Nokia apologises for 'fake' ad

Telecom giant Nokia has apologised after being caught "faking" a demonstration of its new smartphone camera in an advertisement. 

The video clip, which screened on Wednesday at a media conference, purported to show how the company's new flagship Lumia 920 smartphone had a built-in camera with a special feature that could eliminate blurry images.
The ad shows a model riding a bicycle while a young man holding a Lumia 920 smartphone takes her photo using optical image stabilisation.
But the advertisement has been ridiculed online after eagle-eyed viewers spotted the reflection of a professional camera operator in a window behind the young woman.
Nokia claimed this week it did not mean to mislead viewers into believing the ad had been filmed with its new smartphone when it was in fact made with other equipment.
"We apologise for the confusion we created," Nokia wrote in a blog post entitled An Apology is Due.
"In an effort to demonstrate the benefits of optical image stabilisation (which eliminates blurry images and improves pictures shot in low light conditions), we produced a video that simulates what we will be able to deliver with OIS."
"Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but we should have posted a disclaimer stating this was a representation of OIS only. This was not shot with a Lumia 920. At least, not yet," the Finnish company added.
Nokia, once the world leader in mobile phones, has been struggling in recent years, losing market share as consumers move to smartphones powered by Apple's iOS or Google's Android operating system.
The company enjoyed more than 40 percent of the global mobile phone market in 2008. It no longer provides its global market share figures, but has reportedly seen the number drop below 20 per cent.
The company launched a new strategy a year-and-a-half ago, phasing out its Symbian smartphones in favour of a partnership with Microsoft.
On Wednesday it presented two new Windows-powered phones, the Lumia 820 and 920. While analysts were generally favourable to the phones, most suggested they would have a hard time competing with Apple's new iPhone 5 due to be launched next week.
The Nokia share price slumped more than 10 percent after Wednesday's launch, and shed another 3.0 percent in Helsinki on Thursday.
In June, the company announced 10,000 job cuts would be needed on top of the 12,000 layoffs already announced in the past 18 months, and an additional $2 billion in cost cuts by the end of 2013.

ninemsn.com.au 7 Sep 2012

Nokia was fully aware of the depicted deception, but go caught out.

Now Nokia will be fined in the European courts?

Comment from ninemsncom.au readers:

Lotuk:


I hate it when companies do this. But they all do it. No one has enough faith in their product to use the features they're selling (or pretending work like they say). Take a look at any ad with video playing off of a device. It has been edited in afterwards to make it look clear. Because video chat would look horrible if they showed it running in real life compared to post editing it in.

I mostly just hate that they said "Nokia claimed this week it did not mean to mislead viewers into believing the ad had been filmed with its new smartphone". Seriously?? Who the hell believes that. We know they do it. They're just sorry they were caught.

I personally think there should be laws that require any fake material pretending to be real should be clearly labeled as such. It's false advertising that's been allowed for too long.

Kris Smith moves on

The news she’s been dreading and he’s been keeping quiet. Dannii’s baby daddy has a new flame.
 
The photos of her estranged partner Kris Smith in a romantic embrace with his new love, Australian model Maddy King are sure to break Dannii Minogue’s heart. Despite the loved-up new couple’s best attempts to hide their relationship — swapping cars to elude photographers, entering and exiting buildings separately — the secret is out.

During the recent Myer fashion parades, the brunette Dannii look-alike was ensconced in a room with Kris at the Swissotel Sydney in the CBD. However, their best efforts to fly under the radar failed when Kris insisted on Maddy joining him for his 34th birthday celebrations last week and the two couldn’t keep their hands off each other. After dining at The Village in Kings Cross, the couple moved on to Bondi’s trendy The Bucket List, where Woman’s Day caught them kissing and cuddling in front of fellow diners including Sydney Roosters footballer Anthony Minichiello and wife Terry Biviano.

It appears Kris has shuffled off the cloak and dagger. Friends close to the handsome model and father of son Ethan with Dannii, 40, say he has been terrified of going public with his new love fearing it may cause problems with Dannii. The former couple are said to be keeping things civil for Ethan’s sake, and Kris is determined to keep it that way.

