Anyone get the email to register interest in ticketing? Everytime i try the page brings up an error message.
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#162
General discussion / The Tractor Show - BBC1 now
February 01, 2008, 09:17:47 PM
Is anyone watching this shite? Northern Ireland tv must be the envy of the world
#163
General discussion / Belfast nightclub bans "jumpers with horizontal stripes"
January 26, 2008, 09:22:24 AM
Not everything in Belfast is changing for the better, a city that is becoming so far stuck up its own arse.....
Nightclub fashion police By Diana Rusk
26/01/08
Fashion victim: Ian Latimer was recently turned away from the newly opened Scratch nightclub because he was wearing a jumper with horizontal stripes.
Doormen at a Belfast nightclub have turned fashion police in a bid to ban striped jumpers from the dance floor.
Bouncers at the newly-opened Scratch nightclub on Lower Crescent have ruled that the popular jumper design doesn't fit in to their idea of 'smart/casual'.
Security staff have been told not to allow revellers wearing the familiar style of sweater through their doors at the venue, previously The Fly, as it launches a new image.
One customer, business director Ian Latimer fell foul of the new dress code during a recent night out.
The 31-year-old was only allowed in once he changed his clothes.
"I had got out of the taxi and went to the bouncer to ask where the nearest bank machine was and after telling me it was around the corner, he said, 'By the way, you won't get in with that top on, because it has horizontal stripes.'
"I think probably 99 per cent of men aged 25 to 35 in Northern Ireland got a stripey jumper for Christmas from their mother, sister or girlfriend and it is ridiculous to say that a 'certain classification of person wears it'."
Scratch duty manager, Damien Cole said: "We have a policy for smart/casual and striped jumpers are not considered to be smart/casual."
Nightclub fashion police By Diana Rusk
26/01/08
Fashion victim: Ian Latimer was recently turned away from the newly opened Scratch nightclub because he was wearing a jumper with horizontal stripes.
Doormen at a Belfast nightclub have turned fashion police in a bid to ban striped jumpers from the dance floor.
Bouncers at the newly-opened Scratch nightclub on Lower Crescent have ruled that the popular jumper design doesn't fit in to their idea of 'smart/casual'.
Security staff have been told not to allow revellers wearing the familiar style of sweater through their doors at the venue, previously The Fly, as it launches a new image.
One customer, business director Ian Latimer fell foul of the new dress code during a recent night out.
The 31-year-old was only allowed in once he changed his clothes.
"I had got out of the taxi and went to the bouncer to ask where the nearest bank machine was and after telling me it was around the corner, he said, 'By the way, you won't get in with that top on, because it has horizontal stripes.'
"I think probably 99 per cent of men aged 25 to 35 in Northern Ireland got a stripey jumper for Christmas from their mother, sister or girlfriend and it is ridiculous to say that a 'certain classification of person wears it'."
Scratch duty manager, Damien Cole said: "We have a policy for smart/casual and striped jumpers are not considered to be smart/casual."
#164
General discussion / Only in America - $5m reward for failed 9/11 tip-off
January 25, 2008, 11:00:21 PM
$5m reward for failed 9/11 tip-off James Bone, New York
A flight instructor who raised the alarm about the so-called "20th hijacker" has been given a $5 million (£2.5 million) reward by the US government even though his tip failed to prevent the September 11 terror attacks.
Clarence "Clancy" Prevost, a former US Navy pilot who taught at the Pan Am International Flight Academy outside Minneapolis, became suspicious of Zacarias Moussaoui when he wanted to learn to fly a jumbo jet without showing any interest in take-off or landing.
The French national - the only person ever convicted in the United States for the September 11 attacks - was arrested on immigration charges but Minneapolis FBI agents were unable to persuade their superiors to seek a national security warrant to search his belongings and laptop computer.
He sat in jail for 3 and a half weeks saying nothing until 19 hijackers seized control of four airliners in the coordinated 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
Moussaoui later confessed to being the "20th hijacker" and told jurors he was to have piloted a fifth plane into the White House. After he was sentenced to life in prison, however, he recanted his testimony and denied any role in the attacks.
Mr Prevost, 69, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot, testified that he learned by the second day of teaching Moussaoui that he had paid the bulk of his $8,300 tuition for the flight simulator course in cash with $100 bills.
