What Caught My Eye Today - North of the Border Edition

Fred's Note: I'm chilling it north of the border hanging out with the family. Being four hours ahead of my normal time zone, not only am I able to what the Tour de France at a much more reasonable hour, but I also find myself with a bit more free time in the morning. So without further adieu...

Facebook - This was a pretty major headline in Canada last week. The writing is on the wall for Facebook, do more to protect the privacy of Canadian users of face the threat of court action. Canada's Privacy Commissioner posted a message in a report that warns the personal information of Facebook users may be at risk and said that Facebook breaches federal privacy law by keeping users' personal information indefinitely--even after members close their accounts. The Commissioner did acknowledge that the social networking phenomenon has highlighted the fact some people are quite comfortable showcasing their lives online. Ah yes, there is that. I have a Facebook account too, and like many things in life, a bit of due diligence is called for. Would you walk up to a total stranger on the street and start talking about that bender you went on over the weekend? Probably not. So why in the world would you brag about it (or worse yet, post photos of your debauchery) where millions of strangers can see it. Sure Facebook could improve its privacy safeguards, but maybe some of the responsibility for protecting one's privacy lies with the rocket scientists who are publishing their innermost secrets in the first place. If you ask me, Facebook would be much better served fixing the bugs in Mafia Wars. I'm just saying.

Nepal - Corruption is so endemic in Nepal that bribery is almost to be expected at Kathmandu's international airport. Big deal, In the States, we deal with bribery everyday--"Come on dude, my bag is only 5 pounds over the weight limit. Can't we make a deal or something?"--plus we have to contend with crap service, long lines, and rude people. So you'll forgive me if I don't seem too sympathetic to the situation in Nepal. In a bid to boost tourism, the government has devised a clever way to deter staff from soliciting "tea money" from hapless travellers: pocketless pants. Gimme a minute. I'll explain. This is all on the up-and-up. The government determined that airport officials should be given trousers with no pockets so that the would-be bribe-takers would have nowhere to hide their spoils. To me this is yet another example of the most effective solutions tend to also be the simplest ones. Last year Nepal ranked 131 out of 180 nations on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. Should you be curious, Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden were ranked #1; Canada was #9 (you go, Canada); and the U.S. came in at #18 (really? that high?).

New Zealand - This story broke late last month, but I just heard about it yesterday, so it's news to me. The instructions in Air New Zealand’s new in-flight safety video are given by employees who are nude except for body paint and strategically placed seat belts. And get this, the employees are...how should I put this...not ugly. Yeah, baby! The video and commercial are not as revealing as some might think (or perhaps hope, given the toned bodies of the employees). The realistic body paint makes it look as if the employees — flight attendants, baggage handlers and a pilot — are wearing uniforms. The one person not shown doing his actual job is the company’s buff chief executive, Rob Fyfe, who plays a baggage handler. Good for them. I'm not a big fan of air travel these days, but I am sympathetic to the fact that being in the airline industry these days pretty much sucks. It's nice to see at least one airline somehow manages to keep its sense of humor.

Tour de France - Stage #18 (the 40.5k individual time trial) is in progress as I write this. The big fireworks came in yesterday's stage in the Alps which included 4 category 1 climbs. Our man Alberto Cantador opened up a 2 minute 6 second advantage over his closest competitor--who is no longer Lance Armstrong. Armstrong played the dutiful teammate, marking another overall classification contender and in the process gave up precious time to Cantador and slipping to 4th place, 3 minutes 55 seconds of the lead. It is more than likely that Lance will work his way back onto the podium after today's time trial (the dudes in front of him aren't very good at this particular discipline), so that's all good. However (and I'll freely admit that I'm an Armstrong fan), it's pretty plain to see that having so many top flight riders on one team--Armstrong, Cantador, Kloden, and Leipheimer (who withdrew from the race with a fractured wrist) can really mess with your team strategy.

Ashes - This one goes out to my main man, Rod. When last we left the biennial cricket contest between England and Australia, the first test resulted in a draw (I think) and the second test was just getting underway. Well, England won the second test (I think), and now leads with three tests left to contest (I think). So there you have it. Have I mentioned how fascinating this sport is? I think I have.