Today (Friday) is Force Awakens Day where the Star Wars merchandise machine jumps to light speed and sucks money out of your wallet or purse and deposits it somewhere into a Swiss Bank Account known as the ‘Black Hole’.

To add even more $$$$ into the Death Star accounty, Sphero, the company responsible for creating robotic balls that can be controlled by iPhones, today announced a remote-controlled BB-8, a droid from the upcoming film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

While BB-8 can be controlled with an iPhone, it also comes with a patrol mode that allows the droid to roam around by himself. Users can also design their own routes and have BB-8 follow them. Additionally, Sphero says BB-8 has an "adaptive personality" and his "attitude" and actions will evolve the more a user interacts with him. BB-8 can also receive voice commands via the app, which means that a user can say "move forward" and BB-8 will move forward.
While Sphero developed this version of BB-8 as a connected toy, the company was instrumental in the development of the BB-8 droid used in the actual movie. The company was a part of Disney's accelerator program and was paired with Disney CEO Bob Iger as its mentor. When Iger visited with Sphero to see the robotic ball they were working on, he realized the technology could be used for BB-8, who at the time was still being designed. He connected Sphero to the filmmakers and special effects people behind the film and they collaborated on the real BB-8, which was shown off at the Star Wars Celebration convention in May.
The toy version of BB-8 will go on sale on September 4, 2015 as a part of "Force Friday," which is when toys and merchandise from "The Force Awakens" officially go on sale. BB-8 will be available for $149.99 at Sphero.com and Apple Stores.

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Burning Man is an annual festival that takes place at Black Rock City—a temporary community erected in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. The event is described as an experiment in community and art, influenced by 10 main principles, including "radical inclusion" and community cooperation, "radical self-expression", "radical self-reliance", gifting and decommodification, and leaving no trace. First held in 1986 on Baker Beach in San Francisco as a small function organized by Larry Harvey and a group of friends, it has since been held annually, spanning from the last Monday in August to the first Monday in September.

Burning Man plays host to various forms of artistic expression created for the event by its attendees and others, including experimental and interactive pieces, performance, and art cars among other mediums, often adhering to a yearly theme chosen by organizers. The event takes its name from its culmination, the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy ("the Man") that traditionally occurs on the Saturday evening of the event.

Burning Man is organized by the Burning Man Project, a non-profit organization that, in 2014, succeeded a for-profit limited liability company (Black Rock City, LLC) that was formed in 1997 to represent the event's organizers, and is now considered a subsidiary of the non-profit organization. In 2010, 51,515 people attended Burning Man. Attendance in 2011 was capped at 50,000 participants and the event sold out on July 24; the attendance rose to 65,922 in 2014. Smaller regional events inspired by the principles of Burning Man have been held internationally; some of these events are also officially endorsed by the Burning Man Project as regional branches of the event.

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NT Thunder play the Aspley Hornets in the NEAFL Grand Final on Saturday 19th September 2015 at TIO Stadium.

Game time is 6.30pm but get there early to enjoy the curtain raiser game, Thunderland for the kids, free faceprinting and soak up the atmosphere.

NT Thunder needs YOU, our Territory, to get there and cheer the team on. Share this event on your page and INVITE all your friends. We want a MASSIVE crowd there wearing Territory colours!

Let's get behind our Territory team and create the Thunderdome.

Greg & Ali on ‘Wake Up’ on Mix 104.9 are catching up with the players this week in the lead up to Saturday’s Grand Final.  Today (Tuesday) Greg & Ali caught up with Ryan Smith (left in photo) and Jonathan Peris (right) who joined the brekky team in the studio. 

For more info on the NT Thunder click HERE

Actress Emily Blunt is such a big fan of Stephen Colbert pretending to vomit that he lined up a little treat for her appearance on The Late Show this week. The two performed the last two lines from the 1939 classic Gone With the Wind, all while trying their darnedest not to retch. It's hilarious, as long as you're not the kind of person who will throw up simply at the sight of someone else trying not to throw up. If you're that person, don't watch this video. Everyone else, this is the best.

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TEN has renewed The Bachelor for a fourth season, just as the third season reaches its crescendo.