Although he described Moussaoui as a "pretty genial guy", his concerns were heightened when the would-be pilot raised his voice when asked about Moslems' Hajj pilgrimage. "Are you Muslim?" Mr Prevost asked. "I am nothing!" Moussaoui angrily replied.
Moussaoui's stated goal was to learn to fly from London's Heathrow airport to John F. Kennedy airport in New York. But he had no pilot's licence and only about 50 hours flight time on a single-engine propeller plane - a fraction of the 600 hours of most students.
Mr Prevost testified that Moussaoui "had no frame of reference whatsoever with a commercial airliner. After 15 minutes I said, 'Let's get lunch.'"
He told his managers: "We don't know anything about this guy, and we're teaching him how to throw the switches on a 747." The managers initially responded that Moussaoui had paid his money and they did not care. Mr Prevost responded: "We'll care when there's a hijacking and the lawsuits come in." Mr Prevost received a pay-out at a private ceremony yesterday under the US government's "Rewards for Justice" programme after the award was secretly authorised last autumn - even though Moussaoui was never named as a wanted suspect by the programme.
The reward shocked two other Pan Am flight instructors - Tim Nelson and Hugh Sims - who have also been lauded for tipping off the FBI about Moussaoui.
"He was certainly there but he didn't call the FBI. I have no idea why he received the reward," Mr Sims said.
Mr Nelson's wife Jodie said the reward "was given out to the wrong person" and described her husband as "dumbfounded".
A flight instructor who raised the alarm about the so-called "20th hijacker" has been given a $5 million (£2.5 million) reward by the US government even though his tip failed to prevent the September 11 terror attacks.
Clarence "Clancy" Prevost, a former US Navy pilot who taught at the Pan Am International Flight Academy outside Minneapolis, became suspicious of Zacarias Moussaoui when he wanted to learn to fly a jumbo jet without showing any interest in take-off or landing.
The French national - the only person ever convicted in the United States for the September 11 attacks - was arrested on immigration charges but Minneapolis FBI agents were unable to persuade their superiors to seek a national security warrant to search his belongings and laptop computer.
He sat in jail for 3 and a half weeks saying nothing until 19 hijackers seized control of four airliners in the coordinated 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
Moussaoui later confessed to being the "20th hijacker" and told jurors he was to have piloted a fifth plane into the White House. After he was sentenced to life in prison, however, he recanted his testimony and denied any role in the attacks.
Mr Prevost, 69, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot, testified that he learned by the second day of teaching Moussaoui that he had paid the bulk of his $8,300 tuition for the flight simulator course in cash with $100 bills.
Although he described Moussaoui as a "pretty genial guy", his concerns were heightened when the would-be pilot raised his voice when asked about Moslems' Hajj pilgrimage. "Are you Muslim?" Mr Prevost asked. "I am nothing!" Moussaoui angrily replied.
Moussaoui's stated goal was to learn to fly from London's Heathrow airport to John F. Kennedy airport in New York. But he had no pilot's licence and only about 50 hours flight time on a single-engine propeller plane - a fraction of the 600 hours of most students.
Mr Prevost testified that Moussaoui "had no frame of reference whatsoever with a commercial airliner. After 15 minutes I said, 'Let's get lunch.'"
He told his managers: "We don't know anything about this guy, and we're teaching him how to throw the switches on a 747." The managers initially responded that Moussaoui had paid his money and they did not care. Mr Prevost responded: "We'll care when there's a hijacking and the lawsuits come in." Mr Prevost received a pay-out at a private ceremony yesterday under the US government's "Rewards for Justice" programme after the award was secretly authorised last autumn - even though Moussaoui was never named as a wanted suspect by the programme.
The reward shocked two other Pan Am flight instructors - Tim Nelson and Hugh Sims - who have also been lauded for tipping off the FBI about Moussaoui.
"He was certainly there but he didn't call the FBI. I have no idea why he received the reward," Mr Sims said.
Mr Nelson's wife Jodie said the reward "was given out to the wrong person" and described her husband as "dumbfounded".
#165
General discussion / Is anyone wary of giving to charity ?
January 25, 2008, 09:05:11 PM
Just wondering, do you not wonder where all the money goes.......
