DAVID ADAMS looks at the odder side of life…
Colour or black and white? PICTURE: Sven Scheuermeier/Unsplash.
• More than 7,000 people in the UK are still watching black and white TVs according to the country’s licensing authority. TV Licensing reportedly told Sky News said that 7,161 UK households have not yet made the switch to colour transmissions. London has the largest number of black and white sets – 1,768 – following by the West Midlands (431) and Greater Manchester (390). Interestingly, the number of people with black and white sets still topped 210,000 in 2000 but by 2015, the number had dropped below 10,000. Licenses are required to watch TV in the UK including shows accessed via the internet.
• Still in the UK soccer referee was handed down a three week ban after he asked two captains to play ‘rock, paper, scissors’ to decide who took the kick-off in a game as part of the Women’s Super League. The incident reportedly took place before a 26th October match between Manchester City and Reading. The ref, David McNamara, had reportedly left his coin – required in game rules – in his dressing room. The Football Association said McNamara had “accepted a charge of ‘not acting in the best interests of the game’.”.
• It’s not a far cry from something you might see in Star Wars. Police in Dubai have reportedly confirmed officers there are being trained to ride “hover bikes” for accessing hard-to-reach places. The vehicles are the work of US-based company Hoversurf and come with electric vertical take-off and landing – or eVTOL – capability. The deal for the company to supply the bikes was signed last year when Hoversurf showed off bikes with Dubai police branding on them. The bikes, which cost $US150,000, apparently have a top speed of 60mph and can be flown by a “pilot” or in “drone mode”.