The show is now calling for Darwin Single Women between the ages of 22-35 and Single Men between the ages of 27-35.

Filming is set for March 2016 for roughly up to 12 weeks.  Applications close at midnight on the 22nd of January 2016

You can apply HERE

Meanwhile, 26 year old Victorian event manager Sarah was eliminated from the show last night, leaving Lana and Snezana as the last women vying for the affections of Sam Wood.

“I am a little upset at myself for putting up this wall that actually got the better of me. I think I was just protecting myself through the whole entire journey and that sucks,” she said.

“I am heartbroken. I really did like the guy and I did say that I could fall in love with him and I definitely don’t take that back.”

The penultimate episode saw final dates in Sydney and Palm Beach. Tonight Sam Wood makes his final choice.

Talented Insiders editor Huw Parkinson has created another clever video parody, this time using Indiana Jones to tell the tale of the toppling of Tony Abbott.

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This is just scary. Check it out.

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With the build-up here there’s never been a better time to tuck into a delicious salad. Here’s ten ideas of different salad styles from around the world. Enjoy. 

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As part of its integrated global SPECTRE campaign, Heineken has unveiled a new TV spot – titled “The Chase” – which features Daniel Craig as James Bond in a high-speed boat chase. In addition, the brand also announced an exciting digital campaign featuring the world’s first ever selfie from space, dubbed the “Spyfie.”

Heineken’s SPECTRE campaign is the brand’s largest global marketing platform of 2015. SPECTRE, the 24th James Bond adventure.

To further heighten anticipation ahead of the movie’s release, an estimated half a billion limited edition Heineken and Heineken Light bottles and packaging launch nationwide today, featuring the James Bond SPECTRE logo.

Heineken’s association with the James Bond film franchise dates back to 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, with SPECTRE being the seventh consecutive film in the partnership.

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Tomorrow expect the unexpected as Greg and Ali throw their support behind Camp Quality and raise money to support sick kids living with cancer in the Northern Territory.

It's all part of our annual Camp Quality Charity Auction and we want you to get involved. We've pulled together heaps of great auction items you can bid on across the day. Everything from a signed commemorative coin by AFL footballer Andrew McLeod to a full day Equinox Fishing Charter and 7 night stay in a Bali Villa to name a few.

Request your favourite song, dare Greg to shave his body or bid for Ali to MC your next charity event. 

Check out all the auction items up for grabs here

Join us from 5:30am tomorrow and show your support for kids with cancer in the NT!

MENTION of the name Bryan Ferry and the words cool, suave, sophisticated and stylish are invariably uttered in the same breath.

And this has been the way of it ever since the miner's son from the North East of England first burst onto the music scene to thrill us fronting the avant-garde, seminal rock band he formed at art college, Roxy Music.

Back in the early 70s there was no cooler or more exciting band than Roxy, they had the 'look' and a 'sound' like nothing that had been seen or heard before.

Barely putting a foot wrong with their first four/five albums, those records were noteworthy not only for the fantastic music but also for their brilliant, sexy and ultra hip cover art.

Roxy's sound softened towards the end of their 'life' but the band's final albums 'Flesh & Blood' and 'Avalon' elevated silky smooth pop/rock to a whole new level.

Ferry's subsequent solo career has never quite scaled the same heights of his Roxy Music heyday (a big ask for sure) but there have been some mighty fine albums amongst the fifteen he has recorded over the years and his latest release, 'Avonmore', is definitely right up there with the best of them.

The man has always known how to dress with real style too, long favouring the tailoring of London fashion designer Antony Price, and nothing has changed on that front either as he took to the stage in a beautifully cut dark blue suit and shirt combo that perfectly masked the few kilo’s he has naturally gained over his five decade career and, even his now greying hair looks ridiculously good on him in the way it just doesn't on most others.

This 'Ferry' however remains defiantly roburst and sturdy, yet still glides over the 'waters' ever so smoothly and elegantly and it looks as though it will be a long time yet before it is taken out of regular service.

Happy 70th Birthday Bryan Ferry for 26th September

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Ali from Mix Breakfast loves this idea and wishes she had shares in the company.