Charity suspends finance chief
The charity is carrying out an internal investigation
The head of finance at a leading Northern Ireland charity has been suspended.
Action Cancer would not say on what grounds, but did confirm that it is carrying out an internal investigation.
Two other senior employees are also currently absent from their posts.
"The operation of the charity and the provision of our much-needed services have not been affected in any way," read a statement.
The charity's statement also said its internal investigation, which is based on "as yet unsubstantiated allegations", would be completed in a matter of weeks.
It added that it "will be happy to comment further then".
Charity suspends finance chief
The charity is carrying out an internal investigation
The head of finance at a leading Northern Ireland charity has been suspended.
Action Cancer would not say on what grounds, but did confirm that it is carrying out an internal investigation.
Two other senior employees are also currently absent from their posts.
"The operation of the charity and the provision of our much-needed services have not been affected in any way," read a statement.
The charity's statement also said its internal investigation, which is based on "as yet unsubstantiated allegations", would be completed in a matter of weeks.
It added that it "will be happy to comment further then".
#166
General discussion / Ker-ching for Lard Asses
January 24, 2008, 02:31:13 PMNewsGovernment to beat obesity epidemic by PAYING fat people to lose weight
By DANIEL MARTIN
Fat people could be paid to lose weight under Government plans to tackle obesity.
Ministers said the Health Service and employers could give vouchers to the overweight to spend on healthy food in supermarkets.
They also suggested that those who manage to lose weight could be given cash prizes.
Britain is in the grip of an obesity epidemic. A quarter of all adults and one in five children are obese.
Fat people could be offered vouchers to spend on healthy food in supermarkets and even cash prizes to lose their extra pounds under plans being examined by the Government
Read more...
Teachers ordered to 'police children's lunchboxes'
Supermarkets forced to used one health information label on foods to fight against obesity
Experts say that by 2050 at least 60 per cent of the population will be obese.
But the Government strategy risks provoking accusations of a nanny state culture because it also urges schools to appoint "lunchbox police" to check that pupils' food is healthy.
Other ideas in the 40-page report are for compulsory cookery lessons for pupils and at least five hours of school sport a week - up from the present average of two hours.
There will be a healthy food labelling scheme and ministers want councils to use planning laws to limit the number of fast food outlets near schools and parks.
But one of the most controversial parts of the report is a plan to give the overweight financial incentives to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
A single system of nutritional labelling will give shoppers clear advice about the amount of fat, salt and sugar in their food
It said: "We will look at using financial incentives, such as payments, vouchers and other rewards, to encourage individuals to lose weight and sustain that weight loss, to eat more healthily, or to be consistently more physically active."
No firm ideas have been put forward but sources say it could include vouchers to buy healthy foods, or prizes for those who manage to cut their weight.
Ministers are looking at a range of U.S. incentive schemes, such as one run by a private health insurer which allows clients to choose from a range of prizes if they manage to keep the weight off.
And the report commends two weight loss competitions run by British employers.
One firm had a "Biggest Loser" scheme, an eight-week individual weight loss competition.
The man and woman who achieved the greater percentage weight loss received £130 in shopping vouchers, while the man and woman who lost the most weight circumference got £30 each.
Participants lost up to 6.4 per cent of their weight.
In another scheme, Cold Turkey, workers were grouped into teams.
The team with the greatest percentage weight loss every week received a fruit basket and the team with the greatest weight loss at the end of 11 weeks got a trophy.
The government may offer cash incentives to encourage obese people to lose weight
The report says: "We need to rework the incentives for individuals and public bodies to encourage actions now, thereby avoiding much larger costs in later years.
"In the U.S., for example, there is some evidence that small financial payments, as part of broader programmes to tackle obesity, have proven particularly effective in incentivising individuals to both achieve and maintain weight loss.
"However, we are a long way from understanding what kinds of incentives work, which groups might be most affected by them, and how cost-effective these incentives are."
It also raises the possibility of giving employers grants to make healthy options available in staff canteens, provide fitness facilities and invest in facilities for cyclists.
The report said: "Employers will reap the benefits in improved productivity, high staff morale and retention, and reduce sickness absence costs."
Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Schools Secretary Ed Balls yesterday launched the strategy, which promises an extra £372million to help people live healthier lives.
