Gossip
Springleap CRAZY Xmas Special
I think the guys over at Springleap obviously had an awesome Xmas yesterday because they are being almost stupidly generous to you guys! Maybe they are drunk from all the festive activities yesterday, but you shouldn’t need to worry about that. All you should be worrying about is what awesome t-shirts you are going to be grabbing during their CRAZY sale!
Two t-shirts at half price!? SAY WHAT!? FREE SHIPPING!? Oh how I LOVE holidays and the festive season! I have four of their tops and they are top quality and get my stamp of awesomeness!
If you have any questions or what not, head on here and check out some more details!
WHY ARE YOU EVEN READING THIS PART!? YOU SHOULD BE PICKING OUT YOUR T’S!!
SA Hoax Email Back
Johannesburg – An old hoax e-mail, which warns people against the use of canola oil, is once again being circulated in South Africa.
This week the Cancer Association of South Africa, (Cansa) asked that people delete the e-mail and not forward it.
Dr Carl Albrecht, Cansa’s head of research, first laid eyes on the e-mail, which alleged among other things that canola was a kind a turnip seed “which was so poisonous that it was not even eaten by insects”, in July 2000.
Albrecht said the e-mail amounted to “industrial sabotage and attempts to badmouth an excellent product”.
“There is nothing wrong with canola oil. This oil is of such exceptional quality that Cansa endorses it as one of its ‘healthy choice’ products.”
According to Cansa, peer-reviewed research showed that the good balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in canola could help prevent cancer.
Sue Janse van Rensburg, Cansa’s chief executive, asked for the public’s help in quashing the e-mail by not forwarding it to friends. According to the Canola Council of Canada, canola oil is one of the healthiest types of cooking oil.
[Via: News 24]
Microsoft To Put Their Word In
Microsoft has overturned a ban on it selling its flagship Word software, imposed after a patent dispute.
The block was imposed by a Texan court following a ruling that its use of formatting language XML in Word 2003 and 2007 infringed patents.
Under the ruling Microsoft was ordered to pay Canadian patent owner i4i $290m (£177m) damages and also told to stop sales of the relevant versions of Word.
The ban on sales was due to come in to force in mid-October.
The ruling was made on 12 August in a Texas court following a long-running dispute between i4i and Microsoft.
I4i’s patent was filed in 1998 and outlines ways for “manipulating the architecture and the content of a document separately from each other” and invokes XML as a way to let people format text documents.
XML, or Extensible Markup Language, is a formatting system that preserves the structure of information, such as that in a spreadsheet, as it is passed around and handled by different programs.
Following the 12 August ruling Microsoft filed a request to stay the injunction and also asked for the case to be put on a fast track so its appeal could be heard quickly.
The US court said Microsoft had met the conditions needed to grant the stay. Arguments in Microsoft’s appeal against the earlier ruling are due to be heard on 23 September.
“We are happy with the result and look forward to presenting our arguments on the main issues on September 23,” said Kevin Kutz, a Microsoft spokesman, in a statement.
Facebook At Heart of Murder Trial
A jealous husband killed his wife after she changed her status from ‘married’ to ‘single’ on her Facebook profile, a British court heard yesterday.
Brian Lewis had become resentful at the amount of time his common-law wife Hayley Jones, 26, spent on the social networking internet site.
He finally snapped in the early hours of March 12 this year, stabbed her and strangled her to death, the jury was told.
He telephoned 999 but fled the murder scene, the home he shared with Miss Jones and their four children. He later drove to a nearby police station and gave himself up to officers.
It emerged that Lewis, 31, left the children – aged three to ten – in the house to discover the lifeless body of their mother in the living room.
In Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday Lewis, of Phillipstown, New Tredegar, denied the murder of his partner. The jury was told that problems surfaced in their relationship shortly after Lewis lost his job.
Miss Jones, who had until then stayed at home to care for their children, went out and found work as a care assistant.
Prosecutor Mark Evans QC told the court that around the same time Miss
Jones had ‘started to expand her social horizons,’ adding: ‘She had begun spending a lot of time on the internet chat site Facebook.
‘Brian Lewis was to state in interview and to other people that she had been quite secretive about this. For example, preventing him from accessing the site and switching the computer off to prevent him from seeing any of the content.’
Ten days before her death, as their relationship deteriorated, Miss Jones changed her Facebook profile from ‘married’ to ‘single’. The lawyer continued: ‘She made it clear their relationship was over.
Do You Hate Telkom?
Here in South Africa Telkom has a hold on the landline communications sector, and many people are not so thrilled with this. Many people feel that they are too expensive, they offer terrible support, and just generally do not have any concern for their customers.