“Kris loves his little boy and will always respect Dannii as Ethan’s mum,” a friend of Kris’s says. “The last thing he wants to do is rock the boat with his ex or Ethan.” “He knows everyone is watching his every move,” another mate adds. “It wasn’t easy being Mr Dannii Minogue in Melbourne and it’s not a whole lot easier being the ex-Mr Minogue, anywhere.” But there is no use in hiding the fact it’s over.

ninemsn.com.au 4 Sep 2012

Who really care about these 'entertainment' nobodies?

Something the children of the masses can 'aspire' to.

Vic crash victim's family 'disgusted'

The son of a woman who was killed when a fellow resident crashed a car into their Melbourne retirement home says he's disgusted that the driver's previous record was suppressed from the jury.

Helen Higginbotham, 92, died instantly when John Stein's sedan ploughed through her bedroom wall and landed on her while she slept at the Lexington Gardens retirement village - where he was also a resident - in Springvale on May 12 last year.

A Victorian Supreme Court jury found Stein's culpable driving caused Ms Higginbotham's death, but he's been deemed unfit to stand trial due to a mental disability from an acquired brain injury following a serious car crash in 1968.

Stein, who was 63 when he crashed his car into Mrs Higginbotham's room, was driving unlicensed and police recorded his blood alcohol reading at 0.174 after the crash.

Ms Higginbotham's son Brian wept as he told the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday how his legs "went to jelly" when police came to his house on the morning of the crash.

He said he was dismayed that Stein's previous drink-driving convictions - five dating back to 1995 - couldn't be used as evidence in the case.

"I am disgusted that when such evidence is crucial to the outcome, we as a family have to suffer knowing this has been hidden," he read from a statement.

Ms Higginbotham's granddaughter, Kellie, wept as she told of the "nausea, disbelief (and) disgust" she felt at losing her nan, whom she described as an intelligent woman who loved knitting and gardening.

Justice Paul Coghlan extended Stein's bail and ordered him to appear in court on October 15.
He said while Stein was liable for a 10-year supervision order, more information was needed to decide whether that should be served in custody.

  10 Sep 2012

Another example of 'Laws for Criminals', and how the system favours the 'criminal'.

In this case the government has let out an individual how has caused the death of another.

If the victims were judges sons mothers or other family members, then the law would be changed immediately, but since the effected people are canon fodder, there will be no change.

The government 'verbosely' opposes 'speeding' as the main cause of death on Australian roads, yet does nothing to stop other from killing innocent people.

The law makers are NOT effected in the smae manner as the general community.

Jobless rate false information

The Australian government is involved in a conspiracy to deliberately provide false information regarding unemployment figures.

It is not the first time this or any other government has provided fraudulent information on a specific topic for a specific agenda.

Recently government has been caught out providing fraudulent information regarding Melbourne’s crime statistics, with the disgraced resignation of the then current police top dog Simon Overland.

There are many reason for providing fraudulent information, but in the case of unemployment figures, Australia’s entire economy rests on these figures.

The banking and finance industry adjust their figures according to the jobless rate which in turn promotes the figures for economic growth.

The general mental status of the population is also taken into account with the release of figures, which also affect the retail industry.

Corpau has mentioned on a few occasions how the government’s official figure is fraudulent, with a deadly silence from the reporters of the corporate media.

Publically exposing the fraud of the government’s official jobless rate can affect the economy to the tune of billions of dollars per annum, something that the brotherhood will not allow.

The financial industry uses the more plausible figure the Roy Morgan puts out, for May 2012 of 8.2% compared to the government’s official figure of 5.1%, even though the figure is still optimistic, and other sources have been known to use the figure closer to 9.5%.

The public are being duped by the government, and since the government’s lap dog is the corporate media, the mindless masses are unable to be woken up to the reality of the severity of the situation.

