Best of web: Cartoon mania, Apocalypse not now...

Cartoon mania grips Facebook

The social networking site has been bitten by cartoon bug as millions of users are replacing their display pictures with their favourite animated character.

Google''s list of hot searches has been recnetly dominated by "Cartoons from the 90s," "bobby's world," "1990 cartoons," "muppet babies" and plenty of other cartoon-related phrases.

Images of the Flintstones, Thundercats, the Smurfs and other classic cartoon characters are taking over users' news feeds on Facebook.

According to the trend-tracking website Know Your Meme, the cartoon fad started with Facebook users in Greece and Cyprus in mid-November.

The site said the original message was in Greek and translated to "From the 16th to the 20th of November, we shall change our profile pictures to our favourite cartoon characters. The purpose of this game is to remove all photos of human for a few days from Facebook,” reports ABC News.

"NewGame: Change your profile picture to your favorite cartoon from when you were a kid. The goal of this game is not to see a human picture on Facebook, but an invasion of childhood memories until Monday. PLAY AND PASS ALONG!" said the message sweeping Facebook on November 19.

Messages posted today include a cause in the call to action.

"Change your facebook profile picture to a cartoon character from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. Until Monday, Dec 6th of 2010, there should be no human faces on facebook, but an invasion of memories! This is for a campaign against violence on children."
 

Doomsday warning 'wrong'

It has emerged that alarming predictions that global warming could cause sea levels to rise 6ft in the next century are wrong, claims Daily Mail.

(AP)

The forecast made by the influential 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which would have seen cities around the world submerged by water, now looks ‘unlikely’, the newspaper said.

A Met Office study also rules out the shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean’s conveyor belt, which would trigger Arctic winters in Britain like those seen in the film The Day After Tomorrow.

However, the report says the IPCC was right to warn of a sea level rise of up to 2ft by 2100, and that a 3ft rise could happen.

The IPCC underestimated the danger posed by the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and the release of methane from warmer wetlands, the report adds.
 

Motorola Droid smartphone explodes

A man had just finished talking on his mobile phone when he heard a 'loud pop'. Next moment he felt blood trickling down his face and he discovered his ears were bleeding profusely.

(AP)

It took some time to realise that the glass on the face of the Motorola Droid smartphone had shattered. The victim had bought it just two days earlier. The phone still appeared to be functioning with its battery intact.
The man was immediately taken to the emergency room where he received four stitches, but said there was no hearing loss.

Motorola issued a statement saying, "Motorola's priority is, and always has been the safety of our customers, and all Motorola products are designed, manufactured and tested to meet or exceed international and local standards for consumer safety. We will reach out to the consumer and investigate this thoroughly."

Even though an exploding phone is rare, it is not unique. A man was killed in India when the Nokia cell phone he was using exploded in his face. He was found dead with burns to his left ear, neck and shoulders, near a farm in Rajasthan, The Times of India reported.

Police found pieces of the Nokia 1209 handset, a basic model released in August 2008, scattered nearby.

In another incident in January this year, a 27-year-old housewife in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh was killed while talking to her husband on the phone while it was charging.
 

Baby naming rules of 2011

New parents are tipped to choose lighter, more optimistic names for their offspring in 2011, predicts nameberry.com.

(AFP)

The website has identified the hottest name trends for next year. It predicts names beginning with Ha will surge into prominence.

While those ending in the Latin "us" for boys, such as Atticus, Aurelius, Augustus, Cassius, Maximus, Amadeus, Rufus. Amos and Miles are also tipped to be popular.

Planets, angels and other heavenly objects will be in vogue, including names such as Mars, Jupiter, Orion, Seraphina, Gabriel, Stella and Luna for those looking for whacky names for their offsprings.

Common flower names is also likely to be replaced by something more exotic, such as Dahlia, Poppy, Lotus, Lilac, Acacia, Marigold and Camellia, the website predicts.

 
 
Versace died in 'Mafia hit'

Fashion designer Gianni Versace was apparently murdered 'because of debts to Mafia', according to a new book by Giuseppe Di Bella titled 'Metastasi'.

(GETTY IMAGES)

The same mafia then tried to steal his ashes to blackmail his family. The 50-year-old Versace was gunned down on the steps of his Miami apartment in 1997 by serial killer Andrew Cunanan.

According to a new book by Giuseppe Di Bella, a former member of the Calabrian Mafia known as the N'drangheta, Versace was allegedly killed "over debts" he had with the Godfathers.

In the book Metastasi, Di Bella alleges that Versace was being used by Godfather Paolo De Stefano to launder money.
 
Di Bella also describes how the N'drangheta plotted to steal Versace's ashes from a cemetery near his family home on Lake Como on New Year's Eve 1997 but it was never carried out.

In a statement the Versace family denounced the claims as "false and shameful". 
 

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