`Cyber sadists have figured out a way to profit from cruelty to small creatures, and animal rights activists say it’s high time China enacts tough laws to stamp out such abuse.
Several Websites have cropped up recently offering videos and still photos of dogs, cats, rabbits and toads being stomped to death by a sexy woman wearing stockings and high heels.
These images are usually linked with more typical sadomasochistic fare consisting of a female in stiletto heels tramping on the chest of a man. [..]
Animal “snuff” videos were posted on these sites for sale at 15 yuan (US$1.87) each. There were bulletin boards for fetish fans, who could even join a group called the International Crushing Association.’
with video stills that aren’t likely to be safe for work.
`The incident occurred on a night when Blackistone returned home late after drinking, Britton said. He argued with his girlfriend, who is the child’s mother.
Hours later, Britton said, the woman woke up and heard a sound like water running. Britton said that Blackistone was naked and was urinating on their daughter in her crib.
The woman called 911. King George sheriff’s Deputy Tim Lyons arrived to find the girl’s clothes and her crib soaked with urine, Britton said.’
`On February 22, a Sweden-based Mac enthusiast set his Mac Mini as a server and invited hackers to break through the computer’s security and gain root control, which would allow the attacker to take charge of the computer and delete files and folders or install applications.
Within hours of going live, the “rm-my-mac” competition was over. The challenger posted this message on his Web site: “This sucks. Six hours later this poor little Mac was owned and this page got defaced”.
The hacker that won the challenge, who asked ZDNet Australia to identify him only as “gwerdna”, said he gained root control of the Mac in less than 30 minutes.’
`My boyfriend inherited a stupidly huge collection of comic books, and mixed in with all the X-Men and Superman, we found something truly bizarre. I don’t know how this was made, how its makers got permission, or how it got in there. And I’m posting Very Big Photos of this so you can read every bit of Very Brain-Numbing Text.
So let’s take a whirlwind ride along with Ziggy Stardust in his latest comic-book adventure…. [..]
I don’t know what’s with the bad grammar, and I don’t know why the second face from top looks like the evil chick from Ghostbusters. Here we learn that David flies around the galaxy defeating badness. But he does it as his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, who is very real to everyone except Bowie who has no idea this all is happening.’
`The U.S. Air Force has begun moving heavily armed AC-130 airplanes – the lethal “flying gunships” of the Vietnam War – to a base in Iraq as commanders search for new tools to counter the Iraqi resistance, The Associated Press has learned. [..]
The left-side ports of the AC-130s, 98-foot-long planes that can slowly circle over a target for long periods, bristle with a potent arsenal – 40 mm cannon that can fire 120 rounds per minute, and big 105 mm cannon, normally a field artillery weapon. The plane’s latest version, the AC-130U, known as “Spooky,” also carries Gatling gun-type 20 mm cannon.
The gunships were designed primarily for battlefield use to place saturated fire on massed troops. In Vietnam, for example, they were deployed against North Vietnamese supply convoys along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, where the Air Force claimed to have destroyed 10,000 trucks over several years.
The use of AC-130s in places like Fallujah, urban settings where insurgents may be among crowded populations of noncombatants, has been criticized by human rights groups.’
`Have you ever faced a real challenge whose only solution most people would consider too crazy or difficult? In this article you will learn about one of the most challenging personal projects I’ve done, and it was all in the name of Internet access. The goal was simple: throw away 56k and upgrade to high-speed internet. Sound easy? Think again. [..]
Eventually, I came up with a plan. I would build a sixty-plus foot tower so I could intercept the signal! Well, that’s a simple thing to say, but it’s another story to really to do it. This is the story of how one man got the Internet access he craved, and how others can follow in his footsteps (just in case you ever need to build a sixty-foot tower in your backyard).’
`New research suggests that a few extra pounds can be good for you — if you’re male and unlucky enough to be in a car accident, that is.
Moderately overweight males are more likely to survive serious car accidents than either the thin or the very fat. Apparently, a bit of extra padding — but not too much — provides extra protection, according to the study. [..]
For reasons that aren’t clear, women don’t get the same protection from extra weight: Being fat, thin or in-between didn’t affect their likelihood of dying in a car accident, the study found.’
`Prime Minister Tony Blair has told how he prayed to God when deciding whether or not to send UK troops to Iraq.
Mr Blair answered “yes” when asked on ITV1 chat show Parkinson – to be screened on Saturday – if he had sought holy intervention on the issue.
“Of course, you struggle with your own conscience about it… and it’s one of these situations that, I suppose, very few people ever find themselves in.” [..]
Mr Blair told show host Michael Parkinson: “In the end, there is a judgement that, I think if you have faith about these things, you realise that judgement is made by other people… and if you believe in God, it’s made by God as well.”‘
`Thirty new terrorist organizations have emerged since the September 11, 2001, attacks, outpacing U.S. efforts to crush the threat, said Brig. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, the Pentagon’s deputy director for the war on terrorism.
“We are not killing them faster than they are being created,” Gen. Caslen told a gathering at the Woodrow Wilson Center yesterday, warning that the war could take decades to resolve.
