Seb

What I have learnt this week in Ebooks:

2011-06-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

Piracy is a war not worth fighting over. Yes some people want to get the book for free, but some people want it for other reasons, and these reasons are in place because the company is not doing their job properly. The people who download it illegally do it because it is for their own convenience, as they can get the book quicker, if it is not out yet in a country they can get it illegally and if it is out of stock on the ebook, they can get it illegally. This is the main reasons why people download illegally, and paying loads of money to fight piracy isn't going to solve anything. The fact that these people are downloading these books illegally means that these people want to read your books, therefore it is your priority to guarantee fast, efficient and available material to buy readily.
A great idea I found out about as well was Ebook's in Libraries. This encourages people to go to their nearby library and become members in order to read lots of books on there phones, ipads or tablets e.t.c. and another great thing is that you do not have to be in the library to get these books free, you just have to be a member of the library. I feel that this is going to take off and a lot more people will become members of their local library. People were worrying about how libraries would survive now that ebooks were available, but i think this idea answers it all.
This idea of free books if you subscribe to a library is a very good idea as Kindle books are quite expensive to buy, they are often more than a hardback, and by going to a library. If you have paid for a membership they will be free, therefore the membership to the library you will save a lot more than buying lots of copies on your kindle.
Another worry is that the formatting on the kindle can be quite awful. This can make people very frustrated as they will feel the book is not worth the money they paid for it.
An amazing figure I found out about is that amzon are selling more ebooks than paper backs as for every 100 paperbacks, they are selling 115 ebooks. Yet amazon has a lot less kindle books than paperbacks.

Video Games

2011-04-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

What affect does digital impact have on our lives:
Digital games our a major part of our lives, as they can be to help the brain, like "sudoku and brain training" they can help us get fit like on the wii "wii fit" or what they are mostly used for, is social vibe or just relaxation time. As you can sit at home and play a video game like Call of Duty, on your own against a computer, or with your friends, while doing so chatting with each other, and maybe talk about something that interests you dearly, making a good and long conversation online.
I feel that this is great how you can do so much online, it is really improving our knowledge of really everything. Although most of the older generation disagree with these games, they do not see how digital games can be good for you, yes i agree some can be really bad for you if you play on them for a really long time, but hardly anyone does!
The game industry is changing dramatically. Not only are the games becoming more interesting and more addictive, but new software and features have come out. 3D gaming, without glasses is what I feel is really going to be a major success. The 3D feature on any game is fascinating, but without glasses is even more. I mean, if we can do it with games, who knows, we might be seeing 3D TV without glasses, cinema and even navigators. We our on the verge of a technological era!

My favourite mashup

2011-04-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

This mashup has got copyright consent and it's own copyright. However a not the comic relief sketch "new port state of mind" was taken down from youtube quite recently following complaints from a music publisher about it's copyright information. This is a parody of empire state of mind by J-Z and Alisha Keys. Although the original version has been taken off youtube, other versions still remain. Like this one:

To see more go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/southeastwales/hi/people_and_places/music/newsid_8902000/8902396.stm

Disk Jockey

2011-03-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

isk Jockey and what it really means to me:

DJing is just one of the many names for Disk Jockey. I am not going to bore you with to much History but here are a few facts you might want to know. DJing started in 1930’s when a man called Winter Winchell came up with the word Disc Jockey, referring to discs being played and jockey as an operator of a machine. DJing really started to kick off in the 60’s when nightclubs started opening everywhere. The Dj’s using the new technology of turntables were able to remix or play and change, add effects e.t.c. to songs easier. The turntables were a big start to Djing as they made everything much simpler and more enjoyable.

But of course Dj’s dont have to work at nightclubs. You can find them as radio presenters and even music artists as well, Famous Dj’s being David Guetta and Mark Ronson. They can also mix songs together like as some of you may know, DJ Earworm who puts together every year the top 25 hits and mashes them up. This is known as a DJ mixset or Mixset and can be performed live at nightclubs or radio or even on television.

In order to get play copyright material online or live on air you have to have a Digital Dj License which unfortunately i do not have so i cannot post my work that i have done on my blog.

