Archive for January, 2005

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Thursday, January 27, 2005

 

Mobile virus infects Lexus cars

`Lexus cars may be vulnerable to viruses that infect them via mobile phones. Landcruiser 100 models LX470 and LS430 have been discovered with infected operating systems that transfer within a range of 15 feet. [..]

It is understood the virus could affect the navigation system of the Lexus models, it transfers onto them via a Bluetooth mobile phone connection. It is still unclear whether the cars in question use the Symbian operating system which has recently been under attack from various worms and viruses.’


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Missile Deleted from EBay But Launcher Remains

`A British man trying to sell a deactivated Soviet-era missile on eBay was forced to delete it after Web site staff contacted him for breaching company rules.

But eBay told Richard Moore, from Cambridgeshire, to remove the missile because he broke eBay regulations by listing it alongside its vehicle launcher, which should have appeared as a separate item — and not because it was a weapon. [..]

Selling demilitarized missiles however is acceptable, an eBay spokesman said.’


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PM sorry to hear about injured soldiers

`Prime Minister John Howard said today he was sorry to hear that eight Australian soldiers had been injured in a car bombing in Baghdad.

The soldiers were escorting Australian officials in a light armoured vehicle about 5km west of the embassy in Baghdad when a car bomb went off.

“I would like to say how very sorry I was to hear of the injuries sustained by Australian soldiers in Baghdad,” Mr Howard said.’

Meanwhile, the rest of us are sorry the soldiers are in Iraq in the first place.


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Kuwaiti ‘slit daughter’s throat’

`A Kuwaiti man has reportedly confessed to killing his 14-year-old daughter because he believed she was having sex. [..]

He allegedly bound and blindfolded his daughter, Haifa, knelt her down in front of her two brothers and sister and then cut her throat.

Forensic tests showed Haifa was still a virgin, police sources said. Mr Enezi is being questioned about the case.’

Questioned, not arrested. Makes sense to me. [shrug]


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VerbForShoe

Smart shoes that adjust their firmness to your speed and have wireless links to your computer and other shoes, etc..


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Bill Haas says he may kill himself

`St. Louis School Board member Bill Haas, who also is running for mayor, says in a Web log that loneliness, depression and financial problems have led him to consider suicide. [..]

“So what’s this about?” he writes. “In a nutshell, I’m 60 years old, still all alone. … Unless something breaks professionally in the next couple of months, I’m going to be out of money and then I’m going to put the animals to sleep and take my life.”‘


Wednesday, January 26, 2005

 

Officer Threatens To Arrest Woman For Anti-Bush Sticker

‘The Denver Police Department is investigating a sergeant who allegedly threatened to arrest the 26-year-old for displaying the bumper sticker.

Bates said she was told by the sergeant Tuesday that her bumper sticker was illegal because it was profane. She said he told her he’d arrest her if she didn’t remove it.

But City Attorney Cole Finegan said he doesn’t believe there’s any city ordinance against displaying a profane bumper sticker.’

You can’t let people get away with having bumper stickers. Next thing you know they’ll be wanting to smoke _and_ have jobs.

Updated. More here.


Records show surge in sexual attacks in prisons

`State officials said the increase in reported assaults resulted from their vigilance in punishing offenders.

However, inmate advocates said the problem is greater than the state figures show. They have begun a nationwide legal campaign against assaults and the complacency that they say allows them to flourish.

“I really have become convinced over the last three years or so that Texas is the prison-rape capital of the country,” said Margaret Winter, a lawyer who represents two inmates who sued the prison system. “When prisoners report it, they are ignored, laughed at and often punished.”‘

When the world comes to its senses and Bush is convicted of crimes against humanity, it would be fitting that he serve gaol time in his home state. πŸ™‚


Moral Politics – A Morality-Based Political Test

`By taking the test you will know where you stand on the Matrix, which Political System fits you best, and which Political Ideology you most closely match.’

Apparently I’m a moderate socialist.


15% of Nagasaki students believe the dead can be resurrected

`A prefectural board of education survey found Monday that 15.4% of Nagasaki Prefecture primary and junior high school students believe dead people can be resurrected. As to why they believe this, half said it is because they have seen stories about resurrection on television or read them in books.’


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Woman trapped by foot massager

`A woman who tried out a foot massager in a Hong Kong shop had to be rescued by firefighters.

The woman, 44, was 15 minutes into the trial when she realised her foot was stuck, reports the South China Morning Post.’


23 at Guantanamo Attempted Suicide in 2003

‘Twenty-three terror suspects tried to hang or strangle themselves at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay during a mass protest in 2003, the military confirmed Monday. [..]

U.S. Southern Command described it as “a coordinated effort to disrupt camp operations and challenge a new group of security guards from the just-completed unit rotation.”‘

Or it could just be that they’d rather be dead than tortured all day long. [shrug]

More mass hanging news.


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Rebels plot poll ‘spectacular’

`Using CNN, the Pentagon’s preferred channel for information management, Brigadier General Lessel confirmed that a dramatic 50 per cent reduction in terrorist activity had been seen over recent days, and indicated that a spectacular attack on a key target might be impending.

