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- The Freewinds Are Carcinogenic
Dry dock workers of the Curacao Dry Dock Company (CDM) discovered dangerous levels of blue asbestos while conducting routine repairs on the Freewinds, flagship of the Church of Scientology's Sea Org and home to the Flag Ship Service Organization (FSSO). Scientologists like John Travolta and Tom Cruise attended several events and religious get-aways aboard the luxury cruise liner and subsequentally were potentially exposed to the deadly carcinogen. Worse yet, an affidavit signed in 2001 alleging the presence of blue asbestos has surfaced. In it, Lawrence Woodcraft describes encountering "a powdery blue fibrous substance" he identified as asbestos on the ship early 1987. Thousands of tweenage girls the world over are expressing their outrage over the potential threat to their #1 crush by pre-ordering Battletoads this Saturday, May 10th.
- Towards the Reformation of a Once Great Site
Kuro5hin.org sure has changed a lot over the years. When it was first fired up it promptly drained what little brain power existed at slashdot including the more intelligent slashdot trolls, which was fine by taco as they've been able to revel in half-baked ideology and presumptions ever since, with nary a challenge to spoil the party. K5 went on to produce a stimulating culture and an excellent body of work, and things were looking pretty good. But then something odd happened. Some genuine mentally ill people appeared and started to wreck up the place. Perhaps they resented the superior intelligence of k5 discourse, or maybe they got riled up when their stupid opinions were brushed aside and deservedly ignored. Their response however was quite ferocious- aggressive and persistent vulgarity flooded the site. Any attempt by smart people to have a good conversation would be targeted and clobbered under their offensive offensive.
- Texas Flood
"It's coming down pretty hard. Maybe we should just come back and get my car tomorrow." It was the first week of June, 2001. 9/11 was still months away. People just mildly disliked Bush, and for comparitively trivial reasons. Iraq was something that happened about 10 years ago. I was just wrapping up my first year of graduate school. My daughter was 6 weeks old, and we were on our way home from the obligatory 6 week checkup. I had had a test that afternoon, so I had been up at the school. My wife is insane, so she had insisted on getting to the appointment herself. This meant driving 25 minutes through Houston traffic with a baby, after extracting said baby from her body just a bit more than a month prior. She even picked me up at school to go to the appointment, and even that only at my insistance. She had planned to go solo.
- Who Owns Your Home?
The collapse of the U.S. housing industry is the big news of the day. While independent journalists and other comentators have been covering the rise and fall of the housing industry blow by blow, the corporate media joined the party just as the bubble was peaking, and only caught on to the perils of the situation in the 7th inning of the market cycle. It is now common for people who owe more on their mortgage than the home is worth to not bother contesting foreclosure filings. The unsavy borrower stops making payments and sends "Jingle Mail" (keys) to the lender after they've vacated the property. More sophisticated borrowers delay for a few more months, perhaps by declaring bankruptcy or using the services of a business that understands the foreclosure process. Sometimes people stop making payments and wait for the eviction notice - sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn't. When they can, the savviest homeowners politely tell their mortgage manager to go fuck themselves, get the foreclosure proceedings dismissed, and stay in their home in perpetuity sans mortgage payments. Poll inside.
- Attention Beijing Olympics Visitors
Leave your kids at home. A national alert has been issued (finally). Yes, there was apparently a cover-up of news about the spread of the EV71 virus, just as there was a cover-up in 2003 at the start of the SARS outbreak.
- Wii Love: A Review
Nintendo redefined the relationship between man and games console with the creation of the Wiimote, and continued to riff on that successful theme. Ever since the Wii came out, Wii crossbows, guns, wheels, golf clubs, baseball bats, tennis rackets and balance boards have all appeared. In their latest release, Nintendo continues to push the limits of a games console with the release of Wii Love. For the uninitiated, Wii Love isn't really a game, but rather a lifestyle accessory. Similar to Wii Fit, Nintendo have co-opted a boring and mundane everyday activity and made it fun and engaging. I managed to get my hands on a (second hand) early preview box from a corporate client, so I thought I'd give you a quick look at the technology that wowed the crowd at the Nintendo stand at the last E3 conference, and has taken Japan by storm, shifting over 2,000,000 units in the first three months.
