KFC fight video sparks racial controversy

A viral video that captured a brawl involving a customer and staff at a Malaysian KFC outlet has sparked allegations of racism online.

In a press briefing on Thursday, the Chinese customer, graphic designer Danny Ng, with the help of Malaysian Democratic Action Party Member of Parliament Lim Lip Eng, denied making racial slurs during the incident.

Some of those who viewed the video of the brawl posted on Youtube accused the 26-year-old of provoking the Malay staff in the Shah Alam outlet with racial comments, even though the grainy video (shown below) did not display any elements of racism.

The 28-second clip attracted more than 100,000 views online. It shows the brawl, which occurred in the middle of the crowded restaurant while other customers stood there and recorded the scene. A few were caught smiling on camera.




KFC staff caught on video attacking a customer.

In the press conference, Ng said that the incident started when he went to redeem his KFC vouchers at the outlet on Monday evening with his wife and sister.

The trio arrived at about 10pm but there was a long queue. After waiting for about 45 minutes, the staff announced that the supply of chicken had run out. The upset customers, including Ng, then complained, which provoked the kitchen staff to come out and behave in an aggressive manner.

Ng then asked to see the manager, but he said the staff made rude comments instead. As the exchange became more heated, Ng’s wife claimed that she saw an employee carrying steel bars and pulled him out of the restaurant.

However, Ng refused to let the matter go and returned to the outlet with his handphone to take photos and record names for a formal complaint. Mayhem broke out when a staff member ran out from the kitchen and attacked him. Ng claimed that the man “grabbed his neck from behind”, punched the back of his head and kicked him.

“I won’t go back to KFC, not for a long time. I’m mentally distressed,” he said at the press conference, according to The Amo Times.

Ng’s wife also claimed that the same man who attacked her husband accidentally kicked her when she attempted to break up the scuffle.

“(The man was) facing me with an angry face, looked like he wanted to beat me up, too,” she said.
According to Malaysian paper The Star, a spokesman from the company had confirmed three employees had been suspended pending investigations.

-Yahoo news

Samsung Galaxy S2 vs. iPhone 4S: Worthy winner is?

For several months the Samsung Galaxy S2 has been known as the best smartphone leading most of the lists of top smartphones. Many other manufacturers tried to create devices able to compete with it, but none succeeded – even Apples iPhone 4, according to most geeks I know, yielded to it in many aspects. Perhaps Samsung thought its Galaxy S2 was unreachable, but not so long ago Apple released the new iPhone 4S with a number of updated specs and features… and we all understood that the Galaxy S2’s position is now shaken.


So which phone is cooler – the Samsung Galaxy S2 or the Apple iPhone 4S? Which has better features? Which is worthy of your money? I’ll try to find this out in my comparison of these two smartphones.

Design
I think we all understand that design is a matter of taste. Some like huge, heavy and rugged devices; others prefer light and tiny ones. So in this case we can’t say which phone is better – the Samsung Galaxy S2 or the new iPhone 4S – we can only note the obvious: you can’t say the Samsung Galaxy S2 is a tiny phone (it has a 4.3-inch display, after all), but it’s slim (only 8.49mm – much less than all the phones I can think of) and light – it’s plastic body together with the battery weighs only 116g. The iPhone 4S, on the other hand, isn’t much different from its predecessor in term of size and design (same cases can go for both); it’s smaller than the Galaxy S2, since its display is smaller (3.5 inches), but it’s not as thin as it.

Display
There was a time when many people believed that the Samsung Galaxy S2 had the best screen ever, but now its 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen with 800 x 480 resolution doesn’t sound that cool any longer… The resolution of the iPhone 4S’s screen is higher – 960 x 640. Of course, it doesn’t mean the Galaxy S2 is outdated now or not that good any more – its screen is very bright, all the colors are eye-popping and very beautiful, and they don’t darkle or fade when you look at the screen at an angle. It’s great for watching movies and even for playing HD games (there are plenty of them in Android Market).

