Ethical vacuum: Poor Old Farts: Bacon face: Sex in a Swiss box: Rubbish Wi-Fi: and Loop Quantum Cosmology.

Mammoth amounts of lack of warm, multitudes of layers of scrapey-scrapey stuff, minimal amounts of skywater and not a sign of Dawn’s crack at the Castle this morn.

Didn’t post yestermorn, had an early Tooth Doctor’s appointment after the stale bread, gruel and his Maj’s food run dahn Tesco, I won’t go into details but suffice it to say that spitting up blood isn’t one of my favourite pastimes.

 

According to Leveson

The publication of naked pictures of Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge shows that the "Blogosphere" is an “ethical vacuum”, and that while people will not assume that what they read on the internet is “trustworthy”, they expect newspapers to be a “quality product”.

At the inquiry, newspapers argued that stricter regulation of the press would be meaningless without greater controls of the internet.

“The press, on the other hand, does claim to operate by and adhere to an ethical code of conduct. Newspapers, through whichever medium they are delivered, purport to offer a quality product in all senses of the term.”

“In contrast, the internet does not function on that basis at all. People will not assume that what they read on the internet is trustworthy or that it carries any particular assurance or accuracy; it need be no more than one person’s view.”

 

Isn’t that what free speech is all about?

 

And the Torygraph thinks that

People over the age of 50 are “sleepwalking” into a pension crisis by over-estimating how well-off they will be in retirement.

A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) found that a third of people aged between 52 and 64 have no idea what their workplace pension income will be in retirement.

It also found that six in ten people over the age of 50 who are still in work have not yet thought about how many years of retirement they might need to finance.

The NAPF said the findings mean that millions of workers will be poorer than they think when they stop working.

The study found that women in their 50s believe they will live until they are 84, when their life expectancy is 88. Men, meanwhile, predict they will live until 83 when their life expectancy is 85.

The report found that on average people in so-called defined contribution workplace pension schemes aged between 50 and 64 would need to see their pot make investment returns of 77 per cent to reach the income they expect in retirement. The average UK pension fund makes annual returns of just 4.3 per cent.

 

So where has all the money gorn-oh yes the Bankers pissed it all away gambling on the markets....and the “government” let them.

 

Left to the home of cholesterol and the land of “big” stuff

A bacon-scented shaving cream has hit the market, so men can carry the smell of fried pork with them wherever they go.Its makers, J&D's Foods, claim it will make users 'smell and feel like a champion'.

However one customer who tested the lotion at Earl's Cuts in Seattle, Washington, sounded a little unsure about the meaty aroma, telling The Seattle Insider 'I feel like I'm in a skillet'

The new product, which launched yesterday, is described as 'high end' and 'luxurious' and the U.S. brand adds that men should use it after a hot shower or before an 'important date'.

Justin Esch and Dave Lefkow, the men behind J&D's Food, have only created 2,500 jars of their $14.95. Bacon Shaving Cream.

Apparently Mr Lefkow said: 'This is something that every bacon loving male needs. You’re going to smell good, you’re feeling good and you're probably going to taste good.'

While Mr Esch, who also had a hand in creating the strange toiletry item, explained: 'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and bacon is the best part of breakfast. Why not smell like it and be the best?'

Oh joy......wonder if they do one that smells of money?

 

East to the land of tall, rocky things and pointy chocolate

The Swiss city of Zurich is to open drive-in sex boxes in an attempt to rid the town of street prostitution.

Zurich council has approved a plan to build the boxes, which will, it hopes, provide a discreet location for prostitutes and their clients to conduct business when they open in August next year.

Located in an industrial area of the city, the row of garage-like boxes will have roofs and walls for privacy, and easy access for cars. The council estimates that around 30 prostitutes will meet clients at the site of the boxes, and use the drive-in slots on a first-come-first-served basis.

The prostitutes who use the sex boxes will also have to take out medical insurance and buy a £26 licence in order to ply their trade. On top of that they will also have to feed five Swiss francs, about £3.30, into a roadside ticket machine each night when they clock on.

 

Traffic jam sex?

 

Norf of the border

 

Aberdeen is set to spearhead a refuse revolution by installing hi-tech litter bins in the city centre – which will also provide free Wi-Fi access for visitors to the area.

