News from the Net

It appears that the various political campaign websites are full of vulnerabilities...

If you live on a sandy beach, you might very well be living on a rock beach next time there is an earthquake.

This is great. Sun has released a plugin for Microsoft Word to allow it to export/import OpenOffice ODF files. Of course, I don't have Word installed, but still...

How about a simple way to spoof Vistas' User Access Control?

Dell to distribute pre-installed Linux.

How about a Tor attack that the government might be using to track you now?

So there are some numbers showing at least one reason people pirate things (in this case TV shows)... unacceptable delays.

Iran is launching payloads into space now.

If any of you are running Google Desktop, you might want to read about the most recent exploit.

They got XP running on an 8MHz with 20MB of ram.

Texas is mandating that schoolgirls get vaccinated for cervical cancer...

If you are selling on eBay, expect soon to have your information given to the IRS.

How about a solid-state 67kW laser?

More on the state of the art in 3d printing.

So is something like this more likely to stop piracy or stop use of that developer's program?

A 5-gear rocket engine has been developed.

Can I have one of these Voltron SuperBots?

Sony has just announced that the new revision of the PS3 will be less backwards compatible with PS2 games.

Canada is now turning away Americans for things such as shoplifting or minor possession from, say, 30 years ago.

Mosque Math

The leader of the DoD (warez not govt dept -- oh wait) is facing 10 years imprisonment and $500,000 fine for conspiracy to commit copyright infringement (and 1 count of infringement).

There are more details about Xerox's new inkless printer.

Haha! This is great... So if you believe that what sets you apart from those things called 'animals' is our ability to create and use tools... read this.

Step aside SONAR, it's time for us to imitate fish.

Looks like the Mars Rover was updated to use D* pathfinding.

Ooh! Google is planning to create a permanent internet connection to Mars in the next two years!

An anonymous hacker got an ex-judge sentenced to 27 months in jail.

I can see it now... Quantum computers break the RSA factoring challenge, and so the new challenge is breaking this new quantum encryption technique.

What's better - that SETI@Home found something, or the wife's comments?

It looks like Estonia has surpassed the United States in election technology.

Astronomy sets a new record.

What do you get when our constant use of fossil fuels is not only melting the polar ice caps but is becoming close to running out? The Federal Energy Department melting more ice for fuel.

James Gosling appointed to the Order of Canada.

Hmmm. Natural Gas storage using corn.

Microsoft admits to serving malware from their servers.

Great. Just what we needed. Crappy VB code on Unix.

If you are using Snort, you might want to patch the security vulnerability.

Ever wonder what the truth is about drive numbers? Well, take a look.

Fraudulent charges on your credit card? You think the credit card company is the one that eats those charges? Nope - it's not them.

Mythbusters: Biometric Hacking

Not new news, but interesting Mythbusters video.

Best view of Switzerland

Shawn sent me a link to this video... this has got to be the best possible way to view Switzerland... wow.

Fever Stimulation Beverage

After hearing the Weather Elf report on this drink, I decided I had to order some and try it... I highlighted a couple of my reasons :)

Honey Goat Weed
Clavo Huasca
Panax Ginseng
Caffeine (Green Tea)
Catuba
Damiana Leaf
Suma
Maca
Guarana

Food Recalls

I don't know about you, but I am personally getting sick and tired of food recalls. These companies need to be held responsible in such a way that they quit poisoning the population.

It was bad enough that chicken, peanut butter, and pasta (what, you didn't know about that one?) were recalled in less than 1 week -- or the 31 recalls on food last year (just talking about USDA recalls, the FDA lists more)...

But what set me off was that this morning they mentioned on the news that they were now recalling baby food. And to top it off, while writing this, they announced a barbeque sauce recall... Did I mention that both of these were also the same week as the chicken, peanut butter and pasta?

If you want to peruse, here is the USDA list and FDA list...

What will it take to get these companies to be more responsible BEFORE shipping products?

News from the Net

There has been a possible breakthrough in curing HIV.

Well, you thought it was ridiculous that they were censoring violent video games, right? Well, expect CSI, Bones, Smallville, Doctor Who, and even the History channel to be censored next.

An article shows the obvious benefit of grid computing.

This bionic eye has already been tested on 6 patients.

Congress is looking into patent reform.

I would start expecting Google ads in your next MMO.

Kansas changes their science standards to quit questioning evolution.

Oooh. Earth's constant hum has been explained.

It's time again -- Google Summer of Code 2007!

Not really a new concept, but I always find water computers kewl.

Ooh! A Judge (Russia) drops a piracy case for a principal that stole Windows... why? Because the damages were too insignificant to M$

A Texas Judge has determined that it is not MySpaces' responsibility to correctly identify the age of the user.

Hitachi's new RFID chips are smaller than a human hair. That should make VeriChip happy, since they have already implanted RFID chips in 222 people.

Amazon illegally makes charges to peoples credit cards. I'm sorry, but if you show me a total and I give you the credit card number, you better not use my number a week later on a different amount or you can expect to get sued for fraud.

John Edwards is the first presidential candidate to setup their HQ in SecondLife.

I personally really like the fingerprint reader on the laptop... now Toshiba adds it to phones.

A P2P Virtual Currency Exchange has opened.

