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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

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10 things not everybody knows about Sir Alex Ferguson

8 May 2013 Last updated at 14:12 GMT By Tom de Castella BBC News Magazine Various shots of Alex Ferguson

Ten slightly lesser-known facts about Sir Alex Ferguson, who has announced his resignation as Man Utd's manager after 26 years.

1. Once ran a pub. Ferguson has worked outside football, starting out as a shop steward in the Clyde shipyards and later running a pub in Glasgow that he renamed Fergie's with a downstairs bar named the Elbow Room in memory of his physical style as a player.

2. Intrigued by JFK. Gordon Brown sent him numerous CDs about the assassination of JFK. Ferguson bonded with Brown over a shared interest in US politics. "Gordon sent me 35 CDs on it, which was brilliant of him," he told Manchester radio station Key 103 in 2007. Ferguson is fascinated with JFK. He said he kept JFK's autopsy report by his bed. He also has a copy of the Warren Report signed by [the former US president] Gerald Ford.

3. Gave the young Kenny Dalglish lifts. When Ferguson was at Rangers he gave lifts to a young Kenny Dalglish who was hoping to be signed. "Fergie used to give us a lift into town. He had such a big car," Dalglish told the Guardian. When Dalglish was picked up by city rivals Celtic he was forced to play centre back and mark Ferguson in a reserve team game.

4. Told Alastair Campbell to get a masseur for Tony Blair. Ferguson was a big Labour donor and advised Tony Blair on leadership. The idea of getting a masseur for the election "battle bus" may have been a step too far, he later admitted. Better advice was when he said: "So long as you can keep all your key people in the same room at the same time, you'll be fine."

Ferguson with Tony Blair's spokesman Alistair Campbell in 2007

5. Not the longest serving manager. Ferguson was manager of Manchester United for 26-and-a-half years. The longest serving league manager in Europe was Guy Roux, who occupied the hotseat at French team Auxerre for 44 years, finally stepping down in 2005. Ferguson isn't even the longest serving Scottish manager. Willie Maley was Celtic manager from 1897-1940, clocking up 43 years.

6. Used to jump over jetties as a boy. He grew up in a poor area of Glasgow where there wasn't much to do apart from play football, fight and jump over jetties, known as dykes. "The dangerous ones had names - the king, the queen, the suicide, the diamond, the spiky," Ferguson once said. "You'd go to different areas of Govan to challenge each other into jumping dykes because it was very dangerous. But you do that when you're a kid because you've got no fear."

Anger management: Ferguson's temper is legendary

7. "Fergie time" is 79 seconds. "Fergie time" is the widely held belief by supporters of other team, that if Man Utd are losing after 90 minutes, the referee will extend injury time long enough for them to equalise or win. Last year, the BBC analysed Fergie time. It found that Man Utd were not unique in being given extra injury time when they were losing, although it appeared they got more than other teams. Games went on 79 seconds longer when Manchester United were losing than winning. Man Utd's towering achievement - securing the treble with victory in the 1999 European Champions League - was achieved in Fergie time, when they reversed a Bayern Munich lead, by scoring two goals after the 90th minute.

Sir Alex Ferguson and the Man Utd mascot

Call me Sir

8. Alex or Alec? Many people in football refer to him as Sir Alec, assuming that his Scottish background will mean his name is pronounced in that way. But Scotland is strangely split on the Alex/Alec question, with people slipping between the two, often without noticing. BBC Sportsound presenter Richard Gordon said he had found himself using both forms. He said that former Ferguson colleague Willie Miller often calls him Alec when talking on the radio and ex-Scotland manager Craig Brown is prone to using the informal Alec, quickly followed by the more respectable Sir Alex. Carole Hough, professor of onomastics, says she can think of no particular reason why people would choose one or the other, except that Alec is slightly shorter. She said both names were popular in Scotland and England, with Alec perhaps having more currency north of the border.

Continue reading the main story Ferguson chewing gum

Ferguson's habit of furious, grim-faced gum chewing, prompted the spoof news website Newsbiscuit to claim that "his gum chewing habits could power an area the size of Lincolnshire".

It's been estimated that Ferguson gets through about 10 sticks a match, which means that - over the course of his tenure at Man Utd - he's chewed enough sticks to stretch twice around the Old Trafford pitch.

9. The "hairdryer treatment" and "squeaky bum time". Ferguson was responsible for two memorable coinages. Players speak in awestruck tones of what it is like to be on the receiving end of Sir Alex's temper. The "hairdryer" - for its sound and heat - became the chosen phrase. Players talk of the moment a switch is flicked in Fergie's head, he presses his face close to the you and emits a terrifying torrent of abuse. Former United winger Lee Sharpe - famed for his extracurricular activities - has been credited with inventing the term. David Beckham said: "The fear of getting the hairdryer was the reason why we all played so well. He was a manager you wanted to do well for." Ferguson also put his finger on the agony of watching a tense sporting moment. It is thought he first used "squeaky bum time" in March 2003 as his Manchester United team clawed back the lead from rivals Arsenal in a tense finale. It has become part of the football argot, especially at the climax of a season. It first entered the Collins English dictionary in 2005 with the definition "the tense final stages of a league competition, especially from the point of view of the leaders". Wikipedia notes the act of "squirming or moving forward and back in one's seat while watching an exciting sporting event".