Mr Johnson said: "Tackling obesity is the most significant public and personal health challenge facing our society.
"The core of the problem is simple - we eat too much and we do too little exercise.
"The solution is more complex. From the nature of the food we eat, to the built environment, through to the way our children lead their lives, it is harder to avoid obesity in the modern environment.
"It is not the Government's role to hector or lecture people, but we do have a duty to support them in leading healthier lifestyles.
"This will only succeed if the problem is recognised, owned and addressed in every part of society."
Some £30million of the extra funds will be spent on the creation of "healthy towns" to promote physical activity, and £75million will go on an advertising campaign to promote a healthy diet and exercise.
The Government also reiterated its target of cutting the proportion of overweight and obese youngsters to 2000 levels by 2020.
Conservative health spokesman Andrew Lansley said Mr Johnson was "dithering" over food labelling.
He said: "Obesity takes a huge toll on people's lives and is set to cost the NHS tens of billions of pounds a year by 2050. Is this really the best the Government can come up with?
"The Government had no obesity strategy whatsoever until 2004; now half the 2004 strategy has been repackaged because it simply hasn't been delivered."
Dr Colin Waine, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, welcomed the report. But he added: "We are disappointed that the issue of food labelling still has not been resolved.
"And we would have liked to have seen legislation to end the advertising of energy dense foods"
#167
General discussion / Ian Og's lobbying got hotel £1.7 million
January 24, 2008, 12:13:48 PM
Paisley's lobbying got £1.7m for hotel By Claire Simpson
24/01/08
A LUXURY hotel for which Ian Paisley jnr lobbied during the St Andrews talks received more than £1.7 million of public money in the past year.
The DUP junior minister has been criticised for lobbying on be-half of six projects in his North Antrim constituency during the crucial October 2006 talks, including planning approval for a spa at Galgorm Manor Hotel near Ballymena.
New figures from Invest NI show the hotel received £1.67m for redevelopment plus £41,000 for "capability building programmes" including staff training.
Galgorm Manor was among doz-ens of hotels to receive public money in the past five years.
A spokeswoman for the hotel said its owners were not available for comment yesterday.
Earlier this month former DUP MEP Jim Allister revealed details of Mr Paisley's lobbying during the St Andrews negotiations.
They included a multi-million-pound land deal at Ballee in Co Antrim, the development of a visitors' centre at the Giant's Causeway and a request for £1 million over seven years for the North West 200 motorcycle races.
The Traditional Unionist Voice leader accused Mr Paisley of "wasting valuable leverage on securing concessions from the prime minister... on issues of mere commercial or constituency import".
Mr Paisley defended his decision to lobby for the projects.
"My eagerness in resolving my constituency cases is not a political issue or a matter which causes me any embarrassment," he said.
"It is quite frankly a lie to suggest that these matters formed any part of any negotiation process."
Although the north's hotel industry is enjoying a boom, more than £12m of public money has been given to hotels outside Belfast over the last six years.
The Slieve Donard in Newcastle, Co Down, was given £2.5m in 2006 and Castle Hume in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, was given £3.5m last year.
No public money has been given to build or renovate hotels within 10 miles of Belfast since the mid-1990s because the tourist board says they are profitable enough
to survive without government money.
However, Belfast hotels can apply for funding for computer software and staff training.
SDLP assembly member John Dallat, who sits on the assembly's Public Accounts Committee, criticised the amount of money given to the privately-owned hotels.
"If the assembly is to create economic regeneration across the north it has to get away from the idea that bigger is better," he said.
"These big companies can afford the best consultants and put on glossy presentations.
"A lot of bed and breakfasts have had pitiful support and without some money from the International Fund for Ireland they would have gone under."
24/01/08
A LUXURY hotel for which Ian Paisley jnr lobbied during the St Andrews talks received more than £1.7 million of public money in the past year.
The DUP junior minister has been criticised for lobbying on be-half of six projects in his North Antrim constituency during the crucial October 2006 talks, including planning approval for a spa at Galgorm Manor Hotel near Ballymena.
New figures from Invest NI show the hotel received £1.67m for redevelopment plus £41,000 for "capability building programmes" including staff training.
Galgorm Manor was among doz-ens of hotels to receive public money in the past five years.
A spokeswoman for the hotel said its owners were not available for comment yesterday.
