Crime poster ~ Police releasing e-fit of accused burglar ~~!!

A few days back, a  38 year old woman from Chennai lost her life in a blast in Bangalore.  Now it is reported that Investigators have zeroed in on some terror groups and  sketches of suspects have been drawn.  The ACP is quoted as saying that they would be matching the sketches with the suspect list.  Many a times, the Police would make posters of the suspects based on the sketches too – and a CCTV camera would make that job of providing a face to the suspect, lot easier.  For making a sketch, defined impression of traits would help – say the shape of the face, the cut of the hair, the colour of eyes, the chin, the way nose or ear looked, physical description including the height, shoulders and more. 

Researchers are identifying genes that give rise to a person's physical traits, such as facial structure, skin colour or even whether they are right- or left-handed. That could allow police to build a picture of what a criminal looks like not just from sometimes-fuzzy eyewitness accounts, but by analyzing DNA found at a crime scene. Forensic experts are increasingly relying on DNA as "a genetic eyewitness."  The push to predict physical features from genetic material is known as DNA forensic phenotyping.

Cinema often portrays things that are unlikely to happen or what normal persons would not do ~ but that is what tickles people into laughter.  Vadivelu in  Nagaram, a film directed by Sundar C ~ rocked as Style Pandi, a character indulging in thefts rocks.  This reportedly was based on the 1993 American movie Carlito's Way. In one scene, Vadivelu would enter an empty house for burgling the contents, when the lights gets switched on, there would be hundreds of police cops; later he would be taken in a waiting police vehicle – and cops would give extra blow for a poster. Yes, a poster – poster put up by his disciples,  hailing his 100th robbery – pasted everywhere in the town – and on the police vehicle too…….. 

Elsewhere in Derbyshire, Police  have  released 'e-fit' drawn by three-year-old - and somehow he's still at large  !!!  A three-year-old girl whose home was broken into while she slept upstairs has drawn a picture of a burglar to help police hunt him down.  Detectives told little Evelyn Bardgett, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, her sketch 'would make a good e-fit' as they took statements from parents Stephen, 36 and Lucy, 31.

Cruel burglars used a spade from the garden shed to force open a kitchen window and get inside the home. They stole an iPad and Mr Bardgett's wallet. Evelyn drew the picture to help police catch burglars who broke into her house as she and her parents slept. Police confirmed the raid was one of five homes,  targetted by the same gang overnight between Monday and Tuesday in the past week.  Mr Bardgett, a self-employed floor layer, said: 'The worst thing is knowing that someone has been in your house and searching around while you were asleep upstairs.

It is reported that the culprits were there on the premises for at least two hours and scenes-of-crime officers and CID came too. Derbyshire Police said cash, jewellery, laptops and mountain bikes were stolen from other properties in the same area in the spate of burglaries between Monday night and Tuesday morning.

~ and Police are after the culprit, trying to pick up clues from the e-fit drawn by the 3 year old !!

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

2nd Feb 2015.

McDonald's last cheeseburger sold in Iceland in 2009 in museum

Norse religion refers to the religious traditions of the Norsemen prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, specifically during the Viking Age. It is a folk religion,  and after 1000 years – a temple, reportedly is coming up.  News reports suggest that Icelanders will soon be able to publicly worship at a shrine to Thor, Odin and Frigg with construction starting this month on the island’s first major temple to the Norse gods since the Viking age.

The McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald.  A McDonald's restaurant is operated by either a franchisee, an affiliate, or the actual corporation itself.  Recently, Mcdonald was in news due to a reported outrageous incident of pushing out a child in its Pune outlet. 

Mcdonalds, KFC and more global firms have entered India … this one is their closing down elsewhere. MailOnline reports of ‘burger and chips’ in National museum in Iceland.  Reykjavík is the capital of Iceland. Its latitude, at 64°08' N, makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state and a popular tourist destination. Reykjavík is believed to be the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland, which Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have established around AD 870.

It is reported that the  McDonald's meal has spent the last year on display in Iceland's national museum, after the final fast food outlet shut down in the country. Now, the salty snack has gone one step further in becoming a historic item, going on display in a hostel - complete with a webcam so fans can document the food as it decays.  It is the last McDonald's burger and fries sold in Iceland that is on display at the Bus Hostel in Reykjavik

The one displayed at Bus Hostel in Reykjavik is the last  purchased cheeseburger from the chain, which left Iceland in 2009 ~ and it's still in its original wrapper.  Iceland's economic crash in late 2008 ultimately led the global fast food chain to close their doors in the country. The last day that locals could pick up a McDonald's burger was October 31, 2009. One particularly forward-thinking man, Hjortur Smarason, went to McDonald's the day before to pick up one of the final offerings - not to eat, but to keep on his garage shelf.