However, the display of the iPhone 4S due to its higher resolution is even brighter and isn’t afraid of sunlight, too (though it actually fades a bit under direct sunlight). The only bad thing is – old icons and apps look grainy on such a clear display, so unless the developers update them and adjust for high-res screens, you won’t enjoy using them on the iPhone 4S… at all.

So… here the winner is the iPhone 4S with its super screen, though I personally like the display of the Samsung Galaxy S2, too.

Processor
The Samsung Galaxy S2 boasts a 1.2GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor that provides really fast performance without any delay. Web browsing is very quick even via Wi-Fi networks, and you won’t face any problem with loading and playing even the most “heavy” games on Samsung’s flagship.

The iPhone 4S has a 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, which is also very fast (much faster than the single-core processor of the original iPhone 4 at least), but, though it provides great graphical acceleration, it yields to the CPU of the Galaxy S2 in terms of performance, so here the winner is Samsung’s smartphone.

Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S2 has a cool 8MP camera with auto-focus and LED flash that takes 3264 x 2448 photos and 1080p videos at 30fps. If you remember, the original iPhone 4S had a 5MP sensor, and many geeks thought it was a big shortcoming, even though the number of megapixels doesn’t really matter. Anyway, now those geeks have received what they wanted – the new iPhone 4S has an 8MP camera able to take 3264 x 2448 pictures just like the Galaxy S2 and many other modern smartphones. Plus it has a CMOS illuminated sensor, which is 73 percent more effective and about 30 percent faster than before. And of course, it shoots 1080p HD videos, too.

However, the secondary 2MP camera of the Samsung Galaxy S2 is better than the VGA camera of the new iPhone 4S. But anyway, secondary cameras don’t play a big role here, and as for the rear-facing ones, they’re both equally good, so we have a draw here.

Platform
Just like in case of design, I don’t think it’s a good idea to compare two operating systems, especially if they’re both good – each in its own way. Android the Samsung Galaxy S2 runs is the most popular platform at the moment, famous for being easy to customize and for having a huge number of apps in Android Market, too. However, the Gingerbread it runs isn’t the newest version of Google’s OS any longer, since the Ice Cream Sandwich update is already on its way, so we can’t say the Galaxy S2 runs the best software ever.

On the other hand, Apple’s iOS is really easy to use (even if the iPhone is your first smartphone ever, you won’t face any problem dealing with it – the user interface of iOS is intuitively understandable for everybody), but of course it’s not what makes the new iPhone 4S special. You’ve probably already heard about Siri – the special program designed to help the user give commands to the phone, ask questions and even send text messages. Siri is new, smart and funny, too (it came out that the developers had hidden many interesting Easter eggs, funny jokes and witty responses to strange questions in it), and I guess many people will buy the iPhone 4S especially for Siri.

Since you can’t surprise anyone with Android now, especially with its Gingerbread version, so in this case I think the prize should go to the iPhone 4S and its Siri.

Price
The unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy S2 costs £397.99 on Amazon, while the 16GB iPhone 4S is more expensive – £593.15. However, we shouldn’t forget that the Galaxy S2 was released several months ago, and the 4S is only about a month old, so it will most likely be discounted after a while. Anyway, you can find much better deals at RightMobilePhoneoffering both smartphones for free with contracts, so perhaps it’s better to choose one of them instead of paying much more for a SIM-free device.

Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S2 and the Apple iPhone 4S are both very good smartphones, no doubt, and both have their stronger and weaker sides. The Galaxy S2 is a bit faster thanks to its processor, while the iPhone 4S has a better display and Siri that has caught so much attention.

I think the Galaxy S2 has been the best smartphone for too long, and now a new device should come to replace it. Apple’s latest “child” can be this new device, so… the iPhone 4S is my choice.

Student lovers hug and kiss passionately at public carpark

These students were seen kissing, hugging and behaving very intimately at a public multi-storey carpark at Lorong Liew Lien, in full view of residents living in the neighbouring blocks of flats.