Earlier this month former DUP MEP Jim Allister revealed details of Mr Paisley's lobbying during the St Andrews negotiations.
They included a multi-million-pound land deal at Ballee in Co Antrim, the development of a visitors' centre at the Giant's Causeway and a request for £1 million over seven years for the North West 200 motorcycle races.
The Traditional Unionist Voice leader accused Mr Paisley of "wasting valuable leverage on securing concessions from the prime minister... on issues of mere commercial or constituency import".
Mr Paisley defended his decision to lobby for the projects.
"My eagerness in resolving my constituency cases is not a political issue or a matter which causes me any embarrassment," he said.
"It is quite frankly a lie to suggest that these matters formed any part of any negotiation process."
Although the north's hotel industry is enjoying a boom, more than £12m of public money has been given to hotels outside Belfast over the last six years.
The Slieve Donard in Newcastle, Co Down, was given £2.5m in 2006 and Castle Hume in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, was given £3.5m last year.
No public money has been given to build or renovate hotels within 10 miles of Belfast since the mid-1990s because the tourist board says they are profitable enough
to survive without government money.
However, Belfast hotels can apply for funding for computer software and staff training.
SDLP assembly member John Dallat, who sits on the assembly's Public Accounts Committee, criticised the amount of money given to the privately-owned hotels.
"If the assembly is to create economic regeneration across the north it has to get away from the idea that bigger is better," he said.
"These big companies can afford the best consultants and put on glossy presentations.
"A lot of bed and breakfasts have had pitiful support and without some money from the International Fund for Ireland they would have gone under."
#168
GAA Discussion / Clare hurler to sue Clare People newspaper over image rights
January 20, 2008, 11:00:49 AM
Source - Sunday Times 20/1/08
I have kept this in main board as it is relevant to both codes.
Has anyone heard this story? Diarmuid Mc Mahon is due in court this Thursday in Ennis District Court taking legal action against the Clare People newspaper. The Clare newspaper used Mc Mahons image as part of a photo montage that was used on promotional flyers. MCc Mahon claims the image was used without his permission and without compensation. His case has been strongly backed by the GPA.
I have kept this in main board as it is relevant to both codes.
Has anyone heard this story? Diarmuid Mc Mahon is due in court this Thursday in Ennis District Court taking legal action against the Clare People newspaper. The Clare newspaper used Mc Mahons image as part of a photo montage that was used on promotional flyers. MCc Mahon claims the image was used without his permission and without compensation. His case has been strongly backed by the GPA.
#169
General discussion / We are all f*uked.....Microsoft to patent "office spy"
January 16, 2008, 09:26:48 AM
Microsoft seeks patent for office 'spy' softwareAlexi Mostrous and David Brown
Microsoft is developing Big Brother-style software capable of remotely monitoring a worker's productivity, physical wellbeing and competence.
The Times has seen a patent application filed by the company for a computer system that links workers to their computers via wireless sensors that measure their metabolism. The system would allow managers to monitor employees' performance by measuring their heart rate, body temperature, movement, facial expression and blood pressure. Unions said they fear that employees could be dismissed on the basis of a computer's assessment of their physiological state.
Technology allowing constant monitoring of workers was previously limited to pilots, firefighters and Nasa astronauts. This is believed to be the first time a company has proposed developing such software for mainstream workplaces.
Microsoft submitted a patent application in the US for a "unique monitoring system" that could link workers to their computers. Wireless sensors could read "heart rate, galvanic skin response, EMG, brain signals, respiration rate, body temperature, movement facial movements, facial expressions and blood pressure", the application states.
The system could also "automatically detect frustration or stress in the user" and "offer and provide assistance accordingly". Physical changes to an employee would be matched to an individual psychological profile based on a worker's weight, age and health. If the system picked up an increase in heart rate or facial expressions suggestive of stress or frustration, it would tell management that he needed help.
The Information Commissioner, civil liberties groups and privacy lawyers strongly criticised the potential of the system for "taking the idea of monitoring people at work to a new level". Hugh Tomlinson, QC, an expert on data protection law at Matrix Chambers, told The Times: "This system involves intrusion into every single aspect of the lives of the employees. It raises very serious privacy issues."
