Archive for September, 2004

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Tuesday, September 28, 2004

 

Family First seeks net gag

`Conservative political newcomer Family First wants an annual levy of $7 to $10 on all internet users to fund a $45 million mandatory national internet filtering scheme aimed at blocking pornographic and offensive content at server level.

The party, which holds a state seat in South Australia, is considered a strong candidate for a Senate spot [..]’

also covered by The Register.


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No sex for us, says tax office

`The Australian Taxation Office has dropped plans to sponsor the sex industry’s award night.

The backflip follows anger at the tax office’s plan to put money into the event to encourage strippers and prostitutes to pay more tax.

Industry insiders say sex industry workers are notorious for not declaring their mostly cash income.’

Surely that’s not all they’re notorious for. 🙂


Man Dies After He’s Struck By Bull In Rodeo Contest

`The contest involves members of the audience who stand in the arena, inside a small, individual circle drawn around them.

A bull is then agitated and made to run through a chute into the arena.

The last person in his or her circle wins $50.

But it wasn’t luck that struck Charles Davis — it was a bull.’


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World’s Deepest Cave Explored

`The 49-year-old from Newtown was invited to lead a 25-strong team of cavers from Russia and Ukraine on a world-record 1830-metre descent into the Krubera-Voronia cave in Abkhazia, Georgia.’

also with a map of the cave. (via /.)


Grandmaster Bush

‘grandmaster flash vs. george bush video mix’

(12meg Quicktime)

see it here »


Teen runs away to Scotland on parents’ credit card

`A teenager who clandestinely traveled to Scotland last weekend on her parents’ credit card needed to get away from the stress of school, home and extracurricular activities, her father said.’


JPEG GDI+ Exploit Found in Wild

A very serious vulnerability was found a week or so ago in the way Windows handles JPEG images. Easynews is reporting the first example of this exploit in the wild.

Links to more information on the exploit. There’s also a few [completely unrelated] links to articles about the impending oil problems we’re going to face.

see: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028


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Mount St. Helens webcam

There’s been recent earthquake activity recorded at Mount St. Helens. Here’s the live camera of the mountain, so we can all watch and wait for disaster. It’s just static at the time of post. 🙂

see it here »


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WHO ‘suspects’ bird flu passing between humans

`The World Health Organization said yesterday it was “suspecting human-to-human transmission” of bird flu had occurred in northern Thailand, marking what could be the first such transmission of the lethal virus. [..]

The WHO fears H5N1 could mutate into a highly contagious form that triggers a global human flu pandemic.

When asked if a confirmed viral leap between humans in the Thai cases would mark the first step in such a feared mutation, Rai said “I think so.”‘


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Who are the `stoned slackers’ watching Jon Stewart?

`The folks at Comedy Central were annoyed when Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly kept referring to “The Daily Show” audience as “stoned slackers.”

So they did a little research. [..]

Viewers of Jon Stewart’s show are more likely to have completed four years of college than people who watch “The O’Reilly Factor,” according to Nielsen Media Research.’


Airport Announcements

And oldie but a goodie. Amusing announcements at airports.


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D.C. transit police defend arrest over call

`The police officer told Aaron, who is five months pregnant, to lower her voice. She told the officer he had no right to tell her how to speak into her cell phone.

Their verbal dispute quickly escalated, and Saoutis grabbed Aaron by the arm and pushed her to the ground. He handcuffed the 23-year-old woman, called for backup and took her to a cell where she was held for three hours before being released to her aunt.’


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F4 Phantom Jet Hits Concrete Wall at 500 MPH

‘An US F4 Phantom Jet tests the strength of a concrete wall built to withstand a nuclear blast by crashing into it at 500 MPH. A high rate FPS camera is used to watch the plane literally turn into dust.’

(1.5meg Windows media)

see it here »


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Jerusalem priests brawl over opening of Holy Sepulcher door

`Greek Orthodox and Franciscan priests got into a fist fight yesterday at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Christianity’s holiest shrine, in an argument over whether a door in the basilica should be closed during a procession.

Dozens of people, including several Israeli police officers, were lightly hurt in the brawl at the shrine [..]’


