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Updated 5.20pm: Peers have been warned to beware a newspaper sting operation. The whips of all three main parties were informers earlier this week that journalists from "a prominent Sunday newspaper" had approached members of the House of Lords asking them whether they would ask questions in return for payments.Some members who rumbled what the paper was doing are known to have reported the approaches to Black Rod, David Leakey, the parliamentary official who deals with issues connected to breaches of privilege. It would appear that the paper was re-enacting exercises that have led in the past to various cash-for-questions and cash-for-access scandals. (The first was in 1994, involving the Sunday Times and The Guardian).Evidently, certain peers were contacted by journalists using the names Robyn Fox and James Fox who said they represented a company based in Zurich. It was made clear that money was on offer should they be prepared to ask questions, with more available if they were prepared to pilot legislation through parliament.Though the proffered email addresses were genuine, one peer who smelled a rat went online in an attempt to discover more about the company. I understand that he realised "within three minutes" that the company address was false. He warned colleagues and the word soon spread. One source told me: "Several lords are feeling very pleased with themselves after exposing what they believe is a bungled sting… The scam was stupid and most peers saw through it." The opposition chief whip, Lord Bassam, sent an email on Wednesday, which began:"One of our members has been approached by a lobbying company that we can find little trace of internationally. We are concerned that this may be linked to a prominent national newspaper and timed to coincide with the arrival in the Lords of the government's energy bill. If anyone is approached you should be extremely cautious."This email was later passed to crossbench peers as well in order to stymie the sting. It is unclear which paper was involved. One peer told me: "It's a toss-up between the Sunday Times and the Mail on Sunday."It seems that this time around the stingers have been stung. Then again, perhaps we will discover later, in spite of the warnings, that some peers were caught out.Update 5.20pm: David Rose, deputy news editor of the Mail on Sunday, tweets that it is "definitely not" his paper.Sources: Confidential/WikipediaHouse of LordsNational newspapersNewspapersSunday TimesThe GuardianRoy Greensladeguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

What is digital curation and why is it important to you? Leading experts in the curation and preservation of digital objects (such as databases, photos, vide...Robin Good's insight:Here is a 5-minute video recorded at the DigCurV Final Conference which took place on the 6th and 7th of May 2013 in Florence, Italy, in which several academic and research professionals in the fields of curation and preservation of digital objects (such as databases, photos, videos, websites, etc) share their views on what exactly is digital curation, and why it matters.DigCurV is a project funded by the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme to develop a curriculum framework for training in Digital Curation. To learn more, visit http://digcur-education.orgOriginal video: http://youtu.be/6cuOdgvYRGMSee it on Scoop.it, via Content Curation World

Highlight, focus or magnify objects in PowerPoint presentations, on the fly and with zero preperationRobin Good's insight:MagPointer is a downloadable Windows PC software which provides a set of highlighting tools to support the delivery of a PowerPoint presentation.MagPointer leverages in-depth PowerPoint traits and characteristics, enabling the user to highlight and manipulate easily objects inside any slide.The toolset includes:Selecting and enlarging a specific slide objectCreating frames around specific elements present on a slideLaser pointerZooming toolDimming screen outside of the highlighted areaMagnify and freezeElement Highlighting toolMagPointer auto-activates itself when you are in PowerPoint slideshow mode and it appears on the right side of the screen as a vertical toolbar.It can be used only in conjunction with PowerPoint.My comment: Very useful tool for presenter and effective feature set. The integrated features and tools are very useful but when MagPointer is active I dislike seeing subtle grey areas appear under every object in a slide. Usability leaves something to be desired especially when it comes to the vertical toolbar and cursor-contextual menu. Could prove very useful and handy for certain trainers/educators who find themselevs at ease with this small downsides.Free trial version available: http://www.magpointer.com(padi version $19.95)Download: http://www.magpointer.com/download.htmlGet started: http://www.magpointer.com/getting-started.htmlUser Guide: http://www.magpointer.com/uploads/1/2/1/2/12121421/magpointer_user_guide.pdfBuy: http://www.magpointer.com/buy.htmlSee it on Scoop.it, via Presentation Tools

The folks at Grovo paint a terrifying picture of a future dominated by obnoxious, Glass-wearing photophiles. Originally posted at Crave