Peter Skyte, a national officer for the union Unite, said: "This system takes the idea of monitoring people at work to a new level with a new level of invasiveness but in a very old-fashioned way because it monitors what is going in rather than the results." The Information Commissioner's Office said: "Imposing this level of intrusion on employees could only be justified in exceptional circumstances."
The US Patent Office confirmed last night that the application was published last month, 18 months after being filed. Patent lawyers said that it could be granted within a year.
Microsoft last night refused to comment on the application, but said: "We have over 7,000 patents worldwide and we are proud of the quality of these patents and the innovations they represent. As a general practice, we do not typically comment on pending patent applications because claims made in the application may be modified through the approval process."
Microsoft is developing Big Brother-style software capable of remotely monitoring a worker's productivity, physical wellbeing and competence.
The Times has seen a patent application filed by the company for a computer system that links workers to their computers via wireless sensors that measure their metabolism. The system would allow managers to monitor employees' performance by measuring their heart rate, body temperature, movement, facial expression and blood pressure. Unions said they fear that employees could be dismissed on the basis of a computer's assessment of their physiological state.
Technology allowing constant monitoring of workers was previously limited to pilots, firefighters and Nasa astronauts. This is believed to be the first time a company has proposed developing such software for mainstream workplaces.
Microsoft submitted a patent application in the US for a "unique monitoring system" that could link workers to their computers. Wireless sensors could read "heart rate, galvanic skin response, EMG, brain signals, respiration rate, body temperature, movement facial movements, facial expressions and blood pressure", the application states.
The system could also "automatically detect frustration or stress in the user" and "offer and provide assistance accordingly". Physical changes to an employee would be matched to an individual psychological profile based on a worker's weight, age and health. If the system picked up an increase in heart rate or facial expressions suggestive of stress or frustration, it would tell management that he needed help.
The Information Commissioner, civil liberties groups and privacy lawyers strongly criticised the potential of the system for "taking the idea of monitoring people at work to a new level". Hugh Tomlinson, QC, an expert on data protection law at Matrix Chambers, told The Times: "This system involves intrusion into every single aspect of the lives of the employees. It raises very serious privacy issues."
Peter Skyte, a national officer for the union Unite, said: "This system takes the idea of monitoring people at work to a new level with a new level of invasiveness but in a very old-fashioned way because it monitors what is going in rather than the results." The Information Commissioner's Office said: "Imposing this level of intrusion on employees could only be justified in exceptional circumstances."
The US Patent Office confirmed last night that the application was published last month, 18 months after being filed. Patent lawyers said that it could be granted within a year.
Microsoft last night refused to comment on the application, but said: "We have over 7,000 patents worldwide and we are proud of the quality of these patents and the innovations they represent. As a general practice, we do not typically comment on pending patent applications because claims made in the application may be modified through the approval process."
#170
General discussion / WI-FI
January 14, 2008, 01:53:20 PM
Lads i have Wi-Fi on my new phone, and am a bit ignorant about it all. When i scan for available WLAN networks and when they are not encrypted i take it i can "hop on" so to speak and its free? I always pick up a "BT Openzone" one when i am out and about but Mr Bt wants me to pay him.........All help welcome.
#171
General discussion / Andy Murray beaten in Australian Open
January 14, 2008, 11:31:29 AM #172
General discussion / OWC fury at Norn Iron shirts not being sold at City Airport
January 11, 2008, 01:09:25 PM
I was in Easons at lunchtime and i noticed the front headline on the Newsletter. Some clown from Northern Ireland Supporters Association holding a Norn Iron jersey up outside Belfast City Airport, they say they are not being sold in the shops within the airport for "political reasons".........Discuss
#173
General discussion / Will Paramount's switch to Blu-Ray spell end of HD DVD ?
January 09, 2008, 10:59:54 AM
The sprawling consortium of technology and media companies assembled to promote the HD DVD format of next-generation, high-definition discs could be close to collapse after a spate of defections to the rival Blu-ray Disc consortium.
As many as 20 companies that are members of the HD DVD Promotion Group could be preparing to remove their names from the alliance's 130-strong membership list, The Times has learnt.
The defections could, one Tokyo-based analyst said, represent the final nails in the coffin of Toshiba's HD DVD standard after a bitterly fought "format war".