Monday, September 27, 2004

 

Movies of Visible Human Images

Video reconstruction of MRI and CT slices of the human body.


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The Great Pigeon Debacle of 2004

Pigeon makes a nest in server rack. Stalked by cat.

with pictures.


Escher for Real

`The work of M.C. Escher needs no introduction. We have all learned to appreciate the impossibilities that this master of illusion’s artwork presents to the layman’s eye. Nevertheless, it may come as a surprise for some, but many of the so-called ‘impossible’ drawings of M. C. Escher can be realized as actual physical objects.’

with pictures.


strandbeest

`Since about ten years Theo Jansen is occupied with the making of a new nature. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic matierial of this new nature. He makes skeletons which are able to walk on the wind. Eventualy he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.’

Wind powered walking sculpture, with video.


Tricks of the Trade

`Professional secrets from those in the know.’


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Lada Raider

The Russian Knight Rider.

(8meg mpeg)

see it here »


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Inventor taps into a new energy source

`A self-taught inventor has signed a contract with Country Energy, one of the country’s biggest power grids, to test a new source of clean and renewable electricity that will harness ocean currents and has the potential to drastically reduce electricity costs on islands.’


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‘Osama Bin Laden’ robs petrol station

`A man disguised with an Osama Bin Laden face mask robbed an Auckland petrol station attendant at knifepoint early yesterday before running off with a small amount of cash.’


Microsoft: To secure IE, upgrade to XP

`Microsoft this week reiterated that it would keep the new version of Microsoft’s IE Web browser available only as part of the recently released Windows XP operating system, Service Pack 2. The upgrade to XP from any previous Windows versions is US$99 when ordered from Microsoft. Starting from scratch, the operating system costs US$199.’

try mozilla instead. 🙂


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Tiny building blocks prove toxic, but some think they can be fixed

`Researchers at Rice University have confirmed that buckyballs, the small soccer-ball-shaped particles that helped launch a revolution in materials science, are toxic.

However, the scientists say, they have found an easy way to modify the tiny particles so they are harmless.’


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Nice Ride: The Hydrogen Gremlin

`The yellow hatchback was the group’s entry in the 1972 Urban Vehicle Design Competition [..] the UCLA team had painstakingly replaced the Gremlin’s engine with a Boss 351 engine from Ford that had been modified to burn hydrogen instead of gasoline. In the rear of the hatchback, they installed tanks to hold the hydrogen gas under high pressure. Then, for safety, they created some of the world’s first low-speed bumpers by packing popcorn into the front and back of the car.’


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Naked ‘Pirate’ arrested in NZ

‘A naked man standing on a roof looking through a rolled-up magazine thought he was a pirate, New Zealand police said. [..]

“He believed he was a pirate at sea and was using a rolled-up magazine as a telescope,” [police] said.’


Men, Women More Different Than Thought

`It turns out that major illnesses like heart disease and lung cancer are influenced by gender and that perhaps treatments for women ought to be slightly different from the approach used for men.’


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Long Trip for Psychedelic Drugs

`Psychedelic drugs are inching their way slowly but surely toward prescription status in the United States, thanks to a group of persistent scientists who believe drugs like ecstasy and psilocybin can help people with terminal cancer, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, to name a just a few.’


Customer diss-service

`Customers of British cable firm NTL were subjected to a barrage of profanity after a malicious hacker or disgruntled employee changed the company’s telephone service message [..]

The newspaper reported that customers who called to report a fault with their service were told:

“You are through to NTL customer services. We don’t give a (expletive) about you. We are never here. We just (expletive) you about, basically, and we are not going to handle any of your complaints. Just (expletive) off and leave us alone.”‘


Mum’s romps with firemen

`This is Jennifer Swanton — the sex-mad wife who cheated on her hubby with 300 fire heroes of 9/11. [..]

Swanton’s pal Tara Parks, 34, said: “She lured them with emails which started, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry about 9/11. You seem really nice’.

She’d meet with a few different ones three or four times a week. It became her daily routine. She would tell me, ‘I f***ed a fireman again’.’