The most pampered pets in the world? Two rabbits live life of luxury in a £10,000 HUTCH

Decked out in pinewood and stainless steel and lit with LED spotlights, this young couple’s home is the ultimate in stylish luxury.

Each night the pair hit the hay safe in the knowledge that they have heating to keep them warm, automatic shutters to shield them from bad weather and security cameras to watch over them.

In fact, many humans wouldn’t mind the creature comforts that rabbits Hunnie and Runnie enjoy in their spacious £10,000 residence. 

Pampered: Many humans wouldn't mind the creature comforts that rabbits Hunnie (pictured right) and Runnie enjoy in their spacious £10,000 residence




Pampered pets: Jason and Mairi Batterbee built a £10,000 hutch for their rabbits Hunnie and Runnie



Remote control: Jason Batterbee keeps a close eye on his prized pets with mobile-phone operated controls and infrared security cameras


The two-storey log cabin was built by electrician Jason Batterbee – who lives in the neighbouring bungalow with wife Mairi, 37.

Even when the couple are on holiday, they can check on their pets back in Dersingham, Norfolk, by viewing the camera feeds on a laptop and operating the hutch’s controls via mobile phone.


Each time they send a command, they receive an automatic text message to assure them it’s been carried out.

However, technology hasn’t yet come up with a solution for feeding time – which is taken over by friends when the couple go away.

Mr Batterbee, 41, said: ‘It took a lot of time and effort but if you think what people spend on their children this is nothing in comparison.

‘They could be considered the most pampered pets in the world but they are worth it.

‘The cameras even have an infra-red facility so we can check on them after dark.’

The custom-built hutch weighs a ton and is 7ft 6in wide and 4ft high.

It also boasts a ceiling fan to keep the rabbits cool on warm days beneath a roof covered with felt and shingle, and is connected to a 12 volt battery power supply.



Plush: The huge air-conditioned £10,000 rabbit cage is one any house bunny would be envious of



Fancy fixtures and fittings: Not only does the hutch have infrared security cameras for night monitoring, it also has pine shelves and stainless steel rails



Constant feed: Mr Batterbee is able to watch the camera images on his laptop computer



Two-tiered: Hunnie the rabbit negotiates the ramp up to the first floor of her luxury home



The large hutch is equally impressive at night, thanks to exterior and interior light fixtures



Lookout: Mr Batterbee keeps an eye on his pets from the comfort of his own living room thanks to an in-built hutch CCTV system

Not such hidden treasure: Owner dies in poverty while Renaissance 'bric-a-brac' worth £147,000 sits on his shelf for 30 years

Sculpture is believed to have been crafted by a European artist working in Italy during the Renaissance
The unknown artist's work was inspired by ancient Roman and Greek sculpture
A bronze statue of the Greek god Zeus dismissed as interesting 'bric-a-brac' on a shelf for 30 years turned out to be a Renaissance classic worth AUS$225,150 (£147,000).

Australian Denis Warrington-Fry bought the 25in high figure in the 1970s for less than AUS$200.

Unbeknown to him the statue was in fact a genuine piece of work by a Renaissance artist.

The figure's true value only came to light after Mr Warrington-Fry died aged 80 and his estate sold at auction.


Hidden treasure: 25in bronze statue of Greek god Zeus dismissed as 'bric-a-brac' but worth AUS$225,150
An anonymous buyer from London splashed out the staggering sum for the statue on Sunday.

It has not been confirmed who created the work but it is rumoured to be a famous European artist.

Mr Warrington-Fry picked up the statue from an antique shop in Sydney, Australia.

Tragically, his house fell into disrepair and he struggled to pay the bills unaware he had a valuable statue on the mantelpiece.

Friend Geoff Northausen said: 'It's hard to imagine what he might have done with the money had he known the figurine was worth this much.' 

The statue was sold by auctioneers Vickers and Hoad in Sydney.

Director Colin Vickers said: 'When we finished bidding there was a bit of applause and everyone was in shock - I needed to take a drink of water and compose myself.'

Samsung has said that it will start to ship 'bendy screened' gadgets in the first half of 2012 - with the first 'flexible' gizmos on the market certain to be mobile phones.
At technology shows, the Korean company has also demonstrated flexible screens just 0.3mm thick.
But its latest video demo shows off truly out-there technology - a 'tablet of the future' that offers instant translation, video, and a level of 3D beyond anything yet available.