The MPAA-backed Federation Against Copyright Theft is well known for its anti-piracy actions around the UK, tracking down alleged movie pirates with the help of the police and hauling them, if at all possible, through the court system. What remains remarkable about FACT operations is how they are able to persuade the police to invest significant resources towards detaining individuals for non-violent crimes. This week witnessed yet another example of that ability. Five undercover cars containing 10 police officers and officers from the Federation Against Copyright Theft arrived at a property in the West Midlands at 07:30 Thursday morning. The person they were looking for no longer lived at the address but in the space of 15 minutes three cars, four detectives and two FACT officers had made it to the correct location. Armed with an emergency search warrant issued out of hours by a judge, police and FACT officers entered the suspect’s home. “This morning I was arrested at my home under suspicion of recording and distributing Fast and Furious 6 and a few other titles,” the arrested man told TorrentFreak. After seizing numerous items including three servers, a desktop computer, blank hard drives and blank media, police detained the 24-year-old and transported him to a nearby police station. Despite the ‘emergency’ nature of the raid, no movie recording equipment was found. “At the police station I was interviewed by the police together with FACT (Federation Against Copyright and Theft). During questioning they asked me about Fast and Furious 6, where I obtained a copy from and if I was the one who went and recorded it at the cinema.” Despite police involvement, as in previous cases it appears they were only present in order to gain access to the victim’s property, sit on the sidelines taking notes, and for their powers when it comes to presenting crimes for prosecution. “I was detained for 3 hrs 12 minutes, out of that I was questioned for approximately 40 minutes. One police officer and two FACT officers conducted the interview. The police officer sat back and let FACT do all the questioning, so FACT were running the show,” the man reports. TorrentFreak has seen copies of the issued bail sheets. Surprisingly they do not state any law under which the man was arrested, instead referring only to “Miscellaneous Offense”, apparently due to the police being unclear on what to write down. “The custody officer could not find the relevant charge, however I remember them saying it came under Section 17 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,” the man explains. As can be seen from the snapshot of bail sheet shown below, conditions have been attached. “Although I have been released on police bail until September 23rd I have been banned from entering any cinema in England and Wales, while the investigation is being carried out,” the arrested man concludes. Earlier this year FACT revealed that the Film Distributors Association had handed out cash rewards to more than a dozen cinema workers who managed to disrupt the work of alleged movie cammers in UK cinemas. Despite the successes, not a single individual was prosecuted. They will be hoping for a better result from this week’s arrest. Source: Five Undercover Police Cars Sent To Arrest Single Alleged Movie Pirate

We were hanging around last Monday as the bands got ready for our Word In Your Ear show with David Ford and My Darling Clementine. The sound and lights were being looked after by a young woman dressed like Tank Girl. The guitarist with My Darling Clementine, pub-rock veteran Martin Belmont, was talking about back pain and anti-inflammatory pills. The drummer mentioned he used to subscribe to my magazine. Which one? The Word? No. Smash Hits.I get glimpses occasionally but I can no longer accurately work out generations of music people.Music's like a long train. Some people got on at the beginning of the line. Others join it later. They can explore the rest of the carriages but their experience of the journey will not be the same as the people who got on earlier. The passengers who've been there longest may point out that the train is going round in circles and has passed certain landmarks before. The newer passengers don't care. It's new to them. In fact they might get excited about a station which they previously passed through without comment. Their view of the journey is a different one. Unlike real trains, this one has unlimited capacity. Once you're on the train, nobody checks your ticket.And here's the really significant thing, the thing which has more bearing on the music economy than file sharing and whatever happens to be the latest thing. More and more people get on but hardly anyone gets off, unless, of course, they're compelled by forces beyond their control.

