 1977 remained the most in their history until 1999. Also, the team had their first four winning seasons under Corbett’s direction.

All decisions had to pass through Corbett, even the player transactions, which resulted in Corbett trading away Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, and Bert Blyleven, three future Hall of Fame pitchers.

Corbett eventually sold the team to a group controlled by Eddie Chiles, an oilman, in 1980.

Although the former Texas Rangers owner has died, his team continues to live on his memory.