News

The lighthouse which inspired a Virginia Woolf novel has been saved from closure. Officials from UK lighthouse authority Trinity House had planned to axe the Godrevy landmark near St Ives, Cornwall, by 2010.

However, a public outcry has forced the authority's re-think.

Protesters said closing the site which inspired Virginia Woolf's best known work To The Lighthouse would put lives at risk.

Light dimmed

Trinity House had argued modern navigational aids such as global position systems by satellite meant there was no need for lights.

But after numerous meetings with harbour authorities, fishermen's associations and other organisations in Cornwall, Trinity House said that in the best interests of protecting the safety of mariners the lighthouse should stay.

However, there will be some changes. The power of the light will be reduced to have a range of 10 miles (16km) instead of 12 miles (19km).

But county councillor and Mayor of Hayle Terry Lello, who campaigned to save the light, said it was the right decision that would benefit many sailors; including local fishermen.

She said: "For larger ships I didn't think there was such an issue for them, unless their navigational equipment broke down.

"But this means a huge deal to small craft users who would traverse the northern coast and who don't have that equipment and can't afford it. So this, to them, is securing the future of fishing in Hayle."

The octagonal white tower marks a reef called the Stones and has been in service since 1859.

Woolf's novel To The Lighthouse drew on her memories of childhood holidays in St Ives.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4738211.stm

Bob Dylan's song Like a Rolling Stone has topped a poll of rock and film stars to find the music, movies, TV shows and books that changed the world. The 1965 single beat Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel into second place in the survey for Uncut magazine.

Sir Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, Robert Downey Jr, Rolling Stone Keith Richards and Lou Reed were among those who gave their opinions.

Rocker Patti Smith said of the winning song: "It got me through adolescence."

Ex-Beatle Sir Paul picked Heartbreak Hotel as his number one choice. He said: "It's the way [Presley] sings it as if he is singing from the depths of hell. "His phrasing, use of echo, it's all so beautiful. Musically, it's perfect."

Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange was the highest-placed movie at number five, followed by The Godfather and The Godfather II films.

The Prisoner was the top-ranking TV series at number 10 while Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road was the highest book, in 19th place.

Actors Edward Norton and Juliette Lewis and ex-Beach Boy Brian Wilson also took part in the poll, marking the magazine's 100th issue.

Uncut editor Allan Jones said: "This list has been a massive undertaking and considering which films have had a greater cultural impact than Bowie, for example, has fuelled many discussions.

"What we have been left with is Dylan as the most seminal artistic statement of the last five decades - but I'm sure others will disagree."

MUSIC, FILMS, TV AND BOOKS THAT 'CHANGED THE WORLD'
1. Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
2. Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel
3. The Beatles - She Loves You
4. The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
5. A Clockwork Orange
6. The Godfather and The Godfather II
7. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
8. Taxi Driver
9. Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols
10. The Prisoner
Source: Uncut magazine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...ic/4747739.stm

French Muslim-Themed 'Beurger King' Opens

PARIS - Muslims in France are having it their way with "Beurger King" — a new fast-food restaurant that caters to the country's large Islamic population.

The bright and colorful eatery was launched in July in an eastern Paris suburb crowded with immigrants and dilapidated housing projects. Its name plays on the French word "Beur," meaning a second-generation North African living in France.

The menu at Beurger King Muslim, or BKM, is standard fast-food fare: burgers, fries, sundaes and doughnuts, and prices are comparable to those at major chains. But the beef and chicken burgers are halal — meaning made with meat slaughtered according to Islamic dietary laws.

Waitresses wear Islamic head scarves, as do many of their customers.

Mouna Talbi, 24, traveled 55 miles to Clichy-sous-Bois with her husband and two small sons to try it out.

"I was so happy to come here that I had tears in my eyes when I walked in," she said, watching her sons climb on colored blocks in the play area as she ate a halal burger.