~ and it is that last McDonald's burger sold in Iceland that is on display ! .. The property has also set up a livestream for those who can't make it to Reykjavik to watch it rot and decay from anywhere in the world.  It could be a slow process, however, as the livestream site warns that 'you will have to be patient to see any changes' in its appearance. 

Strange are the ways of people !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

4^th Feb 2015.

wrong payment by Insurers and extra recovery through Court !!

Often, Insurance Companies are portrayed in poor light in Tamil Cinema ~ many a times, people would talk of bribing people to have a property loss exaggerated and paid.  There have been scenes of people faking death to get paid under life insurance policies and a frail-looking Officer of the Company would come for verification and pay suitcase full of cash ! [in Cinema, the insurance payment is done in cash at the doorstep !!]

Away under US Code, there is special provision for recovery – it states that in addition to any other method of recovery provided by law, the Secretary concerned may authorize the recovery of any amount erroneously paid to a person by deduction from later payments to that person.  However, recovery of  an amount erroneously paid to a person is not required if, in the judgment of the Secretary concerned— there has been no fault by the person to whom the amount was erroneously paid; and recovery of such amount would be contrary to the purposes or against equity and good conscience.

Insurance bad faith is a legal term of art unique to the law of the United States that describes a tort claim that an insured person may have against an insurance company for its bad acts. Under the law of most jurisdictions in the United States, insurance companies owe a duty of good faith and fair dealing to the persons they insure.  If an insurance company violates that covenant, the insured person (or "policyholder") may sue the company on a tort claim in addition to a standard breach of contract claim.

Away in UK, two sisters were ecstatic when Insurance letter arrived informing of windfall settlement of  £110,000 insurance  after their  father's death - but were forced to pay it all back because it was the wrong man's money.

Elaine Briscoe and Sandy Millington were delighted when the six-figure cheque arrived after a three-year battle to track down the missing pension of Robert Gent. They immediately split £40,000 between his four grandchildren - as former grave-digger Mr Gent had wanted - and spent around £20,000 more.  The sisters had spent three years in vain trying to get the pension for their father after he retired at the age of 65 in 2008. They had still not managed to track it down by the time he died three years later but vowed to continue looking for it in his memory.

So they were overjoyed when Friends Life sent the cheque to their solicitors in October 2013; but  within a month their joy turned to horror when ‘Friends Life’ announced they had given them the pension belonging to another customer with the same name.  After spending much of the sum, the sisters were horrified to learn of the mistake and struggled to repay the total. They were recently forced to pay Friends Life £7,000 on top of the full amount paid back as the Insurance company threatened them with legal action. 

The devastated pair were forced to sell their father's house - which they planned to keep as an investment - to repay the money they had spent. They also had to borrow from friends and other relatives to make up the full amount of £108,895 and paid it all back within a year, by last October. Still,  Friends Life took them to court earlier this month and obtained an order to get even more from them - £6,000 in costs plus £1,000 in interest. The company admitted making an error but said they were forced to launch legal action because the executors told them the money had been distributed and would not be repaid and the parties could not settle the matter amicably.

Thus the botched Insurance payout cost the sisters an extra £7,000.  Going by the timeline, in Sept 2008, Robert Gent retired from grave-digging and while the sisters attempted to obtain father’s pension, he passed away in 2011.  Later in Oct 2013, Friendslife informed that they are owed £108,000 in their father's name. In Nov 13, after the amount was disbursed, Friendlife contacted the sisters informing that the payment was by mistake.  In Oct 14, the repayment is made after desperate borrowing and sale of house.  In Jan 15, the sisters are taken to Court and ordered to pay £6,000 in costs and £1,000 interest.

The sisters are quoted as saying  'We got quoted a point of law which says that no one should gain from a mistake, which we accept, but surely no one should have to pay for one either. The Company is quoted as saying that the significant overpayment was a result of human error !!

So, what is your say on this ?

With regards – S. Sampathkumar                                                                         4^th Feb 2015.

some music and .. .. a crazy !! marriage !!!

