| Celebrated painter MF Husain is dead Posted: MF Husain, arguably India's most celebrated painter, died in London late last night. He was 95, and had been unwell for some time Sources close to the family told MiD DAY that his body would not be brought to India for burial, and that his last rites would be conducted in London.
Husain, who came under intense criticism following his controversial paintings on Hindu goddesses, had been on a self-imposed exile since 2006, and had vowed to never return to India. He had been living in Dubai and London, and was offered citizenship by Qatar in January 2010. He had accepted the offer.
One of India's greatest masters on the world art stage, Husain's paintings regularly fetched over $1 million at auctions around the world. His career began in the mid-1940s when he started painting film posters, but armed with prodigious talent, he was quickly accepted by the art community in Mumbai (then Bombay). In 1947, he joined the Progressive Artists' Group, headed by another art legend, FN Souza. One of his most controversial paintings was the depiction of Mother India in the nude and was superimposed on a map of India. After a series of sustained protests by Hindu groups, he withdrew the painting from an exhibition, and later apologised. 
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| MCC accepts Gujarati version of laws Posted: Umpire Keki Dudhwala has not officiated at Lord's but the Indian still figures at the historic venue. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which has the custodianship of the laws of cricket, accepted the Gujarati version of cricket laws. They are now on their website www.lords.org/mcc/
The Gujarati version, which has been prepared by Surat-based Dudhwala. He was thrilled to be featured at Lord's. "It is like scoring a ton or grabbing five wickets at Lord's. I had to seek permissions from the MCC, the Indian cricket board, Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) to translate the laws," he said. "They got my copy checked with an expert Kumarpal Desai (a noted Gujarati writer ). I am honoured that they have posted my Gujarati version on the MCC website," he added. The laws are also translated in other Indian languages like Marathi, Hindi and Kannada, but only Gujarati is on the website. 
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| Wills-Kate look for housekeeper-dresser Posted: |
| Facebook slammed over face tagging Posted: Social networking site embroiled in another privacy controversy after it quietly switched on technology that automatically identifies people in photos
Facebook has quietly rolled out face recognition technology to users around the globe, which automatically picks out friends from newly-uploaded photographs and recommends suitable name tags.
The service, which debuted to some users in the US earlier this year, is all about making tagging photos less of a chore.
"Like that time you had to tag your cousin and her fiance over and over and over again in 64 different pictures of their engagement party," reminds Facebook engineer Justin Mitchell.
The 'Tag Suggestions' system uses facial recognition software to identify individuals as photos are uploaded, and then encourages their friends to tag them so that others can easily access the images.
Facebook originally began testing Tag Suggestions in the US only, in December, but has now extended it to "most" of the dominant social network's 600 million users worldwide without notice.
"Yet again, it feels like Facebook is eroding the online privacy of its users by stealth," said Graham Cluley, of the British internet security firm Sophos.
"Many people feel distinctly uncomfortable about a site like Facebook learning what they look like, and using that information without their permission."
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington DC, criticised the way Facebook had opted users into its facial recognition system by default.
"I'm not sure that's the setting that people would want to choose. A better option would be to let people opt in," he said.
Facebook has frequently pushed its users to reveal more online by implementing new features by default. Facebook Places, a location-based service launched last year, broadcasts some information about users unless they explicitly tell it not to, for example.
Following the criticism of Tag Suggestions, Facebook said "We should have been more clear with people during the roll-out process when this became available to them".
It added that the facial recognition technology would only be applied to newly-uploaded photos.
Users can disable the feature by turning off the "suggest photos of me to friends" option on their Privacy Settings page.
Facebook has previously faced criticism for the complexity of it its privacy settings and following yet another privacy controversy in May last year Mark Zuckerberg, its CEO, pledged to make them simpler.
How to turn it off
Built straight into the privacy settings (click your 'Account' link), users should go to a link that says 'Customize Settings.' Under the section 'Things others share,' there's an option labeled 'Suggest photos of me to friends.'