After the success of Mecca Cola, a soft drink marketed to French Muslims, it was perhaps only a matter of time before a Muslim-themed, fast-food restaurant opened in the country with Western Europe's largest Islamic population.

Talbi's children always clamor for fast food, but this was the first time they've been able to order something other than fish, she said.

"A woman in Muslim dress feels at home here," she said, sitting in a red tunic and matching head scarf.

Three Muslim friends from the Paris suburbs set up the restaurant after seeing similar restaurants in Thailand and Algeria.

They saw a demand for a clean, family-oriented halal fast-food restaurant that would offer an alternative to the big non-halal chains and the many downscale halal street vendors.

One of the founders, Morad Benhamida, 33, said he and his partners worked for almost two years on a business plan to convince French backers.

"I was shocked when my bank manager believed in the project straight away," he said, sitting under an umbrella on the restaurant's terrace.

Burger King, the U.S.'s second-largest fast-food chain, has no restaurants in France, according to its Web site. When asked about the Muslim restaurant, Lauren Hammann, a spokeswoman for Burger King Corp. in Miami, would only say: "We are aware of the matter and we're looking into it."

Benhamida said the business plan showed the halal meat came from reputable wholesalers and was inspected twice daily. But he had not anticipated how successful the idea would be.

"I was very surprised because people really liked the restaurant, so much so that we have tripled stocks since opening a month ago," he said. "It seems like magic."

He is planning to hire eight new employees in fall, expanding his staff of 28.

In an area with high unemployment, people are grateful to find work. Some female employees said they took the job because they were allowed to wear head scarves, unlike workers in other French fast-food restaurants.

Female customers also seemed happy. Cherifa Halimi, 19, sat in a booth sipping drinks with four friends, all dressed in black flowing gowns covering all but their hands and faces.

"There are a few changes they could make to give the place a completely Muslim image," Halimi said. "The television is OK, but there shouldn't be any music.

"But I'd like to work here."

Muslim diners said they felt more misunderstood in France since last month's terror attacks in London.

"Even the media demonizes the image of Islam in this country," Ahmed Talbi said, sitting in a booth opposite his wife. "People are afraid of terrorist attacks here, too."

Customers, including non-Muslims, said the restaurant was not segregating Muslims but showing a normal, peaceful Muslim activity that was open to all.

"Both Muslims and other people feel at ease here," Talbi said. "Maybe this kind of place will help to correct the bad image of Muslims and tell the world to stop talking nonsense about us."

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050806/...ZoBHNlYwM3NTE-)

Wood pigeons in Whangarei, New Zealand, are having to be rescued by locals after becoming drunk. The birds have taken to eating guava berries after a hard winter killed off much of the forest vegetation that forms their normal diet.

However, the berries then ferment and cause intoxication.

A total of 26 birds have been rescued in the last month, said Robert Webb of the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre.

"The birds are coming into the city to look for food and are eating the guava berries which gets them paralytic.

"We have to sober them up, give them lots of water and fresh liquids and keep them for a few days," he added.

Although the centre has had to deal with double the number of injured wood pigeons than is normal at this time of year Mr Webb expects their drunken antics to tail off in the coming weeks.

"The berries will finish soon and new shoots will grow in the forest and then they can feed there," he said.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/4131674.stm

"Rocking up" to a restaurant for a "Ruby Murray" is now officially part of the English language, with the phrases making it into the Oxford Dictionary. The latest edition defines rock up as arrive, or turn up, and Ruby Murray as rhyming slang for a curry.

Other new words to make the cut include "lush" - meaning very good - and "phishing", sending fraudulent emails to get hold of personal information.

The old rhyming slang for tea, "Rosie Lee", also makes it for the first time.

And "chav" appears, an increasingly used derogatory word to describe a "young lower-class person typified by brash and loutish behaviour and the wearing of [real or imitation] designer clothes".

New words being added simply reflect the fact that the language naturally keeps expanding, said researchers at the Oxford Dictionary of English.

