Football??

Football fan juror halts rape trial because defendant supports rival team

A football fan sitting on a jury cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds when he caused a rape trial to be halted just because the defendant supported a rival team.

The Newcastle United fan told fellow jury members he could not give David Blake, from Sunderland, a fair trial as it was just 24 hours after the Tyne-Wear derby.
In an outburst he branded the defendant a "Mackem rapist" – Mackem being a slang term for people from Sunderland.
The juror claimed to have been left distraught by Newcastle's 3-0 home defeat to their bitter Premier League foes last month.
His bias meant Judge Penny Moreland had to halt the trial, dismiss the juror and swear in a new panel at Newcastle Crown Court – at a cost of £5,000 to the public purse.
The case, which had heard the opening from the prosecution, had to be started again, meaning half a day was wasted.
Jurors are given a clear warning by judges at the start of every case that they must try defendants on the evidence they hear in court and nothing else.
The juror – who has not been named – was told not to come back to court to complete his two weeks service.
Blake was found guilty of raping the woman, who had fallen asleep in a spare bed, alone, after a party.

Who’s A Hungry Boy!!

Man charged in overnight feast at Ky. supermarket
Authorities in Kentucky have charged a man who officers say had an overnight feast in a closed supermarket outside Louisville.
The manager of a ValuMarket says he found 57 empty whipped cream cans in the garbage when he arrived Monday morning. WAVE-TV (http://bit.ly/15HQ8k7 ) in Louisville reported 30-year-old Trevor Runyon was charged after he was found in the ceiling of the store.
Surveillance video from the store showed that Runyon cooked and ate six steaks, washed them down with beer and then topped off his meal with shrimp and birthday cake.
Police say Runyon slipped into the store and hid while employees closed it for the night.
Bullitt County Detention Center records show Runyon is from Shepherdsville, Ky. It wasn't clear whether he has an attorney.

The Getaway?

Police hunt man on mobility scooter

Police are trying to track down an unlikely getaway driver - a man on a mobility scooter who escaped the scene at just 4mph.

Officers have today released CCTV images of a the man they would like to speak to following an incident in a supermarket.
A 79-year-old woman was shopping at a Tesco store in Portsmouth, Hampshire, when she placed one of her shopping bags on the floor as she stopped to pick up some groceries.
She then walked away, forgetting to take the bag that contained a purse with £90 in it, and it was taken from the store.
Police are now looking for the man on a mobility scooter who was captured on CCTV.
Investigating officer, PC Sara White, said: "I would like to hear from anyone who can identify the man pictured in the CCTV as I believe he may be able to assist with enquiries."
The UK is now the mobility scooter capital of Europe, with nearly 300,000 of the chairs in use compared to just 70,000 five years ago, it was revealed earlier this month.
Some are limited to a top speed of 4mph, whilst others are capable of achieving speeds of up to 8mph.
It is not the first time that police have had to appeal for help in tracing a driver who made a low speed get-away.
In May last year Dorset police released CCTV images of a woman mobility scooter driver who allegedly knocked a 63-year-old down in a hit and run outside a butchers shop.
In 2007 a pensioner managed to give officers the slip in Middlesbrough when he took a sharp turning off the road as they chased him at 8mph.

Don’t Ask!!

Tight-lipped celebrities are ruining talk shows, says Alan Carr

Alan Carr, the presenter of 'Alan Carr: Chatty Man', says he is often banned from asking guests on his talk show any interesting questions.

Sir Michael Parkinson may have said that the problem with talk shows nowadays is the celebrity hosts who reckon “it’s a doddle”, but Alan Carr claims that any guilt really lies with the guests who appear on them.
“You can’t talk about anything now,” the presenter of Alan Carr: Chatty Man tells Mandrake at the Arqiva British Academy Television Awards at the Royal Festival Hall.
He said he was often told: “Don’t talk about their bad plastic surgery, don’t mention their drug abuse, don’t mention their alcoholism.”
Carr says hosts are too scared to ask the stars about forbidden topics because if they do the publicists who impose such bans will stop other clients from appearing on the show. “They are so well hooked up that it’s like if you don’t adhere to these rules, you will never work again,” he adds.
The 36-year-old presenter, who won best entertainment performance at the ceremony, tells me he was recently told he could not look directly at one celebrity’s hair while interviewing them.
“I was told for a certain guest, 'don’t look at their hair’ and, of course, I didn’t even know it was fake before they drew attention to it.”
Carr concedes that it is the behind-the-scenes staff who are often caused the most grief by high-maintenance guests.
“The thing is they are nice to me,” he says. “It’s the runners and researchers that get soup thrown over them if it is not room temperature, but then they come on and are perfectly pleasant to me.”
Carr’s claims come after Jonathan Ross said his ITV show has lower ratings than The Graham Norton Show because of Norton’s interview technique.
“I think Graham gets first bite of film guests,” he said. “Some stars prefer his show over mine because they’re less protected on my programme.
“If they go on Graham’s, three guests all sit together on the sofa. He recently had Jude Law on his show, who could hide behind fellow guest Dame Judi Dench. On my programme they can’t do that.”

Firefox….Foxed!

Mozilla Angry with UK Government Surveillance Spyware Agency

Top executives at the Mozzarella Foundation got angry with the British government spyware outfit called Gamma International: the open source browser developers became furious after they found out that the agency was using Firefox as a disguise for its FinSpy software.
Mozilla complained that FinSpy works by installing a disguised version of Firefox and then accessing key-strokes, activating webcams and recording Skype calls as Firefox. In such way, users don’t delete the software. The spyware is used by governments to snoop on citizens. In the meanwhile, the product was outed by human rights group Citizen Lab.