• Bins will use Wi-Fi technology to alert refuse department when they are full

• Wi-Fi hotspots will also be used to distribute tourist information advice

The City Council, in partnership with the Aberdeen Inspired initiative, is planning to spend almost £250,000 by ordering 60 “Big Belly Bins” for key locations around the city centre.

The solar powered bins are fitted with waste compactors, ensuring they need emptied less often than standard designs. The bins also use wireless technology to alert authorities when they are full and the electronics used to issue the alerts will also allow the bins to act as Wi-Fi hotspots, providing visitors with up to date guides to the city and its sights, shops and restaurants.

The £246,500 cost of the project is to be shared by the city council and Aberdeen Inspired, the banner under which the Aberdeen BID (Business Improvement District) is operating.

Susan Bree, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: “We want Aberdeen to be at the forefront when it comes to technology and the Big Belly Bins are just one of the examples of the initiatives we are pressing ahead with.

“The additional feature of providing Wi-Fi access is also a major bonus, all part of our wider aim to increase footfall in the city centre and make Aberdeen more attractive to visitors.”

Ever been to Aberdeen? I have........once........

 

And finally:

 

There is a new paradigm shift for the infant universe

 

Using techniques from an area of modern physics called loop quantum cosmology, developed at Penn State, the scientists at Penn State University have extended analyses that include quantum physics farther back in time than ever before — all the way to the beginning. The new paradigm of loop quantum origins shows, for the first time, that the large-scale structures we now see in the universe evolved from fundamental fluctuations in the essential quantum nature of “space-time,” which existed even at the very beginning of the universe over 14 billion years ago. The achievement also provides new opportunities for testing competing theories of modern cosmology against breakthrough observations expected from next-generation telescope

Allegedly the new paradigm provides a conceptual and mathematical framework for describing the exotic “quantum-mechanical geometry of space-time” in the very early universe. The paradigm shows that, during this early era, the universe was compressed to such unimaginable densities that its behaviour was ruled not by the classical physics of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, but by an even more fundamental theory that also incorporates the strange dynamics of quantum mechanics. The density of matter was huge then — 1094 grams per cubic centimetre, as compared with the density of an atomic nucleus today, which is only 1014 grams. In this bizarre quantum-mechanical environment — where one can speak only of probabilities of events rather than certainties — physical properties naturally would be vastly different from the way we experience them today. Among these differences, Ashtekar said, are the concept of “time,” as well as the changing dynamics of various systems over time as they experience the fabric of quantum geometry itself.

 

So now you know.....

 

That’s it: I’m orf to see if the Skylon engine will fit in the Honda

 

And today’s thought:

Not in my back passage

 

 

Angus

Stacking the deck: Up your energy: False imprisonment: The road to nowhere: Wi-Fi wobblers: Exploding vodka: and Cats in hats.

Dark, dry and dismal at the Castle this morn, Dawn’s crack has just appeared on the horizon, the study is half full of non functioning whatsits and I have sent my Gas and Leccy supplier a stiff email on a bit of cardboard.

According to “those in the know” ten million voters could be knocked off the electoral register under government plans which have left MPs "genuinely shocked".

Many of those likely to be affected are from poorer backgrounds and considered more likely to vote Labour.

MPs on the political and constitutional reform select committee realised the potential effect of the changes after three evidence sessions this week with election experts.

Even Tory committee members expressed surprise at the proposals, which would register voters individually and no longer make it compulsory to co-operate with electoral registration officers.

Tristam Hunt, a Labour committee member, said: "These plans show how little this government really cares about democracy or fairness.

"If they get away with it, the effect on the 2020 general election will make the chaotic boundary review published this week look minor. This is designed to wipe the poor and the young off the political map.

"We are moving from a notion of registering as part as a civic duty to something akin to personal choice like a Nectar card or BA miles."

Or maybe a ticket to the circus.....

 

Chris (no nuclear/yes nuclear power) Huhne

Has decided that he will “get tough” on the six companies that dominate the energy market.

The Liberal Democrat minister believes that making it easier for customers to switch energy suppliers will drive down prices.

One reform intended to encourage switching is the introduction of regulations obliging companies to carry out requests to switch within three weeks, instead of the six it takes currently.

Mr Huhne will also offer customers the chance to join online “co-operatives” to bulk-buy electricity and gas from energy companies and automatically get the lowest price available.