10. Home is called Fairfields. Ferguson lives in a mansion in Wilmslow, Cheshire. It is called Fairfields after the shipyard where his father worked.

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Money 'needed to make care cap work'

8 May 2013 Last updated at 12:50 GMT By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News An elderly woman's hand on a stick

Social-care budgets have already been squeezed in the past few years The government's commitment to reform social care will require greater investment, ministers have been told.

A bill limiting the cost to disabled and elderly people of their social care will form part of the government's legislative programme for the next year, the Queen's Speech revealed.

Previously ministers had proposed introducing a cap of £72,000 in 2016.

But campaigners and council chiefs told ministers budget cuts were already putting the system at risk.

Research by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) suggests the £16bn budget for social care, including services for both elderly and disabled people, is likely to be trimmed by £800m in the next 12 months.

It comes after nearly £2bn has already been cut from them in the past two years - despite the prospect of an extra 450,000 people needing state help following the introduction of a cap.

'Bleak'

ADASS president Sandie Keene said: "Gazing into the next two years, without additional investment from that already planned, an already bleak outlook becomes even bleaker."

Michelle Mitchell, of Age UK, added: "The legislation announced has the potential to transform our crumbling, unfair social-care system for current and future generations of older people.

"But to have any chance in succeeding we need to see the legislation twinned with a commitment in the spending review for increased spending on social care."

Currently anyone with assets of more than £23,250 faces unlimited costs.

But under the proposed changes, the state will pick up the bill as soon as an individual's costs hit £72,000.

The cap has been designed to protect people against the catastrophic costs that push some into selling their homes.

One in 10 people face costs above £100,000 for old-age care.

As well as paving the way for a cap, the legislation will also change the law regarding social care.

A report in 2011 by the Law Commission said current laws were "outdated and flawed".

There are currently more than 40 different laws that affect social care, but the government is seeking to replace them with a single piece of legislation so people can be clear about their rights.

For example, people with conditions that vary over time, such as bi-polar disorder or dementia, can currently, in theory, be excluded from care because of the contradictory way regulations are written.

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Spotify rushes to fix download flaw

8 May 2013 Last updated at 17:17 GMT Spotify logo

Many sites are susceptible to "ripping" of their content Music streaming site Spotify has rushed to fix a security hole that allowed users free song downloads.

Downloadify, an extension to Google's Chrome browser, enabled users to download MP3 files by exploiting a vulnerability in Spotify's web player.

Google removed the extension, but Downloadify was still available via other websites.

Spotify has confirmed to the BBC that the issue has now been fixed.

Downloadify was created by Dutch developer Robin Aldenhoven. On Twitter, he noted that music stored online by Spotify was not encrypted.

"I could not believe it myself that they did so little to protect their library," he wrote, later adding: "Spotify = awesome... so I don't want to damage them."

Infringement

Other web streaming services are susceptible to similar exploits. Various services allow for the downloading, knowing as "ripping", of content from sites such as YouTube.

Such actions are illegal and against the sites' terms of service.

Sheena Sheikh, a solicitor from intellectual property specialists Briffa, told the BBC that the law is straightforward on such downloading activity.

"You are committing an infringement," she said.

"You're not authorised to download the songs. You don't have permission."

Spotify is the world's most popular music streaming service. Recent figures from the company said the service has 24 million active users, of whom six million pay a monthly fee for added features.

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Week in pictures: 27 April - 3 May 2013

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Monday, May 13, 2013

AUDIO: Sexsomnia 'is a real condition'

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Motorola 'abused patent position'

6 May 2013 Last updated at 17:31 GMT Motorola building

Google - through Motorola - owns several patents critical to mobile phone use Google-owned Motorola Mobility abused its position in Germany's mobile market when it filed a patent injunction against Apple, EU officials have said.

Motorola won an injunction over Apple products that used patents relating to data transmission technology in February 2012.

Apple offered to pay Motorola a licence fee for using the patents - but the two companies could not agree on a price.

Apple products, including the iPhone, were taken off sale during the dispute.

Several models of the smartphone, and the iPad, were removed from sale on Apple's German website - but were still available in other stores in the country.

Data patents

The dispute revolves around the use of what are known as standard-essential patents (SEPs) - patents that are deemed essential to the operation of standards such as mobile phone signal.

In this case Motorola's innovation is deemed crucial to the GPRS data transmission standard used by GSM cellular networks across the world.

Holders of SEPs are obliged to licence the patent's use to competitors in return for a fee on so-called fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (Frand) terms. In simpler terms - a fair price.

The EU Competition Commission argued that Motorola sought an injunction despite Apple's apparent willingness to enter an agreement.

In a statement, the commission said: "while recourse to injunctions is a possible remedy for patent infringements, such conduct may be abusive where standard-essential patents are concerned and the potential licensee is willing to enter into a licence on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms."

'Consumer choice'

EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia added: "The protection of intellectual property is a cornerstone of innovation and growth. But so is competition.

"I think that companies should spend their time innovating and competing on the merits of the products they offer - not misusing their intellectual property rights to hold up competitors to the detriment of innovation and consumer choice."

The commission's stance forms part of its "preliminary view" on the case. Motorola is able to defend its position ahead of the final decision.

Motorola spokeswoman Katie Dove told AFP: "We agree with the European Commission that injunctions should only be sought against unwilling licensees and, in this case, Motorola Mobility followed the procedure established.

"Apple had to make six offers before the court recognised them as a willing licensee."

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