China hopes to cure Internet addicts at summer camp
SHANGHAI ( Reuters ) - China is launching an experimental summer camp for 40 youngsters to try to wean them off their Internet addiction, state media said on Tuesday.
The 10 - day program would accept youngsters aged between 14 and 22 once they had undergone a psychological test and evaluation, the China Daily said.
About 2. 6 million - - or 13 percent - - of China's 20 million Internet users under 18 are classed as addicts, state media have reported.
The youngsters at the summer camp would be treated for depression, fear, unwillingness to interact with others, panic and agitation.
It would appear to be offering a softer option than the Internet Addiction Treatment Centre near Beijing which uses a blend of therapy and military drills to treat children addicted to online games, Internet pornography and cybersex.
Concerned by a number of high - profile Internet - related deaths and juvenile crime, the government is now taking steps to stem Internet addictions by banning new Internet cafes and mulling restrictions on violent computer games.
According to government figures, there are currently 113, 000 Internet cafes and bars in China.
The newspaper cited the case of one student accepted to East China University of Science and Technology with high marks.
" He could not adjust to Shanghai campus life without burying himself in computer games, " the China Daily said. " He would play day and night, skipping classes and avoiding friends, until he was pulled out of the Internet cafe by a supervisor. "
In a joint effort with the camp, Shanghai's education commission has organized a volunteer group to patrol the city streets and stop minors entering Internet cafes.
Source
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
When cyberbullying hits teens
When cyberbullying hits teens
Internet attorney Eric J. Sinrod says online harassment for teenagers has become a distasteful buckle down of cyber - life.
By Eric J. Sinrod
I recently covered a tally that indicates that teenagers generally are taking some privacy steps to ice themselves from online risks.
Nevertheless, a recent data memo from the Pew Internet & American Life Project suggests that cyberbullying truly is a disagreement for teens.
Certainly, approximately one - third of teenagers on the Internet report that they have been targets of " speculative " online activities, such as receiving threatening messages, having their private e - mails or instant and text messages forwarded without consent, having an embarrassing photo posted without permission, or having rumors spread about them online. On top of this, girls are more likely than boys to be targets.
Mastery terms of raw numbers, 15 percent of teenagers state that they have had appropriate e - mail, contemporaneous messages or topic messages forwarded or sophic at sea permission; 13 percent claim that they have had rumors spread about them online; 13 percent have known a threatening or aggressive e - mail, instant message or text advice; 6 percent have had embarrassing photos of them posted online without consent; and 32 percent fall within in at least one of the four foregoing categories.
In terms of the cyberbullying gender gap, 38 percent of online girls statement being bullied when compared with 26 percent of online boys. Older teenage girls are the mightily likely to statement bullying, disguise 41 percent of online girls from the 15 to 17 age group reporting such experiences.
Moreover, teens who capitalization social - network sites comparable as MySpace further Facebook and teens who use the Internet on a daily blastoff also are expanded approaching to be victims of cyberbullying. Indeed, 39 percent of social - networking teens hold been bullied online when compared with 22 percent of online teens who do not usability cordial networks.
The most common form of cyberbullying is having someone take a private e - mail, instant message or subject message also forwarding it on to someone else or posting it publicly. The best advice for teens here is that they should not voice everything in their electronic communications that they would not longing the whole earth to see. Easier said than done, of course.
Because social - networking teens tend to experience more cyberbullying, teens could be advised not to participate in social - networking sites. However, such sites wholly have become standard communications mediums as teens and they may feel socially excluded if they do not participate. Thus, if they do participate, they should take best steps to protect their privacy - - such seeing interacting only with true, known " friends " - - by not disclosing much personally identifiable information, and by not joining mediocre groups.
While there is eminently multinational these days about threats to teens online, an interesting aspect of the memo is that 67 percent of teens jaw that bullying happens other offline than online, and only 29 percent state that bullying is more ulterior to happen online. Hence, while it is important to focus on and try to prevent malicious online conduct, we must not lose our focus predominance terms of warding off harassing conduct in the physical world utterly.
Source
Internet attorney Eric J. Sinrod says online harassment for teenagers has become a distasteful buckle down of cyber - life.
By Eric J. Sinrod
I recently covered a tally that indicates that teenagers generally are taking some privacy steps to ice themselves from online risks.
Nevertheless, a recent data memo from the Pew Internet & American Life Project suggests that cyberbullying truly is a disagreement for teens.
Certainly, approximately one - third of teenagers on the Internet report that they have been targets of " speculative " online activities, such as receiving threatening messages, having their private e - mails or instant and text messages forwarded without consent, having an embarrassing photo posted without permission, or having rumors spread about them online. On top of this, girls are more likely than boys to be targets.
Mastery terms of raw numbers, 15 percent of teenagers state that they have had appropriate e - mail, contemporaneous messages or topic messages forwarded or sophic at sea permission; 13 percent claim that they have had rumors spread about them online; 13 percent have known a threatening or aggressive e - mail, instant message or text advice; 6 percent have had embarrassing photos of them posted online without consent; and 32 percent fall within in at least one of the four foregoing categories.
In terms of the cyberbullying gender gap, 38 percent of online girls statement being bullied when compared with 26 percent of online boys. Older teenage girls are the mightily likely to statement bullying, disguise 41 percent of online girls from the 15 to 17 age group reporting such experiences.
Moreover, teens who capitalization social - network sites comparable as MySpace further Facebook and teens who use the Internet on a daily blastoff also are expanded approaching to be victims of cyberbullying. Indeed, 39 percent of social - networking teens hold been bullied online when compared with 22 percent of online teens who do not usability cordial networks.
The most common form of cyberbullying is having someone take a private e - mail, instant message or subject message also forwarding it on to someone else or posting it publicly. The best advice for teens here is that they should not voice everything in their electronic communications that they would not longing the whole earth to see. Easier said than done, of course.
Because social - networking teens tend to experience more cyberbullying, teens could be advised not to participate in social - networking sites. However, such sites wholly have become standard communications mediums as teens and they may feel socially excluded if they do not participate. Thus, if they do participate, they should take best steps to protect their privacy - - such seeing interacting only with true, known " friends " - - by not disclosing much personally identifiable information, and by not joining mediocre groups.
While there is eminently multinational these days about threats to teens online, an interesting aspect of the memo is that 67 percent of teens jaw that bullying happens other offline than online, and only 29 percent state that bullying is more ulterior to happen online. Hence, while it is important to focus on and try to prevent malicious online conduct, we must not lose our focus predominance terms of warding off harassing conduct in the physical world utterly.
Source
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Mysterious hexagon spotted on Saturn
First, Mars had a face, now Saturn has a hexagon. A strange hexagon shape over the north pole of Saturn was first spotted by the two Voyager spacecraft and has been revisited by the Cassini probe. The 26 years between sightings indicate it is likely a permanent feature on Saturn, according to NASA scientists. In fact, Cassini found a second hexagon, significantly darker than the original. This is the first time the feature has been captured on one image.
On NASA's Web site, Kevin Baines, atmospheric expert and member of Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, "Saturn's thick atmosphere where circularly shaped waves and convective cells dominate is perhaps the last place you'd expect to see such a six-sided geometric figure, yet there it is."
This image was captured at night by Cassini's infrared mapping spectrometer. The red color indicates heat generated from the planet's interior.
Source
Teacher & Principal Caught on Tape Having Sex in School
A principal and a teacher at a suburban elementary school quit amid allegations they were caught on video having sex in the principal's office, authorities say.
In keeping with Cook County's reputation for bare-knuckle politics, the scandal broke after copies of the sex tape were mailed anonymously to parents this week, just days before a contested school board election.
The case has also created something of a mystery: Who planted the camera that recorded the action?
Leroy Coleman and Janet Lofton submitted their resignations after meeting with the district superintendent Thursday, said John Izzo, board attorney for the Sandridge Elementary School district, about 20 miles south of Chicago.
Izzo said that Coleman, the school's principal since 2005, wrote that he was quitting for health reasons. He said Lofton wrote that she was stepping down immediately "due to the illness of a family member."
A third school employee, teacher's aide Anjayla Reed, resigned Friday after the superintendent contacted her about allegations that she appears on a separate portion of the tape hugging and touching the principal, Izzo said. She gave no reason for her resignation.
Kim Grivakis, the mother of a 13-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy who attend the school, said she received a copy of the 21/2-hour DVD in the mail Wednesday. She organized a meeting Thursday with other parents to call for action from the school board.
Grivakis said she could identify Coleman and Lofton and Reed on the tape.
"It made me sick," Grivakis said. "It's very graphic. I can't tell you how graphic because I have two children standing right here."
A copy of the DVD viewed by The Associated Press shows a man and a woman hugging, kissing and engaged in various sex acts inside an office. A separate portion of the tape, apparently from a different time, shows another woman hugging and touching the same man.
The Cook County Sheriff's Department is investigating.
"At this point we don't know if a crime has been committed," department spokeswoman Penny Mateck said, adding that investigators had a copy of the video.
Lofton has an unlisted telephone number, and no listing could be found for Coleman or Reed.
Izzo said that that he had been told by a sheriff's official that Coleman and Lofton are on the tape. "They asked to look at pictures of the staff members and they identified them," he said of the investigators.
The school board attorney said Coleman and Lofton apparently did not know about the camera. "Somebody got access and planted a bug in a school office," Izzo said.
He said sheriff's investigators searched the office on Thursday and apparently did not find a camera.
Copies of the video, apparently taped in December and January from the date stamps on it, emerged just days before Tuesday's elections. Eight candidates are competing for four board slots.
"How come it took five days before the election?" said school board President Cheryl Ward said. "I think that is sick."
Source
In keeping with Cook County's reputation for bare-knuckle politics, the scandal broke after copies of the sex tape were mailed anonymously to parents this week, just days before a contested school board election.
