A Whinger in France

Anything For The Weekend Sir??

2013-05-18T07:00:00.000+02:00

Topless barber shop popular in Australia

A topless barber shop has become a hit in Australia, offering customers to have their haircut done by a barely-clothed female hairdresser.

'Barber Babes', based in Brisbane, sees employees wearing just hot pants or underwear, according to The Courier-Mail. In addition to haircuts, they offer head massages, eyebrow waxing, blow-dries and shaves.

Jasmine Robson, owner of the business, explained that the idea stemmed from her belief that most men find going to a barber inconvenient, and she wanted to provide them an extra incentive to get their hair cut.

She added: "We found that a lot of exotic dancers are qualified hairdressers and don't do what they love as the wages are quite abysmal.

"Some of the barbers are available for lap dances but not whilst you are getting your Barber Babes service. They are serious about their art and don't take it lightly."

While the service has proved popular, Collective Shout - a movement against the objectification of women - has made clear their disapproval.

Melinda Liszewski stated: "What we're seeing is the crossover of the sex industry into other more mainstream areas.

"It's reinforcing the idea that women exist for men's sexual arousal and titillation."

Where Am I??

2013-05-17T07:00:00.000+02:00

Sat nav fail coach driver takes Welsh schoolchildren to wrong town

Typing one incorrect letter into his sat nav caused a coach driver to take children 123km (77 miles) the wrong way.
The vehicle, returning the 37-pupil party from Paris, arrived in Towyn, north Wales, rather than Tywyn, in the west.
However, no one realised the driver’s mistake until it was too late – because all the pupils, aged between 11 and 14, and teachers from Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn school fell asleep before the major detour at the end of the 13-hour journey.
The school’s headmistress Helen Lewis said: ‘The driver, when he was told “Tywyn”, had made the incorrect assumption it was “Towyn”.
‘It is something that happens a lot here, although it is the first time we had a group of pupils end up in the wrong place.’
Parents waited for up to two more hours for their children to be ferried home.
A spokesman for coach company Llew Jones International said: ‘We have spoken to the driver of the coach and he was clearly instructed to go to Tywyn in Meirionnydd.
‘He then inputted the wrong destination into his sat nav and took the passengers to Towyn. He is not from the area.
‘We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.’

That Sinking Feeling!!

2013-05-16T07:00:00.000+02:00

Driver rescued from sinking Porsche

A driver was dramatically rescued from his Porsche 911 by two quick-thinking eye-witnesses as his car sank in a river.

The stunned man, who has not been named, was dragged out of the sports car after he ended up in the water in Coltishall, Norfolk.
The freak accident happened at about 1.30pm on Tuesday when the motorist reversed into a moored-up boat off the River Bure and fell into the water.
Two men working on a nearby boat from engineering firm Ignition Marine leapt into action as the Porsche began to go down.
Mark Platten, 34, of Brampton, jumped in to get the driver out of his fast-sinking car as his mate Sam Hall, 24, of Coltishall, helped haul the man out of the water.
The Porsche was left with just its roof above water after plunging to the bottom of the 4ft deep river.

He said: "I heard a big revving of an engine and a bang where it had hit the side of a boat and the Porsche was suddenly sitting on the water.
"We were trying to explain to the driver to get out.
"I do not know whether he was in shock or whether the door was stuck and he could not get out."
The rescuers used the boat that the car had crashed into as a platform to reach the driver.
"The car was going down slowly and we thought he was not going to get out - so Mark jumped in and it took a bit of an effort do get the door open.
"When the door opened it went down quickly and we pulled him out just in time before his head went under," said Sam.
"He was in shock and I guess his foot must have slipped on the accelerator.
"It was something like out of a James Bond film and it all happened pretty quickly."
The shocked driver went back to the scene to thank his two Good Samaritan rescuers later that after drying off and recovering.
The tied-up boat suffered a smashed window in the bizarre crash.

To Swear Or Not To Swear?

2013-05-15T07:00:00.000+02:00

Swearing ban for Middlesbrough man

A Middlesbrough pensioner has been banned from swearing within earshot of anyone in his home district of Coulby Newham, including in his own flat.
Patrick Gilmore's landlord, Erimus Housing, took out an injunction against him for verbally abusing staff and neighbours.
The housing association said it had warned its 74-year-old tenant in advance of the possible injunction.
He will now have to pay his landlord's legal costs of £4,000.
Stewart Tagg, head of neighbourhoods for Erimus Housing, said: "Mr Gilmore had been warned on numerous occasions regarding his attitude towards staff and neighbours.
"Taking out an injunction against a customer in a situation like this is not common and is always a last resort."