Kids helped Vic mum with drug business

A Melbourne mother who involved her 14- and six-year-old daughters in her heroin trafficking business, sometimes sending them to collect the drugs, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Kim Huynh, 43, was buying heroin from a neighbour in her commission flat at Fitzroy and distributing it to two dealers, whom she called her "soldiers", to sell to customers.
The drugs were collected by either Huynh or her 14-year-old daughter and both were often accompanied by Huynh's six-year-old daughter.
Huynh was jailed for a minimum two years by Victorian County Court judge Joe Gullaci on Thursday after pleading guilty to a charge of trafficking heroin from December 2009 to July 2010.
Judge Gullaci said the six-year-old was present with her older sister on multiple occasions when the teenager was sent to the neighbour's apartment to carry out drug-related business for her mother, either delivering money or collecting heroin.
"You conducted your business using your 14-year-old daughter as a conduit between yourself and your supplier," Judge Gullaci said.
He said while investigators had established Huynh had purchased 154 grams of heroin to run her "busy trafficking enterprise", there was clear evidence she had trafficked more than that, although the amount could not be precisely determined.
He said Huynh had deliberately tried to minimise her offending to attract sympathy during sessions with psychologist Dr Carla Lechner, who said Huynh was mildly intellectually disabled and trafficked heroin to pay a $40,000 debt to her neighbour.
Judge Gullaci said there was a concerning trend where psychologists simply accepted an offender's attempt to "put the best possible spin" on their criminal conduct without attempting to verify their claims by accessing evidentiary material.
He said Huynh had not been deterred by a previous wholly suspended jail sentence she received for trafficking heroin and that any intellectual disability had had little impact on her capacity to run a successful heroin trafficking business.
"You were able to organise and run a well-planned and executed trafficking business which included the use of your own daughters to hide or prevent detection," he said.

6 Sep 2012

The drug trade in Australia, also particularly Melbourne, Victoria is in the hands of Asian and Middle Eastern crime gangs.

The trade is worth an approximated $1,200 million per month.

Involving one's children is also classified as child abuse, but there will be no repercussions.

There is no policy to eradicate the drug trade from within Australia.

Top politicians, law firms are involved in drug consumption, a fact that the  corporate media is not allowed to expose.

Safety fears over ADHD drug

AN attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug, rejected for a government subsidy because of "uncertain safety" in adults, is being subsidised for children and was used by more than 19,000 kids in the past year.
 
A subsidy for the medicine Concerta, a long-acting form of Ritalin, was recently knocked back for adults by the government's expert Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) "on the basis of uncertain efficacy and safety in the proposed PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) population".
The PBAC was concerned about the "highly uncertain cost to the PBS" if it subsidised the drug, with experts speculating this could be because it could potentially be diverted for illegal use.
Anti-ADHD drug campaigner MP Martin Whitely, says it is a "seemingly absurd inconsistency that the medicine is not considered safe enough for adults but is considered safe for children".

"If it isn't proved to be safe enough for adults there is no way it should be given to children," he said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Ageing said the Therapeutic Goods Administration had assessed Concerta as "safe and effective for adults. However, in making its recommendation I can confirm that the PBAC took into account the cost effectiveness of the drug in comparison with alternative therapies for adults," the spokeswoman said.
The electronic Medicine Compendium website, which provides information from the drug company Janssen-Cilag the manufacturer of Concerta warns: "Long-term use of methylphenidate has not been systematically evaluated in controlled trials."
The drug has been linked to a (10mmHg) rise in blood pressure in children, sudden death in those with cardiac abnormalities, can potentially make aggression worse, cause the onset of tics and reduced weight gain and growth retardation.
An eight-year West Australian study on the use of psychostimulants in children found they increased the probability of a child medicated for ADHD falling behind at school by 950 per cent.
Child psychiatrist Jon Jureidini, who heads the department of Psychological Medicine at Flinders University, says he thinks the drug is prescribed for too many children and given there is a rare chance it could kill children with heart problems it should be used "very rarely".
Janssen-Cilag told the PBAC the medication was already subsidised on the PBS for adults who were diagnosed with ADHD before they turned 18.

dailytelegraph.com.au 9 Sep 2012

Another policy to experiment on the children of the canon fodder.

A 'disease' manufactured by the 'authorities' to control the masses.

