'The f-word is all I could think'

Jennifer Lawrence stumbles as she walks on stage to accept her Best Actress Oscar for  Silver Linings Playbook. Source: AP

JENNIFER Lawrence admits the f-word was the first thing that came to mind after she tripped walking onstage to accept her Oscar.

The Silver Linings Playbook star, 22, fell while walking up the stairs in her billowing Dior gown, prompting a chivalrous Hugh Jackman to jump up and to rush to her rescue.

Best Actress winner Jennifer Lawrence is congratulated by her family at the Oscars Governors Ball at Hollywood & Highland Centre. Source: Getty Images

Lawrence recovered quickly, however, joking to the star-studded crowd that they had only given her a standing ovation because they felt sorry for her.

"You guys are just standing up because I fell and you feel bad. That was embarrassing," the Best Actress winner said.

Best Actress winner Jennifer Lawrence takes a fall in her stride on her way to receiving her Oscar and manages a joke while keeping her dignity.

What was going through her head? “A bad word that starts with an F” she said.

“Look at my dress!” she joked backstage, People magazine reports.

“I tried to walk upstairs in this dress. That’s what happened. I think I stepped on the fabric and they waxed the stairs,” she said.

Silver Linings Playbook stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence share a laugh as they arrive at the Oscars in Hollywood, California. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images

Lawrence admitted she was stressed-out and run off her feet getting ready for her big moment all day.

“I felt like Steve Martin in Father of the Bride, watching my house being torn apart. And my whole family was getting ready. It was chaotic. I didn’t eat today because I was so stressed. And then I was starving on the way over and that sucked.”

Hugh Jackman rushes to help Jennifer Lawrence after her fall. Picture: Supplied Source: news.com.au

Accepting the golden statuette for best actress, Lawrence, 22, paid tribute to her fellow nominees, including Australia's Naomi Watts (The Impossible).

Jennifer Lawrence accepts the award for best actress in a leading role for "Silver Linings Playbook" during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Source: AP

Lawrence's wasn't the only wardrobe malfunction at the 2013 Oscars.

Meryl Streep stood on the hem of her frock on her way to present a record third best actor to Lincoln's Daniel Day-Lewis, who now has as many of the golden statuettes as she does.

Meryl Streep, left, presents the award for best actor in a leading role to Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln. Picture: AP Source: AP

And the pink silk gown chosen by best actress winner Anne Hathaway accentuated her nipples so clearly, they got their own twitter handle - @HathawaysNipples - which instantly attracted thousands of followers.

Anne Hathaway poses with her award for best actress in a supporting role for "Les Miserables". Picture: AP Source: AP

Not one of the five Australians nominated for an Oscar this year - including best supporting actress Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook), hair and makeup artist Rick Findlater (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) and visual effects artist David Clayton (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) - won their category.

But as well as playing the knight-in-shining armour, Jackman, together with Hathaway, Russell Crowe, and the rest of the Les Miserables cast, delivered a showstopping medley of songs from the Cameron Mackintosh musical, including the Oscar-nominated original song Suddenly, which ultimately lost out to Adele's Skyfall.

Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, from the cast of "Les Miserables," perform during the Oscars. Picture: AP Source: AP

Even more surprising than an early appearance by Star Trek's Captain Kirk, aka William Shatner, was the Academy's decision to beam Michelle Obama in straight from the White House to present the award for best film.

Michelle Obama presents the Oscar for Best Picture. Source: Supplied

Having been snubbed for a best director nomination, Ben Affleck's Argo was a popular choice.

"I was here 15 years ago or something and you know I had no idea what I was doing. I stood out here in front of you all, really just a kid," said the filmmaker, recalling his 1998 win for best screenplay with friend and writing partner Matt Damon.

Ang Lee won best director for Life of Pi, his critically and commercially successfully adaptation of book that was widely regarded as unfilmable.

Christopher Waltz won his second best supporting actor Oscar for Django Unchained.
 

Key Winners

BEST PICTURE: Argo

BEST DIRECTOR: Ang Lee (Life of Pi).

BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln)

BEST ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

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Vodafone 'lawsuit' storm in a teacup?

Yesterday Piper Aldermann said 23,000 people had registered for the class action. Today it clarified saying they had only registered their interest. Source: Supplied

A SYDNEY law firm's class action against Vodafone has had an underwhelming debut with the firm today unable to state how many customers had signed up.

The move was designed to compensate those customers disgruntled over network coverage problems and poor customer service.

Yesterday law firm Piper Aldermann said it had 23,000 people registered to the class action. But today it admitted angry customers had only "registered their interest".

Class action over Vodafone dropouts

The website to officially sign onto the class action only went live this morning, said Gordon Grieve, owner and chairman of the firm.

Speaking at a press conference today, Mr Grieve was confident people who showed initial interest in the class action would "formally sign up".

A Piper Aldermann spokesman would not say how many people had signed up today but explained the process of registration of interest to a class action was standard.

"There is a period of registration followed by formal funding agreements and retainer agreements," he said. "The second phase began this morning and people are now formally signing up."