The turntable is a very expensive use for Djing and so I am saving up for one. They good ones cost around 1000 - 3000 pounds. Although i don’t have one i am saving up for one. Which leads me onto the next amazing thing about DJing, Computer. The cheap and also easy way to Dj, the way in which i do it. You can buy many computer softwares for Djing online. Although they are not as good as Turntables, i think they will take over turntables as the softwares are becoming better and better. I have been using a software called future Decks which is very good as you can use lots of different effects, you can scratch, mix and even link it to a table and use it with the table to play.

New social websites

2011-01-25T02:40:00.001-08:00

New Social networking sites like facebook will be very interesting to see. For teenagers this is a very good sign as we can explore new and probably safe sights, talking to each other on different sights, which if you think about it can be quite annoying at times, if you keep having to switch between facebook and many other different sights, to see what people are replying to your messages. One point that is really good for facebook is that every sight will be compared to facebook, giving facebook a lot more publicity. The down side is that these sights, could potentially take users away from facebook. The new social networking sights also means lots of new jobs for people, making better software, trying to beat facebook and when they do beat facebook, facebook will die!

Tupac: Dead or Alive?

2011-01-11T09:26:00.001-08:00

Club Crush (bahamas)

2011-01-07T03:22:00.000-08:00

Club Crush:

During my holiday i went to the bahamas. It was amazing but there was one thing that really made my holiday, i cannot mention that because it is quite a private matter. The second best thing though has got to be a nightclub called crush which has been opened for a few years now but it only just re-opened on monday 27th December 2010. It had just gone through a $12 million refurbishment. The great thing about it was that it was made for teens between 13-17 and it only cost $25 to get in each night apart from new years eve which it was $45. The manager told me a lot about this club the fact that this was the only one of its kind in the world. In the middle of the gaming room there was a round sort of cone with tv's going all around it and about 20 gaming chairs on the floor. I went there with my friend every night and we made other friends as well there. Everybody loved are accents and were hanging out with us the whole time. I also forgot to mention there was like a sort of cafe with nice food that you could by, there were also booths which you could play xbox kinect, playstation 3, xbox and even wii!
Unfortunately my friend and i were playing in the black ops booth on new years eve. We looked around us and realised no one was there, then we looked at our watches and it said 11 59, luckily we both made in time for the countdown, and even luckier for me i beat my friend at black ops by 1 kill.
The club finished at 1 in the morning and we stayed later with our friends and looked around the casino, the aquarium, went to the beach and did some other stuff.

The lighting there was amazing and although the dance floor (which is the picture just above) looks empty, it is because we arrived there that day very early.

Arctic Britain blanketed with snow

2010-11-30T11:49:00.000-08:00

Snow showers swept across almost all of Britain as bitter easterly winds continued to bring Arctic conditions to the country on Tuesday, with severe weather warnings issued to regions including the North West.

Almost every corner of the UK woke up to between 0.8in (2cm) and 4in (10cm) of snow on Tuesday morning, with the east coast worst hit by flurries and sub-zero temperatures.

And the cold blast from the North Sea was expected to continue to batter eastern areas throughout the day, even bringing snow to London and the South East.

More Snow is said to come in the next few days!!!!!!

The Changing of Technology

2010-11-30T06:52:00.000-08:00

Technology has dramatically changed over the years. This has been shown in many different ways. The internet for example started when two universities in America tried to send the word login to each other. So it started from two hosts, to about 750,000,000 hosts now. Along the way Skype, MSN and even hypertext was made. The computer models also didn't used to have a screen, it was only till about the late 1970's till they did.
There is also the devices that play a major role in technology. The mobile phone. This was not fully adapted until around about 2000 where you were able to text. On the mobile phone you can now go on the internet, talk to you're friends and do everything a computer can basically do. The Ipad has just come out also which has 3g if you buy it with 3g there are iphones, ipods the whole world has changed so rapidly and is continuing to!

people who inspire me

2010-11-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

Spurs - inter match

2010-11-02T05:05:00.000-07:00

Match report: Inter 4-3 Tottenham. The talented Mr. Bale!

Written by Viorel Mesca

Welsh international Gareth Bale was the hattrick hero as Tottenham lost 4-3 to European defending champions Inter. The home side scored 3 within the first 15 minutes and added another in the 34^th minute to give them a 4-0 lead at half time. Spurs, dubbed by the press as the “Comeback Kings” in the past few weeks, scored 3 goals in the second half only to leave their fans wondering what it could have been if their team had had a few minutes of extra time available.

