Microsoft and Tesco strike up 'virtual DVD' partnership

Starting this autumn -- which is sort of like now -- Tesco stores in the UK will be offering "virtual DVDs" to customers who purchase certain home video titles. Promising no less than a "DVD-equivalent" experience, the new service will be replete with all the menus, copyright warnings and extra bits you'd find on the disc itself, plus additional exclusive content and movie viewing parties with online chat. We're not entirely sure films need all the added interactivity Microsoft has cooked up, but ambitions are to expand the bonus content and to offer the service in other markets "eventually." And hey, seeing as it's based on Silverlight, all that good stuff will be available on Mac too(my view)-isn't MS making enough bread as it is?.....i mean!the more they got the more they want..........ASSHOLES!

Pudding Cowardly Renamed

The traditional suet pudding Spotted Dick has been renamed "Spotted Richard" at a council canteen - because customers keep making jokes. The new name for the dessert, with another alternative Sultana Sponge, has appeared on the menu at Flintshire Council headquarters in Mold. The council said catering staff made the decision after "immature comments" and it was not a policy decision. But one councillor described the move as "political correctness gone mad". Staff from the nearby court complex in Mold also use the council canteen. Spotted Dick is a steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit, and is thought to have originated in the middle of the 19th Century. The "spotted" part of the name refers to the currants, which resemble spots, and "Dick" is believed to derive from the word dough. The council spokesman said: "The correct title for this dish is 'Spotted Dick.' However because of several immature comments from a few customers, catering staff renamed the dish 'Spotted Richard' or 'Sultana Sponge'. "This was not a policy decision, canteen staff simply acted as they thought best to put an end to unwelcome and childish comments, albeit from a very small number of customers." But Flintshire Councillor Klaus Armstrong-Braun criticised the ban on the original pudding name. He said he had made an official complaint about the name change which he called "ludicrous" and said had cost money because a new label was needed for the food. The councillor said the bosses who had made the decision would soon be "frightened of their own shadow". "People make silly comments about everything in life, there is no need to change the name over it." (my view)- fuck you,i will call it"Spotted Dick" as its ALWAYS been called that since it was invented,some immature comments....lol..your immature for caving into them and letting a silly thing like this ruin an icon of a name.....you cowards

The Rules Of Social Kissing

Tuesday 09:42, How to Properly Kiss Someone Other Than Your Spouse From cultural backgrounds to social occasions, use these tips to address people properly with or without a kiss. Who would have thought an innocent gesture of goodwill could cause so much confusion among friends, family, associates and even your spouse at a social function? When to kiss, how many kisses, left cheek, right cheek, both cheeks, lips or not? Have you ever greeted someone with a handshake and a cheery, "Hello" only to be surprised by an overbearing hug and a wet smooch on the lips? Regions and cultures often dictate kissing rules, but the bottom line to the kissing dilemma is this: When in doubt, don’t! In the business world, the corporate environment plays a significant part in our decision to kiss or not to kiss. Conservative fields, such as accounting and banking, may offer you a friendly handshake, while someone in the arts may offer you a cheek and outstretched arms once a comfortable relationship has been established. Some things to consider before taking the plunge include how well you know the person, whether it is a business or social occasion and your own motive behind the friendly affection. The following are some general kissing rules. Although they are not written in stone, you and your spouse can practice these techniques when faced with a social engagement. Keep in mind that much of this depends on the personality of the kisser. The Cultural Rules Of The Kiss: 1. The fabulous French seem to enjoy a kiss, more specifically two—once on each cheek—starting on the left. 2. Most Italians are warm and demonstrative and particularly enjoy bestowing their kisses on close friends and family. 3. The Germans are more reserved and considered not as kiss-friendly as the Italians. While they do not object to kissing their family and close friends, a handshake is the best option when you are unsure of how to proceed. 4. Spunky Spaniards like the two-kiss rule, often starting with the right cheek and moving left. 5. When greeting someone from the United Kingdom, a nod and handshake are the safest bet. 6. African tribes show homage to their leader by kissing the ground on which he or she has recently walked. (Hey guys, try this on your wife sometime and see what happens!) 7. Americans love to kiss, especially in the South. It is not unusual to greet a friend or colleague with whom we are comfortable, with a warm smile, extended arms and a big smooch to the cheek. Although, the protocol in business is to shake hands, it is not uncommon to turn clients and colleagues into friends and family, so the clearly defined line often becomes murky. General Rules For Kissing: 1. Follow the leader. If your longtime client greets you with extended arms and leans in for a little peck, you do the same, unless you are uncomfortable. In this case, you should smile your most genuine smile, show your pearly white teeth and extend your hand for a friendly, yet professional shake. (Then start praying that you haven’t offended the owner of your largest account.) 2. Don’t kiss someone you have never met before. It’s too much smooch, too fast. 3. If you’re kissing someone that your spouse is uncomfortable with, cease and desist immediately. 4. Lip-to-lip contact is reserved for only you and your husband or wife. 5. Be a consistent kisser. If you greet someone with a kiss, don’t forget to pucker up to say, "Good bye." Offering your hand for a handshake after a hello kiss sends a confusing message. 6. If you are a habitual air kisser, grazing the cheek of the other person with your own, refrain from making the "Moi, Moi" sound into the other person’s ear. 7. If your kiss includes a hug, a few short taps on the back are appropriate, but avoid pounding the back of the other person as if you are burping a baby. 8. A quick sweep of cherry lip wax over dry and scaly lips is a gesture of goodwill. 9. Finally, the discreet use of toothpaste and a toothbrush or breath mints before a passionate kiss with your spouse is always welcome. Now, do you have a handle on all these kissing rules? If so, pucker up…

