Open Mic Night


Item Source: PezZ

A simple comment started the ball rolling for this article. "I could have been at home watching the X-factor" was the line that did it. Truthfully though, it was not so much the words, as the rye grin that followed.
The comment came whilst standing in the back room of a local pub in one of the Shires, watching the progression of an open mic night.
A hand full of acts, armed with guitars and the desire to entertain, procured a space on the makeshift stage. Bestowing upon us a mixture of songs, some selected the well known, while others chose from their own writings.
A new face took the platform, almost rigid with fear, but a good adrenaline filled fear. He announced to his audience that this was his first time. Unlike his collaborator, he was unable to hide behind an acoustic guitar. He adopted his first stance with a small barrier of unyielding arms, but as we were to find out, there was no need for this defence. As guitar tones continued to ring out, the newcomers voice started to become stronger. Finally, with confidence growing, he belted out his final song. He’d made it through to the next round…of drinks, that is.
The time came for Landlord and his posse to take the stage. Having been to many a “gig” in the past, it’s a delight to see a group of gents with more skills than some of those I’ve paid to see, purely up there for the fun of it. There were no prima donnas, no hissie fits if something went wrong and no desire to hog the mic.
The next couple of regular acts, calmed things down a little, with acoustic sets. Some familiar sounding tunes to sing along to, all with the flare of that added personal touch.
A tribute to Dire Straits followed; with clean guitar solo’s that made a budding guitarist green with envy.
A younger set powered up by adding a bit of Hendrix to the mix. The recognisable want to get it right was evident in the playing. Fear not, the crowd loved it.
The final group distributed themselves across the stage. Once again, there was to be no disappointments with the blend of their own numbers and some fancy guitaring on a Pink Floyd rendition.   
The female from the group was selected to bring the evening to a close.
A fine set of lungs
We departed with the knowledge that we had had a full evening’s worth of entertainment for the cost of a pint or two and a nice pint of real ale or two at that. By tomorrow the stage will return to a dining area, poised for the next venue in three weeks time.
I must now return to the comment at the start of this piece, mainly with regards to the X-factor. Having sat through this mind numbing embarrassment once, a mistake that I do not intend to repeat. I cannot understand why so many people are willing to be parted with their cash, by phoning or texting their vote to a show that, undoubtedly has a pre ordained outcome anyway.
I am told, by those around me, that some of the contestants DO have good voices. Well we can’t all be right, so I have chosen to back down, waiting to see how many of these GOOD singers, those around me buy CDs of.
I know that there’s talent out there, I’ve seen it, in a local pub. So why there’s a need to fabricate and manipulate the general public with this crass excuse for abilities, is beyond me.

Surely talent scouts could source a multitude of un-bridled abilities and make a similar show. One where the outcome might yield a worthwhile artist and that doesn’t just line Mr Cowells pockets.

Download Link: Queens Arms - Leire

CD Eating Fungus

Achive report
Item Source: BBC News

This is an old story, but one that I think we need to make a note of….

A geologist at the Museum of Natural History in Madrid discovered the fungus, which belongs to the common Geotrichum family, on CDs brought back from the central American state of Belize.
"The fungus had attacked the outer edge of the disc, consuming plastic and even aluminium. It rendered the CD unplayable."
Experts say it is unusual but not unknown for a fungus to attack manmade substances like plastics.
Javier Garcia-Guinea, head of Geology at the museum, said he believed it was the first documented case of a fungus attacking CDs.
Similar reports were coming in from around the world, he said.
"This year we received many e-mails from Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala describing similar cases in tropical countries," Dr Garcia-Guinea told the BBC.
Marc Valls, a biologist at Spain's National Centre for Biotechnology, warned people not to be alarmed. He said the fungus would only attack CDs under certain conditions.
"Even though this fungus is widespread it could only develop on a CD in high humidity and high temperature, which is not the case most of the time," Mr Valls told the BBC.
And he said there was a positive side to the story - the ability of micro-organisms to degrade manmade products could help in waste disposal.
"Nature is very clever and, for all the materials that we design, sooner or later they will be degraded by some organism."

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Ebay Not Liable

On-going
Item Source: KPMG & bizreport.com

According to a British high court, Ebay cannot be held accountable for the sale of bogus products on it’s auction website.
French cosmetics company L'Oreal, campaigned against the online auction giant, with allegations that Ebay hadn’t done enough to stop the sale of the counterfeit products. With growing concerns that the fakes could potentially be harmful to people, L’Oreal took legal action, hoping to “protect” consumers and defend the reputation of it’s brand’s name.
L'Oreal claims there is an increasing volume of counterfeit goods being sold on eBay.
Justice Richard David Arnold ruled in London's High Court that eBay Europe was not liable for trademark infringements committed by its users.

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Free TV

On-going
Item Source: KPMG & bizreport.com

KPMG has published a report that found British Internet users are 'happy' to watch ads online or on their mobile as long as they can get content such as music or video for free.
by Helen Leggatt
Rather than happy, I'd say British Internet users were probably more resigned to seeing ads online if they want free content. In other words, as KPMG's survey discovered, rather than pay for content the majority (60%) will suffer ads. Only 16% of users in the U.K. said they would rather pay for online content than watch ads.
On the go, 40% of consumers said they would watch mobile ads in exchange for access to free music and just over a quarter said they would do so in exchange for free instant messaging. Twenty-one percent said they would pay to avoid ads on their mobile phones.
"This willingness to view adverts in exchange for free content is good news for advertisers and is perhaps a pointer in the ongoing debate over whether advertising or subscription is the right revenue model," said Tudor Aw, a partner at KPMG.
A recent study from Knowledge Networks found that video viewers, too, are coming to the realization that free content will be accompanied by advertising. Among those who downloaded video content, 80% favored watching ads in exchange for free video, up 67% on 2006.

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On-going
Item Source: Times Online, BBC & Privacy International

Since March 2009 all Internet Service Providers are keeping information about every email sent or received in the UK for a year.
The IPS have to record who sent the email, to whom and when. Apparently none of the emails content will be stored.
The Home Office insists the data, which does not include e-mails' content, is vital for crime and terror inquiries.
An estimated £12 billion will be spent on the database to monitor and store the internet browsing habits, e-mail and telephone records of everyone in Britain. With a total of 57 billion text messages alone sent in the UK last year - that's 1,800 every second, critics question whether such a vast system can be kept secure. How do you feel now about your big brother?

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It always pays to keep all drivers and plug-ins upto date. But people have been having problems with Flash Player.

To udate this version it's best to use the Flash Player uninstall utility first, then reinstall to avoid any problems.

Download Link: Adobe Flash Playe

August 13, 2009
Item Source: Web User

Security experts have warned of an image-eating worm in circulation.

A rogue program that allows cybercriminals to create a worm disguised as an image file that actually destroys pictures on your hard disk has been spotted on the web.
Images are replaced by a black background on which the word 'Hacked' appears.
Researchers said that the worm demonstrated why it is important to back up all your files.
"Many people upload images to sites such as Flickr, but think their data is safe purely because they also keep copies of their images on their PC," said Christopher Boyd of Facetime Security on the SpywareGuide Greynets blog.
"Unless you have some form of dedicated back-up system in place or an external hard disk, it can go horribly wrong very quickly," he continued.
However, according to Boyd, the 'worm' created by the rogue program doesn't actually have many worm-lie qualities.
"In testing, we simply could not get the file to do any spreading of its own accord. If there is supposed to be a worm element to this, something has gone horribly wrong with the coding," he said.