Jobs market weak despite jobless fall

Despite another fall in the unemployment rate, the labour force figures offer plenty of support for the idea that the jobs market is weak.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday showed the number of people employed in August fell by 8,800 or 0.1 per cent.
But the number unemployed fell even faster, by 10,600 or 1.7 per cent.
As a result, the unemployment rate - the number unemployed as a percentage of the labour force fell to - 5.1 per cent, from 5.2 per cent in July and 5.3 per cent in June.
The lower jobless rate gives the impression of a strong labour market.
And it's certainly been strong enough to keep the unemployment rate down.
But that's been in large part the result of a declining participation rate.
That's the proportion of the working-age population either employed or fitting the standard definition of unemployed - jobless, looking for work and ready to start.
The participation rate peaked at 66 per cent in November 2010.
If it had stayed there, and employment had grown as the ABS reported, then faster growth in the available labour force would have spilled over into higher unemployment.
If that had happened, then the unemployment rate would now be 6.5 per cent, not 5.1 per cent.
But the participation fell to 65 per cent, a five-year low, in August.
And a declining participation rate is generally a sign of a soft labour market.
People respond to the scent of a job by joining the hunt but when the trail goes cold they give up.
So, while the unemployment rate is a positive sign, the participation rate's downward trend is a negative sign.
And so is the flat trend in employment.
Alternating ups and downs over the past four months have just about exactly cancelled each other out.
The ABS estimates the trend in employment is rising at a rate of 1,200 or 0.01 per cent per month, a pace that's - for practical purposes - as flat as yesterday's beer, about one fifteenth of what might be considered normal.
There's a good chance that the trend in reality may be positive, a consequence of an apparent pick-up in immigration that has not shown up in the population estimates underpinning the bureau's estimate of employment.
Even so, the fact is that the trend is not strong enough to prevent unemployment from rising unless the proportion of the population active in the labour market falls.
For those concerned about the direction for interest rates, this all means that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) can probably consider cutting the cash rate again, if it feels the need, without worrying too much about sparking a push in wages growth spurred by lower unemployment.

ninemsn.com.au 6 Sep 2012

Another deliberately perpetuated government fraud.

Since the 'official' government jobless rate is a figure that influences the multibillion dollar economy, the government is (falsely) portraying an optimistic figure.

As a result of this (for example), interest rates can remain as they are or increased for the benefit of the banking community, rather than being reduced.

Many industry's have experienced job losses, but the government persists to perpetuate false information.

Many industry analysts use the more realistic figure of over 8%, where the actual figure is closer to 9.5%.

No one from the corporate media dares to challenge this fraudulent figure of 5.1%

Study links high-sugar diet to brain shrinkage

NEW research linking a diet high in sugar and processed foods to brain shrinkage has prompted a rethink on safe blood sugar levels.

People with blood sugar levels of 4ml-6.1ml were found to have a greater risk of the brain atrophy that occurs with ageing and dementia, researchers at the Australian National University's College of Medicine found.

These blood sugar levels are not high enough to meet the clinical definition for type 2 diabetes and are at the upper end of the normal range, which has surprised researchers.
The research may force doctors to redefine what blood glucose levels are dangerous.
The study found that the loss of brain volume affected mostly memory and cognitive skills.
Dr Nicolas Cherbuin, who conducted the study, said the research suggested long-term exposure to  foods like sugary drinks and white flour were responsible for the problem.
Previous medical research found higher levels of brain shrinkage among the obese and patients with type 2 diabetes.
"These findings suggest that even for people who do not have diabetes, higher blood sugar levels could have an impact on brain health,'' Dr Cherbuin said.
"More research is needed, but these findings may lead us to re-evaluate the concept of normal blood sugar levels and the definition of diabetes,'' he said.
After controlling for age, high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol use and other factors the study found blood sugar accounted for six to ten per cent of the brain shrinkage.
The study involved  249 Canberra residents aged 60-64 who had an MRI scan of the brain and a blood glucose test and  were then retested four years later.
The shrinkage of the brain was measured by comparing brain size in the two MRIS.
Dr Cherbuin says he is now undertaking new research to see whether people aged in their 40's and 50's experience the same brain shrinkage.
The best way to avoid brain shrinkage was to eat low- glycaemic foods and avoid sugary soft drinks and highly processed foods that used sugar, white flour and fat, he said. Physical activity also helped lower blood sugar levels.

news.com.au 5 Sep 2012

Army sorry over the cover-up of a hit-and-run in which the victim was 'only an Arab'

MORE than 18 years after he reported a senior soldier for a hit-and-run car accident in the Middle East, David Hartshorn has finally received an apology after an Army cover-up of the crime.

