| Is this the last shout for pubs and clubs?
PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd's historic ideas summit will look at slashing the number of bars in Australia and reducing their opening hours to break the binge drinking culture gripping the nation. One of the summit's hand-picked leaders, Tim Costello, said yesterday access to alcohol in Australia was too easy and tackling the problem would be high on his agenda at the April summit in Canberra. "There are far too many outlets," he said. "Closing times need to be adjusted. The way we serve alcohol in a responsible way, the codes for serving alcohol, need to be tightened." Amid growing evidence of a drinking epidemic, Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital said yesterday the number of drunken louts turning up injured had quadrupled in the past five years. Emergency Department director Phillip Kay said the main offenders were young men aged 17 to 25, although some were as young as 14.
Place your bets
Gates' replacement Ray Ozzie won't excite the bookies while Steve Ballmer is too sweaty and kooky. Larry Ellison's Oracle has no direct impact on consumers. Vinod Khosla founded Sun and as a venture capitalist helped Amazon.com, Netscape, Electronic Arts and Google get off the ground but is more interested in ethanol than IT these days. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is too young. Google's Page and Brin have the backstory, the bank balance and ambition to match, but may lack the necessary charisma. That leaves Apple's Steve Jobs (above) odds-on to become top geek. So tell us about the future, Steve.
-- SIMON SHARWOOD GOOGLE TO BUY SKYPE Odds: 5 to 1 against Last year eBay red-facedly admitted it paid about $US1 billion ($1.3 billion) too much for Skype in 2005, having over-estimated its revenue potential.
Reining in of beggars gets OK
A Center City Commission committee Wednesday approved hiring a private security force to patrol the high-traffic areas of Downtown in an effort to curb aggressive panhandling. The CCC's safety and security committee approved hiring Memphis-based CDA Inc. to patrol Main Street and other areas Downtown for a three-month period beginning April 30, the start of the busy tourism season. .
People: Madonna, Paul McCartney, Eminem
The British judge who will decide the terms of the divorce settlement between Paul McCartney and Heather Mills has not ruled out making his judgment public, according to a court statement released this week. The two failed to reach an agreement this month, leaving the court to decide how much of McCartney's fortune Mills would receive. A decision is due March 17, at which time the judge will also announce whether the ruling will be public "in whole or part," the statement read. The move is something of a surprise, as the hearings were private, and media reports suggest that the judge may favor going public to end speculation over the size of the financial settlement, which could be the largest in British history. Divorce experts have estimated that, based on recent cases, Mills, 40, could walk away with £60 million (about $119 million) of the estimated £825 million fortune held by McCartney, 65.
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