Strewth Bruce, we sprang a leak!

Confidential blacklists, secret files and hush hush memos are normally the preserve of slick American tv drama on Sky One. Military bases, disused farm out-buildings and a cast of shadowy figures are the staple of such shows. You wouldn't normally have put Australia in the same subversive bracket. The land that gave us Rolf Harris, Neighbours and Crocodile Dundee has itself entered the murky world of the classified and the covert.
The Aussie Government, who we only normally hear from when they ratchet up immigration policy, have endured a leak of potentially uncomfortable proportions.
A supposedly secret blacklist of various adult orientated websites unjustly features at least a dozen online poker and gambling sites. This is contrary to the stated intentions of the list, which was produced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The sinister move is part of a trial run which will see Internet Service Providers secretly blocking access to any site on the list.
Whistle blowing website wikileaks.com is not known for a particularly pro authority stance. A cursory examination of this internet based black-balling reveals that littlewoodspoker.com has escaped the list, but a whole phalanx of our poker peers haven’t been quite so fortunate.
Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has been quick to play down the authenticity of the list, lambasting it as a fake. “This is not the ACMA blacklist”, he pronounced, citing the disparity between the number of URLs as hard evidence of its bogusness.
Cynical to the last, Wikileaks maintains the government claim of banning pornography is a catch all statement that makes broad based censorship fait accompli for any administration.
Meanwhile, we’re wondering if the post “Minister for Broadband” is a real job or just a dot con.

iTunes - music to our ears

The gold medal. A CBE. Perhaps the occasional Knight of the Garter. These treasures and trinkets all sit comfortably in the great pantheon of decoration. However, a new pretender to the crown marches on the collective sub conscious. "New and Notable" are two heavyweight words to be conjured with if you're in podcasting. And we are. The newest production bairn to the Wonkana stable is a really vibrant and highly listenable careers podcast known as "You're Hired".( http://www.ethosrecruitment.com/ ) It's the official podcast of Ethos Recruitment who have offices in Towcester and Daventry.

Julia Doherty, Director of Ethos and top Twitter user (try saying that after a yard of chateau neuf de pape!) works closely with us to deliver great content on all aspects of the job market. Julia hosts the podcast and interviews a fresh guest every month, whilst handing out great advice on topics like interview skills. The good people at iTunes have sat up and taken notice and "You're Hired" has just made it onto their "New and Notable" list at the top of the podcast store. Move over OBE, a new accolade is in town and Ethos and Wonkana have it.

Swing low, sweet poker face

Hurtling as we are towards another weekend, let's begin with a piece of jingoism as unreserved as it is unapologetic. England is proud. Well at least it is if you like your balls elliptical. The French were positively downcast at Rugby HQ and a modicum of national pride has been restored.

Now Ray Smith of Hatton Lane in Greenbank may not have seen off fifteen sweating men built like external lavatory facilities, but the hitherto considerable cachet of North Wales and the North West rests squarely on Ray’s shoulders. National recognition awaits this valiant regional poker champion after his decisive victory in the regional finals. It’s all down to the small matter of a straight face and playing his cards right.

At the end of this month, Ray will be up against it in the televised tournament, if only for frankly bizarre choice of hosts. Who could have possibly arrived at the idea of pairing deadpan former snooker supremo Jimmy “Whirlwind” White with dead-behind-the-eyes nurse cum glamour model cum alleged celebrity Abi Titmuss? This has to be down there with the all time greats of preposterous and spatchcock double acts headlined by the train wreck that was Sam Fox and Mick Fleetwood.

If Ray wins, Hartford Hall will go down in the annals of poker folklore as it all began there for the 51 year old amateur. Playing for points on a sunday night two years ago, he claims his success is a mixture of luck and skill, two elements that so eluded the French at Twickenham last weekend. And we didn’t relish the afternoon of unadulterated schadenfreude. Much.

Wonkana - the best videos in the west

This is a bit of stop press that makes us hugely proud of our ever growing business. Having quickly achieved a reputation for the most creative and visually stunning videos, Wonkana Productions has been commissioned to film the prestigious poker tournament taking place at the end of March in London's Grosvenor Victoria Casino. Tony Cascarino, Michael Greco and Peter Sharkey under the watchful Wonkana eye. More details at http://www.littlewoodspoker.com

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