Spurs conceded the first goal in the 2^nd minute as Zanetti broke forward to score following an interesting build-up by Coutinho and Samuel Eto’o. Thanks to this, Zanetti became the oldest scorer in the competition’s history at 37 years and 71 days.

Minutes later, Gomes brought down Jonathan Biabiany in the penalty area and was sent off. Nightmare start for Spurs as Eto’o converted the penalty kick to give his side a 2-0 lead.

In just 10 men and with Luka Modric replaced by Cudicini, Spurs conceded another when Stankovic played a neat one-two with Samuel Eto’o and slotted the ball into the bottom right-hand corned of the net. 3-0 for Inter in just 14 minutes! Harry’s lads were shocked as thanks to poor defending and lack of concentration.

Spurs missed a great chance to score when Peter Crouch failed to keep his header down following an impressive build-up by Aaron Lennon.

Tottenham were left to rue missed opportunities as wonderkid Coutinho cut inside from the left and produced a through ball to Samuel Eto’o who took advantage of Gallas’ poor attempt to play the offside trap and poked the ball into Cudicini’s net. 4-0 for Inter at half-time.

The hosts suffered a blow in the beginning of the second half as Stankovic was taken off the field due to injury and minutes later Gareth Bale got one back for the away side as he picked the ball up in his half and immediately burst past two Inter players, continued running until he reached the edge of the area where he powered the ball into the net. Great goal for Bale.

Inter nearly added another from the kick-off when Davide Santon cut inside and shot at Cudicini’s near side but the goalkeeper did well to stop the ball.

Wonderkid Coutinho continued impressing and he was involved in almost every play for his side all night. He nearly got on the scoresheet on the hour mark when he controlled the ball and shot narrowly wide.

As full-time was approaching, Inter slowed down the tempo in order not to concede, but Gareth Bale scored another 2 to complete his hattrick.

As the clock entered stoppage time, he ran down the left-flank and again beat Cesar by slamming the ball into the net.

Just one minute later, Aaron Lennon picked up the ball on the right flank, drove inside towards the edge of the area, passing the ball to an unmarked Gareth Bale who scored his third and final goal of the match.

Despite the loss, this match will be remembered by many fans for a very, very long time.

Mamma mia! Is it just me or Gareth Bale was outstanding last night?

Blogging

2010-09-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web together with Robert Cailliau, built the first working prototype in late 1990 and early 1991. That first prototype consisted of a web browser for the NeXTStep operating system. This first web browser, which was named "WorldWideWeb," had a graphical user interface and would be recognizable to most people today as a web browser. However, WorldWideWeb did not support graphics embedded in pages when it was first released.

The first graphical web browser to become truly popular and captured the imagination of the public was NCSA Mosaic. Developed by Marc Andreessen, Jamie Zawinski and others who later went on to create the Netscape browser, NCSA Mosaic was the first to be available for Microsoft Windows, the Macintosh, and the Unix X Window System, which made it possible to bring the web to the average user. The first version appeared in March 1993. The "inline images," such as the boutell.com logo at the top of this page, that are an integral part of almost every web page today were introduced by NCSA Mosaic 2.0, in January of 1994. Mosaic 2.0 also introduced forms.

ali g harvard speach part 1

2010-09-28T04:31:00.000-07:00

Ali G

2010-09-28T04:27:00.000-07:00

Ali G (born Alistair Leslie Graham) is a satirical fictional character invented and performed by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Originally appearing on Channel 4's Eleven O'Clock show, Ali G is the title character of Channel 4's Da Ali G Show, original episodes of which aired on HBO in 2003–2004, and is the title character of the film Ali G Indahouse.
Sacha Baron Cohen's character Ali G, alongside his Borat and Brüno characters, has been retired.^[1]