The former sergeant was fobbed off by everyone from then Defence Personnel Minister Bronwyn Bishop down, after he ignored orders to keep the crime secret because the woman struck by an Australian 4WD vehicle in Egypt in August 1994 was ''only an Arab''.
His final quest for justice was to report it to the DLA Piper Review of abuse in Defence and he believes the apology he has received from Army Chief Lieutenant General David Morrison and the Inspector General of Defence Geoff Earley came directly as a result of the ADFA Skype-sex inquiry.
The government will soon respond to the Piper review, which recommended action on 775 credible claims of abuse in the military.
It is understood that it favours an amnesty deal and a Royal Commission into the claims, but it is complicated by the inclusion of several very prominent names in the ''accused'' columns of the classified report.

According to sources the names include two former Defence chiefs, at least one ex-service chief and numerous serving senior officers.
Lieutenant General Morrison did what his five predecessors, Generals John Sanderson, Frank Hickling, Peter Cosgrove, Peter Leahy and Ken Gillespie, all chose not to do and has apologised to the Toowoomba-based former sergeant.
Mr Hartshorn was in the front passenger seat of a van driven by his Regimental Sergeant Major which hit the woman in central Cairo at a speed of about 40 km/h.
Because the vehicle never stopped at the time and no one found out later, it is not known what happened to her.
''I am sorry that your treatment by Army was so poor that you felt forced to discharge from Army in 1998 and I regret this set of circumstances. Thank you for your good soldiering and for upholding Army's values,'' he wrote .
In a letter dated March 1998 an adviser to then Defence Personnel Minister Bronwyn Bishop wrote to him, ''With regard to your request for an apology from the Chief of Army, this has been given careful consideration and it has been decided to refuse your request.''
The current Inspector General of Defence Geoff Earley declined to further investigate Mr Hartshorn's claims, but praised his actions.
''I accept that you saw it your duty to bring the traffic accident in Egypt to the attention of your chain of command and that this action was consistent with the culture of reporting issues/incidents that the ADF wishes to encourage,'' Mr Earley wrote.
Mr Hartshorn said it was incredible that it had taken 18 years and half a dozen inquiries, including the DLA Piper Review, for authorities to admit that his actions were proper.
''I hope and pray that the hundreds of other complainants, subjected to much worse abuse than I was, may soon find closure for their own cases,'' he said.

news.com.au 30 Aug 2012

The government is only sorry that the cover-up got exposed, rather than from the actual content of the crime.

There is no remorse over the crime committed, as this is the attitude or mentality of the people in charge.

18 years of government crime cover-ups in this arena is a short time.

There is far more crime committed than the media is allowed to report.

Governments and the people they support are above the law when it comes to the criminal 'justice' system.

Another legacy of corrupt governance.

Centrelink harassing jobless

In a recent report by the corporate media, it was made known that the government’s welfare strong arm Centrelink, is allowing its welfare recipients wait for two hours or more before being attended to.

It has also been mentioned that the jobless are expected to survive on $35 per day from the welfare payments received, even though this figure is ‘officially’ approximately 60% below the poverty line.

There have even been put forward challenges for politicians to live on $35 per day, with a response from labour MP Bill Shorten, that he is also struggling to make ends meet on $330,00 per year.

Whilst politicians give themselves pay rises of anything between $11,000 to $60,000 per year, a proposal put forward for a pay increase of $50 per week or $2,600 per year was rejected.

The discriminatory reality is that welfare recipients, particularly the unemployed, are not only frowned upon by ‘authorities’ but are labelled the derogatory Australian term ‘dole bludgers’.

A social function that included many Centrelink staff, netted disturbing results as to the attitude of the staff towards welfare recipients and an insight as to what goes on behind the scenes.

Employees mentioned how they deliberately put the welfare recipient on hold, meanwhile going out for a smoke break, and a morning tea break, taking their time, stopping and having lengthy chats with other staff members about the weekend or current sporting event.

Centrelink staff members also laughed at how they deliberately leave the recipients on hold for extended periods of time, justifying themselves by saying “we don’t give a f..k”, “they need us in order to get paid, so we’ll make them wait as long as we can”.

The abuse continues further by staff saying that if the customer complains, “we just hang up on them”.

This form of harassment would be unacceptable from the public, but since it comes from authorities, not only is it acceptable, supported but also covered up.