Popular Program?

2013-05-14T07:00:00.000+02:00

Game of Thrones Broke Record in File-Sharing

Game of Thrones, created by Home Box Office, first aired two years ago and since then quickly gathered an incredible number of fans across the globe. Recently it turned out the HBO’s TV series broke another record: the third season premier collected 6.7 million viewers on BitTorrent.
Indeed, it took just a few hours for the first episode of season 3 to leak online, with people going completely berserk about it – this was quite an expected reaction, as Game of Thrones claimed the “most pirated show” title back in 2012.

It seems that the wait was too intense, with the first episode being downloaded 1 million times and accounting for an absolutely impressive number of seeders – 163,088. This makes it a new record on BitTorrent’s networks. If you take a look over the location of those seeds, you’ll see that Game of Thrones is particularly popular in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Such numbers would scare any Hollywood studio to hell, but HBO’s staff isn’t worried. HBO programming president sees it as a compliment of sorts – it shows the demand, and certainly doesn’t negatively impact the DVD sales. In the meanwhile, an Australian pay-per-view TV company Foxtel has recently announced that it will soon air episodes of 40 popular TV series, including Game of Thrones and Mad Men, within mere hours of their premieres in the United States. The company believes that the strategy is quite simple – you deliver the best TV to the audience once it becomes available. This is why closing the window between American or British premiere dates and Australian ones is Foxtel’s priority.

So, Game of Thrones will also be aired just 2 hours after the United States, while Mad Men is expected to have a 4 hour delay. Another popular series, True Blood, is going to be aired in the same day as the United States. The hope is that the strategy will make people choose a legal way of watching their favourite TV shows. Actually, this strategy proved to be quite successful – for instance, this season of The Walking Dead aired only 33 hours after US transmission and has attracted larger audiences to Foxtel.

George R. R. Martin, the author of the books “Game of Thrones”, said that it is the most pirated TV show throughout the globe, and a lot of it is coming from Australia. The reason is that the show delayed for six months there – of course, people won’t wait for that long when they can download it illegally and enjoy right now.

Oh Shit!

2013-05-13T07:00:00.000+02:00

Beer made from elephant dung 'sells out in minutes'

A Japanese brewery has created a beer made from elephant dung.

The unusual beverage, which uses coffee beans that have passed through an elephant, went on sale on April Fools' Day and sold out within minutes.

There are no plans for the brewery Sankt Gallen to create another run of the drink, which was described as a coffee stout.

Tasting the drink, Mr. Sato told RocketNews24: "After taking my first sip there was an initial bitterness that got washed over by a wave of sweetness. Following that, a mellow body rolled in and spread out through my mouth.

"The combination of bitter and sweet stayed fresh and lingered in my head. It was a familiar aroma that accompanied me through the entire beer."

The creation follows on from elephant dung coffee, which sold for $1,100 per kilogram.

Oh Look….Snow?

2013-05-12T07:00:00.000+02:00

Tourist drives hire car onto Germany ski piste

A Kuwaiti tourist who wanted to show his children snow for the first time slipped up when he drove his luxury hire car straight onto a ski piste in Bavaria, southern Germany.
Baffled skiers found the stranded top-of-the-range BMW 7 series abandoned in the middle of the slope at Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Police eventually tracked it down to a wealthy family of five from the desert kingdom of Kuwait. They were visiting the resort on a day trip from Munich.
A fire crew and towing equipment was needed to remove the vehicle.
‘The father wanted to show his children snow, which they had never seen before,’ said a police spokesman.
‘Unfortunately he drove as far as he could up a forest footpath and then lost control and slid sideways on to the piste.
It is a miracle that no damage was done. If it had entered the piste just a few minutes earlier the car would have slipped right down the slope as it was much steeper.
‘The car would have lost grip and slid out of control and the consequences would have been much worse.’
The spokesman said the family ’were very lucky that they managed to escape without injury’.
‘It was a very thoughtless thing to do,’ he added. ‘The driver’s actions put his family’s lives at risk and endangered other skiers.’
Officials say the family will be charged the full cost of the £3,000 rescue by firefighters.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is one of the top ski resorts in Germany and was a partner in the city of Munich’s bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. But the IOC awarded the Games to Pyeongchang in South Korea.

