Underpants Are Go??

Plastic underwear row sends competitive skiing downhill

The world of competitive downhill skiing has been rocked by a row over plastic underwear.

The undergarments of Tina Maze, a Slovakian skier who came second at a major event in Austria, were subject to intense scrutiny last week after she was accused of wearing a banned design.
The plastic one-piece was rigorously inspected by officials who ruled that the clothing broke no rules, despite accusations that the fabric had given her an aerodynamic edge over her rivals.
“My underwear is obviously too sexy for the Swiss,” Ms Maze said in retaliation to the jibes.
Following the incident, a complaint was lodged by the Swiss Skiing Federation to the International Skiing Federation (FIS), its parent organisation.
Air permeability of the fabric appears to be at the centre of the row, and although Maze’s undergarments were deemed admissible, the FIS concluded that part of the membrane was banned under the rules.
“It is recommended that the one-piece undergarment not be used by any athletes in competition,” was the final verdict, based on evidence that the fabric was bad for the skin.
Earlier this season, Gunter Hujara, the men’s race director for FIS, swung a piece of blue plastic underwear in the air, made from a banned hybrid neoprene sheath, as a warning that anyone caught wearing them would be disqualified

Aussie File Sharing?

Australian File-Sharer Recommends  Surrender

An Australian file-sharer who faced a similar extradition process to the UK student Richard O'Dwyer recommends him to give up and go to the United States voluntarily to face the entertainment industry.
Hew Griffiths, the Australian, explained that he was watching O'Dwyer’s case with a sense of foreboding. The matter is that exactly the same thing happened to him a few years ago. A British judge has decided that the 23-year-old UK student, who created an online website for sharing not illegal content itself, but only the links to TV programs hosted elsewhere, should be extradited to America to face trial and up to ten years in prison.

Although this is regarded as the first time that the bizarre, favor the rich and corporate US justice system has applied to some developed democratic country, this has apparently been already seen in the colonies. Hew Griffiths was bundled on a plane to the United States four years ago in a pointless show of America’s corporate power which did little to stem Internet piracy.

Griffiths explained that if he had been charged in Australia he would have got a 6-month suspended sentence along with a $1000 fine as maximum penalty. However, the United States gave him a 6-month prison time after 3 years in Sydney’s Silverwater jail trying to fight extradition. Although he didn’t earn money from helping distribute illegal software, under American law the entertainment industry demanded his hide, and the industry’s cronies in the government were quick to throw the book at Griffiths. After facing with a 10-year jail term, Hew Griffiths struck a plea bargain as there was actually no choice.

Indeed, there was no way he could have proved his case in Virginia, because it was like juries there just listened to the case and declared him guilty before the jury door swings shut. Griffiths recommended that O'Dwyer was better off giving up and going there voluntarily. Of course, he won’t win the case, but in case of delay the prosecutors will also throw the book at him. Griffiths believes that if O'Dwyer offers a deal there would be no problem, because the politicians don’t really want to tie up their prisons.

American authorities understand that the prosecutions are pointless, but they still want to be seen to be acting for corporations like Adobe and Microsoft, though there’s still more piracy in the United States than ever.

Remember The war??

Retired Beefeater 'ejected from pub for speaking German'

A former Beefeater at the Tower of London has reportedly been thrown out of his local pub for talking German to his daughter.

