Unimpressed by his pizzas at 8 CBD Ben Butler

Domino's Pizza has a new topping: spam. Chief pizza-maker Don Meij got a firsthand lesson in the perils of social media when he took to Facebook on Tuesday night to defend the chain's honour.

Punters - and the market - had been less than impressed when Meij unveiled a bunch of new toppings (peking duck, pork belly, blue cheese) and a price cut to $8 in an announcement he had earlier hyped as something that would "revolutionise" the pizza market.

The Facebook chat was quickly flooded with pitches for multi-level marketing scams and invitations to watch Rihanna and Justin Bieber sex tapes.

One post promised "a great paying, proven work from home opportunity... This is not a scam... NO SCAM 100% legit". Sounds plausible. Another poster said "great pizza" before moving quickly to a pitch for a "work from home opportunity". Like delivering pizza?

Tinkler on edge

The game of "Where's Wally?" may be over for Singaporean Nathan Tinkler (pictured), who must front the NSW Supreme Court at 11am Thursday, or face arrest. Tinkler's whereabouts have been a source of particular interest since he failed to appear last Friday after being summonsed for a public examination by the liquidator of his Mulsanne Resources. Instead, the former Novocastrian's lawyers launched an abortive "abuse of process" claim to stay the proceedings.

Unimpressed, counsel for the liquidator, Robert Newlinds, SC, told the registrar: "We are not convinced that Mr Tinkler has ever had an intention of complying with this summons. An easy way to test is to ask, 'Is he here?' "

Tinkler's silk, Alec Leopold, SC, admitted his client was not in the "court precinct". Newlinds countered that Tinkler was "defying an order of the court", adding: "We want to make it 900 per cent clear that if Mr Tinkler is not here next Thursday we will be applying to have him arrested."

Tinkler's public relations spokesman, Tim Allerton, later called journalists, stressing that, while Tinkler was not in court on Friday, he was in a hotel room two minutes away and available to attend if ordered. On Tuesday, Newlinds called Tinkler's solicitor, Scott Harris, to take the stand. Under oath Harris admitted that while he had not spoken to Tinkler on Friday, he believed his client was still in Singapore ... and had been the day before.

Outside court, Allerton then explained that he was now told that Tinkler had been in a hotel near Singapore airport. Ready to fly to Sydney, if needed. And he would definitely turn up on Thursday. CBD will believe it when it happens.

Regatta de plonk

It will be high jinks on the high seas on Friday, when more than 90 boats of all shapes and sizes take part in the annual charity Yachting Regatta on Sydney Harbour.

Over the years rival teams have been known to fire water bombs at each other, with others wearing pirate patches and laying in wait around the harbour for surprise "attacks".

The event, sponsored by Colliers International and hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club, has already received entries from AMP Capital, Australand, Charter Hall, Lend Lease, Mirvac and Thiess. Rosemary Smithson, chief executive of the Sir David Martin Foundation, said that more than 1700 guests were expected to attend, with more than 50 volunteers on hand from the property and construction industry. It aims to raise $400,000 for the foundation, which provides emergency accommodation and counselling facilities for homeless young people.

The Melbourne event, hosted by John Bertrand, is on March 22 at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club, near Ricky Ponting's new pad.

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bbutler@fairfaxmedia.com.au