What if you could know exactly what your pet is doing while you’re at the office or grabbing drinks with a friend?

Pet owners often wonder what their furry friends do when they’re unsupervised all day.

That’s the idea behind PetBot, a cube-like device that allows you to check up on your pet while you’re on the go. Equipped with a camera and facial recognition software, PetBot detects whenever your animal moseys in front of the lens. This prompts it to emit a few sounds to grab your pet’s attention and encourage it to move towards the camera. Once your pet is close enough, PetBot is able to capture a brief video, and even dispense a treat.

Users can download a smartphone app that issues a notification when the pet takes a short video “selfie.” These alerts distinguish the device from other pet cams and apps on the market, which make you log in to check up on your animal. You can even program the settings so that your pet’s selfie will automatically upload to Instagram. Like most pet cams, the app lets you watch a livestream of your pet’s activity.

PetBot is also equipped with what the company calls “bark notification,” which alerts you when your pet starts barking. The app also permits you to give commands, so that you can control when the PetBot makes a sound or dispenses a treat. You can even record your own voice to ensure that your pet will respond.

When the device hits the market, it will retail for $199. The first round of shipments for early bird customers will be delivered by Christmas 2015, and the second round is scheduled for mid-2016.

Order your Petbot HERE

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Darwin Pride Festival is celebrating 30 years of Pride.

In 1985, a group of passionate Darwinites came together to create the very first Darwin Pride Festival - promoting diversity, equality and celebrating LGBTIQ communities. These brave individuals shined the spotlight on issues that needed to change and celebrated what already made us shine. Three decades on, we're continuing what they began!

We’re excited to bring to you a week long program that is as impressive and vibrant as the campest of tropical rainbows- paying tribute to our past, present and future. The first Darwin Pride event 30 years ago was a film night. To pay homage to its beginnings, the Festival will officially kick off with a colourful “Festival Launch” party and “Pride Film Night” (Sep 30th), showcasing a diverse range of LGBTIQ stories on the big screen. The week that follows includes a smooth sailing Love Boat cruise, History Walk, Trivia Night, Funday, Forum and so much more!  Check out "events" for the full program. Be part of history- be part of the 2015 Darwin Pride Festival, celebrating 30 years of Pride!

To find out more of the events in town click HERE

Ruslan Kogan has come from extremely humble beginnings to become one of Australia's most successful entrepreneurs. He is the founder and CEO of Kogan.com which he has grown into a multinational consumer electronics and online retail business with millions of customers. On October 1, 2015 Ruslan will share his story to help inspire and inform current and budding business entrepreneurs as part of October Business Month. You can register for this free keynote event here.

Mix 104.9 are seeking Darwin’s Best Boss as part of October Business Month.

If you have a boss like David Brent from ‘The Office’ I suspect we won’t be hearing from you soon.

But if you’re a fan of David Brent you are in for a treat - Ricky Gervais's celebrated character, 'star' of the BBC mockumentary The Office, is coming back next year in a movie. Life On The Road sees Brent in his new role as a urinal lozenge salesman - I didn't even know they existed? - and is due to be released in 2016. If you can't wait that long, here is what is probably David Brent's finest moment - an impromptu acoustic gig in series 1 of The Office.

Image courtesy of BBC

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Join Mix 104.9  with our latest movie premiere ‘Miss you Already’ starring Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore at Event Cinemas Casuarina Wednesday Oct. 7.

The film stars Toni Collette, Drew Barrymore, Dominic Cooper, Paddy Considine, Tyson Ritter, Frances de la Tour and Jacqueline Bisset. It was screened in the Gala Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

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The world loves to imagine that Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo hate each other - and it makes for some brilliant videos.

None more so than this effort from The Football Republic who have used spoof subtitles to make it look like Messi is trolling Ronaldo big time. 

To be fair, after seeing the trailer, we suspect this is what Messi probably does think.

But nonetheless it's a superb effort from the Football Republic.

Enjoy……Greg from Mix Breakfast

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Hello everyone, my name is Jaxon Joseph Taylor and I was born on September 29th, 2014 with a very rare disease called Congenital Melanocytic Nevus (CMN).