The case has also created something of a mystery: Who planted the camera that recorded the action?
Leroy Coleman and Janet Lofton submitted their resignations after meeting with the district superintendent Thursday, said John Izzo, board attorney for the Sandridge Elementary School district, about 20 miles south of Chicago.
Izzo said that Coleman, the school's principal since 2005, wrote that he was quitting for health reasons. He said Lofton wrote that she was stepping down immediately "due to the illness of a family member."
A third school employee, teacher's aide Anjayla Reed, resigned Friday after the superintendent contacted her about allegations that she appears on a separate portion of the tape hugging and touching the principal, Izzo said. She gave no reason for her resignation.
Kim Grivakis, the mother of a 13-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy who attend the school, said she received a copy of the 21/2-hour DVD in the mail Wednesday. She organized a meeting Thursday with other parents to call for action from the school board.
Grivakis said she could identify Coleman and Lofton and Reed on the tape.
"It made me sick," Grivakis said. "It's very graphic. I can't tell you how graphic because I have two children standing right here."
A copy of the DVD viewed by The Associated Press shows a man and a woman hugging, kissing and engaged in various sex acts inside an office. A separate portion of the tape, apparently from a different time, shows another woman hugging and touching the same man.
The Cook County Sheriff's Department is investigating.
"At this point we don't know if a crime has been committed," department spokeswoman Penny Mateck said, adding that investigators had a copy of the video.
Lofton has an unlisted telephone number, and no listing could be found for Coleman or Reed.
Izzo said that that he had been told by a sheriff's official that Coleman and Lofton are on the tape. "They asked to look at pictures of the staff members and they identified them," he said of the investigators.
The school board attorney said Coleman and Lofton apparently did not know about the camera. "Somebody got access and planted a bug in a school office," Izzo said.
He said sheriff's investigators searched the office on Thursday and apparently did not find a camera.
Copies of the video, apparently taped in December and January from the date stamps on it, emerged just days before Tuesday's elections. Eight candidates are competing for four board slots.
"How come it took five days before the election?" said school board President Cheryl Ward said. "I think that is sick."
Source
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Watching movies on your head
Headplay has created the Personal Cinema System (PCS), a portable movie viewer/PC monitor.
Its principal component is a sun visor that sports a TV monitor under the brim for close, personal viewing.
The device will sell for $499.
Here is the visor itself. By staring directly into two independently focused eyepieces,
the mind "sees" a largish, rectangular movie screen, or virtual monitor, on top of a black background.
Source
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Strippers offer free shows for missing dog
Strippers offer free shows for missing dog
Strippers in Italy are offering a year's free entry to their show for anyone who finds their missing poodle.
The girls, who work at the Gilda 2 sex shop and strip club in Viareggio, made the offer as soon as their pampered poodle Gianni went missing.
One of the strippers said: "Since we made the offer we have had lots of responses, but so far none of the dogs we have been shown have turned out to be our little Gianni."
Source
Strippers in Italy are offering a year's free entry to their show for anyone who finds their missing poodle.
The girls, who work at the Gilda 2 sex shop and strip club in Viareggio, made the offer as soon as their pampered poodle Gianni went missing.
One of the strippers said: "Since we made the offer we have had lots of responses, but so far none of the dogs we have been shown have turned out to be our little Gianni."
Source
Hack lets intruders sneak into home routers
Hack lets intruders sneak into home routers
Ability to change the settings of poorly configured home routers could put home networks at risk of serious attack.
By Joris Evers
If you haven't changed the default password on your home router, let this recent threat serve as a reminder.
Attackers could change the configuration of home routers using JavaScript code, security researchers at Indiana University and Symantec have discovered. The researchers first published their work in December, but Symantec publicized the findings on Thursday.
The researchers found that it is possible to change the DNS, or Domain Name System, settings of a router if the owner uses a connected PC to view a Web page with the JavaScript code. This DNS change lets the attacker divert all the Net traffic going through the router. For example, if the victim types in "www.mybank.com," the request could be sent to a similar-looking fake page created to steal sensitive data.
"I have been able to get this to work on Linksys, D-Link and Netgear routers," Symantec researcher Zulfikar Ramzan said. "You can create one Web site that is able to attack all routers. My feeling is that it is just a matter of time before phishers start using this."
After a router's DNS setting is changed, all computers connected to the device will use the DNS server set up by the attacker to find their way on the Internet. DNS functions like the phonebook of the Internet, mapping text-based addresses such as www.news.com to actual numeric Internet Protocol addresses of a Web site.
The attack works on any type of home router, but only if the default router password hasn't been changed, Ramzan said. The malicious JavaScript code embedded on the attacker's Web page logs into the router using the default credentials--often as simple as "admin" and "password"--and changes the settings.
"One of the issues is that the set-up steps in the router don't prompt you to change the password," Ramzan said. As a result, many people never properly configure their networking gear, he said.
In crafting their proof-of-concept attack code, Ramzan and researchers at Indiana University built upon earlier research that showed how JavaScript could be used for malicious purposes. Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology officer at WhiteHat Security, demonstrated how JavaScript let outside attackers target internal corporate networks.
Grossman is impressed by the Symantec and Indiana University work. "This is very dangerous stuff and could be highly effective if used in the wild," he said.
Router makers already know of the problems with default passwords as well as other security concerns, they said. Linksys, for example, recommends that customers change the default password during the installation procedure, said Karen Sohl, a representative for the company, a division of Cisco Systems. "We are aware of this," she said.
On its Web site, Linksys warns users that miscreants are taking advantage of the default passwords. "Hackers know these defaults and will try them to access your wireless device and change your network settings. To thwart any unauthorized changes, customize the device's password so it will be hard to guess," the company states.
Still, although Linksys' software recommends the password change, consumers can either plug in their router without running the installation disk or bypass the change screen, keeping the defaults. The company offers detailed information on how to change the router password on its Web site. Netgear and D-Link also recommend password changes.
Source
Ability to change the settings of poorly configured home routers could put home networks at risk of serious attack.
By Joris Evers
If you haven't changed the default password on your home router, let this recent threat serve as a reminder.
Attackers could change the configuration of home routers using JavaScript code, security researchers at Indiana University and Symantec have discovered. The researchers first published their work in December, but Symantec publicized the findings on Thursday.
The researchers found that it is possible to change the DNS, or Domain Name System, settings of a router if the owner uses a connected PC to view a Web page with the JavaScript code. This DNS change lets the attacker divert all the Net traffic going through the router. For example, if the victim types in "www.mybank.com," the request could be sent to a similar-looking fake page created to steal sensitive data.
"I have been able to get this to work on Linksys, D-Link and Netgear routers," Symantec researcher Zulfikar Ramzan said. "You can create one Web site that is able to attack all routers. My feeling is that it is just a matter of time before phishers start using this."
After a router's DNS setting is changed, all computers connected to the device will use the DNS server set up by the attacker to find their way on the Internet. DNS functions like the phonebook of the Internet, mapping text-based addresses such as www.news.com to actual numeric Internet Protocol addresses of a Web site.
The attack works on any type of home router, but only if the default router password hasn't been changed, Ramzan said. The malicious JavaScript code embedded on the attacker's Web page logs into the router using the default credentials--often as simple as "admin" and "password"--and changes the settings.
"One of the issues is that the set-up steps in the router don't prompt you to change the password," Ramzan said. As a result, many people never properly configure their networking gear, he said.
In crafting their proof-of-concept attack code, Ramzan and researchers at Indiana University built upon earlier research that showed how JavaScript could be used for malicious purposes. Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology officer at WhiteHat Security, demonstrated how JavaScript let outside attackers target internal corporate networks.
Grossman is impressed by the Symantec and Indiana University work. "This is very dangerous stuff and could be highly effective if used in the wild," he said.
Router makers already know of the problems with default passwords as well as other security concerns, they said. Linksys, for example, recommends that customers change the default password during the installation procedure, said Karen Sohl, a representative for the company, a division of Cisco Systems. "We are aware of this," she said.
On its Web site, Linksys warns users that miscreants are taking advantage of the default passwords. "Hackers know these defaults and will try them to access your wireless device and change your network settings. To thwart any unauthorized changes, customize the device's password so it will be hard to guess," the company states.
Still, although Linksys' software recommends the password change, consumers can either plug in their router without running the installation disk or bypass the change screen, keeping the defaults. The company offers detailed information on how to change the router password on its Web site. Netgear and D-Link also recommend password changes.
Source
Monday, March 5, 2007
Pirates crack Vista at last
It's official: Pirates crack Vista at last
* 4th March 2007
* James Bannan
* Vista
A genuine crack for Windows Vista has just been released by pirate group Pantheon, which allows a pirated, non-activated installation of Vista (Home Basic/Premium and Ultimate) to be properly activated and made fully-operational.
Unlike cracks which have been floating around since Vista RTM was released in late November, this crack doesn’t simply get around product activation with beta activation files or timestop cracks - it actually makes use of the activation process. It seems that M'zoft has allowed large OEMs like ASUS to ship their products with a pre-installed version of Vista that doesn’t require product activation – apparently because end users would find it too inconvenient.
OEM EmulationOEM Emulation
This version of Vista uses System-Locked Pre-Installation 2.0 (SLP 2.0). It allows the “Royalty OEMs” to embed specific licensing information into the operating system which Vista can activate without having to go back to M'zoft for verification. The licensing components include the OEM’s hardware-embedded BIOS ACPI_SLIC (which has been signed by M'zoft), an XML certificate file which corresponds to this ACPI_SLIC and a specific OEM product key.
Pantheon released a bundle which includes the certificate files from ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo along with OEM product keys for Vista Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate, and an emulator which allows the BIOS ACPI_SLIC driver for any manufacturer to be installed without requiring the system to be physically running that hardware. For example, you can install the ASUS certificate information on any machine, not just an ASUS.