Eat This…..Copper!

2013-05-11T07:00:00.000+02:00

Woman guilty of assaulting police officer with a quiche

An Australian woman has been found guilty of assaulting a police officer with a quiche.
Franklin Jane Bugmy was found guilty of the offence after authorities said she struck constable James Wheatley with the quiche.
She allegedly also hit him with her pram at first.
The 41-year-old was reportedly angry about being given the wrong documents after she had been approached by police last year for an Apprehended Violence Order.
However the mother denied the charge and insisted she was just trying to protect her child.
Outside the court Ms Bugmy said: "They're saying I had room to move.
"I had no room to move. The quiche was thrown down to save my baby from tipping out of the pram."
But magistrate Geoffrey Dunlevy disagreed and said a police photograph showed she didn't have to hit the officer and the quiche had been thrown at him with a lot of power.
Bugmy will hear what her punishment is to be in three weeks' time.

But I Want a Chinese!

2013-05-10T07:00:00.000+02:00

Boy, 6, stole car to get Chinese meal

A six-year-old boy is in trouble in the US after he took the family car for a 6am drive - because he wanted a Chinese takeaway.
The unnamed youngster, who could hardly see over the dash, was stopped by police three miles from his home near Detroit, Michigan.
He told officers he wanted more of the food he'd eaten the previous night - but when he got to the restaurant he found it was shut.
Driving off, he hit a traffic sign and decided to make his way to the repair shop.
But other drivers, who spotted his Ford Taurus swerving down the highway, dialed 911 before boxing him in to halt his progress.
By the time police arrived, another motorist had pulled the keys out of the ignition, The Detroit Free Press reports.
"I don't know how he was able to operate everything and see at the same time," said Lapeer County sheriff's deputy Karl Sapp.
Deputy Sapp said the boy's father had no idea his son had taken the car until he was woken up by police.

Baggy Trousers?…Not Here!

2013-05-09T07:00:00.000+02:00

Wearing baggy trousers could cost you £65

If you get caught wearing your trousers low in public in one town you face a fine and community service after a council voted to make the style choice an offence.
The US state of Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish has made it illegal to wear baggy trousers and will force those doing so to pay penalties in the future.
Anyone caught for the first time will have to pay a $50 (£33) fine, do it again and it’s $100 (£65) and a third offence will cost you $100 plus 16 hours of community service.
Any contraventions after that then you are at the mercy of a judge.
A local NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) chief was in favour of the ban.
‘There is nothing positive about people wearing saggy pants,’ Jerome Boykin said.
‘This is not a black issue, this is not a white issue, this is a people issue… Young men who were in prison who wanted to have sex with other men would send a signal to another man with his pants below his waist.’
But not everyone was a fan of the new rules, with one local resident fearing it could be a ‘slippery slope’ if government started to control ‘social differences’.

Windows Leak!

2013-05-08T07:00:00.000+02:00

Windows Blue Leaked Online

Within the last years, the software giant has been from time to time openly bothered by the numerous leaks of its products. Sometimes, Microsoft itself has been suspected at using leaks to promote its software, and today the new “release” concerns the new OS, Windows Blue, which since last week can be found on file-sharing portals.

It seems that the 2.63GB ISO file is believed to have been released by one of the company’s French service partners. That’s what this leaked version reveals: nowadays users of Windows 8 are able to access the File Recovery feature, though it takes a little digging to find it. The option can be found in the Control Panel under “All Control Panel Items” and lets users to back up their files to an external drive. This feature is expected to be removed from the next release.

Another novation is said to be Microsoft pushing most of the PC settings controls from the desktop to the new Modern UI overlay, including settings for SkyDrive, Network, Time & Language, Apps, Accounts, Update and Recovery. As you can see, the desktop is being eased out going forward.

In addition, the leaked update also showed a handful of new application, such as Alarms, Movie Moments, Calculator, and Sound Recorder. Moreover, you can also find a new updated Snap mode which allows opening two apps side by side, each taking half the screen, while currently each takes up 75% of the screen. Snap mode may even accommodate up to 4 apps at a time.

