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ATM inventor John Shepherd-Barron, 84, dies after short illness

May 20, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, May 20(ANI): John Shepherd-Barron, the Scotsman credited with inventing the world’s first automatic teller machine, now known as ATMs, has died after a short illness. He was 84.

Shepherd-Barron died in Scotland’s Raigmore Hospital on Saturday.

He had come up with the concept of a self-service cash dispenser in 1965 while lying in a bath after getting to his bank too late to withdraw money.

The businessman, who worked for the printing firm De La Rue Instruments at the time, said he was inspired by chocolate vending machines and put the idea to the head of Barclays Bank “over a pink gin”, The Telegraph reported.

The first ATM was installed at a Barclays’ branch in London in 1967.

Shepherd-Barron did not patent his system and did not make any money from his invention, but was made an OBE in 2005 for his services to banking. (ANI)

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Air New Zealand cabin crew strips for ‘transparent fares’ ad!

May 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, May 13 (ANI): The cabin crew for Air New Zealand dropped their clothes for a racy new advertisement that shows them performing their duties sporting only body paint.

Eight staff members donned the art while more than 90 others formed a part in the campaign, that was created to promote the airline’s fares that “have nothing to hide”.

“At Air New Zealand our fares have nothing to hide, which is why the price you pay includes everything upfront,” News.com.au quoted the advertisement as saying.

Chief Executive Rob Fyfe also featured in the ad and was subsequently selected New Zealand’s sexiest businessman.

Viewers can see shocked passengers smiling knowingly at the body-painted crew while the apt tunes of “Under my skin”, by New Zealand singer Gin Wigmore, fill the background air.

As for the staff’s “naughty parts”, they were blocked from view with some help from the beverage cart and luggage. (ANI)

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Queen ‘to open bar at Balmoral Castle for staff’

May 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 10 (ANI): The Queen is all set to open a bar at Balmoral Castle so that her thirsty staff will not have to travel far to unwind after their shifts.

Customers to the bar will include aides, servants and protection officers, and they will be able to relax with a drink in a cosy lounge in the Piper’s Hall.

Previously thirsty workers had to go to the village of Ballater ten miles away, but now they will only have to travel just 50 yards from the Highland castle on the remote Aberdeenshire estate.

“Piper’s Hall is a great setting, right next to the river. I guess you could say it’ll be one of the most exclusive bars in Britain,” News of the World quoted a senior aide to the Queen as saying.

“The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will visit the new bar without a doubt. The staff fancy dress party has been held in the Piper’s Hall and she always popped in to pick the winner.

“She’s partial to a gin and Dubonnet while the Duke likes a single malt,” the aide said.

Applications for planning permission and an alcohol licence have been submitted.

The bar will open seven nights a week from August until March but the hall will revert to a tourist cafe and shop when the estate is open to the public. (ANI)

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Gazza says he died three times in rehab

March 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Mar 16 (ANI): Retired English footballer Paul Gascoigne a.k.a. Gazza has revealed that he ‘died’ three times in rehab before being revived by medics.

Gascoigne, 41, was admitted for alcohol abuse to the Sporting Chance clinic founded by his former England teammate Tony Adams, and during his stay there, his heart stopped beating thrice and each time the doctors had to resuscitate him.

“My heart failed a few times and three times they revived me,” the Sun quoted him as telling Sky News.

Gazza, who is now four months sober and beating the depression, admitted to having knocked back four bottles of whisky a day before moving on to 30 cans of Special Brew lager.He was sectioned three times under the Mental Health Act last year, after playing his Nintendo Wii 24 hours a day for six weeks and drinking bottle after bottle of white wine and gin. (ANI)

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Gazza reveals facets of his 12-month nightmare

February 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Feb.24 (ANI): A troubled former England football star Paul Gascoigne a.k.a. Gazza has revealed how he careered towards insanity during a year of drink and drugs hell.azza opened his heart to give a painfully honest account of the worst 12 months of his life.

