Solar-powered bra

A Japanese lingerie firm has unveiled the perfect gadget for eco-friendly sun worshippers - the solar-powered bra.
It comes with a detachable solar panel which can produce enough energy to power an iPod or mobile phone, reports the Daily Telegraph.
It is also equipped with plastic pouches that can be filled with water, allowing wearers to quench their thirst without having to buy and then throw away drinks bottles.
The bra is made of high quality organic cotton, to ensure its production has the smallest possible impact on the environment.
But the 'Photovoltaic-Powered Bra' won't be on shelves any time soon. It is still at the concept stage and has several problems that need to be ironed out. For one, it is damaged by rain.
Triumph International Japan concedes the bra will not become popular in its current form, as outer clothing renders its solar panel ineffective.
"People usually cannot go outside without wearing clothes over it," said Yoshiko Masuda of Triumph.
Triumph has previously released a bra than can be turned into a shopping bag and a bra designed to encourage the use of reusable chopsticks.
Source

Dead woman's 42 years in front of TV

Dead woman's 42 years in front of TV

The mummified remains of a Croatian woman have been found sitting in her armchair at home in front of a black and white TV set 42 years after she was reported missing.
Croatian police say Hedviga Golik, who was born in 1924, had apparently made herself a cup of tea and sat down to watch the television which at the time was regarded as a luxury item.


They say that would have been in 1966 when she was last seen by neighbours. They said one day she seemed to have just disappeared and they thought she had moved out of her flat in the capital Zagreb.
But police who broke in with baliffs after local authorities said they wanted to check on its ownership found her remains in the small 13 square metre flat.
A police spokesman said: "So far we have no idea how it is possible that someone officially reported missing so long ago was not found before in the same apartment she used to live in."
Source

Man uses gun for backscratcher, shoots himself

Man uses gun for backscratcher, shoots himself


01:43 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
By KIMBERLY DURNAN / The Dallas Morning News


A Fort Worth man trying to scratch an itch on his back used a revolver and accidentally shot himself.



Jorge Espinal, 44, was drinking beer and playing poker around 3 a.m. Sunday in his home in the 3500 block of Montague Street, when he got up from the table and walked into another room, said Fort Worth police Lt. Kenneth Dean.

“He told officers he had an itch on his back and grabbed the first thing he could get a hold of, which was a revolver,” Lt. Dean said. “The gun went off."

Mr. Espinal went back and told his buddies that he shot himself. “They didn’t believe him until they saw the blood coming down his back,” Lt. Dean said.

Mr. Espinal was taken to an area hospital, where he was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries.
Source

"Gay" Player Name Banned By Xbox Live

Reader Grant says that his gamer tag "theGAYERgamer" was recently banned by Xbox Live. He hoped that a call to customer support would sort things out but all he received was a confusing explanation from an Xbox Live supervisor. According to the supervisor, it wasn't that she found the name offensive, but it was the "greater Xbox community" that found it offensive. Screenshot above. Grant's letter, inside...

"Consumerist,

I have had a bad morning. Last night when i tried to sign into my xbox live account "thegayergamer" I was told that it had to be changed. I figured that it was just from people reporting it as an offensive name being that the greater Xbox live community isn't exactly welcome to gay people, i spend a lot of time muting people on Halo3. I assumed that once i called Microsoft they would straighten things out.

I talked to a supervisor there, Roxy, who told me that she didn't personally find the fact that my gamer tag had gay in the name offensive, but that the greater Xbox community did, so i would have to change it. I hope I'm not the only person who finds this don't ask, don't tell policy disgusting... eek

From Grant, thegayergamer.
Source

XBOX 360 Finally Getting Blu-ray

After months of rumors and denials, the XBOX 360 with a Blu-ray disc drive is due to be manufactured soon and shipped in Q3 of 2008. Pegatron Technology, an OEM subsidiary of Asustek Computer, is reported to have received the winning order from Microsoft for a Blu-ray equipped XBOX 360.

Earlier reports cited Lite-On as the company with the privilege of building the new console for Microsoft. Lite-On is also currently one of the suppliers of the internal DVD drive fro the XBOX 360.

One of the strong points for Sony’s Playstation 3 has been the integrated Blu-ray player. The PS3 had the ability to draw both gamers and audio/video enthusiast, and this was proving to be a major advantage over its XBOX rival. It is estimated that 85% of Blu-ray players in use are PS3s. Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer had admitted that Microsoft had been working on support for Blu-ray under Windows during this year’s Mix08 conference. Rumors began to swirl and many began to expect Microsoft to announce a Blu-ray peripheral for the XBOX 360.