- It's time to take Kuro5hin back from the trolls
There was a time a long time ago when I would log into Kuro5hin and I'd see that a known name had posted a new diary. I'd go over, read what they had to say, and post some comments. Then I'd go over to the story queue, make some suggestions on spelling on a story or two, vote up a story on Technology, vote down a story on politics, then go to write my passionate reply to a diary I had read the day before. It was fun, it was calming, and it was home. Today I log into Kuro5hin, and I see that right now, undermyne writes: Given the length of the baseball season and the number of games required (162), it is not surpising that lazy niggers are opting for a 16 game NFL season or an 82 game NBA season. This is not how things should be, and we have to change. There is no hand of God that will come down to make things change, each and everyone of us here can create this change that we need.
- "Does 'Sleep Gas' exist?" or "Ethnic Cleansing in the US"
This article describes harassment and barrage of assaults I have been experiencing on my body during the past five months. I am an American citizen, an immigrant of Middle Eastern origin. I have been living in the US for 35 years; I am non-religious; my politics tend in general towards left-of-center. Around the beginning of the Iraq war, years 2003 and 2004, I expressed on Internet forums - mostly on this site - my opposition to the Iraq war in strong language and talked about George W. Bush in unflattering terms which are commonly heard now but were not so commonly heard then. The precise beginning date of the series of events I will talk about is uncertain because only towards the end of November 2007, I realized that I was being drugged and walked backwards in my mind and traced the start of this approximately to the beginning of that month ...
- Military Patches You Should Not Be Seeing
There's a guy named Trevor Paglen. His obsession is military patches, the kind you wear on your sleeve. Many military programs are top secret and only identifiable by two things: 1. An undescribed line item on a Department of Defense expense report. 2. A military patch. He has written a book entitled "I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have To Be Destroyed By Me" (the emblem on a particular patch he has uncovered). The book is nothing but a giant compendium of some of the bizarre, strange, and often very funny top secret military patches the man has discovered: CIA paparazzo Trevor Paglen is a thorn in Uncle Sam's side. Known for snapping telephoto candids of CIA planes and Area 51, the artist also gathers "patch intel," which he's collected in this provocative book (main title: "I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have To Be Destroyed By Me"). The fruit of several Freedom of Information Act requests, Paglen's book proves that classified black opps concoct esoteric team insignias just like other military divisions. The photo-driven work presents 75 de-classified patches with colorful eagles, skulls, swords, dragons, wizards and even aliens (!). Surveying iconography that was never intended for your eyes is both exhilarating and frustrating. Decoding them is often impossible, which only leads back to the obvious: How else are our tax dollars being spent in secret? Unlike grainy, questionable YouTube clips of UFOs, Big Foot and Loch Ness, in this case, seeing guarantees believing.
- Stonehenge, The Health Spa
A new excavation at Stonehenge, which started March 31st, will attempt to once-and-for-all (again) determine who built Stonehenge and why. This week's theory - it was a health resort, where people across the country visited to receive magical healing from the blue stones.
- DWP still sending out passwords and discs together
Government data not secure? Shurely some mistake?
The Department for Work and Pensions is still sending out discs containing confidential data together with passwords.
- Retailers risk libel nightmare over 'no-work' database
A nation of suspicious shopkeepers
Shop staff who have been sacked or resigned while under suspicion of dodgy behaviour could soon struggle to find work, as some of the UK's top retailers are set to share information online about their employment history.
- NGO attacks Apple's lack of action on climate change
Mac maker's green credentials rotting?
Apple’s MacBook Air may have received the thumbs-up from Greenpeace, but the iPhone maker should be avoided by the "climate-conscious consumer", a new eco survey claims.