And yes, the crack most certainly works. You end up with an activated, legitimate copy of Vista which passes all the Windows Genuine Advantage checks.
The release of this crack does make a bit of a mockery of the whole volume activation process. I was beginning to think the new activation process introduced with Vista might spell the end of easy and large-scale Windows piracy, and if the only way to activate Vista was to have it communicate directly with M'zoft, then that just might have been a possibility. But allowing such a workaround to OEMs just because their users might not like it has introduced a weakness into the system. Pirate groups are well known for exploiting any weakness no matter how small (as evidenced by the cracking of KMS), so once this activation process became known it was only a matter of time.
As the crack is tied to specific product keys, it remains to be seen whether M'zoft will be able to do anything about shutting out machines activated using this method. But their work will be made much more difficult now that such machines have completely bypassed the online activation process, and are connecting as legitimate copies of Windows.
Source
Xbox 360 memory grows
Xbox 360 memory grows
Microsoft to offer a 512MB memory unit for the video game and entertainment system, simultaneously drop price of original 64MB unit.
Microsoft on Monday announced plans to offer a 512-megabyte memory unit for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. It also plans to increase the official size limit of Xbox Live Arcade games from 50MB to 150MB. Microsoft plans to sell the 512MB Memory Unit, available worldwide beginning April 3, for $49.99 in North America.
The unit will come preloaded with the Xbox Live Arcade game "Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved," from developer Bizarre Creations, for a limited time, Microsoft said. The original 64MB Memory Unit will simultaneously drop in price from $39.99 to $29.99.
Source
Swiss Accidentally Invade Liechtenstein
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.
According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back
A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.
"We've spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it's not a problem," Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.
Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.
Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. "It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something," he said.
Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn't have an army
Source
According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back
A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.
"We've spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it's not a problem," Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.
Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.
Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. "It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something," he said.
Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn't have an army
Source
Taiwanese set off 8.1-mile firecracker
Taiwanese set off 8.1-mile firecracker
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Organizers lit up a 8.1-mile string of explosives in a southern Taiwanese county Sunday, hoping to create the world's longest firecracker in a record-setting attempt expected to last two hours.
TV footage of the Chinese New Year celebration in Tainan County, dubbed "Legend of the Fire Dragon," showed rapid flashes of bright red explosions that created huge wafts of white smoke.
Throngs that had gathered to witness the spectacle wore masks, goggles, and even motorcycle helmets to protect themselves from the pollution.
The firecracker was expected to take two hours to finish burning.
The record-breaking attempt needs to be verified by Guinness World Records.
Taiwanese newspaper United Daily News reported that Spain holds the current world record for the longest continuously burning firecracker at 7 miles.
The record wasn't listed on the Guinness World Records official Web site, which only contains partial listings.
The festivities in Taiwan Sunday marked the last day of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration. Other locals set aloft lanterns in the sky.
Source
Cell-Phone Boosters
Cell phone users are all too accustomed to dropped calls and dead zones. One way to alleviate those problems is to boost the phone's signal with an external antenna. One such device is the Spotwave Z1900, which is geared for homes and small offices of up to 2,500 square feet. The indoor, wireless system works with cell phones, PDAs and 3G laptop cards.
The Wi-Ex zBoost works in the 800MHz and 1900MHz bands, both at home and in the car. According to a New York Times story, it's legal for consumers to purchase and own the cellular boosters, but Federal Communications Commission regulations are unclear about whether they're legal to use. Wireless companies, the Times reports, say the use of unauthorized repeaters can cause interference.
Source
Egypt's bloggers test state media control
Egypt's bloggers test state media control
Egyptian bloggers come into the spotlight as an important forum for political debate and as the target of government attempts to limit their freedom of expression.
CAIRO--Egyptian bloggers have come into the spotlight, on the one hand as an important forum for political debate, on the other as the target of government attempts to limit their freedom of expression.
Earlier this month, Abdel-Karim Suleiman, a 22-year-old former law student at al-Azhar Islamic university, became the first Egyptian jailed for his blogging when he was handed a four-year prison sentence.
"Despite their small number, the bloggers have established themselves as an alternative media outlet," said Ehab el-Zalaky, a senior editor at the independent weekly newspaper al-Dustor, who has written extensively on bloggers.
Blogs also provide a platform for religious and social minorities whose issues rarely find space in traditional media.
Anti-Christian discrimination in Egypt is documented in one. Blogs by lesbians discussing their desires and feelings are new outlets for self-expression.
"In a society too conservative to accept these relationships, it was the first time for such explicit bold talk to appear in an Egyptian media outlet," Zalaky said.
The case against Suleiman, a Muslim and a liberal who uses the name Kareem Amer on his blog, was based on a complaint by al-Azhar University about eight articles written since 2004.
Suleiman accused the conservative Sunni institution of promoting extremist thought and described some companions of the Prophet Mohammad as "terrorists." He also compared President Hosni Mubarak to the dictatorial Pharaohs of ancient Egypt.
Bloggers and human rights organizations have condemned the conviction of Suleiman. They fear it sets a dangerous precedent for Internet censorship in Egypt, home to some 5,000 blogs across a population of more than 70 million people.
The Foreign Ministry has criticized the reactions to the verdict and said it was an internal matter and up to the judiciary to decide on.
Writing on his blog shortly before his detention in November, Suleiman was defiant.
"I am not scared at all...I will not back away one inch from what I wrote and handcuffs will not prevent me from dreaming of my freedom," he blogged.
Since Suleiman's arrest, said fellow blogger Wael Abbas, 32, Egypt's blogosphere has changed. "I cannot say I am not afraid," he told Reuters. "With this government one has to expect the worst."
Bloggers broke a major story in November when a number of them posted video footage and pictures of an Egyptian minibus driver screaming as he was sodomized, purportedly at a police station. The images led to the arrest of two police officers who now stand trial on charges of torture.
More torture footage has since appeared on the Internet, with the latest clip posted by Abbas showing a man in a police uniform beating and insulting two civilians. Viewed nearly 26,000 times on Abbas's blog, the video's authenticity could not be verified.
The Interior Ministry said allegations of systematic torture were exaggerated and part of a campaign to tarnish the image of the police.
Late last year, Abbas and another blogger reported what they said was mass sexual harassment of women in downtown Cairo by scores of young men. The government denied the incident but the bloggers' detailed description sparked an outcry in the independent Egyptian media.
"The time when they (authorities) thought they had control over everything has come to an end," Abbas wrote on his blog.
Hala Botros, a blogger who writes on what she calls anti-Christian discrimination in Egypt, says that while she and many others in the religiously conservative country may not agree with Suleiman, he is entitled to express his views. Botros, 42, says she was also persecuted by security authorities for reporting on a number of sectarian clashes between Muslims and the Christian minority in southern Egypt.
"They beat up my father at night on the street and told him: 'This is a gift from your daughter,'" she said. "I was summoned to the police during the night and they treated me roughly. I was kept in solitary confinement for hours."
Prosecutors later charged Botros with harming national security and publishing false news. She was released on bail and forced to shut down her blog, Copts Without Borders.
The international group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has added Egypt to its list of Internet Black Holes. RSF said one spur for this was a court ruling authorizing the Egyptian government to block or suspend any Web site likely to pose a threat to national security.
"This could open the way to extensive online censorship," said RSF in a statement.
Source
Egyptian bloggers come into the spotlight as an important forum for political debate and as the target of government attempts to limit their freedom of expression.
CAIRO--Egyptian bloggers have come into the spotlight, on the one hand as an important forum for political debate, on the other as the target of government attempts to limit their freedom of expression.
Earlier this month, Abdel-Karim Suleiman, a 22-year-old former law student at al-Azhar Islamic university, became the first Egyptian jailed for his blogging when he was handed a four-year prison sentence.
"Despite their small number, the bloggers have established themselves as an alternative media outlet," said Ehab el-Zalaky, a senior editor at the independent weekly newspaper al-Dustor, who has written extensively on bloggers.
Blogs also provide a platform for religious and social minorities whose issues rarely find space in traditional media.
Anti-Christian discrimination in Egypt is documented in one. Blogs by lesbians discussing their desires and feelings are new outlets for self-expression.
"In a society too conservative to accept these relationships, it was the first time for such explicit bold talk to appear in an Egyptian media outlet," Zalaky said.
The case against Suleiman, a Muslim and a liberal who uses the name Kareem Amer on his blog, was based on a complaint by al-Azhar University about eight articles written since 2004.
Suleiman accused the conservative Sunni institution of promoting extremist thought and described some companions of the Prophet Mohammad as "terrorists." He also compared President Hosni Mubarak to the dictatorial Pharaohs of ancient Egypt.
Bloggers and human rights organizations have condemned the conviction of Suleiman. They fear it sets a dangerous precedent for Internet censorship in Egypt, home to some 5,000 blogs across a population of more than 70 million people.
The Foreign Ministry has criticized the reactions to the verdict and said it was an internal matter and up to the judiciary to decide on.
Writing on his blog shortly before his detention in November, Suleiman was defiant.
"I am not scared at all...I will not back away one inch from what I wrote and handcuffs will not prevent me from dreaming of my freedom," he blogged.
Since Suleiman's arrest, said fellow blogger Wael Abbas, 32, Egypt's blogosphere has changed. "I cannot say I am not afraid," he told Reuters. "With this government one has to expect the worst."
Bloggers broke a major story in November when a number of them posted video footage and pictures of an Egyptian minibus driver screaming as he was sodomized, purportedly at a police station. The images led to the arrest of two police officers who now stand trial on charges of torture.
More torture footage has since appeared on the Internet, with the latest clip posted by Abbas showing a man in a police uniform beating and insulting two civilians. Viewed nearly 26,000 times on Abbas's blog, the video's authenticity could not be verified.
The Interior Ministry said allegations of systematic torture were exaggerated and part of a campaign to tarnish the image of the police.