Lollywood

"To suit the pace of lifestyle there is even a growing tendency to mix words together to make entirely new ones called blends," they said.

A person who approaches passers-by in the street looking for donations or subscriptions to a charity is now officially a "chugger" - a mixture of charity and mugger.

A type of English used by speakers of Hindi - "Hinglish" - is another new entry this year.

And Lollywood joins Bollywood in the English language, this time describing the Pakistani popular film industry based in Lahore.


Vicky Pollard, from the BBC's Little Britain, was the ultimate "chav"

Musical references like "beatbox", "Europop", "J-pop" (Japanese pop music), and "sing-jay" (a Dj who raps and sings) also make the grade.

On the technology front, "chip and pin" (a new way of paying for goods by debit or credit card) makes it into the dictionary, as does "gamepad" (hand-held controls for video games).

"Podcast" (digital recording of a radio broadcast made available on the internet for downloading to a personal audio player) is also included.

Researchers said the dictionary now included 350 ways of insulting someone, but only 40 expressions to compliment them.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4136108.stm

It costs $100m but conditions will be cramped for the voyage in Soyuz
A US firm that has already sent two wealthy space tourists into orbit is now offering a trip around the moon. Virginia-based Space Adventures was on Wednesday unveiling a deal with Russian space officials for the $100m voyage.

Two passengers will join a Russian pilot for a trip lasting from 10 to 21 days, depending on whether they stop at the International Space Station.

In 2001, financier Denis Tito became the first space tourist, spending $20m on what proved a controversial tour.

Mr Tito's visit to the ISS sparked a row between Nasa and the Russian space agency.

Booster rocket

Space Adventures says its research suggests that between 500 and 1,000 people around the world could afford to undertake the trip, which could go ahead as early as 2008.

The passengers would be sent up in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, a vehicle that would be cramped and quite uncomfortable for an extended trip, according to space experts.

Because the craft does not have the power to reach the moon unaided, it would have to dock with a booster rocket sent up separately which would propel it towards the moon.

Eric Anderson, CEO of Space Adventures, says the timing of the announcement - a day after the landing of the Space Shuttle - was not a dig at Nasa.

"We believe private space flight and space exploration can go hand in hand," he told the New York Times newspaper.

Another Space Adventures client, Greg Olsen, has been undergoing training for a voyage to the ISS in October. He will be the third space tourist.

South African Mark Shuttleworth visited space in 2002.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4139188.stm

The authorities in the Indian capital Delhi have turned to microchips to tackle the growing problem of stray cows roaming the streets. A court had earlier ordered authorities in south Delhi to offer a reward of $45 to anyone delivering a stray cow.

The authorities then sell the cow to a new owner but they are concerned people might take advantage by bringing back the same cow for the reward.

A $11 microchip in the cow's gut will now show a cow already brought in.

Protected

Commissioner of the local municipal corporation, Rakesh Mehta, said the chips would allow resident welfare associations to determine whether the cow brought to the local authorities was a stray one or not.

"Otherwise, people can sell their own cows for quick money," he said.

Following the earlier Delhi High Court order, a number of cows and buffaloes have been brought to the authorities by people eager to receive rewards.

Cows are revered as sacred among Hindus and are protected by law.

There are nearly 40,000 thought to be roaming the streets of the Indian capital.

Officials say unauthorised dairy farms are one of the main causes.

They say stray cows pose a serious traffic hazard.

This week a woman broke her arm after a cow being chased by residents slammed into her.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4141296.stm

Men do have trouble hearing women, scientists find

LONDON (AFP) - Men who are accused of never listening by women now have an excuse -- women's voices are more difficult for men to listen to than other men's, a report said.

The Daily Mail, quoting findings published in the specialist magazine

NeuroImage, said researchers at Sheffield university in northern England discovered startling differences in the way the brain responds to male and female sounds.

Men deciphered female voices using the auditory part of the brain that processes music, while male voices engaged a simpler mechanism, it said.

The Mail quoted researcher Michael Hunter as saying, "The female voice is actually more complex than the male voice, due to differences in the size and shape of the vocal cords and larynx between men and women, and also due to women having greater natural 'melody' in their voices.

"This causes a more complex range of sound frequencies than in a male voice."

The findings may help explain why people suffering hallucinations usually hear male voices, the report added, as the brain may find it much harder to conjure up a false female voice accurately than a false male voice.

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/britains...BhBHNlYwM5NjQ-)

Quote:

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Men who are accused of never listening by women now have an excuse -- women's voices are more difficult for men to listen to than other men's, a report said.

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And here I was thinking it had something to do with selective attention/hearing! :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

And here I was thinking it had something to do with selective attention/hearing! :p

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Me too, and I belong to the male population! Finally, I have a decent excuse to use when someone accuses me of not listening! :D

Bees prefer floral paintings - even if they have never seen flowers before, scientists have suggested. University of London's Queen Mary college researchers put four paintings - two of flowers - beneath bees' flight paths, and tracked where they landed.

The bees landed on the floral two most. Van Gogh's Sunflowers was favourite.

The study, made on three colonies raised in captivity and which had never seen flowers, was reported in the journal Optics and Laser Technology.

About 11% of approaches to the flower paintings ended with a landing, compared to just 4% with the other paintings, the study found.

As well as Sunflowers, the team showed the bees Paul Gauguin's A Vase of Flowers, Patrick Caulfield's Pottery, and Fernand Leger's Still Life with a Beer Mug.

The bees flew towards the Van Gogh picture 146 times and landed on it 15 times.

A Vase of Flowers produced 81 approaches and 11 landings.

Caulfield's Pottery produced 138 approaches but only four landings.

And Still Life with a Beer Mug attracted bees on 117 occasions, but again only four landings.

Blue appeal

Professor Lars Chittka said: "The results show that the flower paintings have captured the essence of floral features from a bee's point of view, and that these features are recognised by bees that have never been exposed to flowers before.

"Flowers contain all the goods that a bee needs to thrive - pollen and nectar - and selection has therefore favoured bees with 'aesthetic preferences' for those flowers which offer the best bonanzas."

A bee's favourite colour is blue, he added, which is associated with high-nectar flowers.

This could be why the bees were strongly drawn to the blue "Vincent" signature in Van Gogh's painting, as well as the blue blooms in A Vase of Flowers, and a light blue square in Still Life with a Beer Mug.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4150200.stm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mono

Finally, I have a decent excuse to use when someone accuses me of not listening!

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Yes: 'It is not me, dear! It is your vocal cords/melodious voice!' :D

Google pauses online books plan

Google has put the brakes on its programme to digitise the books in several major university libraries.

In its blog, the search giant said it would temporarily stop scanning copyrighted texts until November to allay concerns about the plan.

The company's library project aims to put millions of volumes online and accessible everywhere via the web.

Google's plan has come under fire from several groups who object to what they say are violations of copyright.

Google is pumping $200m (£110m) into creating a digital archive of millions of books from four top US libraries - the libraries of Stanford, Michigan and Harvard universities, and of the New York Public Library - by 2015.

It is also digitising out-of-copyright books from the UK's Oxford University.

'Grave misgivings'

Google says the aim is to make the text of the world's books searchable by anyone in the world, especially when it comes to out of print and obscure texts.

"We think most publishers and authors will choose to participate in the publisher programme in order introduce their work to countless readers around the world," wrote Google Print's Adam Smith on the Google blog.

"But we know that not everyone agrees, and we want to do our best to respect their views too."

In an attempt to assuage concerns about copyright, Google has stopped scanning books which are in copyright until November.

The pause is designed to allow publishers to tell Google which books should not be included in the scanning programme.

But the changes do not seem to go far enough for leading publishers.

The trade body of the US publishing industry, the Association of American Publishers (AAP), said it still has "grave misgivings" about the project.

