And they say chickens can't fly

In the good/bad old days of the web, there were always stories of the next weird site going viral and it's rare these days that one of them slips through the information overload we're all subjected to these days. Great as it is to get all the latest news from the BBC, sometimes it's more fun to look at something really stupid.

And so... News today of panksters deciding to give a humble hen a helping hand by tying her to helium balloons and bestowing the gift of flight. The poor bird got caught on the inevitable electricity pylons and had to be rescued by emergency services. You can read all about it here: www.local6.com/news/2286898/detail.htm

Beckham's big move timed to perfection

So, David Beckham has finally moved to Real Madrid. Thus ends months of speculation and tedious press coverage as the hacks became more and more desperate to keep the coverage going despite a lack of geniune news. There was a real tone of surprise that the move happened as the press were expecting it to rumble for at least another couple of weeks.

Great timing from Becks as it coincided lucratively with his publicity tour of Asia (just what IS he doing there?). Perfect for Real's attempts to capture the Asian market and great PR for all concerned.

I just worry what the poor hacks are going to write about now the big story has finally come to an end. The footie season is over, there's little other transfer news. We might as well all just go home until August and get back to being depressed about the England cricket team. At least they obliged yesterday with a pathetic display against Pakistan.

BT sack 200 in porn sting

News today that BT have sacked 200 for accessing pornographic material at work. BT sent 2 emails last year informing employees that they would face the chop if they were abusing their work PCs (and themselves if you believe certain religions) and sure enough, the inevitable happened with at least one 'hardcore' culprit ending up in jail no less.

Now you could be a little cynical about the whole affair and allege that this was a great way of trimming the fat in hard times, but you just wonder what they were playing at after 2 emails. A good reminder to read the plethora of company-wide emails that go around. Imagine the poor 200 souls trying to explain themselves in future interviews... "Well, I received this piece of spam and in trying to unsubscribe inadvertently spent 2 hours on the site trying to do so." I believe you, even if no one else does.

(news with a little help from the www.theregister.co.uk)

Labour party website hacked - Al-Jazeera hacker caught - is it the same guy?

News hit today that the Labour Party website was hacked by an unknown source who replaced the usual yadda-yadda with a picture of George Bush holding his doggy Tony Blair gently in his arms. At first glance, it seemed that it was just business as usual for the anti-Tony lobby down at Labour HQ, but it was removed at 945am, although not before the BBC picked up the story and published it. Ouch!

All this while it was announced that the Al-Jazeera hacker that turned the controversial Middle Eastern TV network into a 'Let Freedom ring' screen had finally been caught. The culprit, a certain John William Racine II (version I obviously contained too many bugs). His punishment? 3 years probation, community service, a fine of $1500 and no doubt an alleged big fat $150k a year from a certain anonymous US government agency. You have to wonder with the hack attack on the Labour site whether they've put him to work already on explaining to Tony Blair just who wears the trousers in international politics...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2987342.stm