- Windows XP SP3 sends PCs into endless reboot
That Groundhog Day feeling, again
Microsoft's service pack three (SP3) for Windows XP has caused havoc on hundreds of PCs, just hours after it was released as an automatic update.
- US: BAE 'could have' pirated our secret Stealth 3.0 tech sauce
Arms globocorp enters grey zone?
Global arms and aerospace colossus BAE Systems this week released a high-profile audit into its internal ethics and served it up with a big slice of humble pie as it promised to be a better corporate citizen in future.
- Vista security credentials tarnished in malware survey
Better off with a Win 2000 box
Windows Vista is better at protecting against malware than XP but more easily infected than Windows 2000, according to a study by Australian anti-virus firm PC Tools.
- Office 2007 SP1 goes automatic for the people
'Huddled masses yearning to breathe free'
Microsoft will start automatically pumping out its first service packs for the Office 2007 suite next month.
- Compulsory lobby register moves closer
EU Parliament calls for Book of Fat Lunch
A compulsory register of lobby companies revealing which companies or organisations are paying their bills comes a step nearer today.
- Iubi Blue personal media player
Not a bad box of tricks
Review Anyone after a portable 30GB media player is quite possibly going to end up with either a Cowon A3 or the Archos 605, both of which we liked. Many might argue, however, that list should also include the Iubi Blue.
- Fujitsu develops world's first hi-def train simulator
Going loco - virtually
Writing down the number of the 10.47 to Chichester while standing in the cold is all well and good, but now you can pretend to be the actual train driver, thanks to Fujitsu, which has developed the world’s first HD virtual railway.
- Toshiba to ship laptops with Cell-based GPUs this year
And putting PS3 processor into TVs in 2009
Toshiba has pledged to begin selling notebooks equipped with its oddly named SpursEngine graphics chip this year. SpursEngine is based on the technology that powers the PlayStation 3's Cell processor.
- Irish data protection chief in leaked report 'hack'
Man bites watchdog
Updated There's red faces at the office of the Data Protection Commissioner this morning after a blogger lifted an upcoming official report off its website and published it early.
- MPs say shared service sums 'don't add up'
Cabinet Office's claim 'flimsy'
MPs say that the Cabinet Office's claim that government could save £1.4bn a year through sharing corporate services is a "flimsy estimate at best".
- Swiss ponder the 'dignity of plants'
Biotech guidelines tackle thorny issue
A Swiss government ethics committee has issued guidelines on the thorny issue of the "dignity of plants" in relation to biotech research after the country's 2004 Gene Technology Law declared that "the dignity of creatures" should be considered in any grant-funded research.
- Rowling ruling bolsters privacy chief's view of data protection
Auto-breach
The Court of Appeal's ruling in JK Rowling's privacy case confirms that a breach of other laws can result in an automatic breach of the Data Protection Act, an expert has said.
- EDF circles British nuclear powerplant sites
Buys farmland to secure juice futures
French nuclear energy colossus EDF, which also operates various types of non-nuclear generation in the UK, has been buying up farmland close to existing British nuke plants.
- Local mag claims Aussie Eee PC buyers will pay extra for Linux
'Generous' Microsoft charging less for Windows XP?
In a move that's going leave local Linux buffs alleging Asus has been handsomely rewarded by Microsoft, the computer maker is to charge less for the Windows version of the Eee PC 900 in Australia than the version using the open source OS.
- Barclays Capital slashes contractor rates by 10%
IT workers get credit crunched
Barclays Capital is forcing its IT contractors to choose between a 10 per cent pay cut or a quick exit from the company.
- NZ bank robber stashes loot where the sun don't shine
'Bottom area' rustling gives game away
A NZ bank robber who stashed the NZ$2,000 proceeds of a heist up his tradesman's entrance was fingered by "rustling sounds" from his "bottom area", the Southland Times reports.
- Sun Java chief to developers: 'We're genetic freaks'
Time to change your definition of 'application'
JavaOne Todd Fast, chief architect in Sun Microsystems' Java Enterprise tools group, took a big gulp of Web 2.0 Kool-Aid at JavaOne while telling professional developers they must embrace a broader definition of "application" if they are to take advantage of the current sea change in the way software is built and delivered.