Late last year, Abbas and another blogger reported what they said was mass sexual harassment of women in downtown Cairo by scores of young men. The government denied the incident but the bloggers' detailed description sparked an outcry in the independent Egyptian media.
"The time when they (authorities) thought they had control over everything has come to an end," Abbas wrote on his blog.
Hala Botros, a blogger who writes on what she calls anti-Christian discrimination in Egypt, says that while she and many others in the religiously conservative country may not agree with Suleiman, he is entitled to express his views. Botros, 42, says she was also persecuted by security authorities for reporting on a number of sectarian clashes between Muslims and the Christian minority in southern Egypt.
"They beat up my father at night on the street and told him: 'This is a gift from your daughter,'" she said. "I was summoned to the police during the night and they treated me roughly. I was kept in solitary confinement for hours."
Prosecutors later charged Botros with harming national security and publishing false news. She was released on bail and forced to shut down her blog, Copts Without Borders.
The international group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has added Egypt to its list of Internet Black Holes. RSF said one spur for this was a court ruling authorizing the Egyptian government to block or suspend any Web site likely to pose a threat to national security.
"This could open the way to extensive online censorship," said RSF in a statement.
Source
Microsoft prize of $10,000 to promote Xbox games
Microsoft prize of $10,000 to promote Xbox games
Microsoft plans to announce a contest to develop the next great digital diversion for the company's Xbox 360.
The New York Times
By Seth Schiesel
Reaching out to millions of aspiring game developers around the world, Microsoft plans Monday to announce a contest that will award $10,000 and the opportunity to entice millions of eyeballs to the next great digital diversion for the company's Xbox 360.
In addition to the game console's snazzy graphics, the Xbox Live online service has been the most important component of the Xbox 360's success since its debut in 2005. And perhaps the most popular aspect of Xbox Live has been the service's arcade component, which allows users to download and play smaller, relatively simpler games like Uno and Geometry Wars that usually cost less than $10. (By contrast, top-end games can sell in stores for around $60.)
The popularity of Xbox Live Arcade has in turn attracted the attention of game developers looking to create the next Tetris or Minesweeper. Late last year, Microsoft introduced a suite of software tools for making so-called casual games called XNA.
And so at a game makers' convention in San Francisco, Microsoft plans to announce a contest akin to the television show Project Greenlight that will award a cash prize and a potential slot on Xbox Live Arcade to the best new game created with XNA tools. The company intends to announce the winner of the contest, called "Dream-Build-Play," in August.
"This competition highlights the power of XNA and the popularity of the Xbox Live Arcade service with its millions of users," Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft's group product manager for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, said in a telephone interview.
To help increase the popularity of casual games, Microsoft will also announce the introduction of a new 512-megabyte portable storage device for the Xbox 360. The previous portable storage unit contained only 64 megabytes of data, and so Xbox Live Arcade games had been limited to an official size of 50 megabytes. With the new unit, Microsoft will also raise the official size limit on Xbox Live Arcade games to 150 megabytes, allowing enhanced graphics, sound and artificial intelligence.
Source
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Indian woman aims for hot chilli record
An Indian woman hopes to get into the record books by eating a huge amount of the world's hottest pepper.
Anandita Dutta Tamuly, 26, aims to eat as many Bhut Jolokia peppers as she can in one sitting.
The current record was set by South African Anita Crafford, who ate eight jalapenos in a minute in 2002.
Tamuly is a lifelong fan of the Bhut Jolokia or 'ghost' chili pepper - rated about 100 times as hot as a jalapeno.
She said: "Such is the hotness of this chili that it can drive away the ghost and hence the name."
Tamuly says she got hooked on the chillis as a child after her mother smeared chili paste on her tongue to cure an infection.
Tamuly, who will attempt to creat a new record in London, added: "I have already created history on Indian television by munching 60 of the chilies in two minutes. I am more than confident of creating a record."
She is currently awaiting a British visa to make the trip.
The 'ghost' pepper clocks slightly more than one million Scoville units, almost twice as hot as the previous reigning champ, the Red Savina habanero. An average jalapeno, used widely in salsa, measures only about 10 000 heat units, www.int.iol.co.za reports.
Source
Anandita Dutta Tamuly, 26, aims to eat as many Bhut Jolokia peppers as she can in one sitting.
The current record was set by South African Anita Crafford, who ate eight jalapenos in a minute in 2002.
Tamuly is a lifelong fan of the Bhut Jolokia or 'ghost' chili pepper - rated about 100 times as hot as a jalapeno.
She said: "Such is the hotness of this chili that it can drive away the ghost and hence the name."
Tamuly says she got hooked on the chillis as a child after her mother smeared chili paste on her tongue to cure an infection.
Tamuly, who will attempt to creat a new record in London, added: "I have already created history on Indian television by munching 60 of the chilies in two minutes. I am more than confident of creating a record."
She is currently awaiting a British visa to make the trip.
The 'ghost' pepper clocks slightly more than one million Scoville units, almost twice as hot as the previous reigning champ, the Red Savina habanero. An average jalapeno, used widely in salsa, measures only about 10 000 heat units, www.int.iol.co.za reports.
Source
AnyDVD HD Defeats HD DVD Copy Protection
AnyDVD HD removes AACS encryption from HD DVDs, allowing users to play movies on non-HDCP compliant hardware
AnyDVD, a software favorite for DVD movie aficionados, has hit the HD era. SlySoft has quietly released AnyDVD HD over the weekend, offering similar decryption capabilities as its standard-definition version.
AnyDVD HD removes AACS encryption from HD DVDs, which will also allow the user to watch movies over a digital display connection without HDCP compliant graphics card and display. The software will also enable PowerDVD Ultra to run titles released by Studio Canal, The Weinstein Company, Kinowelt, Optimum Releasing—studios whose movies previously did not run on the PC player.
Another feature of AnyDVD HD is what SlySoft calls “magic file replacement” to remaster any commercial movie disc using simple XML scripts. These scripts will “magically” replace the files on the physical disc so that the user can customize discs without making a copy to a hard drive.
“We could only begin our development some weeks ago and we are immensely proud to get this product out to the users so quickly,” said Peer van Heuen, one of SlySoft’s lead developers. “This speaks to the commitment to our users: get good and easy-to-use products out on the market fast!”
Other features carried over from AnyDVD include the removal of CSS encryption and region codes from DVD movies, allowing for a user’s free reign over the optical format for backup purposes. AnyDVD is capable of removing unwanted movie features, including subtitles and prohibition messages such as copyright and FBI warnings.
While the release of AnyDVD HD seems to be more than coincidental with the discovery of the Processing Key that defeats all HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc protections, SlySoft maintains that its development was independent of what the hacking community accomplished.
“The way AnyDVD HD addresses and solves the problem doesn't have much in common with the discoveries of individual members of the Open Source community in reading AACS keys from the USB bus,” said Peer van Heuen. “As one can expect from SlySoft, our solution works fully automatic with all known titles while the so-called hacker tools require laborious reading out of memory or the USB bus. This is not to say that their efforts are completely fruitless; it’s just that ours need to be user-friendly. It’s just that simple.”
The current version of AnyDVD HD supports only HD DVD, but given the similarities in copy protection, SlySoft said that a version of its software that will support Blu-ray Disc is not far off.
“When we considered Blu-Ray, our strategy was simply to initially support HD-DVD and await further developments in the marketplace. Already during the beta phase we got many inquiries about Blu-ray so we decided to go ahead and also provide support for this as soon as possible,” added Tom Xiang, SlySoft’s Marketing Director. “Blu-ray employs the same AACS process as HD-DVD. An implementation was really just a matter of form. A beta version is planned for availability this quarter.”
AnyDVD HD is priced at $79 by itself or as an upgrade from AnyDVD for $30. The software may also be first downloaded for a free 21-day trial.
Source
Google launches new mobile Gmail
Google launches new mobile Gmail
Free, downloadable Java application lets U.S. users do in two clicks what previously took them 10 or more.
By Elinor Mills
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Google launched on Thursday a version of Gmail for mobile devices that lets U.S. users do in two clicks what previously took them 10 or more.
Gmail for Mobile Devices is a free, downloadable Java application that will work on any Java-enabled mobile phone, of which there are about 300 in the United States, said Tony Hsieh, product manager for Google Mobile.
The software improves on a version of Gmail released nearly a year ago that lets people access their e-mail through a mobile Web browser. Once the new Java application is installed on a phone, a person can quickly launch Gmail instead of having to open a mobile browser and wait for it to load before signing in, Hsieh said.
In addition to being faster, Gmail for Mobile Devices maintains Gmail functions like threading and search, and adds mobile-specific functionality such as the ability to press a button to make a call to someone who sent an e-mail. People can also view attachments, such as photos, in an optimized full-screen format.
"If it takes someone a minute or two or even longer to check e-mail on their phone, people probably won't do it," Hsieh said. With wireless application protocol browsers, it can take 11 clicks to delete or archive a message, but with the new application it will take just two, he said.
There is no cost to download the application, but people will have to pay data charges to their mobile carriers. People can download the application by sending themselves a text message from the Google Web site, going to Gmail.com/app from their mobile browser or downloading it from the Sprint Nextel home page, according to Hsieh.
Source
Early Daylight-Saving Time Puts Apps At Risk
Daylight-saving time is about to leap forward to March 11 instead of what would have been the normal April 1 change, and there's a chance your in-house enterprise applications won't keep up.
Instead of moving their clocks an hour ahead on March 11, enterprise apps may fall behind or even fail. For applications and systems that work within one international time zone, this means they need to be reset to move forward an hour on the correct day and time. But for systems and apps that work across international time zones, the fix is more complicated, and they "may face considerable confusion," says Forrester Research analyst Ray Wang.