Ministers are increasingly worried about public anger over ever-higher prices, which have meant falling standards of living for many homes. All the so-called “big six” firms — British Gas, Scottish and Southern, EDF, E.ON, Npower and Scottish Power — have increased prices in the past month, leaving households facing average bills for electricity and gas of more than £1,200 a year.

Yeah right-just like no increase in VAT and tuition fees......

Up in Rochdale

Two security firm workers have been sacked after being tricked into putting an electronic tag on a criminal's false leg.

Christopher Lowcock, 29, wrapped his prosthetic limb in a bandage and fooled workers at security services company G4S who failed to carry out the proper tests when they set up the tag and monitoring equipment at his home in Rochdale, the Rochdale Observer reported.

Lowcock could then simply remove his leg - and the tag - whenever he wanted to breach his court-imposed curfew for driving and drug offences, as well as possession of an offensive weapon.

A G4S spokeswoman said: "Failure to follow procedure is a serious disciplinary offence, and the two employees responsible for the installation of the tag have now been dismissed."

Oh well...that’s alright then.

Dahn in Wiltshire

A new bus service has been introduced in Wiltshire which, due to council cuts, is offering no return service.

The 87 bus timetable, released earlier in the month, offers three buses a day and one on Saturday from Winterslow, Wiltshire to Andover, Hampshire

But with a limited return service and buses scheduled to leave before passengers arrive, residents say the route is effectively a one-way service.

Anne Riggs from Winterslow said "it would be better not to have it at all".

She said: "We've never had it before but when we found out that there was going to be a bus service to Andover - we thought wow, good a bit of variety.

"But with the new one-way service, we can board a bus and travel to Andover but there is no provision for getting us back."

The 87 bus route operates three buses a day from Winterslow arriving in Andover at 1040, 1240 and 1440. The return service leaves Andover at 0945 and at 1145.

The service on Saturday arrives in Andover at 1850 with a return service available at 0815.

Makes you proud.....

Over to the left a lot

Dozens of Americans who claim to have been made ill by Wi-Fi and mobile phones have flocked to the town of Green Bank, West Virginia

Ms Schou is one of an estimated 5% of Americans who believe they suffer from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), which they say is caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields typically created by mobile phones, Wi-Fi and other electronic equipment.

Symptoms range from acute headaches, skin burning, muscle twitching and chronic pain.

Her symptoms were so severe that she abandoned her family farm in the state of Iowa and moved to Green Bank, West Virginia - a tiny village of 143 residents in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains.

I find that wrapping silver foil round my head and Man Veg works quite well, but you do tend to rustle a bit while walking round Tesco.

Dahn in Welsh Wales

A man was left dazed and wandering the streets in his singed underwear after almost blowing himself up brewing home-made vodka.

Ten neighbouring dwellings had to be evacuated after Lawrence Toms, 43, had a tinker with his distillation equipment, sparking an explosion so powerful it blew out the windows and damaged the roof of his home in southern Wales, newspaper the Daily Express reported.

Neighbours said Mr Toms, an inventor, had been making vodka after downloading a recipe from the Internet.

The crews of four fire engines battled a blaze while Mr Toms was taken to a specialist burns unit for treatment. Police have begun to investigate the explosion.

Mr Toms is believed to have made a still in a bedroom of the terrace house.

Should have used the silver foil trick....

And finally:

Designer Amelie has created a hat for every cat - and every possible occasion.

From French berets, to witches hats, Stetsons and sombreros, every chic kitty is sure to look their best.

And the cute clobber isn't just for felines; they can be worn by other four-legged fashionistas too.

Amelie, from Atlanta, US, sells the lightweight headpieces, which stay in place thanks to an elastic band, from just $14 each.

And she even gives her buyers some tips on how to dress their pets on her ToScarboroughFair website.

She says: "Don't force the cat if he or she really does not want to 'dress up'.

"Encourage and praise the kitty for good behaviour. Always be very gentle and talk in a warm, soothing voice."

 Yeah right.....

That’s it: I’m orf to change my energy supplier to Biomass.

 And today’s thought: how to combat global warming-turn the air conditioning up.

Angus

Slut Walk: Too hot for Wi-Fi: Her Maj goes Apple: Cooking up Mother’s day: No more hanging out in Maine: and Samoa time travels.

Spiffing day at the Castle this morn, sunny, touch nippy, calm, him/her upstairs has watered all the pots, hanging baskets and wall boxes and the roses have survived the downfall.