Sydney mum Amanda Burkett fronted media today and said she signed up after not being able to contact someone to pick up her son from school as she no mobile phone coverage.

"I was concerned for the safety of my son," she said

She said it took an hour before she could get hold of anyone, while her son's school was about to close and "no one knew what was going on".

"It was very frustrating," she said.

"I felt like I had no control over the situation and I was worried my son would be upset."

She said it wasn't an isolated incident.

She said 80 per cent of the time she could not get reception on her phone for emails, texts or calls.

"I live in the north shore and I work in the city, those aren't areas known for poor coverage."

A source close to the matter told news.com.au that customers who had already been compensated by Vodafone for similar problems would not be able to "double dip" by signing on to the class action.

Vodafone has been contacted for additional comment but in an earlier statement said it was aware that a law firm planned to proceed with action against the company.

"That firm has not contacted Vodafone directly about this since it first threatened action in 2010, nor has it sought to discuss the claims of any customers it represents in the class action with Vodafone," the statement read.

"Vodafone has not been provided with any details of the class action at this stage and is therefore not able to comment on the claims which might be made."

Piper Aldermann said it had not contacted the firm because it didn't have enough "concrete information" to go to it with.

"We need to have something concrete," said Mr Grieve. "We need to know how many people have signed on for the class action, what losses are going to be incurred."

He also said LCM - the Australian Litigation Firm financing the class action - needed time to go over its "due diligence".

However, Mr Grieve said he would he happy to talk to Vodafone "if they want to get in contact".

Follow on Twitter: @ClaireRPorter

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NASA digs deep for new ideas

NASA is developing the RASSOR mining robot to collect soil on the moon or Mars so it can be processed into rocket fuel, breathable air and other commodities. Source YouTube/NASA

NASA is shifting its focus from exploration to excavation with a prototype moon-mining robot.

Known as RASSOR, the experimental digging device is a prototype for a fleet of machines that NASA hopes to soon start sending to the Moon.

RASSOR is short for Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot.

It is a small but sturdy robot intended to be compact enough to launch into space but reliable enough to work all day, every day, for years.

It is a 76cm tall, 45kg machine is a combination of whirling digging blades and caterpillar tracks designed to burrow into soil.

NASA's goal is to create a robot that will survive for several years on the harsh lunar surface.

RASSOR, NASA's prototype Moon-mining robot.

To do this, it will need to be part of a robotic team suppling ice containing soil to a "mothership" lunar lander which will separate water from the detritus to make fuel and breathable air.

"This has been kind of the dream, the mission they gear this around," a RASSOR team engineer said.

The machine digs through a series of rotating bucket drums at its front and rear.

"The staggered shallow scoops shave the soil a bit at a time rather than scoop large chunks of it all at once, the way bulldozers do on Earth," NASA says.

The robotic diggers are no slouches.

RASSOR, NASA's prototype Moon-mining robot.

It will be able to speed over the Moon's surface at 20 metres per second, leaving the likes of the Mars Curiosity probe in its dust.

It will also be required to work up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for five years.

There will be no smoko breaks.

RASSOR, NASA's prototype Moon-mining robot.

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Wahlberg 'not drunk' on Norton show

Actor Mark Wahlberg, pictured at the 85th Annual Academy Awards, says he was no affected by alcohol on Graham Norton's TV chat show. AFP PHOTO/Robyn BECK Source: AFP

MARK Wahlberg has said it wasn't alcohol but a miscued attempt at comedy that led him to sit on UK TV host Graham Norton's lap.

Mark Wahlberg's appearance on the February 8 BBC chat show, which is shown on Channel 10, led to a torrent of speculation that the 41-year-old was drunk on air. The car-crash viewing peaked with Wahlberg sitting on Norton's lap and rubbing the host's nipples.

"It was just one of those things - we were trying to do a bit and it didn’t come off the way we hoped,” Wahlberg told News Ltd today.

"It was an attempt to be funny … when doing comedy … it was fun."

Judge for yourself

Wahlberg was in Britain promoting his new film Broken City, which co-stars Russell Crowe. The film opens in Australia on March 7.

Pictures: Mark Wahlberg

The American actor was also a presenter at Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, but didn’t stick around for the parties.

BUMPS and BOOBS: Hollywood's Big Night

"The show started at 5.30, I got there at about 6 o'clock, I went on at 7, I was home by quarter to 8 … and I was in bed by quarter past 8," Wahlberg said.

Wahlberg will soon start shooting the fourth Transformers film with Michael Bay.

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Samsung investigated for fatal gas leak

South Korean inspectors investigate the scene of an accident of the leakage of diluted hydrofluoric acid at Samsung Electronics chipmaking plant in the city of Hwaseong. Source: AFP

THREE Samsung managers are under investigation for negligent homicide after a deadly toxic chemical leak at a chip-making plant last month.

One repair worker died after trying to stop the leak of diluted hydrofluoric acid at the Samsung Electronics' plant in the city of Hwaseong, 43 kilometres southwest of central Seoul, on January 27.

