The Weekly Round-Up: 27.06.03

In a week when a gatecrasher at somebody's 21st birthday makes the news (doesn't this happen every weekend, at parties up and down the country?) you'd be forgiven for thinking nothing of any note has happened during the past seven days.

But think again.

One of the big stories this week - which has got many of you writing in already is news that the government is planning to make driving with a mobile phone to your ear an offence.

The Round-Up was put in mind of an incident witnessed first hand the other week. Crossing Tower Bridge on the way in to Silicon Towers the Round-Up looked on as a large van crashed into the back of a car, smashing the rear windscreen and crumpling the back foot and a half of the bodywork.

The driver in the cab of the van was chatting away on his mobile phone... "Sorry mate, I've got to go, I've just smashed into the back of somebody..." he probably said.

Most of you agree with this change in the law. But some of you are outraged. There are three lines of argument favoured by the pro-phone lobby.

Firstly there is: "What is the difference between talking to your mate sitting in the passenger seat and talking to your mate on the phone?"

Secondly we hear: "So what next: are we going to ban using car radios or cigarette lighters?"

And thirdly there's this chestnut. "The police are allowed to drive, at high speeds while talking into phones or radios, why can't we - this is just one rule for them and another for us..."

Many of you will doubtless have opinions about the first couple of points but the let the Round-Up address the third.

Putting aside the fact that the police are allowed to do a lot of things which we aren't - such as dress up in uniforms and handcuff people (though the Round-Up concedes that Tory ministers and members of the clergy have also been known to do both) - let's put this into some perspective.

The police undertake extensive training before they are allowed to drive with the 'blues and twos' going - as a necessity they may also be in radio contact with their control or other units (though it's worth noting the driver is not alone in the car and whoever is 'riding shotgun' can easily handle the radio on the driver's behalf).

The police may also be responding to an incident where somebody's life is at risk. As such there's an argument for saying their actions - while undoubtedly fraught with danger - are unavoidable and necessary. The Round-Up is not sure the same can be said about trying to arrange your night out or have a chat with the 'other half' about that night's dinner while navigating a roundabout or a tricky right-turn (which is a tricky left-turn, for all you US readers out there - and if you're wondering what a roundabout is - it's a British invention for making crossroads more interesting).

By and large there is no need to talk on a mobile phone while driving. Of course there are exceptions but tell that to the judge.

Speaking of judges, there's a legal brouhaha brewing over a message board for employees past and present of networking services firm ThruPoint.

It's been rumoured that ThruPoint is restructuring at the moment and details of the changes were posted onto the aforementioned message board after they were somehow 'liberated' from the company.

The controversial nature of the leak - which the company is putting down to a "disgruntled employee" breaking into a secure server - means ThruPoint has the law on its side in this dispute. As such the website was slapped with a court order and forced to remove details which outlined a number of major changes at the company.

ThruPoint was obviously keen to nip this leak in the bud - especially given the very specific details of the leaked document - which the Round-Up, sadly, isn't allowed to share.

But if it's scandal and intrigue you're after, look no further.

By now we are surely all familiar with the Nigerian 419 scam.

A quick look through this morning's emails and the Round-Up can see that Arnold Ekata Agboga, Mariam Abacha, Sesi-Seko Abacha, Manu Oluembe and Chekwu Chekewumbo among others are all offering the Round-Up a share in an unclaimed fortune. (Which one to go for... so many choices.)

But one name stood out among all the others. Enter one Asgeir Armgrimmson.

(Drum roll please.) He's silicon.com's very first Icelandic 419 scammer.

The premise of his email is identical to all other 419 scams. Somebody very rich - in this instance the CEO of a Nordic fishing company - has stashed away millions of dollars (Kroner surely...) in a secret bank account, which was set up to keep his money away from his gold-digging ex-wife (nice touch).

Sadly he's only gone and died and now our man on the inside needs an overseas bank account into which to transfer the money. In return for providing the details to enable this, one lucky punter will get a share of the fortune...

Sound familiar? Asgeir insists: "I am not a Nigerian and this proposal has no liking as such. I therefore politely but seriously request that you do not treat this as one of these junks you may have heard about."

Well the Round-Up is convinced.

Less convincing however, is this announcement from Vodafone.

"The England cricket team can now claim to be the most high-tech cricketers, as team sponsor Vodafone is giving them the latest mobile technology to cope with a hectic life on the move," it begins, before giving us a run-down of what technology they are being given (for the record it's the Ericsson T610i handset with tri-band GPRS, digital camera and "plenty of talk time").

Which is nice of Vodafone - even if seems the players were perhaps a little too keen to get back to the dressing room and play with their phones yesterday, when they were meant to be batting.

Cue England team coach Duncan Fletcher.

"Communication between the players and management is crucial. Gone are the days of passing notes under player's doors at the hotels to inform them of training times. Some of the players are good at working with technology. Some have their emails voiced out to them on their iPaqs and it obviously cannot quite get a couple of names right."

"Its pronunciation of Trescothick always causes a few laughs," he quipped.

You probably had to be there Duncan.

The Round-Up is a little suspicious as to whether Duncan Fletcher has ever uttered these words and was put in mind of another Vodafone press release, from the annals, which gave us reason to be wary.

Back in August of last year, David Beckham said of his deal to endorse Vodafone: "It's great to be working with Vodafone on a personal level. I'm really looking forward to being involved in developing the unique Vodafone range of services."

Oh did he now?

And finally, last week the Round-Up brought you news of a company called Powergen Italia and its unfortunate www.powergenitalia.com domain name.

But there's more. It turns out that if you want to register a domain which is going to be accessible to the whole world you should probably look at employing a team of linguists to vet your selections. One Round-Up reader from Sweden - now living in the UK - pointed us in the direction of a website run by the Territorial Army, encouraging wannabe-(part time)-squaddies to sign up and get fitter. The website, now sadly taken down (we can only guess at the reason) was called www.GetFitta.co.uk. So what? Apart from being an awful spelling there's nothing wrong with that. Is there?

Find a Swede (who is unlikely to sue you for sexual discrimination - because it's pretty smutty) and ask them what 'Fitta' means. The Round-Up couldn't possibly say but is told this website has been a source of great mirth in Scandinavia, where it left web surfers very disappointed upon realising it was just an advert for British reservists.

The Round-Up is now off to gatecrash a 21st birthday party and talk dirty to some Swedes.