According to a BBC News report, at least 30 people have been injured and 21 have been arrested after a planned celebratory parade for PSG turned violent. Protesters were reportedly sporadically clashing with police for hours before the city was back under police control. A boat ride for PSG players and a trophy presentation scheduled for Wednesday have been cancelled.

The violence reportedly began when thousands of PSG fans grew restless while waiting for PSG players to show up at an event. Riot police fired tear gas and smoke bombs as fans threw rocks and other objects at police. The violence spilled out to the Champs-Elysees, where restaurants closed early and storefronts were vandalized.

PSG has issued a statement, saying that the riot was caused by “a few hundred troublemakers who have nothing to do with football.” The statement, in full:

The party was spoiled by a few hundred troublemakers who have nothing to do with football and even less with those that fill the Parc des Princes on match days with such passion and enthusiasm and in total security.

All the members of the club, the players and the directors, express to all those loyal and passionate fans their heartfelt regret that today’s trophy presentation ceremony had to be cut short.

The celebrations will continue this Saturday at the Parc des Princes for the Ligue 1 match against Brest, when the club and its fans will unite in the joy of Paris Saint-Germain’s first league title in 19 years.

Paris Saint-Germain is more determined than ever to build a huge European club, worthy of the French capital, and far removed from those intent on trying to destroy that dream.

Objet released a video interview today with Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen and MIT Professor Neri Oxman, both of which worked on a multi-material 3D printed cape and skirt. The ensemble was composed of “both rubber-like and rigid elements that are 3D printed simultaneously on the Stratasys Objet Connex system.”

The Objet blog gives some more insight into how the cape and skirt were created:

Both the cape and skirt were 3D printed on the Objet Connex500 multi-material 3D printer. They pieces were divided into 4 parts each, with each part consisting of a flexible rubber-like substrate overlaid with rigid shell-like structures – all printed in the same job. The Connex platform is unique in its ability to simultaneously use different materials for the fabrication and simulation of different end parts and properties.

3D printed clothing doesn’t look very comfortable, but I assume most high fashion isn’t meant to be. The design itself, however, is incredibly compelling, and might lead other fashion designers to look into the technology for future designs.

CNN reports that four armed robbers made their way into an Apple store in Paris on New Years. They were able to get in through a service entrance and threatened employees to let them into the back storeroom. From there, the robbers were able to get away with $1.3 million worth of iPads, iPhones and MacBooks.

So, how did they get away with it? It turns out that robbing a store on New Years is apparently easier than it looks thanks to the majority of police attention being given to the crowds outside on the streets. The police note that the thieves also knew exactly what they were doing by going after devices in the storeroom while leaving the display devices on the show floor.

This isn’t the first time that an Apple store has been hit with major thefts since the launch of the super popular iPhone 5. In Japan, thieves hit three major stores in Osaka and made away with over 100 iPhone 5s. The iPhone 5 also continues to be a popular target among those who rob people on the street, but Apple thankfully provides a free service to catch them. Unfortunately, the unactivated iPhones in Paris can not be recovered so easily.

The store is the realization of what BMW hopes to make the standard of future retail automotive sales. They realize the average BMW consumer is different and has different needs and expectations than past consumers or those interested in other brands. Speaking of other brands, Ian Robertson, head of sales and marketing for BMW, mentioned that BMW is taking a cue from Apple and are moving forward to create something they’re calling “product geniuses”.

In the future, all of their retail sales will be handled by well-qualified and well-informed product specialists (A.K.A. Brand Geniuses) who are fully trained to address and highlight all aspects of BMW’s products. As you would imagine, the future of retail includes a variety of branded lifestyle products on top of the finely engineered vehicles we are all so fond of.

Vistors will find clothing, strollers, umbrellas, mugs, watches, golf accessories, sunglasses and more. BMW even offers miniature bikes designed just for the kids (see photo below). Like I sad, it’s not just a dealership, it’s a store, and it embodies a lifestyle not just a form of transportation.

Checkout Bloomberg’s coverage of the store’s grand opening in Paris:

So that’s what the future of automobile sales looks like according to BMW. If you’re looking for a good example of this on the American side, look at the work Chrysler has done with the Jeep brand. You can find the Jeep stamp on thousands of products. They are all about promoting a rugged outdoor lifestyle, even if you’ve never engaged the four-wheel drive on your vehicle.

(Pictures courtesy of Ad Age Global)

Pippa Middleton–who was the object of millions of ogles after sporting a derriere-flattering gown to the royal wedding last year–is now in some hot water after one of her friends pointed a gun at photographer who was following them in Paris this weekend.

Middleton was in the passenger seat of a convertible with three male friends on Sunday when the driver took out a gun and aimed it at a French photographer who was behind the car. Although it appears he did it with cheeky intentions–and it isn’t yet clear whether the gun is real or not– the photographer didn’t appreciate looking down the barrel of a gun and is considering pressing charges.

French gun laws are becoming more and more strict since the fatal shootings of seven Toulouse residents earlier this year, and officials say that if the gun proves to be real, all parties involved could face up to seven years in prison.

“Waving a weapon in public is not only illegal — it’s incredibly stupid,” a security source said.

Apparently, when users typed in the name of the firm, “Lyonnaise de Garantie”, into Google, AutoComplete offered the term “escroc” associated with the term. “Escroc” means “swindler” or “crook”.

