They say no publicity is bad publicity, and they may be right in the case of Namibia. This week marked the second time the country has been the recipient of an insult from US President Donald Trump. But it seems that calling African countries "shitholes" was the last straw, at least for one Namibian. A YouTube video published by German-Namibian rapper EES takes Trump's remarks and transforms them into a novel tourism reel. Wearing the putrid adjective as a badge of honour, the video paints Namibia as a hotbed for potential visitors, alluding to its various destinations shaped like shitholes and elephants...
How often do you think about the sheer coincidence of your existence? The fact that that you were the sperm that reached the egg, that you were born to your specific family in that country in this time period? Your life is a mixture of very specific moments in history coming together to create right now. Ready to take that concept and make it less deep? The same is true for viral videos. And while we can't explain all of the random events that led to their existence, we can explain (or give educated guesses on) some of the science. So here's what...
A video of a group of people attacking a Johannesburg Metro Police (JMPD) officer has gone viral on both Twitter and Facebook. The video of the incident, which was captured in Hillbrow on Sunday, depicts members of a Johannesburg church congregation pushing, disarming and beating a JMPD officer. The cause of the incident was reportedly the towing of an illegally parked car. Quoted by News24, JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said that the officer at the centre of the incident was left "beaten" and "unconscious" and was later "rushed to Milpark Hospital". The two-minute-long video, initially uploaded to Facebook by Yusuf Abramjee, received more...
It's not often that a wordless tweet goes viral, but when it involves Donald Trump, Japanese President Shinzo Abe and a koi pond, anything is seemingly possible. The tweet, or more importantly the picture within said tweet, depicted the US President at a koi feeding ceremony during his current visit to Japan. Sources suggest that he lost patience with delicately spooning the food into the pond below, and instead, dumped the remainder haphazardly into the pool below. pic.twitter.com/6u28ZYAJd9 — Alex Pfeiffer (@PfeifferDC) November 6, 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Abe both look puzzled, while a woman standing ahead of Tillerson tries...
The City of Cape Town's latest dam report may have suggested a bump in rainfall for October and a decline in consumption across the metro, but one thing remained consistent: the Theewaterskloof Dam continued to shrink. The dam lost around 0.5% of its storage in the final week of October, even though many of the Cape's other reservoirs gained. A new video published on 1 November by YouTube user Russell Dippenaar shows the impact the current water crisis has had on the Western Cape's biggest dam. This video isn't the first to cover the near-empty dam. South African vlogger Adam Spires, also known...
We know that some on planet Earth believe that Pixar's Up is a simply brilliant movie. We're not about to challenge that sentiment, but there is a point at which using balloons to fly a house across the world becomes markedly unfeasible. But what about a camping chair? That's what this particular Bristol man decided to do north of Johannesburg this week. Tom Morgan, the founder of British adventure-cum-charity company The Adventurists, enjoyed a two-hour flight around 2.5km above Gauteng while sitting in a balloon-lifted camping chair. According to the Bristol Post, the flight wasn't a realisation of Morgan's Pixar fandom, but...
Two videos of a little girl coerced into stealing items from shoppers' handbags in Cape Town have gone viral on Facebook. Published on 19 October by Facebook user Tyron-Nicklaus Norman, the two clips have since accumulated a combined 1.6-million views with an additional 21 000 shares. In the post, Norman explains the circumstances of the second video in which his wife was a victim. "Hi everyone, My wife was a victim of pick pocketing this evening. The part that is most sickening is that it was a little girl that did it," he writes. "She was being forced by a grown up woman...
Thanks to the internet, human beings are forced to endure pain and suffering on a scale we were never built to comprehend. But out of this pain comes goodness -- and the internet is good for that too. Case in point: this viral video of a dog being reunited with her family after she went missing during the California wildfires that have so far taken the lives of 40 people. According to Beckyjean Widen, who posted the story to Facebook, her parents' dog Izzy ran away during the confusion of evacuation, and her mother was unable to chase after her without risking her...
Staying in a hotel definitely has its perks. You needn't ever make your bed, buffet breakfasts are rarely disappointing, and you usually have access to a slew of channels on the telly. But arguably, counting the bill's digits at the end of your stay can be a painful experience. For some, avoiding that awkward check-out experience might even be worth risking your life. That's where this particular Chinese man's story comes to the fore. According to Beijing news publication People's Daily, a man scaled telecom cables spanning across two tall buildings in south-western city of Panzhou on Friday in a bid to...
If you thought the EFF being thrown out of Parliament was spectacular, this video of Uganda's Parliament this week will likely change those perceptions. The politicians gathered in Kampala to discuss an important amendment to the Constitution: adjusting the presidential age limit beyond 75-years of age. This would give current leader, 73-year-old Yoweri Museveni, another possible term in office. Museveni has been the Ugandan leader for over three-decades. To add to the mood, Speaker of the House Rebecca Kadaga requested that the opposition be removed from the chambers deeming their attire unacceptable. "I know sometimes people enjoy colours, but let me call on...
You probably have your own opinions regarding Apple's iPhone X, or what it claims to be the most advanced iPhone ever made. And make no qualms about it. On paper, the device is a powerhouse. But that doesn't mean the internet can't scrutinise the company's advancements. Leave Funny Or Die and the cast of HBO's Silicon Valley to do that for you. Savaging Apple's hard work in just over two-minutes, the video lays into Apple's new FaceID authentication gaffe and the awkward animoji demo complete with unicorn and flappy dog physics. The clip, which is spliced alongside footage of Apple's launch, has...
Hurricane Irma is now no more, but the data gained from the storm is only just being collated and studied. This week, NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center (or SPoRT) compiled 10 days of imagery taken by the GOES-16 weather satellite into a 96 second GIF. And yes, it's as incredible as it sounds. Although the video is a bit slower than its first attempt, NASA SPoRT's GIF nonetheless tells the story of Irma -- from her birth from a tropical wave, to her final hours as a tropical depression over the southeastern United States. As Category 5 Irma churns away...
When Katrina struck southern United States back in 2005, the social media age only just started gaining momentum. Facebook was two years old, Twitter was a budding concept in the mind of Jack Dorsey, and tiny YouTube was about to be bought by Google. Now that Irma is barrelling through the Caribbean, these social networks are playing a major part in telling the developing story. Don't believe me? I bring proof: webcams. Location of above webcam Usually capturing idyllic scenes of blue water and sunshine, a number of webcams are stationed across the Caribbean are livestreaming the conditions beneath Irma's anger. These webcams...
Hurricane Irma remains a Category 5 storm swirling away in the Atlantic Ocean, but that hasn't stopped the Hurricane Hunters from flying through it. A division of the US Air Force Reserves, the Hunters have a difficult job flying into storms to access their characteristics, and relay data back to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). But Irma is particularly notable for her sheer size and veracity. MUST READ: In tweets: Hurricane Irma becomes Atlantic’s fiercest hurricane ever We just saw the last of Hurricane Harvey, a storm that broke US mainland rainfall records, finally dissipate over the northeastern portion of...
A Chinese man has been charged with destroying protected wildlife in Australia after allegedly killing a kangaroo and posting a video of the act to a US hunting site. In the video, the 43-year-old man can be seen grabbing its tail and repeatedly slashing at its throat while his friend laughs and eggs him on. The video was picked up on popular Chinese app WeChat where many called for his arrest, according to South China Morning Post. Australia's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning tracked the man down to his home in Melbourne where they arrested him. All of Australia's native fauna and flora...
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