STOMPer Neo, a resident who caught the teens in action, said:

"I saw this at a multi-storey carpark located at Lorong Lew Lien, near Serangoon MRT, today (Oct 13) at about 4.50pm.

"They must have been there for some time when I took the photos. They left at around 6.10pm.

"I know carparks are public spaces but two high school kids hugging and kissing each other there is something new.

"I was just looking out of my window to rest my eyes when I saw two interlocking figures downstairs instead.

"Although multi-storey carparks may be secluded, if there's anything kinky happening at the top, everyone in the opposite block can see the free show too!"

-STOMP

9-year-old dies after being forced to run

ATTALLA, Ala. (AP) — Roger Simpson said he looked down the road and saw a little girl running outside her home but didn't give it another thought. Police, however, said the man witnessed a murder in progress.

Authorities say 9-year-old Savannah Hardin died after being forced to run for three hours as punishment for having lied to her grandmother about eating candy bars. Severely dehydrated, the girl had a seizure and died days later. Now, her grandmother and stepmother who police say meted out the punishment were taken to jail Wednesday and face murder charges.

Witnesses told deputies Savannah was told to run and not allowed to stop for three hours on Friday, an Etowah County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said. The girl's stepmother, 27-year-old Jessica Mae Hardin, called police at 6:45 p.m., telling them Savannah was having a seizure and was unresponsive.

Simpson said he saw a little girl running at around 4 p.m., but didn't see anybody chasing or coercing her.

"I saw her running down there, that's what I told the detectives," Simpson said from his home on a hill overlooking the Hardins. "But I don't see how that would kill her."

Authorities are still trying to determine whether Savannah was forced to run by physical coercion or by verbal commands. Deputies were told the girl was made to run after lying to her grandmother, 46-year-old Joyce Hardin Garrard, about having eaten the candy, sheriff's office spokeswoman Natalie Barton said.

Savannah Hardin died Monday at Children's Hospital in Birmingham, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. The sheriff's release said an autopsy report showed the girl was extremely dehydrated and had a very low sodium level. A state pathologist ruled it a homicide.

The sheriff's office received calls from concerned citizens who witnessed the girl running. No other details were released, but an official with the local volunteer fire department said rescuers thought something seemed odd when they responded to a call about the child.

"One of the ones who were down there said he didn't feel like everything was right," said Ruby Ward, vice president of the Mountainboro Volunteer Fire Department.

Gail Denny and her husband Phil, live just up a dirt road from the home. They've known the family since they moved to the area in northeastern Alabama seven years ago.

The couple said they were used to seeing Savannah and other neighborhood children out waiting on the school bus in the morning. Gail Denny said her grandson had a crush on Savannah.

"My grandson asked her to be his girlfriend on Valentine's Day, and she said 'yes,'" she said before dissolving into tears. She left a candle and stuffed animal outside the girl's home Wednesday night, saying a prayer as she paused beside the road.

The trailer where Savannah lived was surrounded by a wooden fence, playground equipment and toys. Neighbors say they never saw children playing in the yard.

They told The Associated Press that Garrard owned a lot of property along the road and much of her family lived in homes on that property.

"It seems like a very happy extended family around here," Denny said. "There are mothers, grandmothers, kids. It sounds like a punishment that got out of hand."

Garrard and Jessica Mae Hardin are being held in the Etowah County Detention Center, each on a $500,000 cash bond.

Court records show that Robert Hardin filed for divorce in August of 2010. In his complaint, he asserted his wife was bi-polar and had alcoholic tendencies. He accused her previously of having run off with the couple's own child. In her response, Jessica denied all of Robert's allegations.

Five months after filing for divorce, the two asked a judge to dismiss their case.

Savannah Hardin was a third-grader at Carlisle Elementary School. Superintendent Alan Cosby said her desk had been turned into a makeshift memorial where her classmates could leave notes and mementos. He said counselors and social workers were made available for students.

"This is obviously a very tragic, devastating, heartbreaking situation," Cosby said. "Nothing like this has ever happened before."

-Yahoo news