Sideswipe

Tempting maybe, but surely illegal.

A happy Air New Zealand customer: "I flew back from Hong Kong on Thursday, August 10, on NZ 86 and whoever was in charge of the PA system needs to spend some time doing customer service 101," writes frequent flyer Heather Baugh. "The biggest surprise announcement came during the descent. We were told that the entertainment system was going to have to shut down because, just like the staff, it had had enough and was glad the flight was nearly over. OMG, it was embarrassing."

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It's not attention-seeking, it's a public service, says publicity-seeker and Newmarket shops cheerleader Cameron Brewer. "My lawyer and I take deep offence at me being compared to streaker Lisa Lewis. In fact, we are considering taking a defamation case against Sideswipe. Apart from making Green MP Keith Locke walk down Broadway naked, hosting an Undie 500 running race and overseeing a Bendon brief sprint in Newmarket, I have never been involved in attention-seeking streaking activities. Further, while Sideswipe may describe my emails to the Herald as spam, my lawyer would strongly argue that they are valuable public service announcements. Yesterday's swipe at my good reputation implied that I would use any opportunity to get Newmarket publicity. That is simply a misrepresentation. Given all the clutter and bias in today's media, I see my role as head of the Newmarket Business Association as to simply get the truth out into the public arena."

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More on spam: "I don't think you understand the definition of spam," writes W. D. McDonald. "Your column encourages readers to write and provides an email address, but you have singled out Cameron Brewer with a claim that his letter was spam. Spam causes great offence to many recipients, and to describe someone as a 'spammer' is an insult just above being described as a 'paedophile' or 'pornographer'."

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More on email: Two German women complaining on office email about their partners' poor sex drives found the details of their private lives broadcast to thousands after one of them hit the wrong button, Bild newspaper reported. "Everyone stares at us now and whispers behind our backs," said Anica G, a 21-year-old worker at the Federal Labour Office. The emails between Anica and colleague Christina S, with descriptions on how the women try but fail to arouse their partners, were first sent by accident to other colleagues in their department at the Labour Office. They were then forwarded to thousands throughout the Labour Office and other Government agencies and widely distributed by recipients to people across Germany. (Reuters)