When Kondo decided to marry, he   started looking for wedding venues.  The first venue he had selected asked Kondo not to publicize the wedding online, fearing others would cancel their own weddings.  Ultimately, Kondo   arranged a formal wedding ceremony in Tokyo that cost 2 million yen. The marriage was attended by 39 people !! 

 

What is your favourite source of entertainment – how often do you listen to music .. .. the past few days at Thiruvallikkeni, Chithirai brahmothsavam gave an opportunity to listen to many Nadaswaram Vidwans rendering Thiyagaraja keerthanas and more .. .. a search on Sangeetha Kalanidhi Award led to finding few women who were crowned with the glory – the list starts with MS Subbulakshmi, ML Vasanthakumari, DK Pattammal and T. Brinda.   Vidushi T. Brinda  was from the   Veenai Dhanammal school of Carnatic Music. She was primarily a vocalist, although she also played the Veena.

In my school days, had heard of Western music and elites used to speak about troupes like ‘Abba’ and ‘Boney M’ !  ..  then in 1980s came the group ‘Osibisa’ – a  Ghanaian-English Afro rock band, founded in London in 1969 by four expatriate West African and three Caribbean musicians. One of their famous songs was ‘kilele!, kielele!!’ .. ..  I think, they performed and rocked loud at Nehru stadium. 

No post on Carnatic or Western music but a marriage related to a Musician!

Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project between Yamaha Corporation and the Music Technology Group in Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.  The software was ultimately developed into the commercial product "Vocaloid" that was released in 2004.

The  wedding ceremony took place on Nov. , 2018, and was attended by 39 people,  specifically chosen because it spells "Miku" in Japanese, with "mi" meaning three and "ku" nine. The people who attended were mostly strangers and people who found out about the wedding on Twitter; while he invited his family and co-workers, they didn't attend.   The wedding was attended by two Japanese politicians: Minoru Oginu [ja], assembly member of Ōta, and Taro Yamada [ja], member of the House of Councilors.

The marriage talked about was that of Akihiko Kondo, who symbolically married the fictional character Hatsune Mike,  who is a voicaloid.  It is stated that at high school, Kondo had an interest in real women, but  was rejected by them; soon after, he decided he would not marry one. Later, Kondo was bullied at work and he took sick leave due to depression. During his leave, in 2007, Kondo discovered Hatsune Miku; this helped Kondo to return to the workplace. In 2017, he purchased a Gatebox device that allowed people to interact with holograms, including Hatsune Miku. This device further helped Kondo's decision to hold a wedding with the character. The marriage, which was unofficial, elicited mixed reactions from people.

Hatsune Miku was represented by a small stuffed toy  — one he had bought in Sept 2010 — wearing a hand-made white dress, while Kondo wore a pure white tuxedo. After exchange of rings,  Kondo also held leeks, Hatsune Miku's trademark, which served as the bouquet. Japanese law does not allow for marriage with fictional characters; and hence the marriage is not legally recognised.  Kondo went on to say  in interviews that he specifically married his own Hatsune Miku, and that others could also marry Hatsune Miku if they wish.

The reactions were obviously mixed -  some greeted them while others badly criticised.  He reportedly received some death threats too !  Since then, Kondo has given lectures about his relationship, including at the Kyoto University. He has since identified as a fictosexual — people that have romantic attraction to fictional characters. In 2023, Kondo founded the General Incorporated Association of Fictosexuality to help the public's understanding of the subject.  

Hatsune Miku, officially code-named CV01,  is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. Miku's personification has been marketed as a virtual idol, and has performed at live virtual concerts onstage as an animated projection (rear-cast projection on a specially coated glass screen).  Miku uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid 2, Vocaloid 3, and Vocaloid 4 singing synthesizing technologies, and Crypton Future Media's Piapro Studio, a standalone singing synthesizer editor.

The name of the character comes from merging the Japanese words for first (初, hatsu), sound (音, ne), and future (ミク, miku),[a] thus meaning "the first sound of the future",  which, along with her code name, refers to her position as the first of Crypton's "Character Vocal Series" (abbreviated "CV Series"), preceding Kagamine Rin/Len (code-named CV02) and Megurine Luka (code-named CV03). The number 01 can be seen on her left shoulder in official artwork.

Strange are the ways of people.

 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
2^nd May 2024.