“We think it’s a calm before the storm,” he said. “And that they are unable to sustain the level of attacks they’ve had, but that they’re saving up for something more spectacular in the coming days.”‘


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Cool Skydiving Video

`I thought parachute jumping was enough, but this bloke has to make a spectacular landing aswell’

(1.4meg .wmv)


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Health care company fires employees for refusing smoking test

‘Four employees of a health care company have been fired for refusing to take a test to determine whether they smoke cigarettes.

Weyco Inc., a health benefits administrator based in Okemos, Mich., adopted a policy Jan. 1 that allows employees to be fired if they smoke, even if the smoking happens after business hours or at home. [..]

Chief Financial Officer Gary Climes estimated that 18 to 20 of the company’s 200 employers were smokers when the policy was announced in 2003. Of those, as many as 14 quit smoking before the policy went into effect. The company offered them help to kick the habit.

“That is absolutely a victory,” Climes said.’

An absolute victory for fascism, at least. πŸ™‚


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Tuesday, January 25, 2005

 

Hack A Day

I think I’ve posted links to specific articles on this site before, but the whole site is very cool, so it’s worth posting again.

Lots of different hardware hacks. Good stuff. πŸ™‚


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Greasecar

`The Greasecar Vegetable Oil Conversion System is an auxiliary fuel modification system that allows diesel vehicles to run on vegetable oil in any climate.

Your Greasecar kit comes with everything you need to convert your diesel vehicle to run on straight vegetable oil.’


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Poll: Nation split on Bush as uniter or divider

`Forty-nine percent of 1,007 adult Americans said in phone interviews they believe Bush is a “uniter,” according to the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Wednesday. Another 49 percent called him a “divider,” and 2 percent had no opinion.’


Invisible Car

`Brand new invisible car. Ready for collection from London E11.

I do not know much about this vehicle, it being invisible. I have never driven this car sober, although I can assure you it is good because it always gets me home after a night out. It has never let me down, and I have never had any problems from the police. No-one will ever steal this car.’


Sunday, January 23, 2005

 

[satire] Latest prisoner abuse photos confirms spate of isolated incidents

`Taylor denied that the latest incidents indicate a pattern of prisoner abuse by Coalition troops. “This is merely the thirty-seventh exception that proves the rule,” he said.’

I like the caption under the photo..

`A British soldier liberates an Iraqi’s teeth from his mouth’


The End of the World

Amusing animation describing how we’re all going to die.

(3.7meg shockwave)


Elementary students try to hijack school bus

`Three 11-year-old boys and a 10-year-old girl tried to hijack their school bus near Punxsutawney this morning.

State police said the four hatched the plot yesterday. Just after 8 a.m. today, one of the boys pulled a knife from a book bag and held it near another student. He demanded driver Janet McQuown, 52, stop and get off the bus.’


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Saturday, January 22, 2005

 

Check for ‘Passed Away’ nets apology

`State government officials who sent a benefits check payable to “Mrs. Passed Away” to the family of a deceased woman said they want to apologize for their mistake in person.

The father of a 15-year-old boy who opened the letter said the family initially believed the check was a “sick joke,” until they realized it was accompanied by official government letterhead [..]’


Worst Weatherman Ever?

(5.8meg shockwave)


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Solving the Enigma of Kryptos

`What does it say about the Central Intelligence Agency that its agents can crack the secret codes of enemy nations but can’t unravel a coded sculpture sitting outside their cafeteria window? [..]

It’s been nearly 15 years since Sanborn installed the 12-foot-high, verdigrised copper, granite and wood sculpture inscribed with four encrypted messages at the CIA’s Langley, Virginia, headquarters in 1990. And it’s been seven years since anyone made progress at cracking its code.’


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Pen Island

`Welcome to Pen Island, the best place to get custom made pens on the internet!’

Its funny because of the domain name. πŸ™‚


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Aussie link foils Bruce Willis con

‘A Serbian Bruce Willis lookalike who passed himself off as the star was caught out – because he thought anyone called Bruce must be Australian.

Goran Markovic successfully conned people into thinking he was the Hollywood actor until he was caught using a fake Australian passport and accent instead of an American one. [..]

“I thought he was Australian, all the rest in Hollywood seem to be from there,” he told police.’


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how to have ‘dungeons and dragons’ themed sex

`this morning, while joking around with my girlfriend, i referred to my “male implement” as a “wand of fucking +2,” and proceeded to request that she make a saving throw against orgasm. she immediately lashed out at me, stating that if i ever attempted to mix our sex life and dungeons and dragons ever again, there’d be hell to pay – and not the kind of hell that you get to ever have sex with ever again.’


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The New Year’s Resolution Generator

In the year 2005 I resolve to:
Have at least one orgasm per hour.


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Friday, January 21, 2005

 

Babylon wrecked by war

`Troops from the US-led force in Iraq have caused widespread damage and severe contamination to the remains of the ancient city of Babylon, according to a damning report released today by the British Museum. [..]

“This is tantamount to establishing a military camp around the Great Pyramid in Egypt or around Stonehenge in Britain,” says the report [..]’