Rare Megamouth shark found in Philippines, then eaten

Per National Geographic: A Megamouth shark, one of the rarest sharks in the world, was found by fisherman in the Philippines and then eaten.

The fisherman from the town of Donsol caught the 13 foot 1,102 pound Megamouth while fishing for mackerel says National Geographic. According to the article, this was only the 41st Megamouth to ever be found since the once thought extinct shark reappeared in 1976.

World Wildlife Fund Philippines local project manager Elson Aca identified the shark and then explained to the fisherman that they shouldn't eat the shark, said National Geographic. Shark meat is considered a delicacy in the Philippines and the shark was butchered and cooked.

A variety of reactions from the Twitterverse:

1. 
   Budjette (Manila, Philippines) Rare megamouth shark caught&eaten by Pinoy fishermen http://tr.im/indV i wonder if they turned it into adobo 07 Apr 2009 from web
2. 
   tristanx (Toronto, Canada) I have to admit, reading this made me a little sad. Ultra-rare "megamouth" shark caught, butchered, eaten: http://bit.ly/3PDfyi 07 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck
3. 
   faltobelli (Undisclosed) It's not survival of the fittest, it's extinction of the tastiest as proved by Philippine fishermen who ate a mega rare megamouth shark 07 Apr 2009 from web
4. 
   noxo (London, U.K.) This saddens and angers me: Extremely Rare Megamouth Shark Found and Eaten http://twurl.nl/z7qldl (RT @NatGeoSociety) 07 Apr 2009 from TwitterFox
5. 
   mishmashmush (Undisclosed) So a group of fishermen caught and ate the ubber rare Megamouth Shark. It was cooked in coconut milk. I think I'm making Thai tonight. 07 Apr 2009 from web
6. 
   buwayahman (Philippines) I don't get it. Given a choice between starving to death or eating a rare megamouth shark, wouldn't you eat the shark? http://bit.ly/770g2 07 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

Rare Megamouth shark found in Philippines, then eaten

Twitterers lament variable pricing on iTunes

Per the New York Times, Apple's implementation of a variable pricing system for iTunes officially took effect today. Songs can be purchased for $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29 (U.S.), rather than the uniform $0.99 previously.

The move caused quite a stir in the Twitterverse, as iTunes shot up to a Top 10 trending topic. Most feedback came from the United States, but there was also world reaction:

1. 
   meandre (Paris, France) ahhh, iTunes is variable pricing now. it's only time til the analysis comes out on $1.29/song's impact on sales. 07 Apr 2009 from web
2. 
   tariq_fazal (Dubai, UAE) iTunes Store now infected with variable pricing, Amazon still $0.99 http://bit.ly/FT345 07 Apr 2009 from twitterfeed
3. 
   Liamfloyd (Canada) OK, I've found 5 more songs with different prices on iTunes... but they're still more expensive! I've even looked at old people music! 07 Apr 2009 from web
4. 
   Jaste (Melbourne, Australia) $2.19 for a song on Aussie iTunes? No thanks! 07 Apr 2009 from Tweetie
5. 
   BrodyTEnyeart (Ferndale, Wash.) $1.29 for an iTunes download!?! it's ridiculous! smart guys, you want people to not download illegal music, so what do you do? up the prices 07 Apr 2009 from web
6. 
   Sara6590 (Gainesville, Fla.) upset with itunes for jacking up prices! :(! at least some people left the prices the same! 07 Apr 2009 from web
7. 
   Grondeau (Undisclosed) new itunes prices, super lame! that's 30 cents I could buy bubble gum with! 07 Apr 2009 from web

However, not all were opposed to the change.

1. 
   TheMotleyFool (Alexandria, Va.) Then again, who cares if iTunes raises prices? More musicians are going digital on their own. Tough luck, record labels: http://is.gd/p7PQ 26 Mar 2009 from web
2. 
   beingthere (Connecticut) The iTunes price increase (or decrease, in some cases) went into effect today. The question is: does this change anything? 07 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck
3. 
   coryroush (Ohio) I'm not upset about #iTunes bumping their prices up to $1.29. 30 cents? Still keeps me from shelling out 20 bucks on 2 good songs out of 15. 07 Apr 2009 from twhirl

Twitterers lament variable pricing on iTunes

New earthquake rattles Rome

Per Reuters, a "strong aftershock" rattled Central Italy on Tuesday at 11:25 a.m. local time. This latest earthquake had a magnitude of 4.9, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.