Samsung's transparent, flexible AMOLED screen isn't as wacky as it seems - the company has already promised that it will ship flexible AMOLED devices in 2012, starting with mobile phones


This is where it all starts to get a little far-fetched - the screen seems to be able to 'throw' a holographic 3D image so solid it looks like you could touch it. Glasses-free 3D does exist - but it doesn't look like this


The screen has the functions of a high-end tablet computer - and appears to be able to translate instantly from French into Korean





The Galaxy Skin phone will be so flexible you can roll it up - and may be in shops early next year

But while Samsung's video demo might be 'concept technology', factories in the Far East are already working on 'real' versions - flexible phones that will hit the market in early 2012.

Both Samsung and Nokia are working on the technology.

During a company results conference, investor relations chief Robert Yi said, 'The flexible display, we are looking to introduce sometime in 2012, hopefully the earlier part.'

Yi said that the first devices to ship with flexible screens would be phones.

Other possible applications include 'foldable' iPad-style tablets.

It's not an out-there prediction, either.

Rival smartphone giant Nokia unveiled a basic prototype of the Nokia Kinectic - a bendable smartphone - at Nokia World

Kinectic allowed users to bend the screen to control functions such as music and video.

Nokia refuses to say when its Kinectic smartphones will be on sale.

Earlier Samsung demonstrations have shown off OLED screens which can be folded over.

The company demonstrated 'bendable' AMOLED screens 4.5 inches across and just 0.3mm thick in January this year.

Another paper by Samsung scientists showed off an AMOLED screen with a section that could be folded over completely without cracking.


Earlier this year, reports leaked that Samsung had the capacity to manufacture large amounts of such screens by 'early 2012' - but no one knew what they might be for.

Pictures of a concept phone using the technology - the Galaxy Skin (pictured) - also appeared.

Skin was a project carried out by design students using the Samsung logo and Galaxy trademark.




Samsung's Galaxy Skin - unveiled as a concept earlier this year - could be on sale as early as Spring 2012, according to recent reports



Layers of 'Graphene' - atom-thick layers of carbon - will be used to create paper-thin 'foldable' screens in the Samsung Galaxy Skin

'Flexible' screens have been demonstrated in various forms since as early as 2004 - with tech insiders suggesting that laptops or e-Book readers might one day take the form of a 'pen' housing a processor with a 'sheet' of paper-like screen wrapped around them.

UN scientist repeats warnings of Himalayan melting

The discredited head of the international scientific body on climate change today repeated his claim that the Himalayan glaciers were ‘undoubtedly’ melting.

Speaking at the latest round of UN talks on tackling global warming, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said more research was needed on the state of Himalayan glaciers but there was no doubt they were retreating.

Dr Pachauri – called ‘Patchy’ in scientific circles - found himself embroiled in a row in 2010 over the inclusion in the IPCC's last major report, used to inform international policy on climate change, of incorrect claims that the mountain region's glaciers could melt away by 2035.


Melting: Patchy has warned that Himalayan glaciers are retreating



Dr Rajendra Pachauri was embroiled in a row of glacial melt in 2010

Today he said the claim was an error that had been corrected, but said the general picture in the fourth assessment report - that glaciers were retreating - was right.
‘We clearly based our estimates on measurements that exist, which are a pretty representative sample of what's happening.

‘But that doesn't give you the complete picture, it gives you a depiction of what is happening, and therefore it was perfectly valid of us to say that net melting was taking place,’ he said.

‘The findings we came up with in general, which are also worldwide, were very clear there's a net melting of the glaciers taking place.’

His comments come as the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development published three reports including one that maps for the first time the number and cover of glaciers in the region, providing a baseline for future research.

While it revealed that there are 54,000 glaciers, covering 60,000 square kilometres, just 10 have been studied regularly enough to determine net gain or loss.



Ice one: Glaciers in the Himalayas cover a staggering 60,000 square kilometres. Pictured is Mount Everest



Research: The number of glaciers in the Himalayas has been worked out for the first time - 54,000

The handful of studies show the glaciers are retreating.

Dr Pachauri said that while only a few studies of glaciers had been published in peer-reviewed science journals, there was a large amount of raw data, which he had seen, which gave similar conclusions.

Asked if the Himalayan glaciers were melting and retreating, he said: ‘Undoubtedly. As to that, there's no doubt at all.’

But he said there was not enough information about what was happening to the glaciers, or the different effects on them in various locations, making new studies important.