However, Microsoft came out and denied all rumors, stating that they were not exploring any kind of Blu-ray add-on or in talks with Sony about integrating Blu-ray into the XBOX experience. The software giant stated they would continue to invest in its XBOX Live online service as the means of high-definition content delivery. Toshiba received a crushing blow earlier this year at CES that Warner Brothers would be Blu-ray exclusive. This eventually led to Toshiba withdrawing from the HD format war and the demise of the XBOX 360’s HD-DVD add-on. It is interesting to note that sales of the XBOX 360 lagged behind Sony’s PS3 in the month of February, the same month Toshiba withdrew.

Many expected the death of HD-DVD would trigger a growth in Blu-ray hardware sales. However, to the dismay of the industry, acceptance and adoption of Blu-ray has been dismal.

The PS3 is one of the cheapest (relatively speaking) Blu-ray players available — and you get the console thrown in for good measure.
Source

GTA 4 A Dissappointment

I'm 5% into the game, and so far, i haven't had fun once yet. The game is slow, literally. The character seems to move a lot slower, and the fact that just to jog you have to hold down a button is annoying. Their accents are annoying too.

The camera doesn't seem right either. How do people call this game great? I mean, a 10/10 from IGN? Hell no. So far, the game is pretty average/mediocre. It better get A LOT better, A LOT quicker!

New Xbox 360

Microsoft, according to insiders at Toshiba owner of the HD DVD patents, claim that Microsoft is working on a brand new Xbox that will incorporate not only a new HD DVD drive but a large hard drive a

nd new entertainment software that is a spin off from its struggling media centre offering.
The device is being developed in response to the PS3 driving sales of games software and Blu-ray content in several countries. A recent Sony Brand Wave study conducted in five countries including the UK, Australia, France Germany and Spain revealed that a key reason that consumers are buying a PS3 is because it includes a Blu-ray player.

Recent GFK research reveals that the recently launched Xbox 360 HD DVD attach player is not selling well. Another factor that impacted early sales of the Xbox 360 was that Microsoft failed to include a HDMI port - omitted because Microsoft wanted to cut down the costs of the console in an effort to compete up against the PS3.

The new Xbox device, while allowing for extensive gaming capability, will be positioned as an entertainment hub that includes gaming and extensive wireless networking capability as well as 1080p playback. There is also talk of it including a dual HD TV tuner and EPG capability and a docking port for an MP3 player. For Toshiba, the device is critical if it is to be successful in beating Sony and the Blu-ray promoters.

Also being discussed is the development of an open standard docking port similar to the 17 pin iPod port. This would allow all manufacturers to use the same port for docking.
Source

PS3 dies after yellow light of death

Nothing is perfect, and it seems even the Sony PlayStation 3 which can survive 108 hours of torture through freezer vans and sizzling sauna has instances when it fails. Someone going by the name foxracingnumba26 claims his PS3 failed on him indicated by yellow light followed by blinking red, and posted a video to prove it.


In the video below, you'll see the console fail a few seconds after it was turned on. As foxracingnumba26 described on his post at Gametrailers, the green light that shows your PS3 is up and running turns yellow before going red. The unfortunate console owner thus dubbed it the "yellow light of death," taking cues from the Xbox 360's famed red lights of death (aka RROD).

The problem persists even if he tries to repeatedly turn the machine on, so he supposedly told Sony about it. As of now, foxracingnumba26 said he's willing to show further proof in form of pictures to let everyone know that Sony acknowledged the problem and wants the PS3 back. You can watch the PS3's death video below

PS3 dies after yellow light of death

Nothing is perfect, and it seems even the Sony PlayStation 3 which can survive 108 hours of torture through freezer vans and sizzling sauna has instances when it fails. Someone going by the name foxracingnumba26 claims his PS3 failed on him indicated by yellow light followed by blinking red, and posted a video to prove it.


In the video below, you'll see the console fail a few seconds after it was turned on. As foxracingnumba26 described on his post at Gametrailers, the green light that shows your PS3 is up and running turns yellow before going red. The unfortunate console owner thus dubbed it the "yellow light of death," taking cues from the Xbox 360's famed red lights of death (aka RROD).

The problem persists even if he tries to repeatedly turn the machine on, so he supposedly told Sony about it. As of now, foxracingnumba26 said he's willing to show further proof in form of pictures to let everyone know that Sony acknowledged the problem and wants the PS3 back. You can watch the PS3's death video below
Source

China hopes to cure Internet addicts at summer camp

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

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

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

A video how Aliens make crop circles

Fake or real?

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

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

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

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