Such systems are set to have one day a year that's 25 hours long and another that's 23 hours. They typically work off Coordinated Universal Time, an international timekeeping system, similar to Greenwich Mean Time. These enterprise systems are set to make the switchover to daylight-saving time on April 1. So from March 11, when the United States makes its earlier-than-usual change, until April 1, those systems and apps will be working off incorrect times.
Many enterprise applications are custom systems developed in-house. For example, scheduling and manufacturing systems with real-time components require precise time calculations, as do applications that calculate tariff charges or service billing based on elapsed time totals. These systems "are most likely to be affected," Wang says.
Applications associated with transportation, health care, financial services, telecommunications, and manufacturing, particularly process manufacturing where chemical mixtures are pressurized or heated, rely on correct timing information to perform their tasks and can't afford to be off by even an hour. Also, server log files from which electronic events, such as financial transactions, might be reconstructed are in jeopardy of being off by an hour. For example, a system that's off by an hour would significantly affect the value of trades that a currency or commodity trader makes.
Financial services provider Capital One is ensuring that the time change doesn't affect production jobs and system transactions. It's inventorying infrastructure and identifying best practices by platform and applications. "We don't expect any disruption to our customers and associates," says Robert Turner, Capital One's senior VP of IT.
DO IT RIGHT
Developers of custom apps should know how their time functions work because the original process of building them wasn't simple. But often the original developers are long gone, and someone less familiar with the source code has to decipher how the program's date and time functions operate.
The amount of work involved depends on whether the date and time functions are programming-language specific. C++, Visual Basic, and C# rely on the operating system's time zone tables. Object-oriented programming languages such as Java and Smalltalk depend on virtual machine-related language frameworks for time calculation, Wang says.
Testing is the other key to a successful transition, Wang says. Regression tests should be executed against the patched and updated systems to ensure that they're running as expected, he says, "especially in the case of poorly documented systems with old code."
Wang looked at 10 vendors' applications--Agresso, Epicor Software, IBM, Infor Global Solutions, Lawson, M'zoft, Oracle, Sage, SAP, and Sterling Commerce--that rely on the operating system for time information, so applying a patch to the system's time zone change section fixes the problem. Apps that depend on Oracle Application Server and Oracle databases can't rely on just an operating system change and may need patches or updates to the app server and database, Wang says. And users of pre-2007 M'zoft Outlook and M'zoft Exchange must apply manual downloads.
Source
ENV-Motorcycle
Probably some of the reader are going to hate me for this post, but I am going to write and subsequently post it nevertheless.
I thought about how much people endanger the planet we're living on just by living here. And it's actually the mere fact of living - it's the way we leave. People don't care anymore about the nature, about the environment or about anything else, but themselves and their time. This is what matters today - time.
On the other hand, though people want everything they owe to be exclusive and good-looking. So I thought maybe some of us boys, would consider using a nice and environment friendly bike, like the one shown on the picture, which is also known as ENV. I know that the Harley fans will spit me in my face if I start praising the zero-cylinder gadget, but I'll do it anyway, because a zero-emission bike is worth talking about.
Yes, yes I know, you can't call it a real bike, if it is a two-wheeled trolley without cylinders, but think of the environment.
This is not the first 'green' motorcycle ever developed, but the predecessors of ENV were absolutely useless on the road, even though they emitted nothing hazardous to the environment. So far only ENV has made it through to ride the road. This is probably the first ever motorcycle which will be widely used on the roads and not only those of Great Britain. Great Britain - because this is the country of birth of this 'green' gadget.
The ENV (sounds like "E-N-V" to me - "ENVY") was developed in Britain's Intelligent Energy. The scientist and developers have enabled the ENV to use hydrogen-power in a removable fuel cell. The prototype emitted almost nothing and it is already known that it will be street legal.
So now, all you bike lovers, you who like to set their heads to the wind, and of course you who wouldn't like to leave a pollution trail behind... be happy because all your dreams come true. And they should come true until the end of this year, as the final version of ENV is planned to go on sale within the next months.
However, there is one more thing you should know about this two-wheeled gadget: it's maximum estimated speed is about 50 miles per hour (i.e. 80 kilometers per hour), so I don't think you'll get a chance to race a Harley on the highway.
ASUS Lamborghini VX2
The second coming of the ASUS Lamborghini - half a sport car, half a laptop - almost happened, though it still might last a bit.
It's been almost a year since first pieces of information about the first Lamborghini - the VX1 - reached us. If you look now at it and at the relation between the price and the number of positive feedbacks about this gadgets, you understand that people have realized its true value. Since the VX1 made it on the marker there have been sites posting reviews, comments and simple post about this gadget. This way the Lamborghini series from ASUS became extremely popular.
The popularity of the laptop might be explained not only by the brand name ASUS, but by the name of the series - Lamborghini. I mean there's hardly a guy who wouldn't, at least once, dream of driving a Lamborghini - the sportiest of all the sports cars. But ASUS made it possible to hold this wild beast in your hands, having it on your knees and pushing its keys.
So anyway, this popularity gave the creators of VX1 the idea that there should be another model in the Lamborghini series. It's a series, after all, and a series must have at least two models in its range. So they have come up with the ASUS Lamborghini VX2.
The strategy of giving us information on this gadget was the same as in the case of VX1: it was like waving a nice, juicy bone in front of a dog's nose. In other words: they gave us almost nothing.
Many of the gadget geeks were really disappointed with the history repeating (and I fully support them in this), but I guess it's better than absolutely nothing. Now we have at least something to speculate on. I'll be thinking how it'll be, how fast, what will be it's 'interior' and so on. You know, because at this point we know almost nothing about it... not more than there will be two external variants of the VX2: a traditional yellow a black, both with the Lamborghini logo, of course.
The only thing known about the interior is the CPU, which will be an Intel Centrino Duo. However, as much as I love Intel, I couldn't say that it would match half of the Lamborghini powers. But it is absolutely the best candidate for the role of second fastest gadget!
After the launch of Vista all over the world, they stuff it everywhere; even the Lamborghini VX2 will have it onboard (why spoil such a gadget?)
Well, I guess we'll catch up more on this topic later in this year, and I guess ASUS should organize a full time presentation this April at CeBITT 2007. And be sure to see me there, VX2, my boy!
Woman accuses Yahoo of stealing her image
An Ohio woman is demanding $20 million from Yahoo for allegedly using a photo of her without her permission for a welcome e-mail sent to new users.
According to a court complaint filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Shannon Stovall, a resident of Ohio's Cuyahoga County, discovered upon signing up for Yahoo's Web-based e-mail service last October that a picture taken of her appeared in a note sent to new users.
The message, according to a printout attached to the court complaint, leads off with the headline "Hooray! Your first e-mail" and a photograph containing two women, one of which is purported to be Stovall. It goes on to give Yahoo Mail users tips on how to transfer address book contacts and customize the look of their messages.
The complaint charges that the image has been sent to millions of users around the world without Stovall's authorization, violating her right to privacy and right to publicity--that is, to control the commercial use of her identity.
Mitchell Yelsky, one of three attorneys handling Stovall's case, said his client "has previously modeled and worked for modeling agencies." According to documents provided to CNET News.com, Yelsky sent two letters to Yahoo in November asking that the company cease using her image in the message.
A Yahoo representative said Friday that the company is not allowed to comment on "specifics related to legal cases."
The complaint requests a jury trial, $10 million to compensate for profits that have been allegedly generated by use of her likeness, and $10 million to cover attorneys' fees and litigation expenses.
The allegations resemble a complaint lodged by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady against Yahoo in December. The star athlete accused the portal of using a photograph of him from the September 2006 issue of Sports Illustrated without his permission to promote its fantasy football league.
Source
According to a court complaint filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Shannon Stovall, a resident of Ohio's Cuyahoga County, discovered upon signing up for Yahoo's Web-based e-mail service last October that a picture taken of her appeared in a note sent to new users.
The message, according to a printout attached to the court complaint, leads off with the headline "Hooray! Your first e-mail" and a photograph containing two women, one of which is purported to be Stovall. It goes on to give Yahoo Mail users tips on how to transfer address book contacts and customize the look of their messages.
The complaint charges that the image has been sent to millions of users around the world without Stovall's authorization, violating her right to privacy and right to publicity--that is, to control the commercial use of her identity.
Mitchell Yelsky, one of three attorneys handling Stovall's case, said his client "has previously modeled and worked for modeling agencies." According to documents provided to CNET News.com, Yelsky sent two letters to Yahoo in November asking that the company cease using her image in the message.
A Yahoo representative said Friday that the company is not allowed to comment on "specifics related to legal cases."
The complaint requests a jury trial, $10 million to compensate for profits that have been allegedly generated by use of her likeness, and $10 million to cover attorneys' fees and litigation expenses.
The allegations resemble a complaint lodged by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady against Yahoo in December. The star athlete accused the portal of using a photograph of him from the September 2006 issue of Sports Illustrated without his permission to promote its fantasy football league.
Source
Animals + Robots = Me Peeing My Pants
Is there anything scarier than the thought of an army of cyborg animals, programmed to rip out your jugular with no fear of death? I say no. Which is why the above photo keeps me up at night. Look at that rat! He has wires going into his exposed brain! Words don't exist to express that horribleness in that photograph! Augh!
And it gets worse! Apparently this goes way beyond, there is work being done on animals such as pigeons, bugs, and, I'm not kidding, sharks. Sharks! Half-robot sharks! I'm pretty sure DARPA has been recording my nightmares, as it doesn't get much scarier than that.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Russian Man Grows Penis on Arm
Russian doctors have conducted an 11-hour operation to replace a patient’s deformed penis with one grown on his forearm, the Moskovskiy Komsomolets daily reports.
The 30-year-old Russian man, whose name was changed in the article to protect his privacy, had a defect from birth — his penis was crooked, two-and-a-half-inches long and lacked a scrotum, the newspaper writes.