Google explained to the court that it did not influence the results of its AutoComplete technology, but rather the suggestions were the result of other users’ searches. That is to say, other people were searching for results about that insurance company being crooked. Google makes no representation as to whether the statement implied is true, accurate, etc. It simply is there because other people put it there.

As reported on Fierce Government IT:

“The French court in its ruling said Google can, or should, exercise “human control over the functionality” adding that absent a delegation of powers, every company head “is personally responsible for the information content that the company, according to his purpose, issues to the public.” The fine amounts to approximately $65,000.”

The notion of a party trying to hold Google responsible for simply impersonally reflecting the state of things on the Internet is not unfamiliar to Americans. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, now a Republican Candidate for President, has tried to do that himself, with no success.

As Josh Wolford reported last week, Rick Santorum has had a “Google problem“. And, as is the nature of things online, when he tried to fight it directly, it only got worse. Finally he approached Google as a corporation and demanded that the offensive search results be removed. Google refused.

Thanks to details provided by the Google Lat Long blog, what we have is an awesome representation of Google Earth based on Google’s own Liquid Galaxy feature the mapping service. It should be noted Liquid Galaxy was designed with home computer screens in mind, and not displays that feature 100 million pixels across 48 individual displays that are working in unison.

Nevertheless, Google pulled it off, thanks to a partnership with Le Pavillon de l’Arsenal. The development of the display was done in conjunction with JCDecaux, which, according to their Wikipedia profile, ” is the largest outdoor advertising corporation in the world.”

Besides bringing Google Maps to a 48-screen setup, the goal of the project was also to give Parisans a look at what Paris might look like in the future. Google’s blog post explains further:

Late last year, the Paris Center for Architecture and Urbanism: Le Pavillon de l’Arsenal, approached us asking if they could use Google Earth to power a new interactive display highlighting the Paris metropolitan area in 2020 with upcoming buildings in 3D. Naturally, we were excited about the project, especially when they shared that the display would be 40 square meters – posing a fun and unique challenge.

The larger version of Google Earth is controlled by four touchscreens that can both pinch and zoom on the Google Earth image/area being viewed. Be sure and check out the video if you haven’t already, if, for nothing else, the incredible amount of wiring it took for the project to come to life.

The Paris court has ordered eBay to stop using keywords which harm the reputation of the Louis Vuitton brand to promote its sites and will impose penalties of  $1,372 (1,000 euros) for future violations.

"Louis Vuitton welcomes this decision, which confirms established case law that aims to protect the consumer from the illicit use of company trademarks," said Nathalie Moull-Berteaux, Global Intellectual Property Director of Louis Vuitton.

The court also ordered eBay to pay $274,407 (200,000 euros) in damages to Louis Vuitton. eBay has also been ordered to pay $41,161 (30,000 euros) to reimburse the legal costs of Luis Vuitton.

"This case is about the use of Adwords to direct buyers’ listings for authentic goods from eBay sellers," said Yohan Ruso, director general of eBay France.

"This issue is being used by certain Rights Owners as an excuse to retain total control of what people can buy, where they can buy it from, and how much they have to pay. This is why 750,000 Europeans signed a petition to the European Parliament last year, protesting barriers to Internet trade."

The online database will allows users to access information on 22,000 works of art from the Louvre, and provide high-resolution images along with their locations in the museum.

Before today, the Atlas database was only available in French and could be accessed via the Louvre’s website, which receives more than 10 million visits a year.

The launch of the English version of Atlas was started by and funded with a $380,000 grant from the American Friends of the Louvre, a group that was founded in 2002 to strengthen ties between the museum and the American public.  The new version of the database will offer English-speaking visitors in depth information on the Louvre’s large collection.

Atlas was launched in 2003 and offer access to a database of 26,000 of the 35,0000 works on permanent display at the Louvre. Currently 5,500 artists in a variety of media are on the site. Atlas also offers online visitors a virtual album, which allows them to customize their own personal tour of the Louvre.
 

In case you forgot, back when Paris Hilton launched her own special YouTube channel to promote her silly little song, purist YouTubers chimed in with their fears that the site would become too commercial.

Well, it’s too late for that now. It’s a marketer’s world these days, whether you’re selling hotel rooms or politics. But the burning debate surrounding video ads has been over whether pre-roll, mid-roll, or post roll ads were best.

Advertisers like pre-roll ads the best, but they can push the viewer to push the "Stop" button. People rightly assume viewers won’t stick around for post-roll. Mid-roll ads operate on the same premise as TV and radio ads – hook the viewer, make them wait a few seconds, and then get back to the content.

Google and YouTube know their touchy demographic, though. They won’t tolerate any in-video ads for long, if at all. This must be why they’re falling back on old standards: banners and pop-ups.

Yes, pop-ups.

If you have you’re Firefox browser tuned right, you won’t be able to see what Beet.tv’s Andy Plesser is pointing to. So use Internet Explorer or check out Plesser’s Dennis Kucinich video screen shot of the Best Western pop-up ad.

The banner ads seem more contextual. Click to view a Kucinich video and you may see a banner ad for YouTube’s latest baby, CitizenTube.

Though it seems backwards at first for such a Web 2.0 marketplace, it makes a lot of sense to do it this way. YouTubers just won’t tolerate their pure user-generated haven being interrupted constantly by in-vid advertisements.

The pop-ups may get annoying though. It will be interesting to see how the YouTube crowd responds.