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DARPA is funding Boston Dynamics to create a line of tough robots to partner with soldiers and go where wheeled or treaded vehicles can’t. Earlier web sensations include BigDog, AlphaDog, PETMAN, and SandFlea, among others.

BigDog can travel over very rough terrain (snow, mud, rocks, hillsides) righting itself as it goes. PETMAN can perform complex motions (push up, squat and turn, or kneel) and likewise can adapt on the fly. Why not the WildCat?

Cola diplomacy runs the risk of coming across as painfully naive by oversimplifying a complex issue that's tangled up in a long history of imperialism, religious conflict and nuclear stand-off, to name a few factors. Coke frames this powder keg of a problem as, on some level, simply one of miscommunication—because that's small enough that the brand can then frame itself as the solution. Sure, more understanding and common ground isn't a bad thing, and Coke takes some pains to temper the portrayal of its own success, erring on the side of aspirational everyman/everywoman voiceover platitudes throughout the spot (e.g., "We are going to take minor steps so that we are going to solve bigger issues.") But really, what the brand is taking minor steps toward is selling more sugar water in a way that isn't explicitly about selling more sugar water, and has at least the veneer of a higher purpose.

the social-media zeitgeist holds that doing good is good for business. Yes, a warm-and-fuzzy video like this has some entertainment value, and it's is certainly more palatable—and arguably more effective—than a hard-sell product spot. But doesn't distilling a geopolitical conflict into short-form branded content do more harm than good by trivializing it? Or if everyone just drank a Coke, would they really get along?

"There will be an over-representation of the religious and ultra-orthodox – around one in three members of the Knesset, according to the latest polls," said Ofer Kenig, of the Israel Democracy Institute. About one in five members of the last Knesset were religious or ultra-orthodox, he said."This is a very significant change. The explanation is not necessarily the demographic growth of this sector but the success of religious parties in attracting support from secular and traditional voters."

He said there would be "a very high representation of Jewish settlers", up to 20 of the 120 members of the Knesset. Less than 5% of Israel's population lives in West Bank settlements.

the new political elite was a coalition of West Bank settlers, ultra-orthodox, national-religious and rightwing city dwellers.

Pizzarotti's leap to fame comes thanks to the grassroots Five-Star Movement, led by comedian Beppe Grillo, which dealt a stunning blow to the parties that have governed Italy for the past two decades in this month's local elections.

The movement, which was created just three years ago and relies extensively on the Internet, has become the country's second most popular party with more than 18 percent support and more than half of Italians would consider voting for it, according to opinion polls.

Something like an Italian Michael Moore, Grillo's language is irreverent and outlandish. He uses the most vulgar Italian swear words without hesitation, and awards his political rivals colourful nicknames.Monti is "Rigor Montis," and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi is the "psycho-midget". Italy's established parties are dead, he says, and their leaders are "zombies, vampires, mummies".