Took a stroll around the grounds last dark thing, the solar powered lights work a treat.

I spent my annual £5 on the garden yestermorn, bought two strawberry plants-in fruit for £1.29 each and ten begonias for £2.50, the Strawberries are placed so that I can reach up from the sun lounger and pluck them without having to move and the begonias have been distributed among the pots-hard work this gardening lark.

The latest thing among some ladies is the Slut Walk, apparently it all stems from the rather sexist remark from a Canadian Police officer who said “women should avoid dressing like sluts" if they wanted to avoid being raped.

Thousands have taken part in such marches in Canada and the US, and more than a few provocatively-dressed women are expected to march through London next month

The Slut Walk London website says it wants to end a culture of fear and victimisation. "Let's raise our voices and tell the world that rape is never, ever OK," it proclaims. "Not if she was wearing a miniskirt. Not if she was naked. Not if she was your wife, girlfriend or friend. Not if she was a prostitute. Not if she was drunk. Not if you thought she wanted to." 

Quite right, I may even attend to err…give my support.

Climate change kills your Wi-Fi

According to Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman climate change will disrupt Wi Fi connections, cause regular power failures and lead railway lines to buckle unless Britain spends billions of pounds.

She warned of intense rainfall, droughts and heat waves in the next 50 to 100 years because of man-made global warming. The signal from Wi-Fi cannot travel as far when temperatures increase. Heavy downfalls of rain also affect the ability of the device to capture a signal.  

I’ll just move the wireless router nearer to my laptop in 50 or 100 years.

Her Maj has it seems gone iPad

The Sun reported Monday the queen learned how to use the device from her grandsons, Princes William and Harry and "was particularly taken with how easy it was to use."

The queen already has a cellphone and iPods -- including one given to her by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009 and a silver model she bought in 2005 that holds 1,500 songs.

Trouble with that is, in 50 or 100 years her Wi-Fi signal will be lost……sorry-wrong picture.

And talking of mālum

New York police said they arrested a woman accused of using a cooking pot to strike her child's father when he failed to give her a Mother's Day present.

Investigators said Aretavia Kimbrough, 28, woke boyfriend Charmean Allen, 28, who is the father of Kimbrough's 8-month-old son, at about 7 a.m. Sunday and demanded to know what he had purchased her for Mother's Day, the New York Post reported Monday.

Allen said he tried to explain to Kimbrough, who was holding their son in one arm and a cooking pot in the other, that he was planning to buy her candy and take her out to dinner, but she was not satisfied and struck him in the head with the pot.

Allen, who suffered a 4-inch gash to his head, called a friend for help and the friend dialed 911.

Police described Kimbrough as "crazed-looking."

"I hit him with a pot, and I'm glad I did," she allegedly told police, the report said. "I've been with him for seven years, and he never bought me nothing!"

Candy and a dinner-you just can’t please some people, malum by the way is latin for Apple, it also means Evil....

Still in the US of A

The Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro, Maine, has been forced to close after its owner erected signs declaring 'boobies wanted'.

The US coffee shop originally made headlines after it upset locals when it opened in 2009, with customers served by semi-nude male and female staff.

Despite considerable opposition from locals the shop stayed open until now, when officials ruled its owner Donald Crabtree had been putting up signs illegally.

'I wanted to have some fun; I wanted to see people smile,' Mr Crabtree told the Maine Morning Sentinel.

'I started the topless coffee shop to do that, and it did. But now my smile's gone. 

So have the “Boobies”. 

And finally:

For more than a century Samoa has enjoyed the reputation as the last place on earth to see the sunset. But on Dec 29, Samoa will become a nation of time-travellers by erasing a day from the country's calendar and catapulting itself 24 hours into the future, making it one of the first countries in the world to see the sun rise.

In essence it is simply slipping from the eastern side of the International Date Line to the western side.

The change will put the Pacific island nation on the same weekday as its neighbours to the west, including Australia and New Zealand, and it is aimed at making trade with the countries easier and boosting the economy, and  will shift Samoa from being 21 hours behind Sydney to just three hours ahead – the same as Tonga.

The move comes 119 years after the island last shifted time zones, moving from west to east in 1892 in order to align with American traders in California.  

Fickle lot those Samoans…. 

That’s it: I’m orf to study Beavers. 

And today’s thought: Error: Keyboard not attached. Press F1 to continue.

Angus