The doctors had the penis removed and attached to the man’s arm. Using his body tissue it grew to six-and-a-half inches and was sewn back on to his groin. Silicone tubes were inserted into the organ to ensure an erection was possible. Doctors also created a scrotum from the patient’s own skin and placed silicone testicles in it.
So funny!
A Moscow surgeon said the man will be able to have sex in a few months. He added: “Women will never suspect it is artificial.”
Man Blames Burrito For Paralysis
TAMPA, Fla. -- A man who can no longer feed himself said an uncooked chicken burrito put him in a wheelchair.
Roger Anderson said he ate the burrito at a Moe's Southwest Grill in Land O' Lakes in September and became sick with stomach cramps, diarrhea and joint pains.
Anderson's attorney said the burrito caused a bacterial infection, which led to a disease that affects the body's nerves.
Anderson and his wife filed a lawsuit against Tampa-based GCF Ventures LLC, which operates the restaurant.
The company said all of its employees are trained in safe food handling and preparation practices, and the restaurant is regularly checked by health inspectors.
Source
Sneaky Post Office
No Time Like Present to Remove Clocks
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - The missing clock didn't stop postal customer Al Cunningham from noticing the amount of time spent waiting for service. "It's always long here," said Cunningham, 49, an insurance adjuster and former postal employee who was standing in line at the Watson Post Office in Fort Worth.
The Watson Post Office is one of the nation's 37,000 post offices in which clocks have been removed from retail areas as part of a "retail standardization program" launched last year. The effort is designed to give the public-service areas a more uniform appearance, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in Thursday editions.
"We want people to focus on postal service and not the clock," said Stephen Seewoester, Dallas spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service.
At the Fort Worth post office, the hook that once held up the small battery-powered clock now protrudes from a plaster wall. The clock was taken down months ago.
A customer-service expert at Texas A&M University was not impressed with the decision to take down the timepieces.
"It's silly," said Leonard Berry, holder of the M.B. Zale Chair in Retail and Marketing Leadership. "I guess they think people don't have watches."
Source
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - The missing clock didn't stop postal customer Al Cunningham from noticing the amount of time spent waiting for service. "It's always long here," said Cunningham, 49, an insurance adjuster and former postal employee who was standing in line at the Watson Post Office in Fort Worth.
The Watson Post Office is one of the nation's 37,000 post offices in which clocks have been removed from retail areas as part of a "retail standardization program" launched last year. The effort is designed to give the public-service areas a more uniform appearance, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in Thursday editions.
"We want people to focus on postal service and not the clock," said Stephen Seewoester, Dallas spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service.
At the Fort Worth post office, the hook that once held up the small battery-powered clock now protrudes from a plaster wall. The clock was taken down months ago.
A customer-service expert at Texas A&M University was not impressed with the decision to take down the timepieces.
"It's silly," said Leonard Berry, holder of the M.B. Zale Chair in Retail and Marketing Leadership. "I guess they think people don't have watches."
Source
Japan's kitchen robot: A maid is still cheaper
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed this kitchen robot, giving it the ability to pour you tea and then wash the tea set when you're done. I mean, doing those things yourself is nearly unbearable, so I can see why one would want to spend millions of dollars developing a robot to do these basic tasks. Then they can sell them for exorbitant prices to the laziest rich people in the world. How can they lose?
I really love the fact that you can tell this thing was made in Japan because the head has these ear things on it that make the robot look like it's straight out of a Manga. I mean, come on… you know those ears don't provide any extra functionality. And why does it have to wear an apron? Shouldn't it have been built with the ability to withstand tea splatter? Keep working at it, Japan.
Project Epoc turns your brainwaves into a gaming accessory
This prototype of a gaming helmet, dubbed Project Epoc, looks to take your Xbox 360 obsession to a whole new level through your brainwaves. Yup, strap this baby on your head and you'll be mentally (and virtually) killing enemy aliens in no time.
The Project Epoc helmet from Emotiv Systems uses sensors to pick up electric signals in your brain generated by thoughts, feelings and expression. It can be connected wirelessly to various game platforms and sounds like a great outlet for gamers to engage in onscreen action in new and more exciting ways.
Could mentally controlling things in the real world be far behind?
Think about if this thing could create a virtual Pr0n reality, I will be the first one in ProjectW to put my hand on it and I wouldn't have to waste my time browsing the following thread: "Sexiest Women In Your Eyes [no porn/nudity!] Wet dream topic"
35% of 13 yr old boys can't count # of pornos watched
A groundbreaking study on porn use by 13- and 14-year-old teens shows an alarming number are watching "more times than they can count" and their parents are unaware.
"If you're 13 and you can't put a number on the times (you've used porn), that's a little frightening," University of Alberta researcher Sonya Thompson said, adding 35% of boys fell into that category along with 8% of girls.
"It's a concern in terms of kids' sexual health and role modelling. It seems this is a very big influence on their socialization."
Thompson said she hopes the survey results act as a wakeup call to parents about what their kids are up to.
She also said sexually curious teens who are watching porn are getting the wrong messages about healthy sexuality and don't distinguish between actors getting paid to perform and real-world sexuality.
"Parents need to be talking to their kids about porn in a non-judgmental way and to keep the conversation happening," said Thompson, who is also a sexual health educator.
In spring of 2003, Thompson analyzed responses to an hour-long questionnaire from 429 rural and urban Grade 8 students aged 13 to 14. She asked about their exposure to and use of sexually explicit material on TV, DVDs, movies and the Internet, as well as about their interaction with their parents about such material.
Thompson said she got the idea for the study after she noticed more and more students asking questions about explicit and hardcore sexual activity.
"I knew they had to be getting that from seeing it somewhere, but it's not something anyone talks about - especially in school," she said, adding she would like to see the topic addressed in the sexual health curriculum.
The Internet was the most common way for kids to get access to porn, with about three-quarters of students reporting such contact.
Thompson found almost one-quarter of the boys watched pornographic DVDs or videos "too many times to count" and 35% said the same about Internet smut. The corresponding figures for girls were 4% and 8%.
Thompson also found that boys tend to prefer privacy while viewing porn, but will sometimes invite other boys to watch with them. Girls, on the other hand, more often watch in same-sex pairs or in mixed-gender groups.
A spokesman for Alberta Education said while there is nothing in school curriculums specifically addressing pornography use, high school kids are taught about healthy and unhealthy behaviour in relationships.
Source
Man believed to be using a laptop is killed in car crash
YUBA CITY, CALIF. — A man who authorities say appeared to be driving while using his laptop computer died Monday when his car crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a Hummer.
California Highway Patrol officers found the victim's computer still running and plugged into the cigarette lighter of his 1991 Honda Accord.
From the Associated Press
February 27, 2007
The 28-year-old victim was a computer tutor in Chico, Calif. The Sutter County coroner's office was withholding his identity until his family could be notified.
"The screen itself shattered from the impact, so we can't be sure if he was working on it or not, but we think from the way it was found that he might have been working," said Sgt. John Pettigrew, a CHP spokesman. "It's a straight road right there, and it doesn't look like he fell asleep or anything else."
The couple in the Hummer escaped the 8:30 a.m. collision with bumps and bruises, Pettigrew said.
The crash, near the intersection of California highways 99 and 113 about 30 miles north of the capital, totaled both vehicles. It closed a section of Highway 99 south of Yuba City for about two hours.
Source
California Highway Patrol officers found the victim's computer still running and plugged into the cigarette lighter of his 1991 Honda Accord.
From the Associated Press
February 27, 2007
The 28-year-old victim was a computer tutor in Chico, Calif. The Sutter County coroner's office was withholding his identity until his family could be notified.
"The screen itself shattered from the impact, so we can't be sure if he was working on it or not, but we think from the way it was found that he might have been working," said Sgt. John Pettigrew, a CHP spokesman. "It's a straight road right there, and it doesn't look like he fell asleep or anything else."
The couple in the Hummer escaped the 8:30 a.m. collision with bumps and bruises, Pettigrew said.
The crash, near the intersection of California highways 99 and 113 about 30 miles north of the capital, totaled both vehicles. It closed a section of Highway 99 south of Yuba City for about two hours.
Source
All Teams Uniform for the Cricket World cup 2007
Worldcup is the one in four year cricketing even which raises enthusiasm among all the people around the world who are crazy about cricket. Cricket Reunite people and shows the spirit of true sporting!.
So this is how your country team will be wearing on this years worldcup
So this is how your country team will be wearing on this years worldcup
Logisys Optical Finger Mouse makes the world your mouse pad
When you're traveling by plane or train or using your laptop away from your desk, it's sometimes awkward to find a convenient place to mouse around. Attach the Logisys Optical Finger Mouse to your finger with its Velcro strap, and you can easily navigate your screen by pointing its 800dpi laser sensor at whatever surface is handy. Short of ditching the mouse altogether, it's ideal for people on the go, working equally well on either the left or right hand.
The mouse's unique design brings the thumb-operated left/right buttons and scroll wheel closer to your work, letting you keep the device attached to your finger as you type. Rather than moving your hand to grab the mouse, it's always literally close at hand. Then you can keep your hands on the keyboard, mousing around without moving them away because even the keyboard can be used as a mousing surface. Nice.
Looks like its $19.99 price is not an exorbitant amount to pay to change the context in which a mouse can be used.
Powerful hurricane
These are pictures of Katrina (leading edge) as the powerful hurricane moved onto land.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Beer-launching fridge: Never leave the couch again
Robotic Beer Launching Refrigerator - The best video clips are here
Nothing goes together quite like functional alcoholism and crippling laziness, and that's why this beer-tossing fridge is such a wonderful invention. It loads up 10 frosty brews in its magazine, then launches them to wherever you'd like at the touch of a button. You might worry about getting whapped in the face by a flying can of Miller Lite, but this thing is so accurate that you shouldn't have to worry about that until you've had at least a half-dozen beers.