The leak revealed the ability of Windows to manipulate the size and arrangement of tiles, and to name Start Screen groups without having to switch to semantic zoom mode. This build even offers users the ability to customize the desktop’s background and color schemes right from the blocky Modern UI. Finally, the OS carries a functional copy of Internet Explorer included in the leaked ISO, but at the moment there’s no information about the updates to the browser. Hopefully, the Internet browser will be improved.

Microsoft is expected to make Windows Blue available in a few months as a preview. The official release is scheduled for the end of 2013.

Suicide is Dangerous?

2013-05-07T07:00:00.000+02:00

Russia Will Block Suicide Portals

The government of the Russian Federation has started enforcing a new legislation which gives it the power to block online material deemed unauthorized or harmful to kids. According to press reports, thus far, the Russian regulators have already asked such online giants as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to remove material from their networks deemed objectionable by party officials. However, YouTube resisted the effort, after the government officials asked it to remove a video supposedly promoting suicide.

In the meanwhile, supporters of the legislation in question insist that it’s focused on controlling kids pornography and sensitive material – for example, portals promoting drug use, suicide and things like that. It seems that the Russian authorities believe nobody in Putin’s utopia may have a reason to take their own life or the urge to take drugs.

Nevertheless, opposition leaders decided to raise a number of questions about the new legislation, because the latter seemed to be quite vague and leaving the door open to broader censorship. The opposition expressed fears that this law might be employed to fight social networks if they are used to organize protests against Putin. In addition, they claimed that the taken measures could also negatively reflect on the country’s image abroad.

Thus far, Facebook already agreed to remove a group called Club Suicide, and Twitter also removed tweets related to unauthorized drug deals. In addition, Twitter had to take down a few posts promoting “suicidal thoughts”, which for some reason seem to be quite a common thing in Putin’s paradise. Well, Russia is fighting against censorship and these guys are wise – hopefully, they will find a way out.

Burn Your Bras…..Again!!

2013-05-06T07:00:00.000+02:00

Women better off without bras: French study

Women should forget everything they've been told about bras. According to a new French study, published on Wednesday, wearing a bra does nothing to reduce back pain, and the chest supports actually cause increased breast sagging.
The results of a mammoth 15-year study led by professor Jean-Denis Rouillon, from the University of Besançon in eastern France, are finally in and it looks like conventional wisdom about bras and back pain has been way off the mark.
According to Rouillon, a sports science expert, the lesson to be learned from the preliminary results of his marathon experiment is that “bras are a false necessity”.
“Medically, physiologically, anatomically – breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity. On the contrary, they get saggier with a bra,” Professor Rouillon told France Info radio on Wednesday.
Using a slide rule and caliper, Rouillon spent years carefully measuring changes in the orientation of breasts belonging to 130 women, at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (University Hospital) in Besançon.
Capucine, a 28-year-old woman who participated in the professor's in-depth study, hasn’t worn a bra for two years, and swears by the results.
“There are multiple benefits: I breathe more easily, I carry myself better, and I have less back pain,” Capucine told France Info.

U.S. Wants Total Web Control!!

2013-05-05T07:00:00.000+02:00

Streaming Services Can Be Prosecuted

After the US Congress failed to monopolize the worldwide web with absurd laws like SOPA, it didn’t give up. The politicians were recently presented with the option of making streaming of copyrighted material a full pledged felony.
Of course, the music industry has never been the only one interested in destroying BitTorrent – movie and TV studios have the same goal, having been fighting against P2P for almost a decade. Although crackdowns happen and thousands of users find themselves plunged into copyright lawsuits, illegal file-sharing still keeps on thriving.

So, the American government finds itself in a difficult position, particularly after the web turned out to be a living organism having its own will and no tolerance for manipulation and censorship. In order to tackle the problem, the “six-strikes” legislation was enforced – a program intended to “educate” American citizens about copyright and its violation.

However, people are only being taught that downloading and uploading of copyrighted material online is against the law, but nothing is said about streaming. In the meantime, the number of streaming services increases every day, which becomes a huge problem. The U.S. Register of Copyrights believes that there must be a way to tackle this problem. Since law enforcement can go after the distribution of copyright content, they can also pursue them in a meaningful way as they are felonies rather than misdemeanors. Thus, streaming, no matter of what content, is a misdemeanor. If there is unauthorized streaming happening, particularly in a profit-driven kind of way, how does one get at that activity if the best that they can do is pursue them for a misdemeanor? That’s what the U.S. Register of Copyrights is asking about.

