Archive for August, 2004

Monday, August 23, 2004

 

Unlikely phrases from real phrasebooks

`RUSSIAN
I want a specimen of your urine.
Ja vozjmu u vas mochu na analiz.

PORTUGUESE
Must I swallow them whole?
Devo engoli-los inteiros?

DUTCH
I’m going to prescribe some suppositories.
Ik geef u een recept voor zetpillen.’


information

Man dies over can of soup

`Police said that at 9 p.m. Friday, Pinedo put Mario Chavez, 21, of Corona, in a headlock after Pinedo purchased noodle soup at Nuevo Mexico deli in Woodside. Chavez apparently wanted some of the take-out soup [..] and Pinedo became enraged, a law enforcement source said.

The men, who had been playing handball at Frank D. O’Connor Playground near the deli, went back to the park and wrestled until Pinedo choked his friend to death, police said.’


feedback

US Court clears file sharing firms

`The panel noted that the software firms simply provide software that lets individual users to share information over the internet, regardless of whether that shared information was copyrighted.

“The technology has numerous other uses, significantly reducing the distribution costs of public domain and permissively shared art and speech, as well as reducing the centralised control of that distribution,” Thomas wrote.’


Sunday, August 22, 2004

 

Combat robots wow crowds

`A robot fighting contest that draws huge crowds in Japan each year has highlighted sophisticated technological trends in robotics, experts say.’

with video.


Prize draw uses heat for random numbers

`A new machine that will generate millions of random numbers for a major monthly prize draw in the UK has been unveiled.

It uses a specialised chipset developed by Intel to generate random numbers.

Intel’s random number generating chip uses thermal noise – changes in the voltage and heat energy given off – from transistors as its source of randomness.’


podcast

Synthetic drug offers malaria hope

`Artemisinin, a compound extracted from sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), has been used for more than 1500 years in traditional Chinese medicine to treat fevers. Over the past few decades, combinations of artemisinin derivatives such as artesunate and artemether have proved highly effective against malaria.

Now, a synthetic drug, with apparently similar properties to artemisinin, has been produced [..]’


jobs

90nm Opterons, Athlons to use strained Si

`The strained silicon process involves applying a separate material, such as Silicon Germanium, to silicon wafers. The SiGe’s atoms are more widely spaced than those in the regular silicon crystal lattice, which ‘strains’ to align itself with the wider-spaced SiGe lattice. The upshot is more room for electrons to move between the lattice-locked nuclei, improving the semiconductor’s electrical properties.’


Cow poo grocery bags

`[..] clean, green biodegradable plastic bags made from animal excrement or food waste could replace traditional plastic at Australian supermarket checkouts [..]

Scientists with the Sydney-based Environmental Biotechnology Co-Operative Research Centre happened on a technique for turning organic waste into a green alternative to plastic bags quite by accident, the company’s executive director, David Garman said.’


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Man Complains About Gas Stench

`Health officials in Romania who were called to investigate a strange smell of gas by an angry 74-year-old pensioner found he was storing a dead cow in his living room. [..]

A police spokesman told the daily National: “The animal was already in putrefaction and the old man was telling us he was still eating from it from time to time and so he wanted to keep it.

“He was really angry when it was taken away.”‘


service

Lightning kills 31 cows in Denmark

`A Danish cattle farmer lost 31 of his 85 Jersey dairy cows when lightning struck the trees under which they had sought shelter during a rain storm. [..]

The Danish Insurance Information Service said it had never heard of so many cows being killed by lightning at one time.’


store

Iraqi footballers’ fury at Bush

‘Midfielder Salih Sadir said the team – which won its group stage in Greece – was angry it had been used in Mr Bush’s re-election campaign ads. [..]

Salih Sadir said he was angry at Mr Bush’s campaign adverts showing pictures of the Afghan and Iraqi flags with the words: “At this Olympics there will be two more free nations – and two fewer terrorist regimes”. [..]

Another star player, 22-year-old Ahmed Manajid, asked: “How will [Mr Bush] meet his god having slaughtered so many men and women? He has committed so many crimes.”‘

also here.