Tom Sharp, 71, said he was talking to his half-German daughter in the Packhorse pub in the Peterborough village of Northborough when their conversation slipped into German.
Mr Sharp, who also served with the Royal Signals for 26 years during which he met his wife Anni in Germany, said the pub's landlady flew into a rage when she heard the language being used on Wednesday evening.
He claims she told him: "We are white, you are English so you speak English in my pub otherwise get out."
Other drinkers who witnessed the row and spoke up for Mr Sharp and his 49-year-old daughter Nichole Falconer were also ejected, he said.
"I honestly couldn't believe she was telling us we couldn't speak German. Now and again the odd German phrase slips up – it is my daughter's mother tongue. It is natural," he said.
"It's not as if we were always speaking German and being rude. I could understand if it was all the time and looking at her as if we were plotting, but we weren't.
"You just can't tell people they can't speak their mother tongue. Would she do that to the Polish community in Peterborough?
"I think it is a sad reflection of her attitude to life that she can be upset about speaking a language she can't understand. It's outrageous. She was just like a mad woman completely possessed."
The incident has been reported to police as a hate crime.
A witness said: "It's disgraceful. Everyone in the pub was horrified. We all left and I don't think many people will be going back."
Mr Sharp, who was widowed two years ago, said it was the worst racism his daughter, an employment lawyer, had faced.
"I would hate to think what my wife's family would think of this. But it's even more mind boggling to suggest that I am not patriotic if that what her problem was," he added.
"I served in the army for 26 years before joining the beefeaters for 20 years. I guarded the Tower of London.
"Should a father not speak to his daughter in her mother tongue?"
Mr Sharp became a Yeoman Warder in 1984 and carried out the daily Ceremony of the Keys to lock the gates of the Tower.
His daughter, who moved to the village to be closer to her father at the end of last year, said: "It's just not acceptable.
"I have no idea of motivation but I found it very offensive and it caused me a great deal of distress."
The landlady of the pub, which is owned by Scottish and Newcastle but managed by LT Pub Management, declined to comment.
A police spokesman said: "We were called to reports of an alleged prejudice incident at the Packhorse Pub Northborough at 7.20pm.
"Officers attended and spoke to both parties."

A Change Of View?

Politicians Turned Away from Entertainment Industry

Online protests against entertainment industry taking over the American Justice system seem to have got the message to the US politicians that the world is hacked off with them. Press reports show that those politicians who stood for the entertainment industry are now switching sides. The reason is that they finally realized that their careers will be that much tougher when they are treated negatively by their voters.
Apparently, the entertainment industry is realizing that its Washington campaign is faltering. For example, the Motion Picture Association of America described the opposition as an “abuse of power”. In other words, the MPAA really doesn’t know what to do. Recently, Wikipedia, the global free online encyclopedia, went offline for 24 hours. Google and others also used the black censorship bars in attempts to draw attention to what had earlier been a legislative proposal to curb access to foreign websites engaged into infringing the copyright.

Websites that participated in the blackout asked their visitors to reach their legislators on the question, and perhaps they did exactly that. After that, such sponsors of the bill as Senators Roy Blunt, Chuck Grassley, Marco Rubio, and many more announced that they were withdrawing their support. Meanwhile, the others began to attack Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for rushing the Senate version of the legislation. However, it can’t be Reid’s fault, because he was just doing what he was told. In addition, with political apathy in America about such issues he could think it was good to get campaign contributions from the entertainment industry for the coming elections.

In switching sides, some of the earlier bill supporters called it “deeply flawed”, while the others cited “unintended consequences” able to stem from the proposed legislation. All of them claimed that they supported taking action against Internet piracy. The others specified that they supported changes to the law.

Creative America – a studio- and union-supported outfit fighting online piracy, started a TV advertising campaign to air in the areas of key legislators. For example, in Times Square, it turned on a digital pro-SOPA and PIPA billboard in space offered by News Corp that owns Fox Studios. Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch is again known as a support of SOPA and PIPA and has dubbed Google a pirate.

Don’t Dress Down For The Horses!

Ascot's orange spot of shame

Ascot has apologised after stewards stuck orange dots on racegoers who failed to comply with a new dress code.

It was meant as a way to smarten up dress standards and give racegoers a polite warning if they were not quite up to scratch.
But last night Ascot Racecourse was forced to apologise for a new policy of sticking orange dots on to people who failed to comply with its new, stricter dress code.
Under the new rules, introduced yesterday, men in the premier enclosure are asked to wear a jacket and tie while women should dress smartly.
Those who broke the guidelines were still admitted, but had the stickers applied to their entrance badge.
Ascot said the stickers were designed to act as a warning and to let stewards know that a racegoer had already been spoken to about their outfit, to avoid the embarrassment of repeated verbal warnings.
But those issued with the mark said they felt humiliated, and launched angry complaints at race course chiefs.
Organisers later apologised, saying the tactic was “heavy-handed”.
Nick Smith, head of public relations at Ascot, said: “We are trying to bring in a new dress code but didn’t want on day one to turn anyone away and genuinely thought we were treading quite softly.
“Everything behind the thinking appeared to make a lot of sense, but it’s clear that targeting people like this gave out the wrong message.
“The intention wasn’t to be heavy-handed so we apologise. It was clearly the wrong thing to do and there will not be orange tags next time.”
The dress code for premier admission, set out on the Ascot Racecourse website, states: “A day at Ascot Racecourse is very special. Most racegoers dress up for the occasion and this is an important part of the Ascot Raceday experience.
“Gentlemen should wear a jacket and tie, smart trousers or smart jeans, no trainers. There will be an announcement on the day allowing jackets to be removed, should the weather be hot. Ladies should dress for a smart occasion; hats are encouraged but not compulsory. Children should be dressed smartly.”
There is no formal dress code in the course’s cheaper grandstand enclosure, although the rules state “bare chests are not permitted at any time”.
Last week the racecourse also announced that fascinators and short skirts would be banned for women attending the annual Royal Ascot meeting.