The representatives of a Swedish anti-piracy outfit which tried to banish The Pirate Bay out of Sweden also admitted that streaming is a growing problem for the industry. The creators believe that it is largely irrelevant what kind of technology is used as long as they lose sales, so legislators have to solve this problem. Despite the fact that streaming services have nothing to worry about at the moment, some of the experts warn that a storm might be coming soon.

Be Very Careful?

2013-05-04T07:00:00.000+02:00

Cryptographers Warned against Logging in

One of the best American cryptographers has recently warned that one’s broadband connection might be grassing them up to anyone having access to a database.

According to Bruce Schneier, the author of the book “Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World”, the rapid development of the security industry allows anyone to work out what you are doing without having to directly tap your phone.

Bruce Schneier, when writing for CNN, has cited the cases where advanced computer users could be identified because the FBI managed to correlate data from various sources and make conclusions.

The case was that of Paula Broadwell, who appeared embroiled in an affair scandal with the former CIA director David Petraeus. Paula was cautious enough to never log in to her anonymous e-mail service from her home network, but it didn’t save her. Although she only used public networks like that in hotels and cafes when she e-mailed him, the FBI managed to correlate hotel registration information from various hotels and found the common name.

Bruce Schneier explains that everything we do now involves online data which is saved and can easily be correlated. In fact, there are huge data companies out there, making money by building up intimate profiles of citizens’ lives from many different places. In other words, the worldwide web turned into a surveillance tool which is hard to avoid. According to experts, no measures used to prevent this, including searching from mobiles rather than computers or using an alias on Facebook, can bring any results. The matter is that there are just too many ways to be tracked on the Internet to be able to effectively cover your tracks.

Well….What A Surprise!!

2013-05-03T07:00:00.000+02:00

EU Study Confirmed Piracy Never Hurt Music Sales

Unauthorized music downloads have very insignificant impact on online music sales. This is the conclusion of a new study carried out by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

The resolution of the study says that the vast majority of music consumed against the law wouldn’t have been legally purchased if unauthorized downloading services didn’t exist.
The Joint Research Centre has investigated the browsing habits of 16,000 European citizens and found out that not only does Internet piracy not hurt digital music sales – it may even have a positive effect on legal music consumption, because “pirates” are purchasing more music on the Internet than others.

The researchers compared people’s visits to illegal downloading services and legal music portals by following their clickstreams. It turned out that a 10% increase in clicks on unauthorized downloading portals resulted in a 0.2% increase in clicks on legitimate sites, regardless of interest in music. In a causal interpretation, this means that clicks on legal music portals would have been 2% if unauthorized downloading sites didn’t exist. Moreover, the effect of legitimate streaming services like Spotify on visits to music purchase sites is even greater – the Joint Research Centre estimated it at 7%.

Although the study in question didn’t include any policy recommendations, the researchers still came to conclusion that the music industry should not be overly concerned about Internet piracy. In the meantime, one should take into account that this research didn’t examine the impact of unauthorized downloads on physical music sales like CDs.

Gates….Never Satisfied??

2013-05-02T07:00:00.000+02:00

Microsoft against Second Hand Video Games

The software giant is ready to declare war on the used games industry – recent leak confirmed that Microsoft’s new Xbox won’t allow them to run. Actually, the rumors of an anti used game system for the company’s next-generation “Durango” Xbox console leaked a few months ago. However, there’s evidence that Microsoft is pressing ahead with the moves.

The source of the leak has a very good deepthroat in the software giant and came up with accurate specifications for Durango earlier. Now it has published screenshots of an Xbox Development Kit for the company’s next-generation console, which confirm previous rumors that each next console will feature a hard drive of enough capacity to hold numerous games. It is claimed that all games are installable to the drive, while play from the optical drive won’t be allowed. This sounds bad for backwards compatibility.

In other words, gamers will have to install Durango game, while now Xbox 360 games can be installed to HDD, but they require the disk to run. Then, Durango titles can’t directly access information on discs after they are installed, which means that the next-generation console may not need the disk to play games after installation. So, Microsoft is developing an anti-used games system which will require activation codes for 50GB-capacity Blu-ray discs. The references are made to an “always on, always connected” console, so the machine might have to phone home and make sure the software is legitimate and not second-hand. Unfortunately, this is exactly the same sort of DRM that made SimCity unplayable and cost the EA Games CEO his job a few days ago.

