Drop the Laptop & Come Out With Your Hands Up

In Australia recently, on-track rules for laptops were changed. For some time they were not allowed at all on racecourses, however,  bettors can now  bring their computers with them to the track.

But there are a few conditions.

Andrew Twaits, who is Australia’s Betfair head, looks at the new rules on his widely read blog.

Some of the conditions Racing NSW has decided to include in their “internet access” approval process rival anything the Chinese government could come up with as part of its internet censorship policy. They include requirement for punters to:

• allow Racing NSW to install special monitoring software on the laptop;

• only use the approved laptop when on a NSW thoroughbred race course;

• only use the laptop to access approved wagering websites (i.e. no racing information sites and no emails); and

• pay Racing NSW an unspecified annual monitoring fee.

In other news, the track announced that they will be providing, for on course phone calls, two dixie cups and a piece of string.

Twaits concludes with what probably will happen: “As long as these new local rules of racing remain in place, Racing NSW will be giving its core funding base – the punters – yet another reason to stay away from NSW race courses.”

Quick Notes:

I did get another chuckle, this time from our friends at PETA. Watch out for them if  they land Sex.com.  You heard it at R2 first!

We spoke of Foursquare in an article below. They are growing like a bad weed, signing almost 100,000 customers in 10 days.

Nice infographic from Mashable about Twitter. Is anyone shocked that “pointless babble” is such a big slice of the pie?