The Lunch Box - 05/02

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Yes. It's Friday. It's the end of the week, it's time to get ready for the weekend. So get with the program, give work a decent bash today and then you can relax. And while you are stay well-informed by checking out our news wrap, now updated every couple of hours. What's happening in the big wide world is just a link away.

Channel News

ASX-listed integrator, Synergy Plus (ASX: SNR), is anticipating a return to pre-tax profitability in its first-half year.
Fellow ISPs have spent the day congratulating iiNet on its court victory over the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT).
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has put a $30 million price tag on the first failed National Broadband Network (NBN) tender process, blaming the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Minister, Stephen Conroy, and the global financial crisis.

State of the market

World markets plunged opening following European debt fears.Wall St has a shocker overnight and Australia followed the trend. At 3.25pm, the S&P/ASX was down 111.4 points at 4510.2.
The Aussie dollar is selling for $US0.8686. Gold prices have tumbled by 4.32 per cent to $US1064 an ounce and oil is largely steady at $US73.4 a barrel.

General News

Technology (1): OECD queries cost of new broadband network
Technology (2): Shovel-ready - network backbone begins
Technology (3): iPad - wiping the slate clean
Business: $30bn market wipe out
Crime: Doctor to face court on murder charge
Health: Aerobic exercise 'a waste of time' for some
Model rescue: Kerr joins fight to save busted banker
World: Missionaries charged with kidnapping children
Strange but true: Thousands of Australians up for 'nude' airport scanners
Strange but true (2): Blushing Pluto? Dwarf planet takes on a ruddier hue, says NASA
Opinion: Pesky kookaburra drops one on the debate over copyright law
Motoring: Australia's first hybrid car dented by Prius recall
US media: $17m Katie Couric in firing line as CBS slashes jobs

b>Sport

Brett Stewart case: 'Don't you know who I am?'
Greg Bird case: Not guilty of bottle attack
Cricket (1): Clarke's T20 position under close watch
Cricket (2): Brutish Gayle routs Prime Minister's XI with sizzling ton
Cricket (3): Howard qualified to be ICC president, says Speed
AFL: Geelong's Stokes fights for his career
AFL (2): Judd's NAB Cup blitz
AFL (3): Sheedy puts young foot soldiers through paces
Rugby union: George Smith quits Wallabies
Rugby union (2): Beale can play but case lingers
Rugby league: Bird blocked from Indigenous All-Stars
Rugby league (2): Mason joins mates at Cowboys
Rugby league (3): Broncos face sack if they abuse Stilnox
Rugby league (4): Tweeting Tuqiri tells gallop the reason sacked him; joins Wests

Entertainment

Gossip: A mishmash of contradictions
Naked glory: Whooping, clapping and stripping triumphantly
Hugo Weaving: Some kind of monster
Brittany Murphy: Killed by pneumonia, anaemia and prescription drugs, says coroner
DiCaprio and Scorsese: Mental patience on Shutter Island
John Travolta: Bald move
Ashton Kutcher: Loves to hate Demi Moore
Lifestyle: Getting nude is looking good
Travel: The future is ... giant luxury airships (slideshow)
Chinese New Year: Release the Tiger - celebrations start next week
Claws out: Aussie Cougar hunt

This weekend:

Gossip in Sydney tonight; Kiss' Ace Frehley at The Palace in Melbourne, Marianne Faithfull at The Forum, and the FREE Summer Music Festival stretching over the whole weekend at Docklands; in Perth there's the fabulous Laneway Festival 2010 featuring Echo and The Bunnymen, Florence and The Machine, Black Lips, The XX, Sarah Blasko and many more; In Adelaide, check out a Day On The Green at Leconfield Wines where Rob Thomas and Vanessa Amorosi headline; in Brisbane and Canberra, well, errr, look there's not a lot happening to be honest, so eat,drink, be merry. In Darwin, the barra are biting - what more do you want!

Tomorrow's weather: