It looks like Birmingham might be on the verge of gaining a truly great tourist attraction. The VTP 200 'Vertiplex' Tower is described as a 'Vertical Theme Park' and frankly, it looks pretty amazing! If the design in the video below is realised, it's going to be awesome and a major draw for Birmingham. I just hope they rename it 'The Vertiplex' as opposed to the total naff 'VTP200'! As ever more info can be found at BBC Online. [tags]VTP200, VTP 200, Vertiplex, VerTiPlex, Birmingham, Eastside Regeneration, West Midlands[/tags]

A webcast of Pearl Jam's set at the recent Lollapalooza festival was apparently censored by AT&T in order to remove certain lyrics aimed at U.S. President George Bush. This censorship has brought a strong (and justifiable) reaction from the band, which can be read here. The video below explains a little more why this is potentially such a big issue... [tags]Pearl Jam, Lollapalooza , AT&T, Censorship, Media, Net Neutrality, Telecommunications, Internet Access[/tags] ---------------- Now playing: Mute Math - Plan B via FoxyTunes

My parents got the following email a couple of days ago. It looks like Virgin Media and Sky aren't going to get on very well. More background here.

Dear customer, Let’s face it. Things would be pretty boring if choice didn’t exist. There’d be just one kind of airline to fly with. One type of car to drive. And if Sky had their way, there’d only be one place to get TV. We thought we’d let you in on a few tricks they’ve been trying to get their way. While we’ve continued to make Virgin Media channels like Living, Bravo and Challenge available to all Sky customers, Sky may withdraw their non-premium channels from Virgin Media’s service – in order to force you into switching service. Virgin Media were willing to pay an increase in costs in order to get the complete range of Sky content and channels. However, Sky have consistently demanded an increase that bears no relation to the channels’ market value. We have refused to accept this increase, since it would mean absorbing significant costs ourselves, and passing the kind of price increase on to our customers that is simply unfair. We are not prepared to rip off our customers. So Sky have picked up their ball and gone home. As a Virgin company, we’re well used to the attempts of large corporations trying to manipulate markets, stifle competition and rip off consumers. Luckily, we don’t think Sky’s the limit. We think the future’s full of fresh entertainment and communication possibilities. And we’re looking forward to bringing them to you. With all the freedom and choice you deserve. We’ve launched Virgin Central, a revolutionary type of TV channel, where programmes start and stop when you say so. This is only available on Virgin Media, since Sky don’t have the technology to be able to transmit it. What’s more, it’s available to every single one of our digital TV customers. And there’s our unique on demand library. A giant collection of over 500 films, 1000 music videos, 100s of TV shows – all at your beck and call. You can access them at any time. We’re not scared of competition, we welcome it. To find out more, visit virginmedia.com/fairplay. Yours, Sir Richard Branson

[tags]Virgin Media, Sky, BskyB, Telewest, NTL, 24, Lost, Sky One,Richard Branson[/tags]

A plane pilot recently hatched a cunning plan to disable an armed hijacker who tried to take control of his aircraft, in order to seek political asylum. Even the flight crew and passengers got in on the act, when the pilot cunningly told them what he was going to do. Read the full story here! [tags]Canary Islands, Hijacker, Hijacking, Terrorism, Pilot, Flight, Travel, Plane, Air[/tags]

Yesterday's protest march against the proposed closure of Danesmore Park Primary School in Wolverhampton. Visit www.danesmorepark.co.uk/sos for more information. [tags]Danesmore Park, Ashmore Park, Wolverhampton, School, Education, Politics, Save Our School, Labour, School Closures, March, Protest[/tags]

Spotted this at B3ta.com: [tags]James Brown, God, B3ta[/tags]

"America, Fuck Yeah! Gonna save the motherfucking world, yeah!" And they wonder why every Iraqi and his dog are trying to blow U.S. soldiers up? [tags]Iraq, US Army, Tank, Car, Crushed, Soldiers, War, Middle East, bigfuckingmess[/tags]

Whether you agree with him or not, Michael Moore has a great way of making his point. And I think he's probably right...

'Have You Seen This Man?' [Originally posted at nynerd.com] Bono's Sat-Nav:

There's not really much I can say, I'm gutted. Sure he was controversial at times and some people disagreed with his methods. But I loved him....I thought he was great, what he did was great and what he stood for was great. His enthusiasm and ever-lasting smile made me smile whenever I spotted him on TV, and I'd always stop what I was doing and watch him for a few minutes. The world needs more Steve Irwins. R.I.P. Crazy Steve. [tags]Steve Irwin, Irwin Steve, Crocodile Hunter, Crocodiles, Australia Zoo, Stingray, RIP, Discovery, Animal Planet, Conservationist[/tags]