Patchy's reiteration of glacial melt in the Himalayas follows an announcement at the American Geophysical Union that glaciers in the French Alps have shrunk by a quarter in the past 40 years.

They covered 375 sq km in the 1960s and early 1970s, but this figure now stands at 275 sq km.

Google opens a new floor in its London office… but it looks more like the Big Brother house

Google needs its engineers to come up with brilliant ideas, and to help them do that apparently a work environment like the Big Brother House will do the trick.

The search giant’s London headquarters in Victoria covers three floors, but last week some of its 350 staff began using a revamped engineering floor - called L4 - that has to be one of the trendiest in the world.

Meeting rooms feature strange angular sofas, the corridors look like the inside of the starship Enterprise and the workers can play pool and video games during their breaks.



This morning in the Google house: One of the ultra trendy meeting rooms in the London office



And relax: A Google worker hoping for inspiration



Designed to inspire: Cushions are all-important at Google

Nelson Mattos, Google’s Vice President of Engineering, said: ‘We hire the brightest and best engineers in the UK and put them together in a highly creative, relaxed and exciting environment.’
When Google set about creating it, they started with a completely blank canvas.

All the walls were knocked through and the furniture taken away.



Playtime: Google workers are treated to a pool table and games consoles



Central Perk, Google-style: The Coffee Lab serves 19 blends



It's an office, but not as we know it: Google's corridors look very futuristic

Then a unique look was dreamed up to keep the employees at the top of their game.

Ideas are obviously a key part of working for Google, and there’s never a shortage of space to write them down – some of the walls in the corridors are made up of huge white boards.

To help keep the engineers’ brains fully fuelled, meanwhile, there's plenty of food and liquid refreshment on offer.



Bizarre: Unconventional seating is a must at Google



Creative space: Workers can even write ideas down on white boards in the corridors



One of the many relaxation areas in L4
There is a 'coffee lab' serving 19 different blends and four free restaurants - including a tapas and sushi bar.
Paying is never a distraction either, because it's all free.
There’s also a gym, sound-proofed music room with drums and guitars and a games room with a pool table, video consoles and a giant Samsung TV.
The Google office even features its own version of the Big Brother garden complete with deck chairs, carpet that resembles grass and a rowing boat.



One hull of an office: The resident rowing boat



There's no diary room, but L4 does have futuristic meeting pods



May the force be with them: Programmers are encouraged to play with toys

Mattos adds: ‘Contrary to accepted wisdom, fun offices don’t hurt. Our experience is that a comfortable, open and fun environment encourages creativity and openness.

‘Open spaces make chance interactions more likely, and chance interactions often lead to the greatest ideas.

‘Many of our products came from unrelated teams finding out about each other’s work and physically meeting to discuss fresh approaches.’

The firm is keen to point out that the London office is a very important part of its global operation, with the team there being responsible for many of the most popular Android and iPhone apps.

Voice search, personalised local search and elements of Android’s web browser were all created in London, too.

It's fairly certain that none of the team there would want to be evicted.

Mark Zuckerberg's private Facebook photos revealed: Security 'glitch' allows web expert to access billionaire's personal pictures

Facebook user reportedly exploited security loophole to access pictures
Some images of Facebook CEO at home with girlfriend have never been seen
He is pictured with Priscilla Chan at their $7million house in Palo Alto

A series of photos from Mark Zuckerberg’s private Facebook page were made public today after a web expert managed to gain access thanks to a glitch in the social networking site.

The bug in the website’s photo reporting tool - which Facebook says was only temporary and has now been fixed - meant that users could access others’ pictures even if they were private.

Users were able to look at the private photos by ‘reporting’ a profile picture as ‘inappropriate’, which then saw other photos displayed, such as those of Facebook CEO Mr Zuckerberg.




Private photos: Mark Zuckerberg holds up plates of chicken he appears to have just killed then fried himself


Loving: Mark Zuckerberg is pictured with his long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan playing with their puppy



Girl and boy: Some of the photos can be viewed publicly on Facebook, but others are said to be secret

A Facebook spokesman told CNET the glitch happened because of ‘one of our most recent code pushes’ but it was only live for a short time and ‘not all content was accessible’.

The reporting system was disabled and will be brought back to normal once the bug has been fixed by the website’s developers, the spokesman added, restating the site’s commitment to data privacy.

The glitch and resulting private photos of Mr Zuckerberg went viral when software engineer Mike Rundle, of Raleigh, North Carolina, posted a link to them on photo-sharing website Imgur.