Don’t Mess With Moose!!

Taking The Piss??

Shop display’s toilet humour gets owner in trouble

A SHOP owner has been told to remove a urinating mannequin from his window after police were called.
The owner of menswear shop Philip Browne in Norwich had posed a wooden mannequin urinating on a wall and spelling out the word “sale” in the store’s window.
The mannequin was surrounded by empty Champagne bottles, party poppers and discarded clothes to depict the aftermath of a night out. But police were called by a member of the public who took exception to the display.
Officers warned shop owner Philip Browne that he could be violating the 1986 Public Order Act.

Sue Everyone???

Symantec Sued for Scaring Clients into Buying

An individual from Washington is currently suing insecurity firm Symantec, complaining that he had been terrified into purchasing its products.
A man named James Gross claims that Symantec seeks to persuade people to purchase its products by scaring them with misleading data about the health of their PCs. He is currently suing the firm in San Jose and provided a copy of the complaint to the press. James Gross claims that Symantec distributes trial versions of its digital products scanning a potential client’s system and consequently invariably reporting of harmful errors, privacy risks and plenty of other existing problems of the computer.

Indeed, the insecurity company uses the scanning software to market such products as Norton Utilities, PC Tools Registry Mechanic and PC Tools Performance Toolkit software. The claimant says that this scanning software is falsely informing the computer owner of the errors having high priority. Moreover, it also falsely informs users that their overall system health and privacy health is very poor.

James Gross claims that both Norton Utilities and PC Tools represent a so-called “scareware”, which is specifically designed software causing pop-up messages appearing on the digital deices that tell consumers they are infected with malware. However, according to Gross, the scareware doesn’t really perform any meaningful evaluation of the people’s computer systems. According to the court documents, James Gross insists that the scareware does not, and, at the first place, cannot actually perform the valuable tasks represented by the insecurity company through its official sites, advertising, and in-software display screens.

“The”…Word Press Plug-In!

WordPress Gets BitTorrent Plugin

Today, thanks to the plugin called WP-Trader, everyone having a domain associated with WordPress is able to benefit from this useful application which turns their site into a small operational BitTorrent tracker. Andrew Walker, the author of the plugin, explained that he acknowledged the need for an easy torrent script and decided to develop it. He points out that all of the existing torrent tracker source codes are unique and good in different ways, but he noticed a lack for simple install and setup for torrent trackers. Indeed, few sources offer this function, and people keep coming into the forums for advice with problems in installing of their websites.

Although the plugin developer believes that if a user has no idea how to install or adjust their own torrent website they shouldn’t be running it, software like WP-Trader is still able to benefit artists having no knowledge about these things. The application was introduced last month, and since its first version both the developer and his helper have been working hard, updating the plugin on a weekly basis.

Today WP-Trader is still in beta and lacks many features, but you can see new things being added every week. The software was built around Torrent Trader V2.07, so the users can notice some things from Torrent Trader. However, the developers are trying to use many built-in functions of WordPress.

At the moment, the new release offers a lot of options from which a user can choose. For example, an Internet user can either choose to set up an open tracker or a private one featuring ratio requirements or wait times. The plugin also comes with a number of widgets like displaying the latest uploads and most popular torrents. Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done, and developers do realize this. They plan on fully integrating the application as closely as possible with WordPress, since the latter has plenty of features or plugins to tackle some things considered to be useful or not to the plugin. As usual, everyone is able to find more information on how to install and setup the application online and is encouraged to give the developers some feedback.