My mother (Alycia) had a healthy, ‘textbook’ pregnancy and delivery, but as soon as I was born my father (Clint) and mother immediately knew something was wrong.

The paediatrician swiftly removed me away from my parents to perform a blood test. At first the medical staff thought I was severely bruised. In the words of my Obstetrician who had been delivering babies for decades, he was “baffled”. This was a particularly scary and emotional time in hospital for my first time parents.

No-one knew what was going on, and based on speculation from nurses, my parents resorted to accessing the internet, which overwhelmed them even more!

It would be three long weeks before we could see a specialist, and to my mother and father this felt like torture, not knowing what I had.

This resulted in my parents spending their days crying and fearing the worst, instead of enjoying their time with me. Their world had been turned upside down.

Eventually I was finally diagnosed with a Giant Congenital Melanocytic Nevus, the type I have is called a ‘Bathing Trunk’. This conditions puts me at risk of melanoma, which when contracted, is generally difficult to treat and can be quite aggressive. We also learnt that beneath my Nevus, which takes up a significant area of my body, including almost my entire back, I have no sweat glands, no oil glands and no fat. My skin is extremely frail and sensitive. My parents want the best for me and are trying to make my life more comfortable in the years ahead, from a medical, psychological and

visual perspective. After great research and seeking professional medical guidance, a decision has been made to do a partial removal of my Nevus. Unfortunately it’s impossible to remove the entire nevus, but it’s the best that can be done for now. This comes at a price of many extensive surgeries which can also have complications, as well as the financial worries of how we are going to cover these important expenses.

My parents desire to tell my story to share the CMN awareness to doctors, midwives and general public in order to avoid unnecessary stress and strain on future CMN parents and newborns.

My Granddad, John, is going to undertake the ‘World’s Longest Ever Triathlon’, October 5th to 26th, 2015, in which he will swim 3.9 kilometres in Darwin, run 320 kilometres from Darwin to Katherine

and cycle 1,176.1 kilometres to Alice Springs. This proposed world record will highlight CMN awareness and will hopefully raise sufficient funds to pay for my operations, medical bills, with any funds left over

going towards supporting Nevus Australia for much needed Nevus research.

To make a donation, please log on to the Facebook page identified as ‘Jaxon’s Nevus Journey‘ , or electronically contribute via The National Australia Bank BSB 083-861 Acc 24 798 1787

or donations can be left  HERE

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As we gear up for this weekend's Bathurst 1000, Redbull Racing stars Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes have released a comedy video poking fun and their mishaps during last year's great race. The boys mightn't win a Logie for their acting but it's great to see them make light of the dramas that crippled their campaign at Mount Panorama last year. Check out the video. Giddy up….Greg

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While humans often comprise some of the most dangerous threats faced by Rick Grimes’ group of survivors on The Walking Dead, that does not discount the fact that the walkers have always remained a constant, vigilant threat to the lives of everyone on the show. With the show about to start its 6th Season, the AMC horror series has promised to deliver some of its strangest zombie encounters yet.

Here's what Norman Reedus has to say about the weirdest zombie we'll see in Season 6: There’s a creepy humour flavour that he sort of throws in there sometimes, and he’s the only one that understands it or knows what he’s going for. There are super beautiful elements to his zombies, but sometimes there’s a little something funny in there that just he knows and nobody else knows — or major comic-book fans or major zombie fans. There’s one particularly beautiful, gruesome zombie — he’s got a lot of green moss on him.?

Greg Nicotero plans to up the ante in terms of creating memorable walkers on Season 6 of The Walking Dead, noting that green moss will be a key to one wild-looking zombie. Green moss may not sound like much, but The Walking Dead has done an incredible job of taking minor details about walkers and fleshing them – pun wholeheartedly intended – out with gruesome effect. Considering the well walker from Season 2, or the riot gear walkers from Season 3, the promise of seeing such an interesting zombie seems like a tall order.

As if we weren’t already excited about the sixth season of The Walking Dead, this tease has certainly been enough to wet our appetites. Season 6 of The Walking Dead premieres on Monday, October 12 on FOXTEL. 

Here a catch up of season 5.   Enjoy…..Greg

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