Wires Crossed #116 – April 26

Self-Imposed Fine By Judge Over Smartphone

Self-Imposed Fine By Judge Over Smartphone
Those who live by the sword shall die by it, or in this case, those who set the rules have to live by them.  A Michigan judge, Raymond Voet, found himself in contempt of court and fined himself $25 when his mobile phone went off during a court session. Voet has strict standards when it comes to mobile phones making noises in his court room, and regularly finds police, lawyers and families in contempt over the issue. Unfortunately, he has a new touchscreen phone and he bumped it during a session and it starting talking to him. Not wanting to been seen to be above the law, he fined himself and paid the money straight away.

Apple Forgiven – 30 Years Later
Talk about holding a grudge. It’s only taken 30 years but Apple is now allowed back to the La Playa Carmel hotel complex after being banned for hijinks during a conference it held there back in 1983. That was when Apple was still trying to find its feet and they didn’t have a corporate image to uphold. Now under new management, the resort has said all is forgiven and the company is welcome back any time.

Panasonic President Gets Huge Pay Cut
This is what people like to hear when companies are struggling and doing it hard – accountability at the executive level. Panasonic has had falling earnings recently and decided that sacrifice starts at the top. The company’s president, Kazuhiro Tsuga, and incoming Chairman, Shusaku Nagae, will be taking up to 60 percent pay cuts due to the company’s underperformance.  None of this “you owe us” mentality you get from execs on Wall St.

Translation Saves Marseille Footballer From Twitter Fine
Controversial English footballer Joey Barton has caused many problems on Twitter – from blasting other players, to giving to former clubsa serve – but his latest insult is causing problems for a whole different  reason. Barton, who plays for Marseille, called Paris Saint-Germain defender Thiago Silva an ‘overweight ladyboy’ on Twitter. The French Football Federation didn’t take too kindly so decided to discipline the midfielder. However, it appears there is a translation issue in that nobody is quite sure what an overweight ladyboy means in Portuguese (Silva’s native language). Until that happens, the federation is unwilling to rule on the case.