He confessed to snorting cocaine and revealed how cops dragged him from his hotel bath amid family fears that he would kill himself.

He also revealed how he downed hundreds of bottles of wine and gin over a six-week spell during which he didn’t get a wink of sleep, and admitted he became so disturbed he thought his toy parrots were real – and his only friends.

Gazza, 41, is now battling back to full health after a four-week spell in the rehab clinic inspired by ex-Arsenal ace Tony Adams.

Looking tanned and fit, he told The Sun: “I was staring into the abyss, but now the future looks great for me. I can’t say I will never drink again – all I can say is that I didn’t drink today and I hope I don’t drink tomorrow.”

Comparisons are often odious, but when it comes to making it between two great England football players who fell on bad days at the prime of their careers, it is acceptable.

If it is Gazza on the one hand; it George Best on the other.

Gazza is now on the mend, calm, clear-eyed and confident, and prefers a glass of water to liquor.

In contrast, George Best, looks troubled at the same health farm that Gazza is now at in 2004.

Best, who had a glass of wine next to him, died 18 months later aged 59.

The extreme sleep deprivation that Gazza claims to have endured would have made it far harder for him to deal with all his other problems.

Studies have shown your brain suffers a great deal from lack of sleep.

In terms of driving or operating machinery, being sleep-deprived can be as bad as being drunk, reports The Sun.

Gazza’s nightmare 12 months, which saw him sectioned three times under the Mental Health Act, was triggered by a hip replacement operation in December 2007.

The star, who had battled the bottle for years, kept off the booze in the run-up to the operation.

But hobbling round his flat in Jesmond, Newcastle – with only a few visitors – he was soon drinking heavily again. (ANI)

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Prince Charles shows penchant for martinis during Scottish distillery tour

January 20, 2009 By Rajesh Leave a Comment

London, January 20 (ANI): Prince Charles showed his penchant for martinis when he sipped gin and tonic during a visit to William Grant and Sons’ distillery near Girvan in Ayrshire, Scotland.

The Prince of Wales discovered how the spirit is made during the tour.

Inside the palace, where Hendrick’s gin is produced, he was shown the huge stills containing the alcohol, and 11 bins of the botanicals that were added to it to give it flavour.

According to reports, Charles lifted the lids of a couple of bins to test the flavourings.

Some of the ingredients included juniper berries, coriander seeds, and angelica root.

He was even seen sniffing and sipping a glass of gin, which was given to him with cucumber slices.

“He was quite curious because he didn’t know the brand. He was very interested in the details of the distillation process and the provenance of the botanicals,” the Telegraph quoted Xavier Padovani, of William Grant and Sons, as saying.

“He mentioned that he drinks gin martini from time to time. He smelled a glass of Hendrick’s and tasted it and he said he quite liked it. He was very nice,” Padovani added.

John Ross, technical manager at the distillery, said: “He spoke to me about the botanicals and I thought he was very knowledgeable on the whole subject of botanicals. He was extremely approachable and very knowledgeable and asked very pertinent, shrewd questions.”

Peter Gordon, chairman of William Grant and Sons and a member of the fifth generation of the Grant family, showed Charles around the 380-acre site.

He took the Prince to see the new Ailsa Bay malt distillery, Scotland’s newest distillery that began production last autumn and was officially opened on January 19.

A glass of raw alcohol was also handed to the Prince from a case where it is kept before it is ready to be matured.

Brian Kinsman, 36, a blender who has worked for the company for 12 years, said: “He was keen on it. He was actually going to taste it but we said he should not because it’s 70 per cent alcohol. He said it had got a fruity character and he seemed to appreciate what that meant.

Kinsman added: “He asked us about the whole blending process and the training to become a blender. He was surprisingly informal and nice to chat to.”

Charles, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, was also shown the cooperage where casks are maintained.(ANI)

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