`The Princeton Diebold Virus Hack, if you’ve been living in a cave, found that a single person with 60 seconds of unsupervised access to the system, who either picked the lock (easy in 10 seconds) or had a key, could slip a vote-swapping virus onto a single machine which could then undetectably affect every other machine in the county to steal an entire election. [..]
This idiotic company has had a photograph of the stupid key sitting on their own website’s online store! (Screenshot at end of this article.)
Of course, they’ll only sell such keys to “Diebold account holders” apparently — or so they claim — but that’s hardly a problem. J. Alex Halderman, one of the folks who worked on the Princeton Hack and tried to keep the design of the key secret for obvious reasons, revealed Tuesday that a friend of his had found the photo of the key on Diebold’s website and discovered that was all he needed to create a working copy!’
`Mr Ruddock continues to assert that the Australian Government is doing all it can for David Hicks, and that it is working to ensure safeguards are in place for him to be given a fair trial. It is, however, difficult to imagine an outcome that could be more politically embarrassing or damaging for the Government than for David Hicks, after all this time, to be found not guilty of the charges suggested. It is surely of major importance to the Government now that he be tried and convicted of serious offences, and before this year’s election takes place.
All the evidence suggests that far from receiving anything like a fair trial, Mr Hicks will be charged and tried under procedures amounting to a kangaroo court of the most noxious kind. The fact that our Government continues to support this travesty gives the community every justification for reassessing the Government’s publicly stated view. In reality, it wants Mr Hicks convicted, and as soon as possible.’
This guy is a pretty strong climber. :)
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see it here »
`In one of the most chilling public statements ever made by a U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales questioned whether the U.S. Constitution grants habeas corpus rights of a fair trial to every American. [..]
“There is no expressed grant of habeas in the Constitution; there’s a prohibition against taking it away,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales’s remark left Specter, the committee’s ranking Republican, stammering. [..]
Gonzales continued, “The Constitution doesn’t say every individual in the United States or citizen is hereby granted or assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn’t say that. It simply says the right shall not be suspended” except in cases of rebellion or invasion.”’
`Oil traders and others believe that the Saudi decision to let the price of oil tumble has more to do with Iran than economics.
Their belief has been reinforced in recent days as the Saudi oil minister has steadfastly refused calls for a special meeting of OPEC and announced that the nation is going to increase its production, which will send the price down even farther.
Saudi Oil Minister Ibrahim al-Naimi even said during a recent trip to India that oil prices are headed in the “right direction.”
Not for the Iranians.’
`A skydiver sabotaged a fellow jumper’s parachute after finding out that the woman was having an affair with her boyfriend, police say.
Els Van Doran, 37, fell 4000 feet to her death during a dive over an airfield in Zwarteberg, Belgium, on November 18 last year.
Van Doran, a married mother, had been taking part in a group jump with friend Els Clootemans, Clootemans’s Dutch boyfriend Marcel and a fourth parachutist.
The four linked hands in a star formation, but neither of Van Doran’s parachutes would open.
Her death plunge was captured on a camera fitted to her helmet. She fell into a garden and died instantly.’
It’s all over, apparently. If you can believe it.
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see it here »
`A local man was shocked last week to find a bag of frozen mice with his to-go meal from Pizzas 2 U, a fast-food restaurant in Hampstead. [..]
The baby mice were sealed in a knotted plastic bag and never touched the salad or sandwich, which were also covered, according to a report by the Pender County Health Department.
After talking to his employees, Woody Sullivan said he suspects one of them bought the mice at a pet shop to feed a pet reptile, though he is unclear how the dead animals ended up with the order.’
`he partially mummified body of a baby, wrapped in 1950s newspapers, was found Monday by a woman going through her deceased parents’ belongings in a southeast Florida storage facility, according to police.
“It was a baby boy, partially mummified,” said Delray Beach police spokesman Jeff Messer. “The woman was pretty upset when she found it. You could make out the features pretty clearly.” The child had hair, he said.
The body was in a small suitcase, which was placed inside a larger suitcase, said Messer, who viewed the remains.
“It was spooky,” Messer said.’
`Hugh Hefner says that Kelly Osbourne will not be gracing the pages of Playboy. Osboune said recently that she would like to pose naked in the magazine but only if she had some help from photoshop, saying, “I’d go fully nude, but I’d have to have some airbrushing on my tits.” But now Hefner confirms what was already known, namely that not even the artists at Playboy can trick people into thinking Kelly Osbourne was anything other than hee-dious. Hef says:
“I can’t see it happening somehow – we don’t airbrush to that extent.”‘
I just like the way you can hear the music again at the end. :)
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`The Netherlands, the country that has pioneered reality shows like “Big Brother”, is planning a new first – a dating programme for the visibly disfigured.
The broadcaster SBS 6 is seeking candidates for its “Love at Second Sight” show due to be launched in February
“Do you have a visible serious handicap and are you looking for a partner?” says an appeal on its Web site. [..]
But the majority of Dutch viewers are turned off by the show that was initially set to be called “Monster Love”.’
It’s like YouTube, but for bestiality.
People are strange.
.. also, if you like BeastTube, you might also like Petlust Videos and Mr Hands. And don’t forget to check out the main page for more good stuff.
`Here I would like to show, although I do not provide any warranty and can not give any guarantee, that isolating stem cells from the placenta is not more difficult than making a steak, and with proper preparation, investment and timing you can do it even at home or in a rent lab. The process is ethically non-controversial since the placenta is usually discarded after birth. Today, stem cell therapy is just a promising possibility, but in the not so distant future, self-aware citizens may manage their own stem cells, grow them in the garage, and store them in the fridge. If so, it could be a form of autonomous medical self-insurance. We are at the dawn of the bioDIY movement backed by open source science for anybody.’
