Beau Sancy Diamond

The 34.98 carat jewel was sold at Sotheby’s in the Swiss city Geneva for more than double the sum auctioneers had expected to attract.

The Beau Sancy diamond, a centuries-old diamond passed down through generations of European royalty, fetched nine million Swiss francs ($9.7 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva, Switzerland on May 15, 2012. An anonymous telephone bidder purchased the jewel, put on the market by the House of Prussia. The 35-carat Beau Sancy diamond was worn by Marie de Medici, Queen consort of Henry IV, at her coronation in 1610. Later that century it was acquired by the Dutch and used to seal the wedding of Willem II of Orange Nassau to Mary Stuart, daughter of Charles I of England. The 400 year old pear double rose cut diamond belonged to Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia and head of the former ruling dynasty of the German empire.

Watch vedeo below:

Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury is to appear on stage at the 10th anniversary show of We Will Rock You.

Late singer Freddie Mercury will appear as an “optical illusion” during a special performance of Queen musical We Will Rock You. Queen Guitarist Brian May told BBC news the new “effect” was “an optical illusion of sorts”. The show is nearing its 10th anniversary and bosses have been plotting ways to make the production memorable for fans and they want Mercury, who died in 1991, to be part of the celebration. Holograms have been the talk of the music industry since last month, when Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg used the technology to perform with late buddy Tupac at Coachella. A special performance of the musical, which has enjoyed 10 years on the West End stage, will be performed at London’s Dominion Theatre on 14 May.

Watch video below:

Google rolls out Hangouts on Air

Google opened up its Hangouts on Air broadcasting capability to the world, providing a video record to the Web.

Google is rolling out its Hangouts on Air feature to Google+ users around the world. The Hangouts feature on Google+ is a popular way for some people to engage in video chat conversations with multiple friends or users. To launch a Hangout on Air broadcast, users just need to launch a normal Hangout, then select the option to record the broadcast. The company had previously allowed a select number of pre-approved to publishers to stream Hangouts, and the feature has been used by pop stars, TV personalities and etc. Making Hangouts on Air available to everyone is an interesting move for Google in general, as the company has been cautious to enter the live streaming space.

Watch video below:

Pep Guardiola

Lionel Messi scored four goals in the last game at Camp Nou for outgoing coach Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola presided over his last match at the Camp Nou on Saturday night. Messi celebrated his fourth goal by hugging Guardiola on the touchline, and the coach appreciated the gesture. About 89,000 fans sang Guardiola’s name and waved flags saying “Thank you, Pep” during the game. Guardiola is leaving at the end of the campaign, to be replaced by assistant Tito Vilanova, after winning 13 trophies in four seasons, including two Champions Leagues. Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has revealed Guardiola can return to Barcelona any time he chooses. Barcelona play their final Primera Division game on May 13 against Betis, before taking on Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Copa del Rey on May 25.

Watch video below:

Adam Yauch

Adam Yauch, a founding member of pioneering hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, died on Friday after a battle with cancer.

The co-founder of the Grammy-winning hip-hop giants the Beastie Boys has died after a three-year battle with cancer. Known for his gravelly voice and iconic music videos, his influence on hip-hop was immense — and helped alter Generation X youth culture. They won three Grammys: two in 1998 – best rap performance and best alternative music performance – and one in 2007, best pop instrumental album, for “The Mix Up,” according to the Grammys website. Yauch revealed in 2009 that he had a cancerous tumor in a salivary gland. The band canceled its scheduled concerts and delayed the release of an album.

Watch video below:

Real Madrid

Thousands of Real Madrid fans swamped the centre of the Spanish capital on Thursday to see their heroes parade.

Real Madrid’s players arrive on an open bus at Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid on May 3, 2012, to celebrate winning the Spanish league title for the first time since 2008. Fans of all ages crowded the square, a place recently more used to angry protests against the economic crisis, to see their heroes parade in an open-top bus in celebration of their league title success. Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is now the first coach to win four different European league championships, his seventh title coming after successes at FC Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan. Ronaldo scored 44 La Liga goals, Higuain is netting 22 and Karim Benzema 20, the first time three players from the same club have passed the 20 mark.

Watch video below:

TulisaContostavlos

Tulisa Contostavlos is the fourth British to win th FHM’s award.

British X Factor judge and singer Tulisa Contostavlos has topped men’s magazine FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2012. Tulisa Contostavlos scooped the crown from 2011 winner, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Cheryl Cole, who took second place. She was delighted with the win and was joined by her boyfriend, actor Jack O’Connell at the bash before they made their way to the Mahiki club to celebrate. And she thanked fans for putting her at the top of the list: “I’m proud of me and I am who I am. I know that I’m Marmite and I wouldn’t wanna be anything less or anything more, I’m just myself.”

The top 20 Sexiest women list:
1. Tulisa Contostavlos
2. Cheryl Cole
3. Rihanna
4. Rosie Jones
5. Georgia Salpa
6. Katy Perry
7. Megan Fox
8. Keeley Hazell
9. Mila Kunis
10. Emily Atack
11. Pippa Middleton
12. Pixie Lott
13. Daisy Lowe
14. Mollie King
15. Millie Mackintosh
16. Jessie J
17. Zooey Deschanel
18. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
19. Frankie Sandford
20. Kelly Brook

Watch video below:

Microsoft HomeOS

The new system ensures that all devices in the home appear as peripherals connected to a single logical PC.

Microsoft Research has been working on HomeOS for some time and had a paper accepted by the highly regarded Network Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI) conference. HomeOS is a single operating system for which manufacturers can write applications for command and control of devices from security cameras to home theatre systems. Growing list of applications, available through a portal called “HomeStore”, will allow users to easily expand their system’s capabilities. The research arm of the company says that its experimental operating system has now been deployed in twelve test homes. For now, Microsoft is making the system available under a free licence for non-commercial use.

Watch video below:

Barcelona vs Real Madrd El Clasico

The sixth clasico of the season takes place on Saturday night.

Real against Barca is soccer’s Spanish Civil War. Barcelona has cut Madrid’s seemingly unassailable lead in the league from 10 points to four. El Clasico has been moved one day earlier from Sunday to Saturday due to the matches of Barcelona with Chelsea in London on 18 April and the return fixture on 24 April and matches of Real Madrid with Bayern on 17 and 25 April. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s record goalscoring form looms as the decisive factor when Spanish league leader Real Madrid play at Barcelona on Saturday in a crucial clasico that will effectively determine the destiny of the title. Coach Pep Guardiola, who has only lost once in 10 games against Real, said “if they win La Liga is over.”

Watch video below:

Skype For Browsers

Microsoft is planning to launch a new Skype that can run on any Web browser.

Microsoft is reportedly working to bring Skype’s voice calling functionality to browsers without the need for a standalone client app. Four new job adverts appeared under the heading “Skype for Browsers” which call on software engineers in London and Prague with “real world experience developing HTML5 UI’s including rich interaction based on JavaScript.” Making Skype a web application would allow the tool’s features to function without necessarily having installed an application unique to each operating system. The project is a long way from reality, but if the project does use the WebRTC standard, it just might help speed up the development of better audio and video streaming tools for the web.