According to the leak, there will also be a new high-fidelity Kinect sensor lacking a tilt motor, being sold with each console. The software giant recently demonstrated a next-generation Kinect sensor without tilt motors, so the new device is believed to be much smaller and compact. In the meantime, the new Xbox is scheduled to be released in time for the Christmas rush.

Windows 9…Yeh Right!

2013-05-01T07:00:00.000+02:00

Windows 9 Might Arrive in 2014

The rumors are that Microsoft is going to release another version of Windows as soon as in 2014. The speculations are that next Windows OS can hit the streets a year from November next.

However, the rumors don’t explain why users should feel the need to upgrade to Windows 9 before Windows 8 takes off. In fact, at the moment lots of users are in the same boat, believing that Windows 7 is good enough. As for me, I personally think that a line should be drawn at Windows XP, which has never let me down, and I am not alone.

The rumors come from Win8China, which has provided a number of good Windows leaks before. Win8China reveals that Microsoft is developing Windows 9 for a tentative November 2014 product launch, with a beta expected to be out to try as early as next January.

Actually, the announced dates are around the time of year that we would be expecting a Windows yearly OS update. Taking all this into account, this does make it possible that new Windows OS could have a November 2014 release. In addition, there’s a chance that Microsoft has finally understood that making people pay for regular short term upgrades, like Apple, is a better business model than making users pay for a bigger one every few years.

Dummies!!

2013-04-30T07:00:00.000+02:00

Robbers caught after leaving footprints in snow

Thieves were caught after police tracked footprints they left behind in the snow.

Two men held up a convenience store in Whitnash, Warwickshire Saturday morning (March 23), before they left with money and scratchcards, according to Metro.

Cops showed up to investigate the crime, taking advantage of the cold, snowy conditions to follow their footprints to a block of flats.

They obtained a second address through questioning and promptly made their way there to apprehend four suspects.

Six suspects in total were arrested that day, four of whom were eventually handed robbery charges.

Spoilt??

2013-04-29T07:00:00.000+02:00

Mother buys 2-year-old daughter £4m New York apartment

A lucky toddler has been handed more than a silver spoon after her mother splashed out £4.25million for her on a luxury New York apartment.
The fortunate two-year-old may still be in diapers but it appears her future is already mapped out with the purchase of the luxury condo in the 90-storey Manhattan building.
Sotheby’s real estate Kevin Brown was showing a Chinese client around the property when she mentioned it would be for her daughter.
‘She said her daughter was going to go to Columbia, or NYU, or maybe Harvard,’ he told Chinese broadcaster CCTV.
‘She needed to be in the centre of the city and that was why she was picking this one particular apartment.
‘So I said, “Oh, how old is your daughter?” And she said, “Well, she’s 2″. And I was just shocked.’
The apartment, which is not yet finished, is situated in a glass skyscraper on 57th street overlooking Central Park.
It boasts facilities including an aquarium, swimming pool and a private concert hall.

Make Mine A large One!

2013-04-28T07:00:00.000+02:00

Sea lion found relaxing in luxury Californian hotel

A sea lion pup decided life in the ocean wasn’t for her after pitching up inside a luxury Californian hotel.
Guests at the Pantai Inn in La Jolla were surprised to find the finned mammal propped up on chair at the patio bar.
Hotel employees said the female sea lion waddled its way across a street before deciding on relaxing in the comfort of the cushioned seat.
‘I got an email saying that we had a sea lion pup lounging on our patio,’ manager Shane Pappas told AFP. ‘The poor little girl was lost and malnourished.’
The 27.5lb creature is now ‘on the mend’ after experts from SeaWorld in San Diego came to her aid at the hotel.
She will be monitored for the next six weeks and nursed back to health before being released back into the wild.
A number of severely malnourished and dehydrated pups have been coming to shore along the Orange County coastline in recent weeks.
More sick sea lion pups have stranded themselves on southern California beaches so far in 2013 than in the previous five years combined, but scientists are still unsure what is afflicting the animals.

Who’s Justin Bieber??

2013-04-27T07:00:00.000+02:00

Justin Bieber split from monkey at Munich airport

JUSTIN Bieber had to leave his pet monkey in quarantine after arriving in Germany last week without the necessary papers for the animal, an official said today.