Weapons of Minimum Destruction

‘Believe it or not, what we refer to as “weapons of mass destruction” are actually not very destructive. [..]

If we stopped speculating about things that might happen in the future and looked instead at what has happened in the past, we’d see that our fears about WMD are misplaced’, [some Professor] says.’


Anti-Abortion Protesters Terrorize Wrong Family

`An upstate New York woman says she feels “terrorized” after about 50 anti-abortion activists showed up at her house. [..]

The group apparently meant to target a neighbor who’s an executive with Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson. Police were on hand but say the protesters broke no laws.’


information

Dog burglar eats owner’s money

`”She thought the dog had been drugged and that thieves had taken the money,” a police spokesman [..] said.

“The vet gave the dog an injection and after 20 minutes six of the 50 euro notes reappeared,” [..]’


feedback

Particle Collision Goodness

`Spending £3bn on a single machine would almost certainly generate practical spin-offs, although no one at this stage can predict what these would be, Professor Kalmus said. “If we could foresee what will come out of this, the case for building it would be easy to make,” he said.’


Boy sues mum in $3.5m bid

`AN Adelaide teenager suffering from cerebral palsy is suing his mother after she crashed into a tree when he was a foetus.’


Girl, 16, hanged in public in Iran

`The judge [Haji Rezaii] personally pursued Ateqeh’s death sentence, beyond all normal procedures and finally gained the approval of the Supreme Court. After her execution Rezai said her punishment was not execution but he had her executed for her “sharp tongue”.’


podcast

Saturday, August 21, 2004

 

Cops Use Taser Gun On Man Trying To Get Home

`Deputies in hurricane-ravaged Fort Myers Beach used a Taser gun on a man allegedly trying to get by a police barrier to get home, and it was caught on tape. [..]

The man had three children in the car with him.’


jobs

Mashed Taters

Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew..


Dating to Save People from Hell

`Hello, my name is Tamara! As you can probably tell, I’m a Christian who loves Jesus and cares for all humans, even the wicked. What you probably don’t know is that I’m hot.’


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12 Ways To Crush Your Own Testicles In Your Own Home

`METHOD 1 – The Apple

Believe it or not, a humble apple can cause a significant amount of pain to your testicles.’


service

Doomsday Wreck in Thames Could Blow

`Unstable fuses could cause unsalvaged World War II bombs aboard an abandoned shipwreck in the river Thames, UK, to blow [..]

[..] official estimates of the devastation that the explosion would cause [include] predictions of a three kilometre high column of water, mud, metal and munitions sent into the air by the blast. ‘

also here.


store

The Bulge(TM)

When You Look Like A Stud You Feel Like A Stud.


Hunting Deer With A Howitzer

`First, let me start by saying that I’m pretty sure that it may not be entirely legal to use a Mountain Howitzer Cannon for deer hunting, at least not here in Wisconsin.

But, never-the-less [..]’


German Men Banned From Standing While Urinating

`”Hey, stand-peeing is not allowed here and will be punished with fines, so if you don’t want any trouble, you’d best sit down,” one of the devices orders in a voice impersonating the German leader, Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.’


information

Hot Springs Hell

`The first woman was twisting around to yell at her child. As she did so, she spread her legs, directly at eye-level, to give me a glimpse of THE MOST DISGUSTING CAMELTOE KNOWN TO HUMANITY. [..]

I was so bewildered by this point that I didn’t even notice the one-legged man enter the pool.’


feedback

Office Workers and Computer Security

`Workers were asked a series of questions which included: What is your password? Three in four (75 per cent) of people immediately gave their password.

The most common password was “password” (12 per cent) [..]’


Cow Tipping in Denmark

`The Momma cow freaked out. She gave a scary ass cow scream, which I had never heard before and hope to God in heaven that I never hear again. Jesus Christ, I nearly shit myself. I had no idea that a cow could make a horror-movie scream like that. Then the cow charged. Fuck, you never saw three drunks run like that.’