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There’s nothing in the world quite so cynical as advertising. Most of us just accept it as a fact of life, which it is. For some of us there’s always a little growl of annoyance at the back of our minds whenever we’re forced to put up with someone trying to sell us something. On one hand, a reasonable decision has to be that anyone selling anything needs to make consumers aware of what’s available. You can’t always rely on buyers to actively seek you out. Advertising is fair enough, on that basis. On the other hand there have always been limits to how pervasive this commercial intrusion into our lives can get. Roadside billboards, radio ads, TV ads and printed ads are a passive attempt to engage with people with money to spend. They’re fine. You don’t have to pay attention if you don’t want to, even though lots of people do nonetheless. No one can argue that you don’t sometimes gain useful information from advertising. It’s good to know, for example, that there’s a car parts shop half an hour’s drive from your house that you didn’t know about, and never would have known about if not for advertising. On the other hand, the age of connected devices has brought with it a very different type of advertising. We’re talking about pop-ups, banner ads that are impossible to close down, and pre/mid-roll on videos. These are the commercial realities of the digital age. Advertising helps keep publications like this running, so it would be mighty hypocritical of us to call it all bad. But it’s about to get worse. This week we learned of a system built by an American company called Telenav. It will allow advertisers to pipe their commercials directly to your car’s media screen when the car is stationary. Adverts you never asked for and never agreed to accept. This, we have a problem with. Adverts will be delivered either under threat of financial penalties if you don’t ‘choose’ to watch them, or with a bribe-shaped discount on the cost of your connected car services if you do watch them. It depends on which way you want to look at it. A Telenav spokesperson said: With technology already able to check which way your face is turned and which way your eyes are looking, the car could know whether you’re watching these commercials or not. It may even pause them if you look away, or refuse to let you access the net until you’ve watched the whole advert(s). Forgive me if I’m being over-dramatic, but that sounds like being held to ransom in your own car. Your car is your personal space. It’s a private cocoon that you keep exactly the way you want it. You make it look the way you want, you make it sound the way you want and you make it feel the way you want. Your choice of model alone is a reflection of who you are, even if the car itself is unmodified. It’s yours, and only you should get to decide what goes on inside it.

Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out an armed invasion by sending naval forces to occupy Sevastopol airport in the Crimea region. Russia's Black Sea Fleet denies its servicemen are blocking the airport. Another Crimean airport, Simferopol, has also been occupied by armed men, thought to be pro-Russia militia. Relations between the two countries have been strained since Viktor Yanukovych was ousted as Ukrainian president last week. Continue reading the main story At the Scene Christian FraserBBC News, near Sevastopol airport Sevastopol is by name an international airport, but civilian flights stopped some years ago, and it is owned by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. So it would be of no real consequence that soldiers are guarding a military base were it not for the fact no-one knows whose orders they are obeying. There are roadblocks springing up from here to the administrative capital Simferopol. The local parliament is in session there, but is sharing the municipal building with a paramilitary unit, and Simferopol airport is also under protection. The interim interior minister, however, is quite clear on his Facebook page who he thinks these units are. They are answering to the Russian Federation he said - and this, he adds, is a military takeover. Mr Yanukovych is now in Russia and expected to hold a news conference later in the city of Rostov-on-Don, near the Ukrainian border. He disappeared after leaving office but resurfaced in Russia on Thursday, asserting that he is still Ukraine's lawful president. Ukraine's general prosecutor has said he will ask Russia to extradite Mr Yanukovych, if it is confirmed that he is still there. In other developments: The BBC has seen eight trucks with the black plates of the Russian army moving towards Simferopol Unconfirmed reports say eight Russian military helicopters have arrived in Sevastopol Ukraine's central bank has put a 15,000 hryvnia (1,000 euro; £820) limit on daily cash withdrawals Armed Forces chief Yuriy Ilyin, appointed earlier this month by Mr Yanukovych, is sacked Ukraine's parliament calls on the UN Security Council to discuss the unfolding crisis in Crimea Lynchpin of struggle These tensions between Russia and Ukraine in the wake of Mr Yanukovych's departure have been particularly evident in Crimea, Ukraine's only Russian-majority region. The BBC's Bridget Kendall, in Moscow, says the Crimea is becoming the lynchpin of a struggle between Ukraine's new leaders and those loyal to Russia. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Russian soldiers had arrived in Sevastopol military airport near Russia's Black Sea Fleet Base on Friday morning. The men were patrolling outside, backed up by armoured vehicles, but Ukrainian military and border guards remained inside, Mr Avakov said. "I consider what has happened to be an armed invasion and occupation in violation of all international agreements and norms," Mr Avakov said on his Facebook page. Armed men also arrived at Simferopol airport overnight, some carrying Russian flags. A man called Vladimir told Reuters news agency he was a volunteer helping the group there, though he said he did not know where they came from. Continue reading the main story Crimea's airportsSimferopol is the main international terminal, serving the regional capital Sevastopol, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, has a Soviet-era military airport (Belbek) which was also used for civilian flights until some years ago. Ukrainian air force jets are stationed there The Russian Black Sea Fleet has aircraft stationed at other air bases in Crimea (Gvardeyskaya and Kacha) "I'm with the People's Militia of Crimea. We're simple people, volunteers," he said. Andriy Parubiy, acting chairman of Ukraine's National Security Council, has claimed that both airports are now back under the control of Ukrainian authorities. The airport occupation is latest in a series of moves to raise fears of unrest in Crimea, which traditionally leans towards Russia. On Thursday, a group of unidentified armed men entered Crimea's parliament building by force, and hoisted a Russian flag on the roof. The Crimean parliament later announced it would hold a referendum on expanding the region's autonomy from Ukraine on 25 May. Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged his government to maintain relations with Kiev, but he is also giving the Crimean government humanitarian aid. US Secretary of State John Kerry has called on all sides to "step back and avoid any kind of provocations". Financial strain On top of its political problems, Ukraine also faces huge financial hurdles. It says it needs $35 billion over the next two years to avoid default on its loans. Russia has suspended the next instalment of a $15bn loan because of the political uncertainty. Switzerland and Austria announced on Friday that it had launched an investigation against Mr Yanukovych and his son Aleksander for "aggravated money laundering". Austria also said it had frozen the assets of 18 Ukrainians suspected of violating human rights and involvement in corruption. It did not give any names. Crimea - where ethnic Russians are in a majority - was transferred from Russia to Ukraine in 1954. Ethnic Ukrainians loyal to Kiev and Muslim Tatars - whose animosity towards Russia stretches back to Stalin's deportations during World War Two - have formed an alliance to oppose any move back towards Moscow. Russia, along with the US, UK and France, pledged to uphold the territorial integrity of Ukraine in a memorandum signed in 1994. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26379722

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/20/bae-malaysia-idUSWLB0079Z20140220 Feb 20 (Reuters) - BAE Systems expects to submit a leasing proposal for the Eurofighter Typhoon jet to Malaysia next month, as its cash-strapped government mulls over renting, rather than buying fighter aircraft. "The Malaysian government is openly saying they have some issues on finance, and while they're ending subsidies and bringing in new value added tax, it's unlikely there's an appetite to buy Typhoon at this point," BAE's Group Business Development Director Alan Garwood told analysts on Thursday. "What they have done is solicit leasing proposals from every major aerospace company. We will be submitting a leasing proposal next month for Typhoon together with a purchase option and expect to have further discussions later in the year or maybe even early next year around that," he said. Last year Malaysia, which had wanted to buy 18 combat aircraft by 2015, said it was choosing between Boeing's F/A-18, Dassault's Rafale, Saab's Gripen and the Eurofighter Typhoon which is built by BAE, Airbus and Italy's Finmeccanica. Industry sources said in March that the purchase could run into billions of dollars. Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak told Reuters in October the purchase might be delayed.