Four other workers were treated in hospital but later released.

A post-mortem showed the worker had died of exposure to gas given off by the leak, which can damage lungs and bones and affect the nervous system.

Police said the leak was due to deterioration of rubber seals on the gas container valves and corroded bolts, and the three managers could face charges of negligent homicide.

"Investigations are still underway on how much gas was released ... and its impact on the the environment," the provincial police agency said in a statement.

Samsung is the world's top maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat-panel TVs.

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Telstra drops fee for battered women

AUSTRALIA'S largest telephone carrier has bowed to pressure to drop unlisted phone number fees for domestic violence victims, but consumer groups and the Federal Government have questioned whether its exemptions go far enough.

The issue is now the subject of a Senate review, with the Telecommunications Committee asked to investigate outlawing the fee for everyone.

Telstra announced its policy change today following pressure from social media group Destroy the Joint.

One of the Facebook group's 25,000 members, a victim of domestic violence, was asked to pay $35 per year to maintain a silent phone number, despite having an apprehended violence order against her partner.

Telstra spokesman Tim O'Leary said the company was in the process of reviewing its "policy on charging silent line fees for victims of domestic violence" and would waive the $2.93 monthly fee in some circumstances.

"We're just finalising how this will work, but we'll include anyone who has a valid protection order recognising a security threat or (who) is a client of a community organisation providing services to people who are facing a security threat," Mr O'Leary said.

Telstra currently charges the monthly fee to anyone seeking to keep their phone number out of its White Pages directories, with the fee covering the cost of "managing and maintaining" the database.

But while Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy welcomed Telstra's decision as an "important step in protecting the privacy of some of Australia's most vulnerable people," he noted there was "still significant community interest” about the fees.

As such, Senator Conroy has asked the Senate Committee on Telecommunications to examine scrapping the unlisted number fee for all users, as recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission.

The ALRC, in its review of the Telecommunications Act, called the fee "a financial impediment to accessing a service that will help to protect privacy".

Australian Communications Consumer Action Network communications manager Elise Davidson said Telstra's move to axe the fee in some circumstances was "a good first step" but it needed to be extended to low-income earners, pensioners and other violence victims.

"There may well be (victims of violence) who fall outside these parameters," she said. "We're also worried about the resellers because obviously Telstra charge their resellers a fee if their customers want to have a silent line. These providers should be able to offer this exemption".

Optus currently offers unlisted phone numbers without a fee, but resellers including Internode ($4), iPrimus ($3.50), iiNet ($2.93), Spintel ($2.95) and ACN ($2.93) charge monthly fees for silent numbers.

 

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Ray of hope for music industry

Hitmakers Bruno Mars and Rihanna perform with Ziggy Marley at the Grammys on Feb 10. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images

MORE than a decade after online file swapping tipped the music industry into turmoil, record executives may finally be getting a sliver of good news.

Industry revenue is up. A measly 0.3 per cent, but it's still up.

"For the global music business, it is hard to remember a year that has begun with such a palpable buzz in the air," said Frances Moore, whose International Federation of the Phonographic Industry put together the figures released Tuesday.

"These are hard-won successes for an industry that has innovated, battled and transformed itself over a decade," she said in a statement.

"They show the music industry has adapted to the Internet world."

Justin Timberlake, left, and Jay-Z perform on stage at the Grammys earlier this month.

That adaptation has been a long time coming. Online song sharing popularised by services such as Napster at the turn of the millennium seriously destabilised the industry, which reacted with a barrage of lawsuits and lobbying.

But the war on piracy failed to stem the tide of free music, and by the time executives finally began making legal music available through download services such as Apple's iTunes, the industry was in a free fall.

Since its 1999 peak, the global music industry's revenues have crashed more than 40 per cent. Tuesday's figures, which show a rise in global revenue from $US16.4 billion ($15.9 billion) in 2011 to $US16.5 billion in 2012, are the first hint of growth in more than a decade.

Mark Mulligan, of U.K.-based MIDiA consulting, warned that Tuesday's figures did not mean the industry had put its misery years behind it.

Singer Adele performs her Oscar-winning Skyfall song during the Academy Awards on Feb 24. Picture: AP

"We're probably near the bottom," he said, "but it's so marginal we could easily have another year or two where it could get worse."

The physical music market continues to contract, losing another $US500 million in revenue between 2011 and 2012, according to Tuesday's IFPI figures. The industry group has placed its bets on downloads, streaming, and subscription services to make up for lost ground, but there's still a long way to go.

Downloads and streaming audio now account for most of the music sold in the US and Scandinavia, but physical music - everything from vinyl records to DVDs - still accounts for the majority of industry revenue worldwide.

Mr Mulligan said he believed some of the lost revenue may never be recovered, with many casual users who used to buy the odd CD turning to free services such as YouTube, television music channels, or Internet radio instead.

"This is a case of managed decline," he said, predicting "a sustainable but smaller market built around more engaged music fans."
 

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