MediaNama would like to thank its sponsors: CCAvenue, E2E, Spice Digital and Times Internet for their support. Earnings-Mar13 - Dish TV Adds 0.2M Subscribers In Q4-FY13; Lowest Addition In 23 Quarters - Rediff Net Q4-FY13 Ecommerce Revenues At $0.6M; $2.33M India Advertising - MakeMyTrip Q4-FY13: $6.5M Loss; Air Ticketing Revenue Down 26.3% YoY - Vodafone India Q4-FY13: 3.3M 3G, 37.3M Data Subs, Data Browsing vs VAS Revenues Investment & M&A - Updated: Dentsu India Acquires 80% Stake In Webchutney - Language Learning Platform CultureAlley Raises Funds From KAE Capital – StartupCentral - Rediff Had Sold Stake In LBS Co Adnear For $1.14M - Update: Tata Sons To Offload 1% Stake In Tata Teleservices Maharashtra - Yahoo Acquires Tumblr For $1.1B In All Cash Deal Other Updates: - UIDAI Launches 3 New Aadhaar Based Authentication Services; Concerns - NDTV Appeals Against Nielsen Lawsuit Court Dismissal - Problems With Twitter’s 2-Step Authentication Process In India - Penguin Books India Launches Inked For Young Adults; Just Another Blog? - Digest: RCOM, Directi, BSNL, MakeMyTrip, IRCTC & Jet Airways - TLabs Incubated Happay Launches Its Prepaid Mobile Wallet - Chart: Dialup vs Broadband Connections In India As Of December 2012 - Google India Reduces Google Apps For Business Pricing By 45% - RCOM Uses Aadhaar-based Authentication Process For New Connections - Plustxt Now Offers Indic Language Input For Facebook, Twitter & Google+ - Amazon’s Android Appstore Now Available In India - Chart: Speed Wise Broadband Subscriber Base Of Top 10 States - PlatformPlay Can-Sell-Will-Sell: To Monetize NLPCaptcha’s Ad Inventory - Viacom18 Launches MTV Gupshup, Vh1 Hub & Teen Nick For Mobile - JustDial IPO Fully Subscribed, 12x Bids Are In – Capital Mind - Times Mobile & Techfront Launch FollowOn App To Offer IPL Content - Biosense’s uChek Provides Urine Analysis On iPhone - TV & Web Don’t Have Separate Audiences – Ekalavya Bhattacharya, Head of Digital, MTV India - NPCI’s USSD Based Mobile Banking Service Hits Roadblock With Telcos: Report - Times Publishing House Ltd Threatens To Sue SpiceIP Blogger - Why Don’t Indian Airports Offer Free WiFi To Passengers? - JustDial IPO Bids At 70% On Day 2 - Sociomatic Labs Appoints Mahesh Narayanan MD Of Indian Ops - Yebhi Launches QR Code & NFC Based Virtual Stores - eBay India Has A New MD: Latif Nathani - eCommerce Digest: KoolKart, Rock.in & Aporv Shut Shop - JustDial IPO Bids At 50% On Day 1; Anchor Investors Invest Rs 208 Cr - MSLGROUP India Launches Digital & Social Media Offering SocialHive - JustDial IPO: On PE, EPS, Profit, Safety Net – Capital Mind - Online OOH Marketplace EatAds.com Expands to India - ShoppingWish.in Raises Funds From Sandeep Johri & Others - India Can Become A Leader In Digital Content Delivery – Mukesh Ambani - Nessa Group Launches Hindi News Channel JanoDuniya.tv - SREI Sahaj Partners Infibeam To Launch SahajShopping.com - Chart: Indian Internet Service Provider Revenues – Mar 2011 To Dec 2012 - Update: BookMyShow & MakeMyTrip Now Offer Apple Passbook Integration - Online B2B Marketplace IndiaMart Launches Mobile Site & Android App - How MTV India Is Changing Its Content Strategy With Digital – Ekalavya Bhattacharya, Head of Digital, MTV India - Dhingana Launches Video Ads On iOS; Android To Follow - On India’s Plans For Internet Telephony: Unified Licenses & Interception - TyreOnWheels Offers Mobile Tyre Fitting Service Also See: Digital & Telecom Jobs At JobNama Useful Lists: - Deals: VC, PE & M&A In Internet, Mobile, Media in India - Short Code Services in India - Circlewise List Of Telecom Operators in India - Statewise Broadband Subscribers In India - Digital Payment Companies in India - Advertising Networks in India

Mr. Johnson was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, television commentator and author who spent most of his career at The Washington Post and won wide acclaim for his coverage of the capital.

Nearly 20 years into a stint that saw him steer an unscripted slate that included the likes of When Animals Attack! and American Idol, Fox president of alternative entertainment Mike Darnell is leaving the network. Sources said that while Fox looked to retain Darnell’s services, the 51-year-old programmer has decided to part ways with the broadcaster after his contract expires on June 30. In a statement released Friday night, Darnell said that he simply wants to “try something new.” “I’ve been in ‘reality’ since before it was even called that, and it has truly been an amazing ride,” Darnell said. “However, the world has changed drastically over the last few years, and now with hundreds of channels and limitless ways to watch television, I’ve decided this was the perfect time to take advantage of the rapidly changing marketplace.” Fox is expected to begin searching for Darnell’s replacement after the Memorial Day break. Over the course of his colorful career, Darnell oversaw a number of monster hits, including the unimpeachable Idol franchise. And regardless of what the intelligentsia may have thought about lowest-common-denominator fare like Temptation Island and My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé, these curiosities scared up ratings that the current broadcast environment cannot deliver. The first season of Temptation Island drew a whopping 9.0 in the 18-49 demo, while MBFOF averaged a 7.9 over the course of its six-episode run. Darnell’s departure comes on the heels of a particularly tough run for American Idol, which in Season 12 averaged 13.2 million viewers and a 3.8 in the all-important 18-49 demo. (While that was a steep decline from Idol’s heyday, the show still ranks among broadcast’s top five shows.) Idol remains a cash cow for Fox, but if the show is to continue generating in excess of $800 million in annual ad sales revenue, it must make some bold staffing moves. Reports have Kelly Rowland joining the judges’ panel in 2014; Idol could do worse than hire a few of her fellow alums. (Kelly Clarkson is perhaps the most successful Idol veteran and it’s not like Katharine McPhee has any conflicting TV commitments.) News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch bade farewell to Darnell, lauding the outgoing exec for taking risks and proving himself “a pioneering force in shaping the reality programming genre that exists today." Murdoch went on to characterize Darnell as “a smart and fearless executive who will be missed.” Fox scheduler emeritus Preston Beckman also gave Darnell a shout-out.

The measure also bans the sale of alcoholic drinks between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., except in tourist zones, and prohibits alcohol sales near mosques and schools.