A few days ago, Mozilla has sent Gamma a cease and desist letter and asked them to stop such illegal practices immediately. The representatives of Google admitted that not was the activity illegal, but Mozilla takes it seriously because it is deceptive, harms users, can cause consumer confusion and harm the company’s reputation.

Apparently, Mozilla can’t abide a software company using its name to disguise online surveillance instruments that can be – and actually have been – used by Gamma’s customers to violate other people’s human rights and online privacy. However, the spyware doesn’t affect Firefox itself or the way it operates. In fact, FinSpy only uses the brand and trademarks to lie and mislead users, which is one of its methods to avoid detection and deletion.

If you are targeted by FinSpy and decide to take a look at files related to the spyware, you’ll see that Gamma misrepresents the software as being “Firefox.exe” and includes the properties associated with the popular browser with a version number and copyright and trademark claims attributed to Firefox and Mozilla Developers. This tactic showed up in a spyware attack in Bahrain, which targeted democracy activists, as well as in spyware used in the run-up to Malaysia’s future elections.

What’s In A Name?

Apple Called Outdated iPhone “Vintage”

A new marketing spin from Apple can be seen as an insult to the intelligence of the American nation. Now Apple is peddling a phone it has dubbed “obsolete” in the rest of the world as “vintage” in the United States.
Media reports reveal that starting 11 June, the original iPhone 2G model will gain “obsolete” status – in other words, the device won’t any longer be serviceable in the Apple care centers. According to press reports, the “obsolete” status for the iPhone model will apply in Canada, Asia, Europe, Japan and Latin America.

This wasn’t a great surprise for many – after all, the Apple 2G is really outdated – but for some reason the company doesn’t want to admit that in the United States. Instead, the first-generation mobile device will be given “vintage” status – may be in the hope that the terminally dumb will suddenly want to buy it. Moreover, they will even be given limited support to do so: currently running iOS 1.0, the iPhone can be upgraded to iOS 3.1.3, but couldn’t manage anything more advanced than that.

The critics point out that only Apple could take the word “vintage” (normally applied to fine wines and cheese) and stick it on something the rest of the world called obsolete. The most amusing thing is that the company clearly understands that the rest of the world isn’t so dumb to fall for the marketing scam. Therefore, Apple isn’t even trying it on in nations where its customers are a little more discerning.

In the meanwhile, Apple is also rendering many other technological gadgets “obsolete” – for example, the 17-inch and 20-inch iMac G5, the late 2005 Mac mini, and the 15-inch and 17-inch versions of the Apple PowerBook G4. Among the list of retired devices you can also find the mid-2007 iMac, Mac Pro, late-2007 iMac, Xserve and AirPort Express Base Station. However, none of these gadgets are considered “vintage” – instead, some of them should probably be labeled “fire hazard”.

Here Kitty Kitty!

New York police officer gets stuck in tree while rescuing stranded cat

A New York police officer was forced to make an embarrassing 911 call after getting stuck in a tree while attempting to rescue a stranded cat.
Violent crime in the  US city may have dropped to its lowest level since the early 60s but the streets clearly remain a hazardous place for the NYPD.
The unlucky officer climbed the tree outside an elementary school in Queens on Monday but maybe should have called for back-up first.
With the frightened feline perched a lofty 30ft up in the tree, the officer was afflicted by a sudden spell of vertigo.
‘The cop went up after the cat. The cat went a little further out. So, the cop went further out and he got stuck,’ said a NYPD source.
The New York fire department soon came to the duo’s rescue, armed with a tower ladder, as a crowd of pupils from the nearby school gathered to watched the drama unfold.
‘It was kind of comical,’ said 22-year-old Oakland Park resident Jeff Yu. ‘They seemed to be enjoying themselves. There were no rude comments or anything.’
Both were eventually rescued ‘safe and sound,’ the city’s fire chiefs said.

To Pay Or Not To Pay?

Top 10 weird reasons for not paying rent in Scotland

A survey in Scotland has shared some of the strangest excuses tenants make for not paying their rent.
Letting Protection Service Scotland questioned landlords across the country.
From all the weird excuses accumulated, 'I have a phobia about touching my cheque book' was voted the best, followed by 'my father died' - specifically when used for at least the third time.
Director of the organisation Kevin Firth said: "There are certainly some entertaining answers there.
"But at the end of the day they are all just excuses and excuses don't wash.
"The same can be said about deposit protection. There'll be no excuses for Scottish landlords and letting agents after May 15. All deposits need to be protected by that date."
The top 10 weird excuses, as voted by Scottish landlords, in full:
1. I have a phobia about touching my cheque book.
2. My father died - for the third time.
3. A dog ate my rent money.
4. My pet died and I have to pay the funeral costs.
5. I need the cash for my Rangers season ticket.
6. It's Christmas and I've had to buy presents.
7. I had to pay a bank tax.
8. I spent the money at the bookies.
9. I'm saving for a holiday.
10. The money fell out of my pocket.

Big Bird Watch Out!

Man Sexually Abused His Peacock

A man from northwest suburban Roselle, in DuPage County, faces a charge of misdemeanor animal cruelty after police said he sexually abused his pet peacock.
David Beckman, 64, of the 600 block of East Devon Avenue, was charged with the crime after police learned the bird died while they were investigating Beckman about an alleged case of indecent solicitation of a child.
Details surrounding the case with the peacock, reportedly named Phyl, were unclear Friday, as investigators said it was part of the case involving the child, the Daily Herald reported.
Court records confirmed Beckman faces three charges of harassment by telephone, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, two counts of marijuana possession, attempted indecent solicitation of a child, cruelty to animals, and two counts of battery.
He remained in the DuPage County Jail on Friday on a $10,000 bond