If you are one of those people, you can now voice your opinion. Of course there is still the lovely Hellkom site which has been voicing their opinion for years now. Now there is another site that I have found – enter futelkom. This is more based on responses from the community where they can leave comments, and truely express their unhappy opinions about Telkom.
Please note that I do not encourage hate speech, but rather calm, ethical and polite means when you wish to communicate a complaint. I feel that all companies should be informed if a customer is not happy with the service that they are getting, but this should be done using the right channels.
Twilight: New Moon Trailer
My female friends absolutely fell in love with the actor that played Edward in the first movie. Being a guy, I don’t understand how a guy so pale can be “hot”, but anyway, here is something for the ladies to drool over. I am probably going to be hearing about this trailer until the movie comes out. O goodie!
I actually enjoyed the first movie. Will the second one live up to the first?
Windows Rant
I found this letter on the SevenForums where someone had given their thoughts on Windows 7. This guy doesn’t hold back at all, but he does have some extra valid points. Take a read and tell me if you agree with him or not!
Fired Over Facebook
Johannesburg – An employee has been fired and two others suspended for posting Facebook updates considered unacceptable by the their companies, The Times reported on Wednesday.
A 23-year-old administration clerk at a clothing factory south of Durban lost his job after being reported by a co-worker for calling his boss a “serial masturbator” on Facebook.
Wits Law Clinic Professor Willem de Klerk said the Constitution promotes freedom of expression “provided that what is expressed is based on fact”.
“There is a huge difference between having your say based on fact and using the platform to slag off your employer,” De Klerk said.
Bloggers have previously come under fire for writing defamatory statements about people or employers, but being fired on the basis of a Facebook status update is a relatively new phenomenon to South Africa, say experts.
A 25-year-old Johannesburg-based Facebook user was suspended for punting a competitor?s product on her profile homepage.
Another, also 25, was suspended for venting about his Pretoria-based employer’s alleged laziness.
Malicious comments illegal
De Klerk warned that malicious Facebook comments are as illegal as verbal defamatory statements.
But he suggests that the employer should consider whether that was the only outlet to express a grievance.
“But if the employee crossed the line and deliberately made comments to be malicious, then he should be fired,” De Klerk said.
Labour lawyer Johann van Zyl said many South African companies have blocked Facebook but are also wising up to the need for labour policies designed to prevent employees from bringing the company into disrepute in their private time.
Van Zyl said labour lawyers expect to see more cases of internet abuse and online defamation being brought against employees as the technology continues to grow, the newspaper reported.
How I Met Your Mother Gets 5th Season
For fans of CBS’ How I Met Your Mother, May has been a rough time. Because Mother is only a moderate success, it has to fight to find a spot on the network’s schedule. As a result, CBS waits until the very last minute to decide the series’ fate. Viewers are left to sweat it out, asking “Will the sitcom be renewed for another season?” Well, it looks like their luck is starting to change a bit.
Variety is reporting that Twentieth Century Fox Television has made syndication deals with local stations in several national markets. A separate deal for cable-exclusive rights will be decided in the coming months. Though Mother’s ratings have never been outstanding, the series is very attractive in the syndication market for a couple reasons. The audience typically skews younger and there aren’t too many sitcoms that will be offered in syndication in the near future. Though sitcoms aren’t in big demand in network primetime, they’re a big hit in syndication.
Though it’s nice that fans will be able to see the show five days a week, the great news becomes apparent when you read the “fine print” of the syndication agreements. Mother’sfour-year syndication contract stipulates that the studio will deliver 110 half-hour episodes in the year 2010. At the end of the fourth season (which kicks off on Monday), only 90 episodes will have been produced. That means that, under the syndication deal, the studio is obligated to deliver at least 20 more episodes, ensuring Mother will get a fifth season.
The profitable syndication market has come into play several times over the past couple years. Though their ratings aren’t great, ABC’s Scrubs and According to Jim were both renewed because they’re big moneymakers in syndication. A similar scenario could mean that Mother may continue past the fifth season. If the show goes for additional years, the local station contracts will be extended, ensuring the studio boatloads of more cash.
TransferJet 560Mbps Wireless Grabs Members
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from you, TransferJet, the high-speed but low-range wireless would-be standard that promises 560Mbps over a near-adjacent range of just 3cm. Sony kicked off the initiative, but now has about 15 others playing along who have all managed to put aside their differences to finalize the specs on both the physical and connection layers. All they need now is hardware, and so starting today they’re graciously asking for more members to join their consortium — not that they would have turned you away yesterday. Still no sign of when actual devices using this technology will hit retail, but where there’s a spec there’s always a prototype.
To view the official press release, click here.