A war that Hollywood must wage
International outlook is a world of difference
Eiichi Katayama, of Nomura Securities, said that the battle between the formats, which display films and video games more sharply in an era of ever-larger television screens, was now "entering its final phase".
The threatened exodus from the HD DVD format comes after the decision by Warner Bros last week to back the rival Blu-ray Disc format, whose main technology backers include Sony, Apple and Dell. Apparently encouraged by the strong momentum behind Blu-ray, Paramount emerged yesterday as the latest Hollywood studio poised to switch allegiances.
Pony Canyon, a Japanese music, animation and film studio and part of the Fuji Television media empire, said that although it was a member of the HD DVD Promotion Group, the decisions taken by American studios meant that it would "choose Blu-ray in the end". Several other Japanese companies, including content producers and electronics component makers, said that their support of HD DVD was "under review".
Backers of HD DVD point to the relative ease of producing the discs and the lower cost of building machines capable of reading them. Unlike previous format wars, particularly the Betamax v VHS skirmish in the 1980s, the Blu-ray v HD DVD war effectively has been decided in board-rooms, rather than in electronics showrooms. The decisions of the big studios have come well before those of customers, who generally have held back from picking one format for fear of backing a loser. Paramount has turned out to be a pivotal figure. Its decision in August to give exclusive backing to HD DVD was seen as a potentially devastating blow to the prospects of Blu-ray and to the strategy of Sir Howard Stringer, Sony's president. Sir Howard argued, however, that the PlayStation3 games console, which includes a Blu-ray disc player, would put the format in people's living rooms more quickly than HD DVD players would be adopted by consumers.
Paramount, like other members of the HD DVD group such as Fujitsu, Lenovo and Kenwood, has hedged its bets. It offered exclusivity on the basis that it could reverse the decision should Warner Bros switch to Blu-ray.
Facing a future with only Universal Pictures as its big Hollywood supporter, analysts at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas said that Toshiba and HD DVD could quickly be isolated.
As many as 20 companies that are members of the HD DVD Promotion Group could be preparing to remove their names from the alliance's 130-strong membership list, The Times has learnt.
The defections could, one Tokyo-based analyst said, represent the final nails in the coffin of Toshiba's HD DVD standard after a bitterly fought "format war".
A war that Hollywood must wage
International outlook is a world of difference
Eiichi Katayama, of Nomura Securities, said that the battle between the formats, which display films and video games more sharply in an era of ever-larger television screens, was now "entering its final phase".
The threatened exodus from the HD DVD format comes after the decision by Warner Bros last week to back the rival Blu-ray Disc format, whose main technology backers include Sony, Apple and Dell. Apparently encouraged by the strong momentum behind Blu-ray, Paramount emerged yesterday as the latest Hollywood studio poised to switch allegiances.
Pony Canyon, a Japanese music, animation and film studio and part of the Fuji Television media empire, said that although it was a member of the HD DVD Promotion Group, the decisions taken by American studios meant that it would "choose Blu-ray in the end". Several other Japanese companies, including content producers and electronics component makers, said that their support of HD DVD was "under review".
Backers of HD DVD point to the relative ease of producing the discs and the lower cost of building machines capable of reading them. Unlike previous format wars, particularly the Betamax v VHS skirmish in the 1980s, the Blu-ray v HD DVD war effectively has been decided in board-rooms, rather than in electronics showrooms. The decisions of the big studios have come well before those of customers, who generally have held back from picking one format for fear of backing a loser. Paramount has turned out to be a pivotal figure. Its decision in August to give exclusive backing to HD DVD was seen as a potentially devastating blow to the prospects of Blu-ray and to the strategy of Sir Howard Stringer, Sony's president. Sir Howard argued, however, that the PlayStation3 games console, which includes a Blu-ray disc player, would put the format in people's living rooms more quickly than HD DVD players would be adopted by consumers.
Paramount, like other members of the HD DVD group such as Fujitsu, Lenovo and Kenwood, has hedged its bets. It offered exclusivity on the basis that it could reverse the decision should Warner Bros switch to Blu-ray.
Facing a future with only Universal Pictures as its big Hollywood supporter, analysts at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas said that Toshiba and HD DVD could quickly be isolated.