The 19-year-old Canadian arrived at Munich Airport last Thursday.
Customs spokesman Thomas Meister said today that when the singer went through customs he did not have the documentation necessary to bring the capuchin monkey into the country - so the animal had to stay with authorities.
Bieber performed in Munich on Thursday night on the latest leg of his European tour. He is playing several concerts in Germany and Austria over the next week.
Bieber had a trying stay in London recently, first being booed by fans when he arrived late at a concert, then struggling with his breathing and fainting backstage at a show, and becoming involved in a fracas with a photographer outside his hotel.

Young Afraid Of Cheese??

2013-04-26T07:00:00.000+02:00

Stilton cheese under threat as young people 'afraid to eat the mould'

The future of Stilton cheese is under threat because young people are afraid to eat the mould, according to a new report.

Sales of Blue Stilton have plummeted among younger age groups with most people who buy the traditional delicacy approaching middle age, the latest research shows.
Industry experts say that the number of people under the age of 45 buying Blue Stilton has dropped by 18 per cent in the last two years alone.
Consumption by those under 30 years of age has slumped by 23 per cent and few people under the age of 25 would consider buying it regularly.
But cheese experts are warning that if the trend continues it could mean that Blue Stilton, which has been in production in the UK for almost 300 years, would only be available overseas.
Now British supermarket The Co-op has decided to step in to lend British Stilton producers a helping hand and has issued an emergency SOS – Save Our Stilton – to the people of Britain to protect Blue Stilton's unique flavours and taste for the future.
Cooperative cheese buyer Mark Cloudy said: "This cheese is part of Britain's heritage. We can't stand by and let it fade away – yet the people who like it are getting old.
"Millions of young people have been taught not to eat food with mould on it, and that view is having a catastrophic effect upon Blue Stilton. They take one look at the blue veins running through the cheese and then turn away.
"Ironically, while Blue Stilton is declining in popularity in Britain, overseas buyers can't get enough of it. The cheese is regarded as a supreme delicacy in Europe and across America, with buyers prepared to pay up to £30 a kilo – over three times the UK price.
The Cooperative, which actively supports British producers, is calling upon leading TV chefs to join their campaign to save the traditional cheese, as well as producing new customer recipes which using Stilton, it believes that the likes of Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal and Nigel Slater have can play a vital role in making Stilton great again.
Mr Cloudy said: "Cookery programmes are watched by millions of people every week. Seeing British chefs using Blue Stilton would help a new generation of consumers to discover what a wonderful ingredient Blue Stilton is.
"We also want to make the cheese popular again to help British cheese producers. Local companies employing local people depend upon Stilton sales to make a living.
"We hope that our campaign will help Blue Stilton cheese makers of all sizes continue to thrive for decades to come" Industry expert say that the number of people under the age of 45 buying Blue Stilton has dropped by 18 per cent in the last two years alone."
Consumption by those under 30 years of age has dropped by 23 per cent. And few people under the age of 25 would consider buying it regularly.
Blue Stilton was first produced in Britain in 1730 and is named after the village of Stilton where the cheese was first made.
Blue mould is encouraged to grow on the cheese deliberately to create a distinctive acidic tang which blends perfectly with the cheese's rich, creamy texture – and it is perfectly safe to eat.
So highly regarded is the cheese that it is the only British variety to have been granted protected trademark status. Only Stilton made from pasteurised cows milk in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire can legally use the name.
Just five dairies currently make the cheese.
Traditionally Blue Stilton is eaten with port at Christmas, but is often used in classic recipes such as Stilton and Pear salad, and cream of celery or broccoli soup.
To enjoy the full flavours of Blue Stilton, it should be removed from the refrigerator approximately one hour before serving, to let the cheese reach room temperature.

Flat–Packed Cakes….Not!!

2013-04-25T07:00:00.000+02:00

Ikea recalls cakes in 23 countries after sewage bacteria found

Ikea has recalled thousands of cakes from its stores in 23 countries after Chinese authorities identified high levels of bacteria normally found in human and animal waste.