"Google's announcement does nothing to relieve the publishing industry's concerns," said AAP president Patricia Schroeder in a statement.

"Google's procedure shifts the responsibility for preventing infringement to the copyright owner rather than the user, turning every principle of copyright law on its ear," she added.

link

That should seem like some whiskey!

Bottle of rare Irish whiskey for sale at $182,000

DUBLIN (Reuters) - A rare bottle of Irish whiskey is up for sale at a record 100,000 pounds, making it the world's most expensive single malt.

The whiskey -- spelled whisky in Scotland -- dates from the late 1800s and is believed to be the last surviving bottle from the Nun's Island Distillery in County Galway, western Ireland, which ceased production in 1913.

"It is a lot of money but it's like looking for the last dinosaur really," spirits expert Ken Thomas told Reuters on Friday. "This is surely one of the rarest bottles in the world."

Thomas, who runs a specialist drinks store in southwest England, is selling the whiskey via his Web site -- whiskyandwines.com -- on behalf of its owner, who inherited it.

"This woman walked in with the bottle in an old carrier bag and said she thought it might be worth money, and the more I looked into it the more exciting it became," Thomas said.

He said he believed the whiskey would be in good condition should its eventual buyer actually pull the cork.

"Whiskey is renowned for holding its own," he said.

Irish whiskey is generally smoother than Scotch, due to differences in the processing of the barley from which it is made. It is also often distilled three times as opposed to twice for Scotch, and lacks the "peaty" taste associated with single malts from Scotland.

The previous record price paid for a bottle of "the water of life" was 32,000 pounds, forked out by a businessman in a hotel in southern England two months ago.

The man and his friends reportedly polished off most of the 1943 vintage Dalmore 62 Single Highland Malt in an evening.

Earlier this year, a Hong Kong dealer bought six bottles of 1937 Glenfiddich Rare Collection for $48,500 each.

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050815/...RpBHNlYwM3NTc-)

A Roman Catholic nun has staged a protest over the filming of the Da Vinci Code at Lincoln Cathedral. Sister Mary Michael knelt in prayer outside the building for 12 hours to object to the production of the film, which stars Tom Hanks.

The 61-year-old believes the film, based on a book written by Dan Brown, contains heresy.

Tom Hanks and the Sony Pictures film crew are believed to have witnessed the nun's protest.

Large donation

Sister Mary Michael said she did not care about the effect on them.

"It matters to me what God thinks, not what the film crew think.

"When I face almighty God at my final judgement, as we all will, I can say I did try my best. I did try my best to protest," she said.

Producers were barred from filming at Westminster Abbey because the book suggests the church is covering up the truth about Jesus' life.

The novel portrays Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene and fathering a child.

The Dean of Lincoln Cathedral, the Very Reverend Alec Knight, stepped in and allowed production there.

The film company offered a donation of £100,000.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/l...re/4155422.stm

Alleged Burglar Caught After Calling Mom

VILLA RICA, Ga. - A home invasion was solved by a phone's redial button when an accused burglar in this west Georgia town allegedly used the phone to call his mother for a ride after breaking in.

According to sheriff's investigator Alan Lee, a resident of Villa Rice returned home Sunday from a few days out of town and was missing credit cards, a check book, cell phone and jewelry. The victim tried hitting redial on her phone, and the mother of 23-year-old Kevin Tucker answered.

The call led to the arrests of Tucker and 18-year-old Brittany Leigh-Anne Smith, said Lt. Shane Taylor. Taylor said a deputy spoke with Tucker's mother, who said the two had called and asked her to pick them up from the residence.

The mother did not pick up the couple, and they spent the night in a motel. Police arrested them at about 12:30 a.m. after they checked out, with the stolen property in their possession. Both were charged, though they claimed innocence.

"Both pointed their finger at each other," Taylor said.

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050816/...NlYwMlJVRPUCUl)