Hash back – Twitter has decided that its new Hashtag Pages feature is so important that it needs its very own advert on that old-school medium known as television. This is all part of Twitter looking to ingest a bit of cash into its business, by pointing the world to its branded pages.
Thankfully the adverts aren't as twee as the ones Google comes up with, which look as if they've been art directed by someone living in the movie Juno. [TheNextWeb]
Station to station – China, probably not inspired by Elon Musk but we like to think he had a little bit of an impression with his little space jaunt, is to send a manned spacecraft into, er, space next month and dock it on its very own space station. Apparently the ISS wasn't international enough for its own astronauts so it is doing the entire thing by itself.
And the Chinese are to conduct experiments of photonic crystals while in space, which is bound to have the US more than a little worried that something altogether more sinister is happening. [Engadget]
Laser quest – NIBs wouldn't be the same without a story about fricking laser beams, so you'll be pleased to read that lasers are now being used to shine in the sky so that astronomers can see celestial objects that little bit better. Rumour has it they came up with the idea when looking in the loft and using a torch. Maybe. [BBC]
Euro and I'll steer – Unfortunately no one told Apple that England are playing in the Euros tonight, which means there's an almighty clash with the company's annual WWDC conference. The TechRadar team isn't bitter whatsoever – we never liked Apple anyway – as we have managed to install a TV in the office. As have many other people according to Asda – with orders up 75 per cent apparently. [Asda]
Easy Stryder – He may be smaller than the average rapper but that hasn't stopped Tinchy Stryder having big ambitions in the headphone market. Like 50 Cent and Dr Dre before him, Tinchy has signed up to create a new pair of cans. The product range is called: Goji Tinchy Stryder: On Cloud 9. Let's hope the earphones sound better than the name. [MarketingMagazine]
French fancy – Google has finally agreed a deal with France to digitise out-of-print books. Will the US follow suit? Probably not, so you better brush up on your French if you want to begin reading some of the le classics. [TheNextWeb]
I heard that – Plants may be able to hear each other, according to new research by New Scientist. So, next time you are near your tulips and slag them off for not blossoming when you wanted them to, just remember they are listening. And they've been listening for a long time. You have been warned. [New Scientist]
Portable porn – The amount of people watching porn on tablets is set to triple by 2015. Not the amount of people watching adult content on one tablet as that would be weird but, according to Cellular News, the number is set for a massive rise. Huge growth. Porn. Etc etc. Well, we chuckled. [Cellular News]
Copy cats – The FBI may have broken the law by copying MegaUpload's files, according to, well, MegaUpload. Considering the whole court case is all about file copying, they may well have a point. [thecmuwebsite]
Glasgow makes sense – Search engines that just use words are soooo last year. The new craze is sensory sense. Which is a bit like scratch and sniff that worked so well all those years ago. [BBC]