Gen. Caslen said that two years ago the Department of Defense had not settled on a clear definition of the nature of the war. Moreover, because each government department had its own perspective, “we all had different strategies,” he said.
The Defense Department now has defined the nature of the war, he said. The enemy, he said, is “a transnational movement of extremist organizations, networks and individuals that use violence and terrorism as a means to promote their end.” It is not a global insurgency, the general said.’
`It’s a question that has been asked many times: If Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fell asleep during a case, would the media notice? The answer, apparently, is no. On March 1, the Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of a Texas redistricting plan. One only has to look at the accompanying graphic to see how exciting Justice Ginsburg found the case. FNC correspondent Megyn Kendall reported it this way on Wednesday’s Special Report:
“It is one of the biggest redistricting cases the high court has heard in years, but the special two hour argument proved less then compelling to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who at times appeared to be, well, asleep.”‘
`If you’re one of the lucky ones who opened your morning Bryan-College Station Eagle on Thursday and found a large penis staring back at you, well, congratulations. No, it wasn’t one of the paper’s newer promotions (find the wiener, win a Mexican cruise!), just a goof by an editor who didn’t scrutinize the photo quite closely enough.
That’s Texas guard Daniel Gibson trying to guard Texas A&M’s Acie Law during their game on Wednesday — and either it was a very good fake by Law, or Gibson just doesn’t believe in the tyranny of underwear. Or both.’
`US pop diva Madonna wants to buy a house in the Israeli town of Rosh Pina, where the ancient Jewish Kabbalah tradition expects the Messiah to appear at the end of the world.
Yediot Aharonot said the owner of a 100-year-old, ramshackle five-bedroom villa overlooking the Sea of the Galilee had been recently contacted several times by representatives of the superstar with a view to selling his property.
According to the same source, Madonna wants to renovate the building into a centre of study of mystical Jewish texts pored over by Kabbalah followers.’
`This is one of the top tutorials on SSH on the Internet. It was originally written back in 1999 and was completely revised in 2006 to include new and more accurate information. It has been used by over 115,000 people and consistently appears at the top of Google’s search results for SSH and Linux.’
Been playing with linux a bit lately. I probably should read rhings likes this instead of randomly changing config files until stuff works.. Heh. :)
`About 150 high school students walked out of class to protest a decision to put a teacher on leave while administrators investigate remarks he made about President Bush in class, including that some people compare Bush to Adolf Hitler.
The protest came Thursday as school administrators began investigating whether Overland High School teacher Jay Bennish violated a policy requiring balancing viewpoints in the classroom, Cherry Creek School District spokeswoman Tustin Amole said.’
`A hamster died, but no people were harmed Wednesday morning when a hot plate ignited a fire in a Salem home’s garage. [..]
Investigators learned that a 3-year-old girl visiting her grandmother was observing a hamster in its cage in the garage. The hamster cage was placed on a hot plate that was plugged in. The girl turned on the hot plate and the hamster cage caught fire, and fire spread to the rest of the garage.
Damage was estimated at $10,000. Holmstrom said the public should remember that portable heating devices always should be kept unplugged when not in use.’
The article doesn’t appear to say it anywhere, but the title somehow suggests to me that the hamster probably didn’t make it. :)
`A stunning investigation of bribery and corruption in Congress has spread to the CIA, ABC News has learned.
The CIA Inspector General has opened an investigation into the spy agency’s executive director, Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, and his connections to two defense contractors accused of bribing a member of Congress and Pentagon officials.
The CIA released an official statement on the matter to ABC News, saying: “It is standard practice for CIA’s Office of Inspector General — an aggressive, independent watchdog — to look into assertions that mention agency officers. That should in no way be seen as lending credibility to any allegation.’
`The lawyer for a State College man charged with the murder of a man found bludgeoned to death in his home said it could be a matter of self-defense.
The lawyer for Andrew Rogers, 28, said his client was being robbed in his own home, and a person has the right to use deadly force when that happens. [..]
Police said Rogers said he woke up to find himself on top of the victim. On Monday, he went to a police station in Uniontown, more than 100 miles away, and said there might be a body in his kitchen.’
`A Kuwaiti man being held at Guantanamo Bay has told the BBC in a rare interview that the force-feeding of hunger strikers amounts to torture.
Fawzi al-Odah said hunger strikers were strapped to a chair and force-fed through a tube three times a day.
A senior US official denied the use of torture in Guantanamo Bay.
Mr Odah’s comments, relayed by his lawyer in answer to BBC questions, came as another inmate launched a legal challenge to the force-feeding policy.’
I’m 72% open minded, apparently..
`You are a very open minded person, but you’re also well grounded. Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints. [etc..]’
So, hooray I s’pose. Because the internet always knows. [shrug] :)
`Chris Fromont is feeling strong, his wife says, despite losing both his legs and an arm in a tree shredder last week.
But as the 48-year-old waits for his fourth operation, an investigation into his horrific accident has led to more safety concerns.’