[edit] Development of the character

The character of Ali G plays on the stereotype of a non-black suburban male who revels in a mixture of American Gangsta Rap and Jamaican Black culture, particularly through hip hop, reggae, and jungle music; though the actual ethnicity of Ali G's character caused confusion, with some believing him to be a Middle Eastern.^[2] Baron Cohen stated that BBC Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood was an influence on the development of the Ali G character – Westwood hosts Radio 1's Rap Show and speaks in a faux American Hip-Hop dialect. Ali G's middle class credentials mirror Westwood's: the latter was brought up in Lowestoft, Suffolk as a bishop's son.^[3]
Prior to Ali G's appearance on The Eleven O'Clock Show, Baron Cohen had portrayed a similar character named MC Jocelyn Cheadle-Hume on a satellite channel called Talk TV (owned by Granada Television). While chatting to a group of skateboarders, in character, Baron Cohen realised that people could actually be led to believe the character was real, and filmed a number of segments which were ordered off air by London Weekend Television.^[3]

[edit] History

Ali G first came to prominence on Channel 4's The Eleven O'Clock Show as the "voice of da yoof" in 1998.^[4] He interviewed various public figures in the United Kingdom. Ali G is a boorish, uneducated, faux-streetwise poseur with a deeply stereotypical view of the world, who either embarrasses his interviewee by displaying a mixture of uninformed political incorrectness, or gets the interview 'victim' to agree to some breathtaking inaccuracy or insult.
Other examples of his bold interviewing style include getting Lindsay Urwin, the Bishop of Horsham, to admit that God created the Universe, and then asked him, "And since then, He's [God's] just chilled?" Ali G asked the Bishop about God's appearance, to which the Bishop replied, "Well, he's sort of Jesus-shaped." During an interview with James Ferman (former director of the British Board of Film Classification), Ali G asks whether his made-up vulgarities would restrict a film to an over-18 audience, and suggests that film censorship be performed by younger persons who understand contemporary slang. Ali G begins an interview with the Chairman of the Arts Council of England Gerry Robinson with the question, "Why is it that everything you fund is so crap?"
Ali G was in a series of ads for the 2005–06 NBA season, in which he used his brand of off-kilter journalism to interview various NBA stars. The spots were directed by Spike Lee.

[edit] Background

Ali G is a fictional gang member of the "West Staines Massiv", who lives with his grandmother in a semi-detached house at 36 Cherry Blossom Close, in the heart of the "Staines Ghetto". He was educated at what he calls "da Matthew Arnold Skool"; the Matthew Arnold School is a real secondary school.
Staines is a middle-class commuter town to the west of London is far different from the inner city ghetto that Ali G claims. In the same comic vein, he also makes reference to other similar middle-class towns in the area, such as Egham, Langley, Berkshire and Englefield Green. Despite the incongruous nature of his home town, he purports to exemplify Inner City culture. Ali's "real" name is later revealed to be Alistair Leslie Graham (revealed in the eponymous film).
Ali G non-standard grammar has been the point of ridicule by at least one interviewee. Claiming to be black and of Jamaican ancestry, some of his catchphrases include "Aight" (alright), "Booyakasha", "Big up Yaself", "Wagwaan", "West Side", "Respek" (respect), "For Real", "Punanee", "Check It" and "Keep It Real". His trademark hand gesture is the dip snap. He once defined the meaning of "Boyakasha" as "Hear me now, bo, selecta, swallow back, holler, big up ya self, everything that I in, coming at ya like Cleopatra, come in a couple of bars, recognize, represent, keep it real, you gotta check ya self before ya wreck ya self, swallow back ... oh yeah, and hello".^[5]

[edit] Criticisms of the character

Although Baron Cohen has repeatedly stated that the Ali G character is a parody of suburban, privileged youth 'acting black', numerous commentators have opined that the force of the humour is derived from stereotypes of blacks, not poser whites. According to this view of the character, the suburban background written into Ali G's character serves as an alibi.^[6]^[7]^[8]
Ali G also seems to revel in dumbing down; although he has had a middle-class upbringing and his parents are presumably hard working, he is anti school. His life appears only to revolve around acquiring material wealth, taking drugs, gaining respect on the streets through violence and sleeping with lots of attractive women. Many Black and White commentators feel that what Ali G reflects is where Black British – and to some extent American youth – has gone wrong and that there is something^{[clarification needed]} wrong with a Cambridge graduate making fun of the whole issue.^[9]
Felix Dexter, of The Real McCoy comedy series, said in The Guardian that he appreciated the humour of an innocent confronting an expert with neither understanding the other. But, he added: 'I feel that a lot of the humour is laughing at black street culture and it is being celebrated because it allows the liberal middle classes to laugh at that culture in a safe context where they can retain their sense of political correctness.^[10]