Yes... Gigolo! --------- 'They make place look so sleazy' Shop owners upset with China boys offering uncles special massages even in broad daylight By Hedy Khoo September 22, 2008 THEY can pass off as male models. Clean-cut, good-looking, toned bodies in tight-fitting T-shirts, and they sport trendy hairstyles. But their runway is the pavements around Lucky Chinatown shopping centre. It is there that these Chinese nationals, in their mid-20s, tout massage services to male passers-by. They show up daily as early as 11am till about 8pm, loitering around the entrance or at the fast-food centre there, shop owners pointed out. The moment the deal is agreed, they would offer to take the customer to either a rented room nearby or check into a hotel. Shop owners in the area say they have noticed the presence of these young men since late last year. They are unhappy that nothing has been done to stop these 'masseurs'. One shop owner, who did not want to be named, said the presence of the young men made him uncomfortable. 'Some of them even wait inside the building. I avoid going to the toilet unnecessarily, because whenever I walk past them, they would smile at me in a suggestive manner,' he said. 'The people who work here know what these young men are here for. 'They are spoiling the image of this area, making it look so sleazy even during the day.' Some workers in the area were also disturbed by how the men would blatantly solicit for business from passers-by in the area. One of them was so upset that he called The New Paper Hotline. Mr Mogan, a shipping consultant who works in the area, said he was approached by one of the men. 'I notice they smile at middle-aged men walking past. One of them even approached me and said, 'Massage, massage, $200'.' Mr Mogan, who is in his 40s, claimed that he also heard them saying that to other men. 'I feel very uncomfortable every time I walk by because I can feel them staring at me,' he added. 'This is a tourist area. They shouldn't be soliciting here. It spoils the image of our city,' he said. The men are apparently fly-by-night operators who come to Singapore on social visit passes to try to solicit men for massage and 'special services'. Many would disappear after a couple of weeks. However, shop owners said that the men have started to reappear in greater numbers since July. One shop assistant at the shopping centre said: 'At the start of this year, there were only one to three of them. Then in July, their numbers swelled to 10. 'I'm not sure if they all belong to the same group, but they seem to know one another.' A shop assistant, who wanted to be known only as Miss Pui, 24, has been working in the building for three months. She said: 'They hang around outside our shop at the lift lobby area or outside the entrance. 'I've seen them approach middle-aged women occasionally, but most of the time, it's middle-aged men or even the Ah Peks.' Miss Pui said that, at times, they would even enter her shop to ask for help. 'They would show me their SMS messages on their handphones, which is usually an address in English, and ask me how to read it and where the location is. They would say they don't understand English,' she said. Miss Pui said she was unfazed by the presence of the men. 'Opposite at People's Park where I used to work, there were quite a number of China women offering special services. Over here, it's China men. 'They don't interfere with our business, we don't interfere with theirs.' But Miss Pui revealed that upstairs on the second storey, there were also two nail parlours run by women which apparently catered only to men. 'Some of my male friends have been frightened off because they were approached by the men when they entered the building. 'Then when they went upstairs, they were approached by the nail parlour girls for massages and 'special services'.' At least one shop owner on the second floor was upset with the goings-on in and outside the building. She declined to be named, but said she was considering moving out. 'There are too many strange characters around here... and it makes the area look seedy. 'It affects my business because my female customers feel uncomfortable. Several have complained to me that their husbands were shocked when approached by the young men for massages and extra services.' Increased security patrols A spokesman for Lucky Chinatown said it takes 'a very serious view of the situation'. 'We have been in close touch with the police. 'On our part, we have already increased security patrols and, going forward, we are also increasing the security manpower.' A police spokesman said they are aware of the situation in and around the Lucky Chinatown area, and conduct regular enforcement operations in the area. Prostitution is not an offence under Singapore's laws. But soliciting is an offence under the Miscellaneous Offences Act. Under Section 19 of the Miscellaneous Offence (Public Order and Nuisance) Act, any person who persistently loiters or solicits for the purpose of prostitution in a public place can, if found guilty, be fined up to $1,000. Subsequent offences mean a fine of up to $2,000 or jail time of up to six months or both. The police spokesman said that many countries adopt a similar approach. They are flirty , physical and persistent A MALE journalist from The New Paper on Sunday posed as a passerby to find out first-hand if the young men outside Lucky Chinatown were indeed touting special services, and how they did it. His verdict: They were flirtatious, physical and pesky. And they did not take no for an answer, persisting in their offers for a pricey massage. When our team visited the building on Wednesday at about 5pm, there were two or three of the young men hanging around the entrance. Shortly after 6pm, another 10 arrived in a group. They split up into groups of two or three, or stood around on their own. They did not pay attention to women but would smile at men walking past and try to approach them, including The New Paper on Sunday's journalist. He had barely stepped out of the fast-food restaurant near the building entrance when he was approached by one of the men, who appeared to be in his mid-20s. The man smiled and asked politely in Mandarin: 'Do you want a massage?' When asked if there were any other services besides a massage, the man replied: 'Any service that you want is all included at $180 for about an hour.' 'First customer' The soft-spoken man, who was carrying a satchel, introduced himself as Sam and said he was from Shanghai. He also said: 'Lao xiong (brother, in Mandarin), please give me a chance. It's my first time here, and you will be my first customer.' He even gave assurances that it was safe and that they could go to a room he rented nearby for the services. But when told of the worry of being caught, the man said they could go to a nearby hotel but the room charges were not included in his fee. The man lowered his offer to $150, and again to $130 when his advances were rejected. He was bent on cutting a deal and refused to back down. As the journalist started to walk away, the man wouldn't give up. He followed him and tugged at his shirt sleeve. He let go after about 50m, when the journalist stopped talking to him. Even then, the man called after him loudly: 'Lao xiong, lao xiong...' http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,...,177507,00.html? Yes.. with the Gigolos and ERP, biz will be blazing in Chinatown! unstoppable! Huat Arh!