We had the rocket scooter the other day, and today we have the rocket skateboard.
Fun for the whole family. :)
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see it here »
`[..] New research demonstrates that habits of so-called magical thinking – the belief, for instance, that wishing harm on a loathed colleague or relative might make him sick – are far more common than people acknowledge.
These habits have little to do with religious faith, which is much more complex because it involves large questions of morality, community and history. But magical thinking underlies a vast, often unseen universe of small rituals that accompany people through every waking hour of a day.
The appetite for such beliefs appears to be rooted in the circuitry of the brain, and for good reason. The sense of having special powers buoys people in threatening situations, and helps soothe everyday fears and ward off mental distress. [..]
The brain seems to have networks that are specialized to produce an explicit, magical explanation in some circumstances, said Pascal Boyer, a professor of psychology and anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis.’
`The city likely will pay $35,000 to settle the claim of a girl forced to perform jumping jacks topless in front of a police officer to avoid arrest.
The Pensacola City Council’s finance committee on Monday forwarded the proposed settlement to a Thursday vote before the full council.
The victim’s attorney, Robert Bleach, said after the meeting that his client will be “glad to put this ugly incident behind her” and will use the money for her college education.
“She certainly didn’t want to go through a trial and relive the whole thing all over again,” he said.’
Never again worry about your dog shitting whilst you’re walking it.
Now all you need to do is worry about what to do with the bags of poo you’ve been collecting. :)
This remote control plane does a cool trick. It must take a lot of practice to be able to fly it that well..
see it here »
‘”The greatest threat to today’s society is the rise of the gothic subculture. Goth is a sinister and violent subculture obsessed with Satanism, Wicca, Vampirism, BDSM, rape, child abuse, Hitler, bondage, sick sexual perversions, serial killers, death, drugs, self mutilation and other sick practices to vile to mention. Goth’s are the Devil’s Children. In my opinion, Goths are more dangerous to children than paedophiles” – Rev. R.G. Green’
‘Hundreds of chickens have been found dead in east China — and a court has ruled that the cause of death was the screaming of a four-year-old boy who in turn had been scared by a barking dog, state media reported on Wednesday. [..]
“One neighbour told police that he had heard the boy’s crying that afternoon and another villager confirmed the boy screaming by the henhouse window,” the newspaper said.
A court ruled the boy’s screaming was “the only unexpected abnormal sound” and that 443 chickens trampled each other to death in fear.
The boy’s father was ordered to pay 1,800 yuan ($230) in compensation to the owner of the chickens.’
`The world of marine biology is scratching its collective head after a female shark gave birth to a pup even though it had apparently been nowhere near a male of the species.
The bonnethead shark has been swimming in a tank at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, US, with two female companions for the past three years. [..]
The pregnancy could be a case of parthenogenesis – or asexual reproduction – which, although common in some amphibians, has never been reported before in sharks.
More likely, say the zoo’s scientists, the shark was impregnated before she came to the center and retained a male’s sperm in her reproductive tract until she was mature enough to conceive.’
The Ergopod 500 lets you use your computer whilst laying in bed on your back.
If you had a catheter and someone to bring you food, you’ve never have to move. Ha! :)
Another Tom Mabe clip, also quite funny. :)
Feeding the homeless like that is pretty cool.
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see it here »
‘You’re the angel of death, man..’
This is a recording made by Tom Mabe, who likes to record phone calls from telemarketers and harass them a bit. It’s pretty funny. :)
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see it here »
`A 19-year-old man has been charged over an attack in which another young man had a chair leg embedded in his brain in a fight outside a Melbourne nightclub.
Police said the man turned himself in yesterday.
The victim, also 19, was injured during a gang fight on Sunday morning outside the Metro nightclub on Bourke Street in the CBD.
The 1.9cm-wide metal chair leg pierced his left eye and became embedded in his brain.
Firefighters had to cut away part of the chair before the man, from suburban Northcote, could be treated.’
`Anglo-Dutch consumer products group Unilever NV/Plc sent knives to 200,000 Dutch families in a direct mail campaign which resulted in some children suffering injuries, the company said on Tuesday.
The company had sent the letters, which included a small knife with a metal blade and plastic hilt, in the first half of January to promote the use of one of its brands of margarine.
But Unilever said three children had needed to visit a doctor and around 50 parents had filed a complaint.
“Parents said the knife was too sharp, after which we decided to send a second letter and ask the families to throw away the knife,” a Unilever spokeswoman said.
Unilever said it had contacted the families which had complained and had offered them a cuddly toy as consolation. It said it had not received any requests for compensation.’
`An elderly Brisbane woman who killed a dog by sealing it in a plastic bag and putting it in a wheelie bin has been fined $2500.
The 71-year-old woman, from Holland Park in Brisbane’s east, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty today in Brisbane Magistrates Court .
She was charged by the RSPCA after she put the dog in a plastic bag which she then dumped in a wheelie bin on October 13 last year.’
`A Buffalo teenager who said he killed and slowly dismembered his mother over several days at the urging of the 50-year-old man who was sexually abusing him was sentenced Monday to six months in jail.
Angel Rosa, 16, pleaded guilty in June to a first-degree manslaughter in the death of Madeline Irene, 46, whose head and hands were found encased in cement in a garbage can at the 50-year-old’s home after other body parts were found floating in a nearby river.
Psychiatrists for both the prosecution and the defense determined Rosa was emotionally under the control of Edwin Gimenez, a convicted child molester who was his co-defendant in the homicide.’
