The Internet is a wonderful place to spend some time, but it has it’s bad points. Firstly there’s the criminal element – hackers, virus writers, spy and malware, and people making kind offers to deposit Nigerian fortunes in your bank account. And then there’s the problem of whether the truth is out there, and how do you work out what’s true and what’s not… for example, is Lady GaGa really a hermaphrodite as was speculated this week? My guess is ‘no’, as anyone wanting to hide male dangly bits would wear loose-fitting trousers, not the stuff she wears.

Some content is honest in it’s lack of truth. One of my feeds is NewsBiscuit.com and I know that when I see headlines such as Court awards viewer of new Will Ferrell film 101 minutes of his life back it’s not really true, even though the film probably does really suck. However I doubt if NewsBiscuit will ever improve on BBspot’s spoof classic story Atheist Still Unconvinced After Meeting with God or The Onion’s amazing video about the MacBook Wheel.

So, what’s this go to do with Microsoft Word? Yesterday when my news feed displayed a story entitled Microsoft Banned from Selling Word in the US I assumed it was spoof news… but it wasn’t. It’s true that a Texas judge has ruled that Microsoft cannot sell Word in the United States after a Canadian company, i4i, won an XML patent infringement case. The story was then picked up by a number of other sources such as The Register and Microsoft’s unofficial UK public relations partner the BBC.

Of course, Microsoft won’t actually stop selling Word in the US, or anywhere else…  if Microsoft’s appeal is lost the whole affair will then be settled with a nice fat cheque and i4i will go back to their business of selling XML-based products for Microsoft Word.

It’s also worth noting, as viewers of Mock The Week know all too well, that Frankie Boyle makes a mention of Lady GaGa’s balls every week… so maybe the truth is out there.

I don’t want to turn this into the fox blog, but I wanted to share this with you. I think it’s wonderful to see foxes in the garden, and it’s even better to see three youngsters as I did this morning. I’m sure they’re siblings from the same litter, and no doubt one of them was the solo visitor who appeared a couple of days ago (probably scouting for a good place to have a snooze).

One of the nippers came up onto the main patio, right near to where I was standing in the dining room, but didn’t oblige by facing the camera.

Click on the small photos for a larger view (and thanks to some jolly clever technology you can then move backwards and forwards like a slide-show).

Since we moved to Adams Tower here in the wilds of Camberley three years ago, foxes have been a familiar sight (especially since our dear old spaniel Molly passed away). This year I’ve seen a pair together only once, but have seen more individual visitors at the front of the house… which isn’t surprising since that’s where I sometimes leave food out for them. I’ve twice seen a badger although they scuttle away very quickly as soon as the security light comes on. Foxes however are more bold, and we sometimes spend a few moments looking at each other before they grab the food and move to a safe distance.

A few weeks ago a mother walked across the raised flower bed outside our lounge, followed by a young one… not exactly a cub but probably not a year old. I’m fairly sure it’s the same one who came into the back garden today and grabbed a quick snooze during a five minute break in the rain.

Young foxy grabbed forty winks while I grabbed my new camera (Panasonic TZ65), he (or she) yawned, decided against a drink from the birdbath (it hadn’t had fresh water for a couple of weeks) and casually walked away. Half an hour later the youngster reappeared and sat for five minutes on the veranda of Lauren’s summer house, and then disappeared again.

Click on the picture for a bigger snapshot, and I may post a couple of photos of young ginger on the Wallpaper page.