Apparently, Apple Computer is listening. In a world where hearing problems are real and lawyers are looking to make gadget providers liable, Apple issued a software update on Wednesday for its recent iPod models — the nano and the video-capable iPod — allowing users to set how loud their digital music players can go.
Google said on Wednesday that it has ironed out the final details of its expanded alliance with America Online (AOL), clearing the way for the online search-engine leader to invest -billion in its biggest advertising partner. The two companies signed a March 24 definitive agreement to seal a deal originally announced in December.
Police in The Hague caught three drunk drivers all behind the wheel of the same car within hours of each other early on Wednesday, police said in a statement. The series started when a 40-year-old man was stopped in a routine traffic control on Wednesday morning. He failed a breathalyser test and while police fined him, one of his passengers got behind the wheel and drove off.
The unbeaten Canterbury Crusaders face fellow competition leaders the Wellington Hurricanes this weekend on the first leg of a two-week campaign that should unravel the cluttered top end of the Super 14 table. The following week they play the New South Wales Waratahs, who co-lead the championship with the Hurricanes.
Supersport United coach Pitso Mosimane is still effectively missing — and remains under a cloak of mystery with a fair measure of intrigue. Given two weeks’ ”leave of absence” by the club to recover from a strenuous three years without a break, the coach, who has seemingly lost his Midas touch, was due to return to his post last Thursday.
Inter Milan and AC Milan came away from the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals with positive results on Wednesday. Inter rallied to beat visiting Villarreal 2-1, and AC Milan held hosts Lyon to a 0-0 draw. The second-leg matches are scheduled for Tuesday.
Tyren Arendse, out of soccer for most of the season after being injured in an accident, fell to his knees and kissed the rain-soaked turf at Ellis Park on Wednesday night after Orlando Pirates scraped home with a narrow 1-0 Premier Soccer League win against a gallant Lamontville Golden Arrows.
Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a first-half goal on Wednesday to lift Manchester United to a 1-0 victory over West Ham in the English Premier League, moving the Red Devils nine points behind league-leading Chelsea. Van Nistelrooy, benched for five games, started as manager Alex Ferguson’s captain and scored in injury time.
"This is your captain speaking, er, I’ve landed at the wrong airport. Er, sorry." A bungling pilot flew straight into the centre of an investigation on Wednesday after mistakenly landing at a military airbase rather than the regular destination in Northern Ireland.
Sixty-five journalists were killed in 2005 — 13 less than the previous year — and freedom of the press was still under threat in many countries, according to the International Press Institute’s annual report. Iraq, where 23 journalists were killed last year, was still ”the most murderous country for journalists to report from”, the media watchdog said.