Medion launches "smallest nettop PC in the world

German manufacturer Medion has unveiled a nettop PC which it claims is “probably the smallest nettop PC in the world”. The Akoya Mini E2076D is only 20mm thick and 173mm deep, making it a veritable featherweight in comparison with our current favourite, the A-Listed Acer Aspire Revo R3600, which is 30mm wide. The Medion also weighs only 800g - far less than the 3kg Acer. Medion has crammed a decent nettop specification into the tiny frame, too, with the standard Intel Atom processor boosted by 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard disk and Nvidia’s GeForce 9400M graphics chipset which, although not capable of gaming, has made a decent fist of decoding HD video in its previous outings. Draft-n wireless is also included. A cut-down version, the Akoya Mini E2066D, will also be made available, but includes only 1GB of RAM and integrated Intel graphics. While this weaker model includes Windows XP as standard, the more powerful E2076D will be available with Windows Vista upon release in September. We expect that the E2067D, at least, will be packaged with Windows 7 after its October launch. Pricing also seems reasonable, with the E2076D listed with a suggested price of €350 for the base unit alongside a wireless keyboard and mouse. No price has yet been announced for the E2066D. We’ve no reason to doubt that Medion’s tiny Akoya is the smallest mainstream nettop – although the Anders Fit-PC2 could also lay claim to this title. Suffice to say that we’ll be getting our hands on the Medion as soon as possible and delivering our verdict in a full review.

Flickr changes tune over Obama Joker image

Flickr has adopted a less severe way of handling copyright infringement claims after heated debate erupted about a photo of president Obama modified to look like The Joker from the film of DC Comics' The Dark Knight. Previously, certain copyright infringement complaints were met with the removal of an image. If the complaint was overruled, the Flickr member who posted the image was allowed to repost it. However, after the Joker Obama case, Flickr decided to merely replace the image in question with a message, a move that means the discussion below the image is preserved, which eases republication if the removal is overturned. The move illustrates the complexities that have arisen in the digital era where photos can be transferred and modified with ease. Copyright law is a much older concept than the internet, although it has been renovated a bit relatively recently with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Under the DMCA, a party holding copyright to a photo or other work can request that a website remove content posted by a third party that infringes the copyright; the website can avoid liability in the matter if it takes down the work in question when it receives the notice of infringement. The DMCA also includes a provision to allow the third party that published the content to challenge the claim. The Joker Obama image was swept up in this DMCA process in August. The resulting discussion led the Yahoo photo-sharing site to change its policy on Tuesday. "Upon receipt of a complete NOI [notice of infringement], the US Copyright Team will replace the image with a new static image that bears the following copy: 'This image has been removed due to a claim of copyright infringement,'" said Heather Champ, Flickr's director of community, in a comment. The change was the suggestion of a Flickr user, The Searcher, and Flickr said it liked the idea. The Obama Joker image was posted on the Flickr site of Firas Alkhateeb, who told the Los Angeles Times he created the Obama Joker image using Photoshop and a Time cover photograph. The Obama Joker image spread farther after somebody else created a poster with the image and the word "socialism". However, Flickr removed the image after it received a DMCA notice of infringement, Champ said in a forum posting. Among those to criticize the move were Thomas Hawk, an outspoken critic of what he sees as Flickr censorship and the chief executive of Flickr rival Zooomr. He argued in a blog post that the image qualified as a parody under the fair-use provision of copyright law, which permits some uses of copyright material. "Whatever you may or may not think about this image and its appropriateness, the image would absolutely and unequivocally be considered parody, and parody has always been one of the most effective defenses against any copyright complaint," Hawk wrote. TechCrunch's Mike Arrington said in a blogpost: "In the past, Flickr has deleted accounts of users who are critical of president Obama, but as far as I know, nothing like this was done to users who were critical of Bush. It's clear that the Flickr team wanted to take this image down." However, image copying and modification permissions can vary according to context. While creating a parody from an image might be permitted under fair use, copying that parody might not be. And there's evidence some original rights holders are not involved. Photographers' blog Photo District News reported that Time and DC Comics both said they hadn't sent Yahoo the DMCA notice, and that the office of the original Obama photographer, Platon, wasn't even aware of the controversy. Hawk also quoted the DMCA notice Flickr sent Alkhateeb in a letter that identified the infringement complainant as Edward Przydzia. Yahoo has yet to detail its rationale for removing the image, saying its privacy policy forbids it from discussing particulars of the situation. However, it did indicate politics were not involved. "There appears to be a whole lot of makey-uppey going in the news and blogosphere about this event," Champ said in a forum post. "We very much value freedom of speech and creativity… I'm not sure how complying with the law has led to the idea that we [the Flickr team] have a particular political agenda."