[edit] Notable people interviewed by Ali G

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, former astronaut, and the second man to walk on the moon. (Ali G also called him "Buzz Lightyear").
Alex Alonso, author, professor and founder of Streetgangs.com
David Beckham, football player and his wife Victoria Beckham, a member of the Spice Girls.
Tony Benn, former British Labour MP, chairman and cabinet minister
Boutros Boutros-Ghali,^[11] former Secretary General of the United Nations, mistakenly called 'Boutros Boutros Boutros Ghali by Ali-G. Boutros-Ghali clearly went so far as to participate in some of Ali G's notorious word games and providing the epilogue to the episode where, at Ali G's bidding, he tells youth viewers to 'enjoy the music of Bob Marley'. The interview appeared on the War episode of the Da Ali G Show.^[12]
Rhodes Boyson, former British Conservative minister
Pat Buchanan, American political commentator and former presidential candidate who began laughing uncontrollably when he realized he was being fooled
Noam Chomsky, MIT Professor and linguist
Jarvis Cocker, Pulp singer
Linda Cohn, ESPN anchor
Gaz Coombes, Supergrass singer
Paul Daniels, magician
James X. Dempsey, privacy guru and Vice President for Public Policy at the Center for Democracy and Technology
Sam Donaldson, veteran journalist
Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of Harrods and Fulham FC
Grandmaster Jerome Friedman, MIT Professor of physics and 1990 Nobel Prize winner
John Galbraith, economist and public intellectual
Daryl Gates, former Los Angeles Police Chief (He was referred to as "Bill Gates" by Ali G).
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
John Gray, author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
Leanna Heart, Adult film star
Neil Hamilton, former Conservative politician
Kent Hovind, evangelist and Young Earth creationist
Reed Irvine, founder of Accuracy in Media
Jenna Jameson, Adult film star
Ernie Johnson, Jr., sports broadcaster
Steve Kerr, former American professional basketball player and current President of Basketball Operations and General Manager with the Phoenix Suns (who, according to Ali G, works on "TMT"; at the time of the interview, Kerr was a basketball analyst with U.S. cable network TNT).
C. Everett Koop, former US Surgeon General
James Lipton, host of Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio
John McCain, United States Senator from Arizona and 2000/2008 Presidential Candidate
Ralph Nader, consumer activist and former US presidential candidate for the Green Party
Thomas J. Pickard, former FBI Director
Gail Porter, television presenter
Sally Jessy Raphaël, former talk show host, (who congratulated him for 'being himself')
Andy Rooney, of the CBS programme 60 Minutes, who furiously ended his interview abruptly
Charles Schultze, former Chief Economic Advisor to President Jimmy Carter^[13]
Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor and Air Force General
Tomasz Starzewski, fashion designer
Dick Thornburgh, former U.S. Attorney General
Donald Trump, real estate developer, who walks off dismissively around one minute into the interview
Stansfield Turner, former Director Central Intelligence Agency
Gore Vidal, author and essayist, (whom Ali G mistook for Vidal Sassoon)
Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and United States Environmental Protection Agency‎ administrator
Sammy Wilson, Northern Irish politician, Democratic Unionist Party
Naomi Wolf, author and feminist
Glenn Hubbard, former professional baseball player
Professional basketball players Kobe Bryant (whom he asks about the number of springs in a basketball), Steve Nash (who was an award winning player "MP3" according to Ali G and unable to speak proper English being Canadian), Ben Wallace (who he accuses of "playa-hating"), Shaquille O'Neal (who he argued with about the meaning of the NBA, Ali thinking it stood for Nationwide Basketball Society), Tim Duncan (who he tried to get a pair of free sneakers from), Robert Horry, Dwyane Wade (who he didn't realise was an NBA player, claiming he had snuck in to "hang with mah man Shaquille O'Neal"), Richard Jefferson (whom he called Thomas Jefferson and then his son), Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller

Ali G

2010-09-28T02:17:00.001-07:00

Gareth Bale

2010-09-21T04:28:00.001-07:00

^{Gareth Bale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Gareth Bale
Bale posing with a fan during Tottenham's tour of the United States in July 2010.
Personal information
Full name Gareth Frank Bale^[1]
Date of birth 16 July 1989 (1989-07-16) (age 21)
Place of birth Cardiff, Wales
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position Left back, Left-winger
Club information
Current club Tottenham Hotspur
Number 3
Youth career
2005–2006 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps^† (Gls)^†
2006–2007 Southampton 40 (5)
2007– Tottenham Hotspur 52 (7)
National team^‡
2006– Wales U21 13 (3)
2006– Wales 25 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:42, 12 September 2010 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:30, 3 September 2010 (UTC)

Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh footballer who plays as a left back or left winger for Tottenham Hotspur and the Wales national team.

Contents
[hide]
1 Early life
2 Club career

2.1 Southampton
2.2 Tottenham Hotspur

3 International career

3.1 International goals

4 Career statistics
5 Honours
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early life
Bale was born in Cardiff, the younger of two children, and attended Eglwys Newydd Primary School at Whitchurch. He is the nephew of former Cardiff City footballer Chris Pike.[2] His outstanding talent was evident from very early on, in particular his poise and left foot. It was while at this school he first came to the attention of Southampton at nine years old, when he was playing in a 5 a side tournament with his first club, Cardiff Civil Service Football Club.
Bale then attended Whitchurch High School in Cardiff,[3] where, as well as football, he played rugby and hockey and was a distance runner. Because of his superior skills, the school's PE teacher, Gwyn Morris, had to write special rules. These restricted Bale to playing one-touch football and not using his left foot. Whilst at Whitchurch, Bale trained at Southampton's satellite academy in Bath, although there was initially some doubt if Southampton would give him a scholarship due to his height.
Despite being only 16 at the time, he helped the school's under-18 side win the Cardiff & Vale Senior Cup. He left school in the summer of 2005 with a Grade A in PE amongst his GCSE results. In his final year at school he was awarded the PE department's prize for services to sport. In the presentation, Morris commented:
"Gareth has a fierce determination to succeed and has the character and qualities to achieve his personal goals. He is one of the most unselfish individuals that I have had the pleasure to help educate."[4]
[edit] Club career
[edit] Southampton
At the age of 16 years and 275 days, Bale became the second youngest player ever to play for the Saints (after Theo Walcott) when he made his debut on 17 April 2006. He played the whole match as Southampton defeated Millwall 2–0.
On 6 August 2006, Bale scored his first league goal, a free kick, to level the scores at 1–1 against Derby County. The final score at Pride Park was 2–2.[5]
He scored again, at St. Mary's, against Coventry City[6] in the team's second game of the 2006–07 season with another free kick. Bale further developed his reputation as a free kick specialist when he struck the post from one against West Bromwich Albion.[7] By 16 December 2006, Bale's goal count had risen to five, thanks to a late equaliser against Sunderland[8] and free-kicks away to Hull[9] and at home to Norwich City.
In December 2006 he won the Carwyn James Award for the BBC Wales Young Sports Personality of the Year.[10] To cap his first full season as a professional footballer, Bale was named the Football League Young Player of the Year on 4 March 2007.[11]
His final game for Southampton was in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-final against Derby County on 12 May 2007. Bale suffered an injury during the second half, preventing him from appearing in the second leg.[12][13] In total, he made 45 appearances for Southampton, scoring five goals.
[edit] Tottenham Hotspur
Bale with Spurs.
Bale completed a transfer to Tottenham on 25 May 2007, arranging a four-year deal, with Tottenham making an immediate payment of £5 million, with further additional payments that could see Bale's transfer go up to £10m.[14]