Great, just what we need. Give Bush a reason to invade Canada. Just great.

Particle accelerators get a jump.

Google disappoints me and I am glad that I refused to sign up with YouTube... Since they will report you to the Republican News Organization, er I mean, Fox.

Microsoft settled the Comes vs. Microsoft antitrust case.

ConAgra Recall

I assume everyone has already heard about this, but just in case...

If you have any jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter with the product code (starting with?) "2111" on the lid, get rid of it. There has been a salmonella outbreak linked to them, even locally.

With things like this, and their 19 million pounds of beef recalled in 2002 (bacterial contamination), it makes me a little concerned about their other products... Act II and JiffyPop and Orville Redenbacher popcorn, Armour and Banquet meat, Blue Bonnet, Chef Boyardee, Dennison's Chili (my favorite), Healthy Choice, Hunts' (ketchup etc), Knott's Berry Farm, MaMa's Rosa, Marie Callenders, PAM spray and Wesson cooking oil, Reddi-Whip (who can do without this?), Swiss Miss, etc etc.... If we don't trust where their meat or peanuts come from, where do we draw the line?

The Energy Policy Act of 2005

The United States has planned a change to its DST observance beginning in 2007. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandates that DST will start on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. In 2007, the start and stop dates will be March 11 and November 4, respectively. These dates are different from previous DST start and stop dates. In 2006, the dates were the first Sunday in April (April 2, 2006) and the last Sunday in October (October 29, 2006).

Some countries are still evaluating whether they will adopt the new rules for themselves. You should anticipate more changes in DST and time zone rules for countries that typically align with U.S. DST rules.

Powered Spinal Mobilization

The news was just reporting that this device is now available in the US, is covered by most insurance, and 20 minutes with it can work as well as 20 visits to a therapist.

News from the Net

Google was found guilty for aggregating news and caching sites -- er, copyright violations. And then to top it off, they are accused of benefiting from piracy because of Adsense running on download sites.

Trying to follow up on Chicagos' recent "15-minutes of fame", Illinois is trying to pass the Social Networking Web site Prohibition Act. Just in time for the sites to provide APIs.

Forget to get that Valentine's gift? Maybe put their picture on the side of a space craft?

Come on, even the name sounds cool... Black Saturn.

Just days before I build my new Solaris server, Sun offers an optimized AMP stack.

RIAA blames ISPs for misidentification. At the same time, a study shows that p2p has almost no effect on CD purchases.

HD-DVD and Blu-Ray protections fully broken.

FBI Audit rules that they suck :)

Michael Crichton shows how patents kill people.

Lord of the Rings Online NDA lifted.

Sign Language via cell phones.

MIT plans to make a silicon brain.

Here's an interview the Josh Wolf, a video blogger who was jailed for 170 days for refusing to turn over a video of a demonstration in San Francisco. What? They wanted it so they could arrest everyone they saw the faces of?

More info on Reaming the People

A drug company is actually releasing their information for free online.

Looks like IBM is offering something I talked about years ago.

Intel makes a 1.8TFlops processor running at 62 watts.

EU bans sock-puppet blogs.

The DoD says it will cyberattack or actually bomb any location that cyberattacks the U.S. Guess we better hope no one thinks of something so simple as routing through somewhere else, eh?

A new shunt may cut down on the number of amputations.

Shady

As some of you may know, it has been a year today since Shady passed away.

Please send some kind thoughts Dinos' way today.

News from the Net

WalMart appears to be in bed with Microsoft.

This is probably a good read for those wholier-than thou artists (you know which ones I mean).

Ok, Obama mentions some good energy policies. But do they have to mention words like Messiah when talking about him? Of course, he did tell people that he was a Democrat because God told him to.

House burns down. Dell laptop ruled as cause.

So you think M$ might have some heart because they donated a lot of computers to your kids school? Did you realize that they filed a patent to allow them to reposess said computers if the facial recognition notices that the kids are not paying attention to the advertisements?

Amazon and YouTube flagged for censorship.

China institutes massive online ID system.

Refridgerated wind?

So two kids (under 18) took naughty photos of each other and got busted for child-p0rn.

Ooh... Optical and Electrical circuits on the same silicon.

Princeton has given up on convincing people about ESP and are going to close their Engineering Anomalies Research lab. “For 28 years, we’ve done what we wanted to do, and there’s no reason to stay and generate more of the same data. If people don’t believe us after all the results we’ve produced, then they never will.” The research will continue at the International Consciousness Research Lab.

No more than a week after EOTI received its pair of AMD FX-70 dual core chips, AMD is showcasing their Quad-Core Opteron that redefines x86.

Remember how Chicago were complete morons about the Aqua Teen thing? Well, in addition to people loosing their jobs over it, the CEO of Cartoon Network resigned.

Anyone remember the big seed-carrying thing in Titan AE? Well, we are building one.

Want to help the environment and have a knack for science? Richard Branson is offering $25million to anyone who can devise a way to eliminate a billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year.

EVE Online takes a hit as the developers admit to helping cheat.

Looks like small companies and bloggers are better at doing the Pentagon's job than they are.

More details are available on the upcoming game, Spore.

Battlestar Galactica as Simpsons Characters

I am not usually a Battlestar Galactica Fan (was as a kid), but I always love crossovers...