- Texas graverobbers 'used skull to smoke dope'
Three cuffed over morbid tale
Houston Police Department is investigating a teenager's claim that he and two accomplices desecrated the grave of an 11-year-old boy, severed his skull, and subsequently used it as a bong to smoke marijuana, the Houston Chronicle reports.
- Microsoft orders 65nm Xbox 360 graphics chip
'Jasper' to break Red Ring of Death?
Claims the next incarnation of the Xbox 360's internal workings is due to begin being built into the console in August appear to be on track. Microsoft was this week said to have placed orders with chip and motherboard makers.
- MWg specs up 2008 handset roadmap
Windows Mobile 7 device en-route
The Mobile and Wireless Group (MWg) has given Register Hardware a sneak peek at four upcoming handsets, including its first Windows Mobile 7 device, during the official launch of the firm's two latest handsets: the Atom V and Zinc II.
- 'Great tits cope well with warming'
BBC secures Headline of the Week
It's beers all round for the BBC this morning who've outregged El Reg leader writers with this deliciously suggestive offering:
- Rock Group goes titsup
Staff theft leads to cashflow problems
Rock Group PLC is in the hands of administrators who are trying to sell the UK notebook maker as a going concern.
- When flash mobs go bad
Facebook water fight soaks up thousands of pounds of damage
An open invitation on Facebook to hold a massive water fight in Leeds has resulted in thousands of pounds worth of damage to its prize winning public garden.
- Wanted: Americans to join Al Qaeda
Net is recruiting sergeant, senators warn
Al-Qaeda is getting better at using the Internet to tempt Americans into joining their cause. And that increases the threat of homegrown terrorism in the US, a Senate committee warned today.
- AMD boss keeps schtum on manufacturing restructure
Meeting doglegs to pointlessness
AMD's annual shareholder meeting today could have been an excellent time to elaborate on the company's plan to reverse course from an extremely rough 2007.
- Oracle sharpens axe for BEA layoffs
Four portals, two application servers, no future
Oracle is Friday expected to start laying off at least 500 staff, eliminating duplication across product engineering and management, following its $8.5bn acquisition of BEA Systems.
- India and Belgium decry Chinese cyber attacks
Join the ranks
Belgium and India have joined the growing ranks of countries voicing concerns about cyber attacks originating from China. Earlier this week, officials from both countries said computer networks inside their borders are routinely targeted by hackers trying to ferret information that could benefit the Chinese government.
- Hitachi slips past Fujitsu with speedy 320GB laptop drive
7,200rpm, 2.5-inch drive out-firsts 'world's first'
Hitachi is updating its TravelStar laptop hard drive range with a more capacious 320GB disk that spins at 7,200rpm.
- I Was A Teenage Bot Master
The Confessions of SoBe Owns
Exclusive One day in May 2005, a 16-year-old hacker named SoBe opened his front door to find a swarm of FBI agents descending on his family's three-story house in Boca Raton, Florida. With an arm and leg in casts from a recent motorcycle accident, one agent grabbed his good arm while others seized thousands of dollars worth of computers, video game consoles and other electronics. His parents looked on.
- MySpace revs profile transfer engine
Down with the walled garden
MySpace has launched an initiative that will one day allow its social-networking-obsessed users to automatically shuttle their profile data to third-party web sites.
- Surprise, surprise: F5 is doing something
A storage de-dupe and network acceleration box
According to an IT man from Arizona, F5 is up to something, something good. We've been wondering what it has been doing now that it has acquired Acopia and its file virtualising ARX switch. Well, according to this Arizonan who is familiar with the situation, F5 is developing a single box to replace two that people would need now.
- Facebook agrees to child-safety measures
Reining in Web 2.0 predators
Facebook has reached an agreement with 50 attorneys general to permanently deploy measures designed to rein in pedophiles and other predators on the social networking site.
- Why Microhoo! is like, so, totally dead
!!!!! and then, like, !!!!!!