But Mr Rundle said he first saw the photos linked from a discussion on the online forum Hacker News.



Man's best friend: Many of the reportedly private photos on the Imgur website involve Mr Zuckerberg's puppy



Big names: Mr Zuckerberg is pictured speaking to President Barack Obama, with Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt in the background. The late former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was also at the meeting



Cheers: Mr Zuckerberg, who is worth $17.5billion, holds a toast with friends in his kitchen



Trick of treat: He kneels with his girlfriend who holds a bowl of Snickers and other chocolate bars on Halloween

Members of a body-building forum first picked up on an alleged security flaw which allows users to access personal photos when they try to report ‘inappropriate’ profile pictures, reported CNET.

Mr Zuckerberg’s long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan is pictured in most of the photos. Some of them can be viewed publically on his public Facebook profile, but others are said to be private.

The 27-year-old, of Palo Alto, California, has a staggering fortune of $17.5billion and treated himself to a $7million five-bedroom, five bathroom home earlier this year in May.

The 1903 home with its outdoor walls and trees offers far more privacy than his former 3,800 sq ft rented house. It has an entertainment pavilion with an outdoor fireplace and built-in barbeque.



Whale of a time: The happy couple are pictured together at a restaurant in one of the private photos



Sushi time: The former Harvard University student inspired the 2010 film The Social Network



Dinner party: Mr Zuckerberg and Miss Chan are pictured with friends and their puppy inside their kitchen



All smiles: Mr Zuckerberg, left, poses with an unknown man on a sunny day by the beach

The New York dentist’s son has lived in Palo Alto almost continuously since he moved Facebook to Silicon Valley straight from his Harvard dormitory room in 2004.

The technology genius, originally from Dobbs Ferry in New York, inspired the 2010 film The Social Network, in which he is played by Jesse Eisenberg.

Mr Zuckerberg has vowed to embark on a mission to eat only what he killed and has reportedly been learning how to hunt with the aim of killing a bison which he will devour once it is dead.

The young tycoon, whose girlfriend is Priscilla Chan, has been studying how to fire a gun powerful enough to bring down one of the 2,000lb beasts and even got a licence to hunt, reports said.

He has killed chickens, lobsters, a pig and a goat as part of his crusade for responsible eating - and says he only wants to eat meat if he knows exactly where it came from and had a hand in its demise.

The 'car of the future' (from 1969) is back on the road: armed with CCTV, hydraulic roof... and a magnetic 'GPS' system

'Concept cars' are unveiled by car makers to show off new technologies. Sometimes they evolve into production vehicles, sometimes they don't - but very occasionally, they offer a vision of the future.


Holden's Hurricane - unveiled 42 years ago in Melbourne - was packed with decades-worth of technologies that have become standard in cars. The Hurricane not only had digital displays, it also had a primitive magnetic GPS system, a rear-view CCTV camera, and a hydraulic entry system that would have made the Dukes of Hazzard jealous - the entire roof lifted off on hydraulic plates.

Now the concept car has been brought back to life at a motor show in Melbourne.




The Hurricane was armed with a rear-view camera, a route guidance system, and hydraulically powered doors





Holden was a subdivision of General Motors, and this 1969 model was a showcase for then far-out technologies such as digital instrument displays

Other 'extras' that would then have smacked of science fiction included a 'Comfortron' air-conditioning system, and a radio with auto-seek, rather than a tuning knob.

Even the engine was futuristic - a 4.2-litre Holden V8, turning out 259hp.


'At Holden we have always prided ourselves on our ability to look into the future through our concept cars,' said Michael Simcoe, executive director of General Motors International Operations.

'It's amazing to think that the features we take for granted today were born out of creative minds over 40 years ago.'

The 'Pathfinder' GPS system was perhaps the most out-there idea - showing a glowing arrow that told drivers which way to turn, and a buzzer that warned of an upcoming junction.





The 1969 Holden Hurricane was a mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-seater which showcased technologies such as air con and a radio with auto-seek, rather than a fiddly tuning knob





The restored car was shown off at Melbourne's Motorclassica show this year - the project to rebuild the car had been ongoing since 2006

The mid-engine, rear-wheel drive two-seater relied on a pre-GPS system called Pathfinder - which relied on magnets embedded at every intersection.

Although Sputnik had launched in 1957 - and scientists realised that GPS systems could be possible quite quickly after the launch - global positioning was still a long way off. Pathfinder, of course, never took off
.