This thing just has to be seen in action, so be sure to take a look at the video. There you can witness the impressive accuracy of the fridge, as it tosses a good 10 cans through a small hole in a cardboard box across the room. Obviously this is a homemade project, but if they made one of these and put it up for sale I'd be all over it.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Wireless Musical Mousepad
The time has come for our mouse pads to be something more then just a smooth surface for your mice to move on. There are many variations of mouse pads but this is one of the coolest ones. It does not mean that it is something extraordinary.
The mouse pad can play music from virtually any audio device in your house. You would say that many gadgets can do that but this one is able to do it wirelessly.
Imagine your mouse pad playing your favorite song that is on TV now. This gadget can reproduce audio signals from your TV, any audio player, CD player, iPod, any other MP3 player. You will have pleasure listening to all this right at your computer desk.
However, the sound quality is not very high. Honestly saying this gadget's sound is poor. Besides, who is listening to mono sound anymore? It has only one speaker and it is not even big. The only advantage that it has is its mobility, and ability to let you listen to the music wirelessly.
The other feature that it has is the built in FM tuner so you will be able to listen to the radio at your workplace or your garage. The radio works without the transmitter so you can listen to it anywhere you want.
The transmitter is the other part of this gadget that comes with the mouse pad. This is what you connect to your audio devices in order to make the mouse pad rock. The transmitter works at a maximum range of 50 feet. However, we all know that the conditions for that have to be perfect. I would say that it is enough for my house, but it is not as good on my backyard.
It is very good as a mouse pad but it is not that good for listening to the music. There are many buttons on its edges and they are there to control the sound volume, radio etc.
This gadget has a grey mouse pad, and silver body. Besides, it has some black spots around the control buttons. This way it will fit any color of your computer, monitor, or keyboard. However, it is not very small and it measures about 8 x 11 inches.
Well, because it is wireless it needs batteries to run. I am not sure how much it will hold but it needs three AAA batteries to work.
This piece of technology is available for just $ 30 and if you want to be cool ad geeky you might want to buy it.
Guy is in a SHeD load of trouble
DIY disaster Stephen Lynch dug 200 tons of earth out of his back garden to build a shed — and now faces a £50,000 bill to put it all back.
The plan was to dig 20ft by 15ft footings.
But Stephen ended up with a hole 40ft long, 30ft wide and 6½ft deep.
It threatened to undermine nearby homes — and one is considered so dangerous the postman refuses to deliver mail.
Hapless Stephen, 41, said: “It just kept getting bigger. I decided I wanted two big outbuildings rather than a little shed, so I bought an £18,500 mini digger to make it easier.
“Then I thought I should get value for the money and go down even deeper to make basements for the buildings. I’ve been working 13-hour days for eight months. The earth was taken away in around 40 wagon loads."
The work starts this week and will cost £15,000.
A further £35,000 has been run up in engineers’ and lawyers’ bills, which Stephen must also pay.
GSM lamp: Let there be light, eavesdropping
if someone gave you this stylish table lamp, you'd probably set it down on an end table and then forget about it except when you need a little light. Big mistake. But then how could you know that the lamp has a built-in GSM receiver and microphone, letting the owner dial in and listen to what's going on in your living room? The GSM Table Lamp turns an otherwise innocuous household item into an eavesdroppers' party line with a range of 15 to 20 feet.
While we're somewhat unnerved by the recent proliferation of spy gadgets, we have to respect the innovative use of GSM technology, which is starting to spread out from cell phones. And the lamp isn't without its "legit" uses: as an undetectable nanny monitor, for example. Still, you'd have to think that cheating spouses would be a more likely target. Just be prepared to drop about $1,325 for your spy gadget — couples' therapy might be a more affordable choice.
Think twice before using hotel room coffee pots
Ask just about anyone in law enforcement, and they'll tell you to be careful if you ever brew coffee in a hotel room.
"I know enough now that whenever I go to a hotel, regardless of how nice it is, I'll never use a coffee pot," said Marshall County District Attorney Steve Marshall.
Instead of brewing coffee, coffee pots are sometimes used to brew methamphetamine.
And since meth labs in hotels aren't anything new, Rick Phillips of the Marshall County Drug Enforcement Unit says there's definitely a risk.
"The coffee makers that you find in every motel room is an ideal heat source. They mix it up in the coffee pot, put it on a heat source and let it sit there and cook," said Phillips.
It's common knowledge to those who fight meth, but a shock to your average citizen.
"That's a little nerve rattling," said Marshall County resident Toni Jones.
"I didn't know that. Proud you told me," said Marshall County resident Daryl Rice.
If you were to drink coffee from a pot used to make meth, it could be hazardous to your health.
The problem is residue from chemicals such as red phosphorus and iodine.
"Typical sickness and issues that would come with any chemical exposure, simple nausea, vomiting to maybe a hospital visit," said Phillips.
Phillips says it's pretty easy to tell if a coffee pot has been used to cook meth.
It will have a dark reddish-orange stain.
You should also be skeptical if there's a chemical odor when you walk in the room.
The Pigeon as Cyborg
No, this isn't a punk rock pigeon with a crimson mohawk. Rather, the bird now can receive
computer commands through electrodes in its brain from the device attached--rather cumbersomely,
it seems--atop its head.
Scientists from the Robot Research Center at the Shandong University of Science and Technology
in Qingdao, China, performed the work, which enables them to direct the pigeon's flight (take off,
hover, fly forward, turn right or left) by remote control. The researchers said that the pigeon was under
anesthesia when the device was attached and that it doesn't feel pain at the head. Somehow that seems
unlikely to mollify animal rights activists.
Here is a closer look at the microelectrode, shown off by Shandong University researchers
earlier this week. The implants stimulate various regions of the pigeon's brain. Similar
experiments have been carried out with rats (aka, "ratbots").
Source
Adobe to take Photoshop online
Adobe to take Photoshop online
Hosted version of program to appear within six months, CEO says, as company looks to combine online features with packaged apps.
By Martin LaMonica and Mike Ricciuti
Hoping to get a jump on Google and other competitors, Adobe Systems plans to release a hosted version of its popular Photoshop image-editing application within six months, the company's chief executive said Tuesday.
The online service is part of a larger move to introduce ad-supported online services to complement its existing products and broaden the company reach into the consumer market, Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen told CNET News.com.
Chizen said Adobe laid the foundation for a hosted Photoshop product with Adobe Remix, a Web-based video-editing tool it offers through the PhotoBucket media-sharing site.
Like Adobe Remix, the hosted Photoshop service is set to be free and marketed as an entry-level version of Adobe's more sophisticated image-editing tools, including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Chizen envisions revenue from the Photoshop service coming from online advertising.
"That is new (for Adobe). It's something we are sensitive to because we are watching folks like Google do it in different categories, and we want to make sure that we are there before they are, in areas of our franchises," Chizen said.
Chizen described the introduction of Adobe Remix and the forthcoming hosted Photoshop as part of a larger move toward integrating hosted services into the company's product mix.
Like Microsoft, Adobe's business is built largely around packaged software, installed locally on users' PCs. Likewise, Adobe's plans to diversify its business with online services mirrors a large-scale effort at Microsoft to introduce a combination of software and services.
As online applications become more functional, Adobe is seeking out areas where Web services can fill out its product portfolio, Chizen said.
The company intends to offer entirely hosted applications, as well as "hybrids," in which Adobe uses the Web to introduce features to desktop products, such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, he added.
"We recognize there is a customer there--we recognize they are not going to pay us, necessarily, directly. But we could use ad revenue as a model. Google has demonstrated that it works pretty well for certain types of applications," Chizen said.
Indeed, Adobe's online push has as much to do with consumers' expectations as encroaching competition from Google, said Peter O'Kelly, an analyst at Burton Group.
"From a digital-media consumer experience, Adobe really needs, for competitive and customer value reasons, to be the end-to-end products and services supplier," O'Kelly said. "It doesn't portend well if Adobe can't get on top of it."
The latest version of Google's Picasa, which is a desktop application, introduces features to post photos on the Web. It also allows people to read Photoshop files, O'Kelly noted.
Showdown with Picasa?
Chizen said that although hosted Photoshop is meant to be a low-end product, the company intends to ensure that it is of a higher quality than free alternatives. As an online image-editing application, Adobe faces a challenge in providing a good experience for customers, he added.
"You don't want (network) latency to be an issue for the user, so it's harder, in some ways, than a video Remix product," he said. "Even though bandwidth is increasing, the pipes are getting filled with video, so the user experience will likely stay the same for the next three to five years."
The company is also wary of not diluting the brand name of Photoshop, a program widely used by creative professionals such as designers and illustrators.
"If we offered a host-based version of Photoshop that's Photoshop-branded (and is) potentially better than Picasa, you'd probably go the Photoshop route because of your belief in the Photoshop brand and the quality associated with the brand," Chizen said.
A Google representative was not immediately available for comment on Adobe's plans.
As Adobe introduces more online multimedia features and products, the company intends to use its expertise in products such as Photoshop and video-editing suite Premiere Pro, and to combine it with the Web development savvy it gained through its acquisition of Macromedia.
Remix, for example, was written using Flex, the development environment for Adobe's Flash Player.
Chizen noted that Google's wealth of technical talent in Web development makes it the most likely candidate to challenge Adobe as it offers hosted media-editing applications. He indicated that Adobe is still weighing its options in regard to how it will deliver hosted, ad-supported services.
Its deal with PhotoBucket around Adobe Remix is not exclusive. The partnership arrangement allows Adobe to share advertising dollars without having to invest in the computing infrastructure and people to operate the Web site, he said.
But revenues from Web ads could potentially justify an Adobe investment in offering hosted services directly, Chizen said. "Once we see that it could be a significant revenue producer, then maybe we'll want to deal with it," he said.