`A team of scientists from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, in collaboration with colleagues from the Argonne National Laboratory (USA) and the Spintec laboratory (Grenoble, France), has for the first time produced microscopic magnetic states, known as “displaced vortex states”, that will allow an increase in the size of MRAMs (which are not deleted when the computer is switched off). The research has been published in Physical Review Letters and Applied Physics Letters. [..]
The “displaced vortex states”, first observed by UAB researchers, are small circular movements of just a few thousandths of a millimetre that form in the tiny zones where the data is stored. The information on hard drives has normally been saved by orientating these zones in specific directions. The zones pointing upwards, for example, codify a 1, and those pointing downwards a 0. The smaller and more compact these zones are, the greater the capacity of the hard drive. But if they are too close together, the magnetic field created by one can affect the neighbouring zone and wipe the data. However, if the field is saved in a whirlpool form, in “vortex state”, it does not leave the tiny zone to which it is confined and does not affect the neighbouring data, thus making it possible for a much larger hard drive capacity.’
`Four students at Center Grove High School were arrested Thursday, accused of planning to use guns to seize control of their school, possibly today.
The students are all 15-year-old boys, said Chief Deputy Doug Cox of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department.
They were arrested after student tipsters reported an overheard conversation.
Sheriff Terry McLaughlin said a locker search didn’t turn up any weapons, but at least one student had access to guns and another had talked about buying one.’
`A Quebec teen with a severe peanut allergy did not die from kissing her boyfriend following his snack of peanut butter, a coroner has confirmed.
Michel Miron says the sudden death of fifteen-year-old Christina Desforges in November 2005 was not caused by a peanut butter sandwich.
The tragedy made headlines around the world.
Miron would not reveal the official cause of the teenager’s death because he said he hadn’t yet submitted his final report and is still waiting on some test results.’
follow up to .. something I posted months ago but can’t find now ’cause my search thingy seems to be a bit stupid. Or badly configured, in which case I’m a bit stupid. :)
`It costs more than $900 million and looms more than 28 stories over the ocean — about 10 stories taller than Aloha Tower.
Longer than a football field, the Sea-Based X-Band Radar is a high-tech, fifth-generation semisubmersible oil-drilling platform that is self-propelled and can be positioned any place in the world. [..]
Although much of what the mobile radar platform can do is classified, Pam Rogers, spokeswoman for the Missile Defense System in Huntsville, Ala., said its radar system is so sensitive that “if a baseball was launched on the West Coast, it could be detected on the East Coast by this radar.”‘
`Antig Technology and AVC Corp. will demonstrate a production-ready fuel-cell insert for notebook PCs at the CeBIT trade show next week. [..]
The methanol-powered Antig fuel cell provides 45 watts of power on a single “tank” of methanol, and weighs 3.7 pounds (1.7 kg). In total, the additional power should be enough to operate the notebook for eight hours, AVC said, which was responsible for engineering the fuel cell into the notebook housing.’
`A teen who pinched and twisted another boy’s nipple while standing in line at a deli has been sentenced to four days in juvenile detention because he refused to write a letter that explained his actions.
David Thumler, 16, was convicted of offensive physical touching in July 2005, after the victim’s parents complained to police. The Crater High School student paid a $67 fine and served three days of community service.
“I emptied trash cans, mowed lawns and shoveled gravel,” Thumler said.
But Thumler’s refusal to comply with the final piece of his sentence will cost him four days in detention. He was required to write the letter during four classes put on by Mediation Works, which operates the victim-offender program for Jackson County Community Justice.’
‘One man gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he goes on a blind date with a very special lady.’
see it here »
`How do you win a presidential election in Bolivia? Give the same answer to every question. Study the polls. Don’t spend too much time meeting voters. Buy attack ads making your rival look like the greater of two evils.
In other words, do exactly as your well-compensated, slick-suited American political consultants tell you. That’s the route Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, aka Goni, took in his 2002 campaign.
The documentary Our Brand Is Crisis opens a window onto a troubling trend: the export of high-tech, American political consultants to countries around the world. Brand, which opened in New York this week, follows as strategists James Carville, Jeremy Rosner and Stan Greenberg spin Goni toward the presidency.’
`A motorist has been fined £80 for making offensive gestures towards a speed camera as he drove home from work.
Simon Thompson, 41, extended his middle finger at the mobile speed camera as he passed it whilst driving safely under the speed limit. Simon, from Colchester in Essex was astonished when half an hour later the two policemen who had been operating the camera knocked on his front door. The officers handed Simon a fixed penalty notice for £80 for making offensive gestures under the Public Order Act.’
`Backyard astronomers, grab your telescopes. Jupiter is growing a new red spot.
Christopher Go of the Philippines photographed it on February 27th using an 11-inch telescope and a CCD camera [..]
At first, Oval BA remained white—the same color as the storms that combined to create it. But in recent months, things began to change:
“The oval was white in November 2005, it slowly turned brown in December 2005, and red a few weeks ago,” reports Go. “Now it is the same color as the Great Red Spot!”‘