Twitterers in the region quickly reported the new quake.

1. 
   masolino (Rome, Italy) #terremoto a Roma la terra trema ancora (#earthquake in Rome the earth still trembles) 07 Apr 2009 from twitterrific
2. 
   miguelmarquez (Onna, Italy) huge aftershock!! biggest yet. There have been about 250 since the big quake 07 Apr 2009 from mobile web
3. 
   djslump (Rome, Italy) #terremoto #earthquake #italy Just felt another earthquake in Rome, looking for more info 07 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck
4. 
   Bernhardwarner (Rome, Italy) Another aftershock hits Lazio. Felt it here in Rome. A good few-second shake of my apt building. #terremoto 07 Apr 2009 from web
5. 
   newyorker01 (Rome, Italy) new eathquake in this moment!!! Italy, Rome 07 Apr 2009 from web

Update: Italian Twitterers @djslump, @dominik99, and @bernhardwarner, among others, reported a fresh aftershock of 5.5-5.7 magnitude Tuesday evening.

New earthquake rattles Rome

3,000 Tamils hold protest in London

Per the Times of India, Tamils protested in London outside the British parliament in regards to alleged human rights abuses in Sri Lanka on Monday night, going into Tuesday morning.

Police estimated around 3,000 protesters showed up holding banners saying, "Stop Sri Lanka's Genocide of Tamils" along with other phrases, per the article. The demonstration was reported to be peaceful and no arrests were made.

Tweets from London surfaced about the Tamils' protest during the morning hours.

1. 
   kiniyak 200 Tamils are blockading Westminster Bridge small police presence buses backed up across the bridge, loud but peaceful. 06 Apr 2009 from Tweetie
2. 
   ashley_brown So it takes 3,000 Tamils to finally defy the stupid law on protesting outside Parliament. No sign of riot police trying to arrest them.. #fb 07 Apr 2009 from TwitterFox
3. 
   tiredoflondon certainly doesn't want to take sides on the cause, but at least the Tamils have shown London how to do a protest 07 Apr 2009 from web

Twitterer @mathew_weaver posted this TwitPic of the protests.


"Tamil 2 minutes silence on Parliament Sq"

@alexandermoore posted this TwitPic after the protests occurred:


"Just cycled past Parliament. Police, angry looking Tamils and lots of rubbish everywhere."

3,000 Tamils hold protest in London

Shoe thrown at Indian minister

Per the Times of India: "Home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday ducked a shoe thrown by a journalist at a press conference" in New Delhi.

Twitterers in the region quickly used humor in their tweets, as the incident mirrored recent shoe-throwing events involving U.S. President George W. Bush in Iraq and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in England.

1. 
   Anurag37 (Ranchi, India) Another "shoe throwing" protest against a minister this time it is India's finance minister P. Chidambaram 07 Apr 2009 from mobile web
2. 
   sabujoseph (Cochin, India) Shoe thrown at Chidambaram, its happend in india toooo 07 Apr 2009 from web
3. 
   rushiv (Dubai, UAE) lol a sikh journalist threw a shoe at India's home minister P Chidambaram! He managed to dodge it though - http://tr.im/imF2 07 Apr 2009 from Filttr
4. 
   sajal (Bangkok, Thailand) BREAKING NEWS : India just joined USTN (== United Shoe Thowing Nations) 07 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck
5. 
   rhebbar (India) Shoe throwing fever catches on in India ... http://tinyurl.com/dcooo8 :-) 07 Apr 2009 from web

Others were more serious, trying to get to the bottom of the incident.

1. 
   Dhaanu (India) @sidin Why would anyone throw a shoe at poor Chidu. Not happy with his budgets? Or not happy with the IPL being shifted out of India? 07 Apr 2009 from web in reply to sidin
2. 
   MelissaBell (Delhi, India) Indian journalist throws shoe at home minister of India. Home minister now in tears. I think journos just bored of press conferences. 07 Apr 2009 from web
3. 
   ajmanyu (Undisclosed) shame!...india's own shoe attack....chitambram doesnt not deserve this.
   MORAL CODE OF CONDUCT for journalists.. 07 Apr 2009 from web

A video of the incident can be seen on the Times of India Web site.

Shoe thrown at Indian minister