Disable this feature, and Facebook will no longer suggest you as tag-able when your friends get a little too photo happy. However, it doesn't stop them from tagging you altogether they can still do it manually. 
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| Rowling to flatten �1-million home to make garden bigger Posted: Harry Potter author gets permission to demolish house next door
For most people, buying a million-pound home in an upmarket suburb represents a far-fetched dream or the culmination of decades of hard work.
But when you are the world's most successful author and worth �530 million (Rs 3,880 crore), you can afford to spend a fortune on such a property with the sole intention of demolishing it.
J K Rowling, the writer of the Harry Potter series, has been given planning permission to flatten a �1 million (Rs 7.3 crore) house next door to her mansion to make her garden larger.
She also wants to build a summer house that bears a striking resemblance to the stone hut inhabited by Hagrid, the giant groundsman from her novels about the child wizard.
Confirmation that council officials have given the proposals the green light emerged only a day after reports that Rowling has bought a �6.5 million historical house in rural Tasmania.
There have been no formal objections from conservation bodies to the demolition of the 1970s home in a wealthy suburb of Edinburgh.
The plans have drawn comment from other residents in her cul-de-sac, which is in a conservation area, with a public meeting being held to discuss the application.
"It is not every day you hear someone seeking approval from their neighbours to flatten a �1m house to make their garden bigger," one resident told the gathering.
Rowling (45) owns a 17th-century mansion that she and her husband, Dr Neil Murray, reportedly bought for �2 million around 18 months ago.
They share the property with 18-year-old daughter, Jessica, from her first marriage, David (8) and Mackenzie (6). Solicitors for the couple were asked to detail which buildings were to be demolished after submitting an incomplete application.
It emerged she wants to knock down the neighbouring house to make way for a Renaissance-style garden complete with greenhouse.
The "garden room" folly will feature stone steps up to the front door, a 30ft-high conical roof and a chimney. She also wants to relocate a sundial.
Workmen were yesterday busy in the grounds of her mansion. The sound of hammering, cement mixers and diggers could be heard and her entire garden had been dug up.
A neighbour, who didn't want to be named, said, "I don't have any problem with what's going on. We have a good relationship with her so we are quite happy with everything."
Did you know?
Upon finishing the seventh Harry Potter novel while staying at the Balmoral Hotel in Scotland, Rowling wrote on a bust in her room "JK Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11th Jan 2007." 
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| Jilted man puts up abortion billboard Posted: US man's decision starts off legal debate over free speech and privacy
A US man's decision to lash out with a billboard ad saying his ex-girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes has touched off a legal debate over free speech and privacy rights.
The sign on Alamogordo's main thoroughfare in New Mexico shows 35-year-old Greg Fultz holding the outline of an infant.
The text reads, "This Would Have Been A Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our Child!"
Fultz's ex-girlfriend has taken him to court for harassment and violation of privacy. But Fultz's attorney argues the order violates his client's free speech rights.
"As distasteful and offensive as the sign may be to some, for over 200 years in this country the First Amendment protects distasteful and offensive speech," Todd Holmes said.
The woman's friends say she had a miscarriage, not an abortion, according to a report in the Albuquerque Journal.
Holmes disputes that, saying his case was based on the accuracy of his client's statement. "My argument is: what Fultz said is the truth," Holmes said.
The woman's lawyer said she had not discussed the pregnancy with her client. But for Ellen Jessen, whether her client had a miscarriage or an abortion is not the point.
The central issue is her client's privacy and the fact that the billboard has caused severe emotional distress, Jessen said.
"Her private life is not a matter of public interest," she told the Alamogordo Daily News. Jessen said her client's ex-boyfriend had crossed the line.
"Nobody is stopping him from talking about father's rights ... but a person can't invade someone's private life."
For his part, Holmes invoked the US Supreme Court decision from earlier this year concerning the Westboro Baptist Church, which is known for its anti-gay protests at military funerals and other high-profile events.
He believes the SC's decision to allow the protests, as hurtful as they are, is grounds for his client to put up the abortion billboard. 
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