XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Friday 10 January 2014

Niagara Falls photo goes viral - a night shot of the frozen falls with coloured lights shining on it -

Niagara Falls photo goes viral - a night shot of the frozen falls with coloured lights shining on it - 

This photo of Niagara Falls has gone viral. By Friday, it had been viewed more than three million times and shared 50,000 times on social media. (Photo special to the Niagara Falls Review Tim Williams)

It’s a shot in a million … better make that two million, three million and counting.

That’s the number of times a photograph that was taken Wednesday night of a frozen American Falls has been viewed by people around the world.

The photo, taken by Niagara Falls resident Tim Williams, went viral after it was posted on the CBS Pittsburgh Facebook page.

As of Friday evening, the photo had been viewed more than three million times and was shared on social media sites nearly 50,000 times.

How it all came about is that Williams is friends on Twitter with another man who shares the same name, a news anchor from Pittsburgh.

“It’s just been unreal,” said Williams, who cannot believe the number of people who have viewed his photo, a night shot of the frozen falls with coloured lights shining on it.

Tim Williams, the news anchor, asked Tim Williams, the Niagara Falls resident, to send him a photo of Niagara Falls covered in ice.

“On Wednesday night, my wife, Trish, and I went down to the falls and I spent about half an hour shooting the falls. I did nothing to the photo, just took it from the camera and sent it off,” he explained. “He tweeted the photo out and it just exploded.”

The photo was also shown on Pittsburgh CBS television station KDKA.

“It has just taken off,” said Williams, 39, who enjoys photography as a hobby and would like to explore it as a business some day.

“I just set up my tripod and started to shoot,” said Williams, who used a Nikon D7100 camera. “I sent him two pictures that night. The one that’s been getting all the hits is the shot with the coloured lights on the falls. On Thursday morning, I went back and took some more photos during the day and those should also be up later.”

Williams joked it would be great if he could get one dollar every time his photo was viewed.

For Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, who uses any opportunity available to promote his city, this is the kind of publicity money can’t buy.

“That’s just incredible,” Diodati said. “Sometimes it’s just something that is random and unintentional and you can’t really plan for it. This is a classic example of that and recently I’ve been seeing frozen photos of the American Falls all over Facebook.”

While Niagara Falls gets millions of visitors every year, he said most people arrive in the summer and they don’t get to see this other side of our city.

“We’ve had some of the coldest weather here and it has created some of the coolest artwork from one of the natural wonders of the world,” said Diodati.

“It’s just so unpredictable and you can only see it in the winter,” he added. “I love it. Anything that causes the world to say Niagara Falls, we win. This is a huge random victory.”

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People Not In Labor Force Soar To Record 91.8 Million; Participation Rate Plunges To 1978 Levels -

People Not In Labor Force Soar To Record 91.8 Million; Participation Rate Plunges To 1978 Levels - 



Curious why despite the huge miss in payrolls the unemployment rate tumbled from 7.0% to 6.7%? The reason is because in December the civilian labor force did what it usually does in the New Normal: it dropped from 155.3 million to 154.9 million, which means the labor participation rate just dropped to a fresh 35 year low, hitting levels not seen since 1978, at 62.8% down from 63.0%.



And the piece de resistance: Americans not in the labor force exploded higher by 535,000 to a new all time high 91.8 million.



The jobless, laborless recovery continues to steam on.

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Ford Motors “Knows Everyone Who Breaks The Law” - but promised not to tell -

Ford Motors “Knows Everyone Who Breaks The Law” - but promised not to tell - 



In yet another push by the corporatocracy to prepare the population for mileage taxes, automatic speeding tickets and unaffordable car insurance if you choose not to purchase one of their self-driving cars, a Ford executive bragged about knowing everything about your driving but promised not to tell. It was more of a threat than a revelation since traffic data has been collected for Google maps for several years to show congestion and traffic conditions.



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Tweet a lot? Then you're probably SELF-OBSESSED: Narcissists use Twitter the most because they crave approval -

Tweet a lot? Then you're probably SELF-OBSESSED: Narcissists use Twitter the most because they crave approval - 



We all know someone who tweets about the minute details of their life every 10 minutes and now new research suggests that are displaying narcissistic tendencies.
U.S. researchers claim narcissists tweet more often than others and crave followers on Twitter to meet their need for approval.
They also found that narcissists update their Facebook status more regularly and vain adults prefer to post content on Facebook, rather than Twitter.

Shaun Davenport of High Point University, North Carolina, told Pacific Standard: ‘Narcissism does appear to be a primary driver for the desire for (Twitter) followers, which in turn drives tweets.’
He found that students with narcissistic tendencies tend to prefer to tweet to attract attention and consequently like to have as many followers as possible.

However, adult narcissists prefer to post their news on Facebook, suggesting a generational divide, according to the study in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour.
The research found Millennials (people born between the early 1980s to the early 2000s) post Facebook statuses more regularly and are less likely to reflect narcissistic motives.

FACEBOOK AND TWITTER FUEL NARCISSISM IN DIFFERENT WAYS
A study by the University of Michigan that was published in June, found that middle-aged narcissists are more likely to frequently update their Facebook status, while their younger counterparts take to Twitter to satisfy their vanity.
According to Elliot Panek, middle-aged people use Facebook as a way of gaining approval of their image from their peers, while college students prefer Twitter because they over-value their own opinions.
He said: 'Middle-aged adults usually have already formed their social selves, and they use social media to gain approval from those who are already in their social circles.'
According to the study, Twitter acts as a megaphone for younger web users.
Mr Panek said: 'Through Twitter they're trying to broaden their social circles and broadcast their views about a wide range of topics and issues.'

Together with his colleagues, he conducted an online survey of 515 college students and 669 adults, all of whom embraced social media.
They filled out a survey rating their narcissistic tendencies and said how many times they tweeted and updated their Facebook status on a typical day.
Narcissism was found to be ‘a stronger predictor of Twitter active usage than Facebook active usage,’ according to the study.

‘We found no significant direct or indirect relationship with active usage on Facebook for the college students,’ the researchers said.
However, they did find that narcissism was linked to Facebook activity among adults, suggesting that narcissists on the social network are more likely to be of Generation X or baby boomers than Millennials.
They believe this could be because Millennials partly grew up using Facebook to communicate with others, just as previous generations used a phone.
However, older people who have gained access to the tool need more reason to post a status update and narcissism is one of the reasons to do so.

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COPS: Man Stole 12 Bottles Of Hand Sanitizer From Hospital To Make Cocktails... -

COPS: Man Stole 12 Bottles Of Hand Sanitizer From Hospital To Make Cocktails... - 



Police have charged a man with stealing 12 bottles of hand sanitizer from a central Pennsylvania hospital, so he could mix it with orange juice and drink it for the alcohol it contained.
The Altoona Mirror reports 51-year-old Lee Ammerman has been mailed a summons requiring him to surrender Feb. 5 on charges of theft and receiving stolen property.
Police say an employee at UPMC Altoona hospital saw Ammerman steal a bottle of sanitizer by hiding it in an arm sling he was wearing in October.
Police say Ammerman returned to steal more sanitizer twice in December.
Police say they confronted Ammerman who acknowledged stealing the sanitizer, telling police “I mix the liquid with orange juice.”
The hospital is seeking about $80 in restitution.

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