The company already offers Acrobat Connect, a service for Web conferencing
Source
Hosted version of program to appear within six months, CEO says, as company looks to combine online features with packaged apps.
By Martin LaMonica and Mike Ricciuti
Hoping to get a jump on Google and other competitors, Adobe Systems plans to release a hosted version of its popular Photoshop image-editing application within six months, the company's chief executive said Tuesday.
The online service is part of a larger move to introduce ad-supported online services to complement its existing products and broaden the company reach into the consumer market, Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen told CNET News.com.
Chizen said Adobe laid the foundation for a hosted Photoshop product with Adobe Remix, a Web-based video-editing tool it offers through the PhotoBucket media-sharing site.
Like Adobe Remix, the hosted Photoshop service is set to be free and marketed as an entry-level version of Adobe's more sophisticated image-editing tools, including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Chizen envisions revenue from the Photoshop service coming from online advertising.
"That is new (for Adobe). It's something we are sensitive to because we are watching folks like Google do it in different categories, and we want to make sure that we are there before they are, in areas of our franchises," Chizen said.
Chizen described the introduction of Adobe Remix and the forthcoming hosted Photoshop as part of a larger move toward integrating hosted services into the company's product mix.
Like Microsoft, Adobe's business is built largely around packaged software, installed locally on users' PCs. Likewise, Adobe's plans to diversify its business with online services mirrors a large-scale effort at Microsoft to introduce a combination of software and services.
As online applications become more functional, Adobe is seeking out areas where Web services can fill out its product portfolio, Chizen said.
The company intends to offer entirely hosted applications, as well as "hybrids," in which Adobe uses the Web to introduce features to desktop products, such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, he added.
"We recognize there is a customer there--we recognize they are not going to pay us, necessarily, directly. But we could use ad revenue as a model. Google has demonstrated that it works pretty well for certain types of applications," Chizen said.
Indeed, Adobe's online push has as much to do with consumers' expectations as encroaching competition from Google, said Peter O'Kelly, an analyst at Burton Group.
"From a digital-media consumer experience, Adobe really needs, for competitive and customer value reasons, to be the end-to-end products and services supplier," O'Kelly said. "It doesn't portend well if Adobe can't get on top of it."
The latest version of Google's Picasa, which is a desktop application, introduces features to post photos on the Web. It also allows people to read Photoshop files, O'Kelly noted.
Showdown with Picasa?
Chizen said that although hosted Photoshop is meant to be a low-end product, the company intends to ensure that it is of a higher quality than free alternatives. As an online image-editing application, Adobe faces a challenge in providing a good experience for customers, he added.
"You don't want (network) latency to be an issue for the user, so it's harder, in some ways, than a video Remix product," he said. "Even though bandwidth is increasing, the pipes are getting filled with video, so the user experience will likely stay the same for the next three to five years."
The company is also wary of not diluting the brand name of Photoshop, a program widely used by creative professionals such as designers and illustrators.
"If we offered a host-based version of Photoshop that's Photoshop-branded (and is) potentially better than Picasa, you'd probably go the Photoshop route because of your belief in the Photoshop brand and the quality associated with the brand," Chizen said.
A Google representative was not immediately available for comment on Adobe's plans.
As Adobe introduces more online multimedia features and products, the company intends to use its expertise in products such as Photoshop and video-editing suite Premiere Pro, and to combine it with the Web development savvy it gained through its acquisition of Macromedia.
Remix, for example, was written using Flex, the development environment for Adobe's Flash Player.
Chizen noted that Google's wealth of technical talent in Web development makes it the most likely candidate to challenge Adobe as it offers hosted media-editing applications. He indicated that Adobe is still weighing its options in regard to how it will deliver hosted, ad-supported services.
Its deal with PhotoBucket around Adobe Remix is not exclusive. The partnership arrangement allows Adobe to share advertising dollars without having to invest in the computing infrastructure and people to operate the Web site, he said.
But revenues from Web ads could potentially justify an Adobe investment in offering hosted services directly, Chizen said. "Once we see that it could be a significant revenue producer, then maybe we'll want to deal with it," he said.
The company already offers Acrobat Connect, a service for Web conferencing
Source
Dog With College Degree Called to Court
Dog With College Degree Called to Court
Mar 1, 7:35 AM (ET)
FOSTORIA, Ohio (AP) - An attorney challenging the authority of the city's police chief wants the department's police dog to appear in court as an exhibit, because he says the dog and the chief have criminal justice degrees from the same online school.
The issue gives "one pause, if not paws, for concern" about what it takes to get the degrees from the school based in the Virgin Islands, Gene Murray wrote in a court document filed Monday.
Murray is seeking to have a drug charge against a client dismissed by arguing that police Chief John McGuire - who is accused of lying on his job application - was not legally employed and had no authority as an officer.
McGuire is to go on trial in March on charges of falsification and tampering with records. A special prosecutor said McGuire lied on his application and resume about his rank, position, duties, responsibilities and salary in three of his previous jobs.
McGuire was hired as chief of this northwest Ohio city a year ago.
The union that represents Fostoria police officers and dispatchers filed a lawsuit challenging McGuire's hiring.
Murray said asking that the police dog, Rocko, show up in court at an evidence hearing is a key to discrediting McGuire, who took part in a traffic stop and search in October that resulted in drug possession charges against Clifford Green of Fostoria.
Both McGuire and Rocko, who is listed as John I. Rocko on his diploma, are graduates of Concordia College and University, according to copies of diplomas that are part of Murray's motion.
The court filing did not say how the attorney knows that diploma is for the dog or how Rocko allegedly managed to enroll in the college.
"My client had absolutely nothing to do with any animal getting a degree from an institution of higher learning," said McGuire's attorney, Dean Henry. "The whole thing is bizarre."
He said the dog was with the department before McGuire began working there.
Seneca County Prosecutor Ken Egbert said he will ask the judge to deny the request and limit the hearing to matters that are relevant.
"I don't think it's necessary to bring the actual dog," Egbert said.
A date has not been set for the evidence hearing.
City leaders have said McGuire's hiring was not influenced by his college degree, and any confusion about his background was resolved during interviews.
"We've already been through all that," Safety Service Director Bill Rains. "That was answered to our satisfaction."
Fostoria is about 35 miles southeast of Toledo.
Source
Mar 1, 7:35 AM (ET)
FOSTORIA, Ohio (AP) - An attorney challenging the authority of the city's police chief wants the department's police dog to appear in court as an exhibit, because he says the dog and the chief have criminal justice degrees from the same online school.
The issue gives "one pause, if not paws, for concern" about what it takes to get the degrees from the school based in the Virgin Islands, Gene Murray wrote in a court document filed Monday.
Murray is seeking to have a drug charge against a client dismissed by arguing that police Chief John McGuire - who is accused of lying on his job application - was not legally employed and had no authority as an officer.
McGuire is to go on trial in March on charges of falsification and tampering with records. A special prosecutor said McGuire lied on his application and resume about his rank, position, duties, responsibilities and salary in three of his previous jobs.
McGuire was hired as chief of this northwest Ohio city a year ago.
The union that represents Fostoria police officers and dispatchers filed a lawsuit challenging McGuire's hiring.
Murray said asking that the police dog, Rocko, show up in court at an evidence hearing is a key to discrediting McGuire, who took part in a traffic stop and search in October that resulted in drug possession charges against Clifford Green of Fostoria.
Both McGuire and Rocko, who is listed as John I. Rocko on his diploma, are graduates of Concordia College and University, according to copies of diplomas that are part of Murray's motion.
The court filing did not say how the attorney knows that diploma is for the dog or how Rocko allegedly managed to enroll in the college.
"My client had absolutely nothing to do with any animal getting a degree from an institution of higher learning," said McGuire's attorney, Dean Henry. "The whole thing is bizarre."
He said the dog was with the department before McGuire began working there.
Seneca County Prosecutor Ken Egbert said he will ask the judge to deny the request and limit the hearing to matters that are relevant.
"I don't think it's necessary to bring the actual dog," Egbert said.
A date has not been set for the evidence hearing.
City leaders have said McGuire's hiring was not influenced by his college degree, and any confusion about his background was resolved during interviews.
"We've already been through all that," Safety Service Director Bill Rains. "That was answered to our satisfaction."
Fostoria is about 35 miles southeast of Toledo.
Source
NASA wants permanent moon base
HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- NASA's plans for returning people to the moon -- an objective called for by President Bush in 2004 -- includes establishing a permanent outpost would be used to prepare for a manned trip to Mars.
The moon base would be at either the north or south pole of the moon, NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale said during a news conference Monday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Increased sunlight at the poles would allow better use of solar energy to power the outpost, she said.
NASA's lunar architecture team decided it would be better to establish a base than to conduct individual missions to the moon, as in the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s, she said.
Team scientists believe astronauts could use the moon's natural resources to maintain the outpost, and could use the base to prepare for the trip to Mars, an objective also set forth by Bush.
Sorties to other locations on the moon could also be carried out from the outpost, Dale said.
Deputy Associate Administrator Doug Cooke said one promising location is the Shackleton Crater at the south pole.
In addition to having an area that is almost permanently sunlit, it is adjacent to a permanently dark area that might yield water ice.
NASA Associate Administrator Scott Horowitz said the goal is to conduct the first manned missions to the moon by 2020, starting with short stays by four-person crews that would establish the outpost.
He estimated that perhaps by 2024 there might be a continual presence on the surface, with crews rotating in and out, as is done with the international space station.
Before the manned missions NASA plans a series of robotic missions. The first of these, using the lunar reconnaissance orbiter, is scheduled for 2008.
The orbiter is designed to create high-resolution maps, look for good landing sites and search for water ice and other resources.
NASA said an an important component of the moon mission will be international participation.
The space agency will reach out to other nations to determine how they would like to take part.
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