Commentary from Datasharp Telecom, one of the leading independent telecoms companies in the UK focusing on emerging technologies from within the telecommunications sector. VoIP, IP telephony, PABX, hybrid IP systems, hosted solutions, convergance technologies.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Romanian cops cuff drunk, naked, handless driver

No licence, naturally

Romanian traffic cops in the seaside town of Constanta were rather surprised to discover that the driver of a BMW they pulled for zigzagging across the road had no licence, no hands, no clothes, and was figuratively legless, evz.ro reports.

Aurel Olteanu, 23, tested positive for twice the drink-drive limit, and put his lack of clothes down to a trip to a local nudist beach, which he'd left in a bit of a hurry.

The reason for Olteanu's amputated hands is not noted, but the Beemer was an automatic, which must have made things a bit easier for him.

According to Ananova, police sub-inspector Marius Ghita said: "He had no licence, but told us he had developed his own special way of driving."

Olteanu has been charged with drunk driving and driving without a licence, having apparently avoided a public decency rap.

eBayer mails UK lad £44,000

Got more than the PS2 he was expecting

A 16-year-old Norfolk lad got more than he bargained for when he successfully bid £95 for a PS2 on eBay - the console plus €65,400 (£44k) in cash, the BBC reports.

Police are currently holding the wonga - which arrived with the games console at the teen's Norfolk home back in March and was reported by his parents - under the Proceeds of Crime Act. According to the BBC, magistrates gave Norfolk cops until September to trace the owner, at which time the case will return to court.

The family could then apply to claim the funds under the Police Property Act, although the powers-that-be can obtain a further order to hang onto the booty pending further investigation.

An eBay spokesman said: "We know that eBay is a great place to pick up a bargain, although in this case, we agree that the contents of the parcel were somewhat unusual and we will assist with any inquiries the police may wish to make."

German hurls computer from apartment block

'Who hasn't felt like doing that?' admit police

A German chap who demonstrated his frustration with his PC by throwing it out of the window escaped a fine when police oficers decided they rather sympathised with his actions.

According to the Evening Standard, Hanover cops were alerted in the middle of night by neighbours who reported a "loud crash" outside their apartment block. Officers duly attended the scene, finding the pavement strewn with electronic debris.

The unnamed 51-year-old perp explained he'd "got annoyed" with his machine, which struck a chord with the police officer who admitted: "Who hasn't felt like doing that?"

Accordingly, he was not sanctioned for disturbing the peace, but was made to clear up the mess. The make of computer and offending OS are not noted.

Mobile-mast danger is all in your head

'If you believe something's going to harm you, it will'


Researchers investigating the health effects of mobile phone masts have found that sufferers report symptoms regardless of whether the equipment is actually on or off.

The academic investigators were led by Professor Elaine Fox of the University of Essex, and their report was published by Environmental Health Perspectives, a peer-reviewed journal run by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

During the study, 56 people who said they suffered adverse health effects from mobile mast transmissions were compared with 120 controls. Twelve of the professedly mast-sensitive individuals dropped out after the "open" testing, in which subjects were told whether or not a transmission was actually happening, as did five controls.

The remaining 44 mast-sensitives and 115 controls were then put through "double-blind" tests in which neither they nor the researchers knew whether the equipment was transmitting. The trials employed both GSM and UMTS transmissions.

A few of the subjects correctly guessed the answer every time, but the report authors said that was to be expected.

"Participant performance for each group did not differ from chance," they wrote.

There was an apparent correlation at first between UMTS signals and the sensitive group's reports of "arousal", but the scientists said this was caused by the fact that the random test equipment happened to generate a lot of UMTS transmissions during early stages, when the subjects were anxious.

According to the researchers, the trial results showed that "exposure from mobile phone technology is not related to levels of well-being or physical symptoms in [mast-sensitive] individuals".

"Furthermore, [mast-sensitive] individuals are unable to detect the presence of [transmissions] under double-blind conditions. It remains the case however, that [mast-sensitive] individuals present with a range of distressing and serious symptoms and often have a very poor quality of life."

It seems that the presence of mobile phone masts can indeed make people severely ill, but this has nothing to with radio waves - and probably everything to do with the fact that the sufferers expect to be harmed.

Professor Fox told the BBC that "belief is a very powerful thing .. If you really believe something is going to do you some harm, it will."

So now we only need to worry about the dangers of Wi-Fi...