The furniture giant admitted on Tuesday that coliform bacteria had been found in two batches of almond cake from a supplier in Sweden.
It comes after Chinese customs officials announced that they had destroyed a batch of 1,800 cakes after finding it contained high levels of coliforms which failed to meet hygiene standards.
Coliforms, common bacteria which are found in faeces as well as soil and water, do not normally cause serious illness but are a sign of contamination which can indicate the presence of more harmful bacteria such as E.coli.
It comes after Ikea recalled meatballs and sausages from 24 countries due to fears they could have been contaminated with horse meat.
Ikea said batches of the cakes sold in all countries had been tested, but no evidence of contamination was found in those sold in the UK and Ireland.
The affected batches of almond cake with chocolate and butterscotch all came from the same Swedish supplier which exports to stores across the world, the retailer said.
A spokesman said: "There is no health risk associated with consuming this product. The production batches have, as per safety and quality routines, been tested for bacteria that can cause health issues, such as E.coli, and none of these pathogen bacteria have been found.
"However, since the product does not comply with our strict food quality standards we have decided to withdraw the concerned production batches from sale in the 23 affected countries. The UK and Ireland are not affected."
The 23 countries in which almond cake was withdrawn were: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.

Veggies Be Warned!

2013-04-24T07:00:00.000+02:00

Salad is more dangerous than beefburgers, leading food expert warns

Salad labelled as "ready-to-eat" is more dangerous than beefburgers, one of Britain`s top food experts has said, following a spate of Cryptosporidium infections linked to the product.

Certain types of bacteria found in the pre-cut salad bags can be almost impossible to kill, Professor Hugh Pennington said, unless the leaves are irradiated – a process the public would oppose.
His claim follows a Health Protection Agency investigation into an outbreak of salad-linked Cryptosporidium infections that affected around 300 people in England and Scotland in May.
In the analysis of the exposure to different salad vegetables a significant statistical association was found between infection and the consumption of pre-cut spinach.
When specific retailers were included in the analysis, the strongest association with infection was found to be with consumption of ready to eat pre-cut mixed salad leaves from a major supermarket chain.
"Together these findings suggest that one or more types of salad vegetables could have been contaminated," said the HPA.
Professor Pennington said the case also followed on from several in the USA where they are "very worried" about "washed and ready-to-eat" bagged salad.
Last year produce giant Dole issued a recall on its American Blend bagged salad in 10 states in those two regions, after the Tennessee Department of Health found listeria bacteria in one sample.
Demand for salad has boomed because of healthily eating campaigns. But salad is considered one of the products most likely to cause food-related illness – largely because greens are grown directly in the soil, and some pathogens can only be killed by heat or strong detergents, not just water.
Professor Pennington said: "It is generally safer to eat a burger than the salad that goes with it.
"Despite the recent horsemeat and other scandals, the meat can be traced and through a rigorous process that checks for its quality etc.
"That does not exist to the same rigour for salad. You can only make vegetables safe by cooking and you can`t obviously do that with salad.
"You could irradiate it – but that would be a `no, no` with the public. You just can`t be absolutely sure that the bagged salad you are buying – which has been put through a chemical wash to kill the bugs, is actually free of them.
"These bugs are very good at clinging on to salad and the risk from cryptosporidium, salmonella and listeria is very real.
"I would advise people to thoroughly wash salad even when it says it has been washed and is ready to eat."
Bagged salad on sale in supermarkets is often sourced from the same suppliers for most leaf types, often with common production lines packing product for several retailers at the same time.
Professor Pennington also pointed out that a bean sprout farm in northern Germany was identified as the most likely source of many of the infections in the E. coli outbreak that left 22 people dead in 2011.
The farm, located in Uelzen, south of Hamburg, was the epicentre of the outbreak that has also made more than 2,000 people ill.
Professor Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, said the biggest E.coli outbreak happened in Japan in 1996 and involved radish sprouts.
"My understanding is that this farm in Germany was an organic one and there are more risks with organic food. For example organic chicken has more bugs than non-organic because they spend longer in the field and have wild bird droppings on them etc.
"Vegetables are fine and safe if they are cooked in the traditional British way of boiling them to death. The only danger comes when you eat them raw.
"Sometimes the spouts are contaminated to start with and they can get contaminated when spouting in the steaming process.
"At the end of the day the responsibility falls on the people who produce food. But much of our vegetables are now grown in countries who do not necessarily have the same hygiene standards.
"At the end of the day there has to be trust who is in supplying you with your food. The consumer has no way of knowing how the food has been produced. The consumer is not in a position to know all that has gone on."
Professor Pennington headed the investigation into the E.coli outbreak in Wishaw which claimed the lives of 20 elderly people in 1996.