Blog 0.2 Those of you au fait with my traditional morning ritual will know that I normally rise at 5.43am, dip an Indonesian virgin-thigh-rolled organic sesame seed crunch power bar into a cup of sea urchin and gauva infusion, do fifteen minutes Pilates, ensure my beachside condo is feng shui compliant before parsing the latest declaration from a besuited Beastmaster of Redmond currently jollying it up abroad.
- Interpol appeal unmasks US actor as child abuse suspect
Operation IDent-ification
A man matching the description of a suspected child abuser who became the target of an international manhunt earlier this week has been arrested in the US.
- MEPs deny sports 'intellectual property' landgrab
Own(ing) goals
Updated MEPs today voted against* a bigger role for intellectual property in sports, stoking a copyright head-to-head between the powerful governing bodies of world sport and the media organisations that seek to report it.
- Renault F1 comp site spills entrants' details
You will never break the chain
A Grand Prix competition from Renault hit the barriers on Thursday after it emerged that the motoring firm was inadvertently leaking entrants' personal details onto the web.
- iPlayer to tart up Freesat
Beeb and ITV square up to Sky
iPlayer, the BBC's promiscuous media delivery software, will be available on Freesat within a year, the operator hopes.
- Britannica opens kimono, reveals widgets
Free access for bloggers
Britannica is opening up its content for use by publishers - including amateurs - but insists it isn't threatened by the world's biggest compendium of unusually-shaped vegetables.*
- Ofcom lays out wireless roadmap
Planes, trains and automobiles
Ofcom's annual research report, this year entitled The Wireless World of Tomorrow, focuses on how wireless technologies might change the transport and healthcare landscapes over the next 20 years.
- HSBC in further data loss
Stolen Hong Kong server contained data on 159K
Security-incident prone bank HSBC has admitted losing a server containing transaction data on 159,000 Hong Kong-based account holders.
- Salesforce boss Benioff pushes cloud
Pours scorn on Microsoft, bear hugs Sir Stelios
Salesforce.com boss Marc Benioff yesterday robustly elaborated on the firm's plans to push yet more services on to the cloud with the official launch of Visualforce.
- Lancashire plodcopters in laser dazzle outrage outbreak
Blind justice meted out to presentational-aid yob trio
It now appears that laser-pointer pilot dazzle attacks have joined the hilarious satnav-inspired motoring blunder as a staple of news kibble, with the global presentational-aid-related airborne blinding epidemic now devastating the skies above Lancashire.
- Orb opens iPhone for TV, video
Uncrippling the iPod
You don't need Steve Jobs' permission to watch TV on your iPhone any more. A native Orb client for the iPhone and iPod Touch popped up on the installer networks overnight, and Orb confirms that it's official.
- ITV fined millions for phone fraud
Unprecedented Ofcom smackdown
ITV must pay £5.67m in fines for misleading viewers using its premium rate phonelines - the largest fine regulator Ofcom has ever imposed.
- Firefox language pack provides adware back-door
Ho Chi Hack trail
Mozilla has warned that the Vietnamese language pack of Firefox 2 was compromised as a result of a viral infection.
- OpenOffice.org 3 beta lands
Flex your fingers
Sun Microsystems yesterday released the first beta of OpenOffice.org 3 for Windows and Mac.
- Apple out to recruit 3G-savvy iPhone field testers
Engineering posts offered in Oz, UK, Germany
There's now no doubt that Apple's bringing the iPhone to Australia: it's looking for an iPhone Field Validation Engineer there with "technical understanding and experience with GSM/GPRS, Edge, CDMA and UMTS".
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| Update: May 09, 2008 - 15:57 CET |
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| Update: May 09, 2008 - 15:57 CET |
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| Update: May 09, 2008 - 15:57 CET |
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| News are updated every three hours... |
Copyright © 1997-2005 Marko Njezic - mr.maX / MAX Interactive corp.
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Last Modified: Friday, May 09, 2008 - 15:57:35 CEST |
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