He played his first game for Spurs in a friendly against St. Patrick's Athletic on 12 July 2007, but was substituted on the 80th minute with a minor dead-leg. He made his competitive debut for Tottenham Hotspur on 26 August away against Manchester United. In just his second Spurs appearance, he scored his first goal for Tottenham in the 3–3 draw with Fulham on 1 September when he latched on to Robbie Keane's flick, charged down the left flank unopposed and coolly slotted past goalkeeper Antti Niemi.[15] Bale then went on to score again against Arsenal in the North London Derby, scoring a free kick inside the near post.[16] He then scored in the League Cup home tie against Middlesbrough,[17] making it three goals in four starts for the 18-year-old. He also set up Spurs' goal against Anorthorsis Famagusta in the UEFA Cup.
Bale was substituted after sustaining an injury resulting from a tackle from Fabrice Muamba in the league fixture against Birmingham City on 2 December 2007. A scan revealed that Bale had suffered ligament damage to his right ankle, consigning Bale to an extended period on the sidelines. Spurs' sporting director Damien Comolli announced in February 2008 that Bale would miss the rest of the season through injury.[18] He signed a new four-year deal with the club in August 2008.[19]
Bale played a record 24 Premier League games for Spurs without being on the winning side.[20][21] His first involvement in a Premier League victory came against Burnley on 26 September 2009 – more than two years after signing for Spurs – when he came on as an 85th minute substitute.[22]
In June 2009, Bale had to undergo surgery for a knee injury, ruling him out for up to eight weeks. He missed the preseason matches and it was projected that he would miss the first few weeks of the 2009–10 season.[23] On 26 September, he made his comeback as a substitute in the Spurs' 5–0 thrashing of Burnley. However, he endured a frustrating time on the bench as Benoît Assou-Ekotto was in good form. When Assou-Ekotto was sidelined with an injury, manager Harry Redknapp decided to give Bale a chance and he impressed in the Spurs' 4–0 thrashing of Peterborough in the FA Cup third-round.[24] He finally tasted victory for the first time as a starter in a league game in the 2–0 win over London rivals Fulham.[25] His good form continued and he was named Player of the Round after helping the Spurs to a 3–1 win in the sixth round replay of the FA Cup against Fulham.[26]. In April 2010, Bale scored another goal against Arsenal after a pass from Defoe he tapped the ball past the Arsenal keeper.[27] Three days later, Bale slammed in Tottenham's second with his weaker right foot in a 2–1 victory over leaders Chelsea and became Man of the Match.[28] He was named Barclays Player of the Month for April.[29]
He signed a new four year contract with Tottenham on 7 May 2010 as a reward for helping the club reach the UEFA Champions League qualification place.[30]
On 21 August 2010, Bale scored twice in a 2–1 win at Stoke City, the second of which was a "stunning" head high volley into the top right hand corner of the goal.[31] On 25 August, Bale set up all four goals to help Spurs overcome Young Boys 4–0 (6–3 agg.) in a Champions League play-off at White Hart Lane.[32]
International career
He made the senior Welsh squad at the end of the 2005–06 season and then made his debut on 27 May 2006[33] as a substitute in a 2–1 win over Trinidad and Tobago, making him the youngest ever player to play for Wales[34] aged just 16 years and 315 days to break Lewin Nyatanga's three-month old record. In the game he set up the winner for Robert Earnshaw.
On 7 October 2006, Bale became the youngest player ever to score a goal for the full Welsh national team in the Euro 2008 qualification match against Slovakia with a trade-mark free kick[35]. He scored his second goal for Wales in a 3–0 win over San Marino on 28 March 2007. After a long injury lay-off, he returned and started in the World Cup qualifier against Finland on 10 October 2009. On 14 October, he played a part in Wales' final World Cup qualifier by setting up David Vaughan to score the opening goal against Leichtenstein and won the free kick that led to the second, Aaron Ramsey's first at senior level.
Brian Flynn, the U-21 Wales manager has expressed comments of the potential in Bale as a future star of the game. Bale's left-footed prowess and free kick ability have evoked comparisons to Manchester United's left-footed Welsh winger Ryan Giggs.[36]}

Gareth Bale
Bale posing with a fan during Tottenham's tour of the United States in July 2010.
Personal information
Full name	Gareth Frank Bale^[1]
Date of birth	16 July 1989 (1989-07-16) (age 21)
Place of birth	Cardiff, Wales
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Left back, Left-winger
Club information
Current club	Tottenham Hotspur
Number	3
Youth career
2005–2006	Southampton
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2006–2007	Southampton	40	(5)
2007–	Tottenham Hotspur	52	(7)
National team^‡
2006–	Wales U21	13	(3)
2006–	Wales	25	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:42, 12 September 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:30, 3 September 2010 (UTC)