#174
General discussion / Nokia N95
January 07, 2008, 01:06:33 PM
Lads i am thinking of getting Nokia N 95 on contract, have read a few reviews and the one constant seems to be poor battery life which i can live with, electricity is in plentiful supply where i live. Anyone have one? some reviews say it is the dogs gonads others not so good. Cheers
#175
General discussion / Pub chain limits parents' drinks
January 04, 2008, 09:07:57 AM
Pub chain limits parents' drinks
JD Wetherspoon has 683 pubs in the UK
Adults with children are only allowed two alcoholic drinks at JD Wetherspoon pubs in order to limit their stay, the chain has confirmed to the BBC.
A spokesman for the company said it was "uncomfortable" with children being on the premises for long periods because of a lack of play facilities.
And he said parents visiting its pubs could even be refused soft drinks or coffee to curtail their stay.
There are 683 Wetherspoon pubs throughout the UK.
The drinks policy came to light when Stephen Gandy contacted the BBC after visiting a Wetherspoon pub in Wallasey on Merseyside for a meal with family and friends.
The group was told that they could not have more than two alcoholic drinks each because they were with a child, even though the child's mother was only drinking water.
The family say they were told that the aim of the restriction was to prevent "child cruelty".
When the BBC contacted JD Wetherspoon a spokesman confirmed the policy was in place, but denied it had anything to do with child cruelty.
JD Wetherspoon has 683 pubs in the UK
Adults with children are only allowed two alcoholic drinks at JD Wetherspoon pubs in order to limit their stay, the chain has confirmed to the BBC.
A spokesman for the company said it was "uncomfortable" with children being on the premises for long periods because of a lack of play facilities.
And he said parents visiting its pubs could even be refused soft drinks or coffee to curtail their stay.
There are 683 Wetherspoon pubs throughout the UK.
The drinks policy came to light when Stephen Gandy contacted the BBC after visiting a Wetherspoon pub in Wallasey on Merseyside for a meal with family and friends.
The group was told that they could not have more than two alcoholic drinks each because they were with a child, even though the child's mother was only drinking water.
The family say they were told that the aim of the restriction was to prevent "child cruelty".
When the BBC contacted JD Wetherspoon a spokesman confirmed the policy was in place, but denied it had anything to do with child cruelty.
#176
General discussion / Stormont discussed arresting Paisley over Loyalist links
December 28, 2007, 09:41:20 AMOfficials considered arresting Ian Paisley
Secret Public Record Office files show senior Stormont officials believed Ian Paisley was associated with loyalist paramilitaries.
The remarks made by the officials reveal they considered arresting the now first minister for conspiracy.
Almost 400 confidential state papers from 30 years ago were released but 50 files remain closed.
Among them are documents relating to the economic activities of paramilitary organisations.
The remarks on Mr Paisley were recorded in the minutes of a conversation among senior stormont officials during the United Ulster Action Council Strike.
It was suggested that the DUP leader should be arrested for conspiracy.
The documents also show that the military was ready to seize power stations if workers threatened a stoppage.
State papers released in the Irish Republic reveal that Lord Mountbatten, murdered by the IRA in 1979, was in favour of Irish unity.
#177
General discussion / Benazir Bhutto killed in suicide blast.
December 27, 2007, 01:32:12 PM
They finally got her.
Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a presumed suicide attack, a spokesman for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) says.
Other reports said Ms Bhutto had only been injured and taken to hospital.
Ms Bhutto had just addressed a rally of PPP supporters in the town of Rawalpindi when the rally was hit by a blast.
At least 15 other people are reported killed in the attack.
Ms Bhutto has twice been the country's prime minister and was campaigning ahead of elections due in January.
Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a presumed suicide attack, a spokesman for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) says.
Other reports said Ms Bhutto had only been injured and taken to hospital.
Ms Bhutto had just addressed a rally of PPP supporters in the town of Rawalpindi when the rally was hit by a blast.
At least 15 other people are reported killed in the attack.
Ms Bhutto has twice been the country's prime minister and was campaigning ahead of elections due in January.
#178
General discussion / Irish Government to give Orange Lodges €100,000
December 24, 2007, 08:50:45 PM
Wondering how everyone feels about Orange Lodges in the border counties are to receive €100,000 in grants from Eamon O' Cuiv's department (Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs) Lodges to benefit are in Cavan, Monaghan Leitrim and Donegal.