Month: June 2007

Wheelchair Olympian Adams suspended for positive cocaine test

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SHIT! homey can’t get NO break!-MC
Wheelchair Olympian Adams suspended for positive cocaine test:
Wheelchair Olympian Adams suspended for positive cocaine test
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 | 12:56 PM ET
CBC Sports
Canadian wheelchair athlete and Olympic champion Jeff Adams has been banned from competition for two years after testing positive for cocaine at the 2006 wheelchair marathon championships in Ottawa.

Russian ATM runs on unactivated copy of Windows

Granted, we’d be a tad more surprised about this if it wasn’t found in Russia, but this one defies logic regardless. While we’re unsure if tricksters have figured out a way to siphon unthinkable quantities of cash from this particular ATM, the owners should be ashamed of themselves for running a (presumably pirated) unactivated copy of Windows on the public banking machine. Of course, there’s quite a few workarounds for this problem if you take the time to look, but seriously, who skimps on a product activation code when running a multi-million (billion?) dollar banking operating?

[Via TheRawFeed]

 

Google named worst privacy offender in study

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Google named worst privacy offender in study:
Google named worst privacy offender in study
By Nate Anderson | Published: June 11, 2007 – 05:51AM CT

Google to anonymize logs in a nod to privacy advocates
Introducing iGoogle: Google’s Personalized Homepage rebranded
A new report puts Google in last place when it comes to privacy protection. Despite recent moves to anonymize server logs and other pro-privacy gestures, Privacy International called the company “an endemic threat to privacy.”

Only Google earned the dismal “black” color bar from the group, which has just issued a report on Internet privacy that took six months to assemble (see the rankings [PDF]). The current report is preliminary; final results will be released in September.

The report rated top Internet companies on privacy issues and distilled the various results into a single color bar. Microsoft was two ranks up from Google, earning a curry-colored “serious lapses” rating. Amazon scored one level higher with its yellow “notable lapses” rank, and eB

The Raw Story | Senator Lieberman advocates military strike on Iran

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WHAT A FUCKIN IDOT!-MC
The Raw Story | Senator Lieberman advocates military strike on Iran:

Senator Lieberman advocates military strike on Iran

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) on CBS’s Face the Nation this morning laid out a case for the US taking military action against Iran.

“Iraq is now the main front in the long war we are fighting against the Islamist terrorists who attacked us on 9/11. In fact 90% of the suicide bombers in Iraq today killing Iraqis and American soldiers are foreign Al Qaeda fighters. Iran is training and equipping soldiers, Iraqis, to come in and kill American soldiers and Iraqis,” said Lieberman.

Host Bob Schieffer then asked Lieberman what the United States should do about Iran.

Lieberman said that Iran is at war with the US and “the moderates” and that while he supports sitting down and talking with the Iranian government, that might not be enough.

“If we’re going to sit and talk with the Iranians, tell them what

20 Words You Can Use Instead of AMAZING – TheTrukstoP.com

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20 Words You Can Use Instead of AMAZING – TheTrukstoP.com:
20 Words You Can Use Instead of AMAZING
June 10, 2007

If you’re a regular visitor to Digg.com, you will know and understand that somebody had to say this sooner or later… Here are 20 words you can use for your headlines instead of the word AMAZING…

Unimaginable

Unanticipated

Phenomenal

Remarkable

Unbelievable

Breathtaking

Tremendous

Unexpected

Spectacular

Unthinkable

Unforeseen

Significant

Stunning

Startling

Splendid

Wonderful

Overwhelming

Stupefying

Staggering

Unpredicted

Google Maps: Invading Your Privacy? (Not Anymore!)

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Google Maps: Invading Your Privacy? (Not Anymore!):
WebmasterWorld/PubCon Partners with SEOClass | Main | Yahoo! Slurp Now Located at crawl.yahoo.net

June 8, 2007
Google Maps: Invading Your Privacy? (Not Anymore!)
With the launch of Google Maps Street View, curious users have found some relatively inappropriate images. In a DigitalPoint Forums post, users discuss the impact of Google Maps Street View on privacy. After all, for awhile, you were able to see a woman in her underwear in this Google Maps location:

Well, not anymore, sadly. Google has since removed the image. Clicking on the link above will bring you to this page.

How To Remove Images from Google Maps Street View

It turns out that people who are concerned for their own privacy can report the particular image to Google for removal. If you click on “Street View Help,” you will be brought to a window that allows you to report the inappropriate image (bottom link).

You will be brought to a page that allows you to fill out some fields about the infringing or inappropriat

Zogby International

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Zogby International:
Zogby poll: Majority supports impeaching Bush for wiretapping
WASHINGTON, D.C. — By a margin of 52 to 43 percent, citizens want Congress to impeach President Bush if he wiretapped American citizens without a judge’s approval, according to a new poll commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org, a grassroots coalition that supports a Congressional investigation of Pres. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

The poll was conducted by Zogby International.

The poll found that 52 percent of respondents agreed with the statement: “If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment.”

Of those contacted, 43 percent disagreed, and 6 percent said they didn’t know or declined to answer. The poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percent.

“The American people are not buying Bush’s outrageous claim that he has the power to wiretap American citizens without a warrant. Americans

Ugly mailboxes blog

Some of these are awesome!-MC
Ugly mailboxes blog:
Mark Frauenfelder:

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A few years ago, someone knocked my mailbox off its post, and I went around taking photos of fortified mailboxes around my neighborhood (Part 1, Part 2).

Today, Linda F. alerted me to her new blog, “Your Ugly Mailbox,” which sports photos and snarky comments about tacky mailboxes. It’s gone on my must-read list. Link

Robotic cow tongues… for lonely heifers

Robotic cow tongues… for lonely heifers:
Filed under:

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Robotic_cow_tongues_for_lonely_heifers’; Remember the good ol’ days when artists mocked religious deities and the only uprising to fear was that of the apes? Now, thanks to Doo Sung Yoo’s “Lie” exhibit, we can add disembodied, robotic cow tongues to the list of imminent revolts. “Mooo…bzzz…oooo” will be the battle cry of our future overlords. Read-on for the yukgastic video. Trust us, you’ll want to turn the sound up to 11 when they zoom in.

[Via BoingBoing]
Continue reading Robotic cow tongues… for lonely heifers

Launch: Parallels v. 3.0 now available

Launch: Parallels v. 3.0 now available:
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We don’t often profess our love for commercial software around these parts, but Parallels Desktop for Mac – the application that runs Windows XP and Vista on your Mactel in a virtual machine – has just released version 3.0, and despite the price tag, we’re drooling over the new feature set. The NY Times David Pogue breaks down the good stuff:

You can drag and drop files from the Windows desktop to the Mac desktop, or vice versa. You can also right-click a document in either universe (a Word file, JPEG, PDF or whatever); the Open With pop-up menu, which lists programs that can open it, now lists both Mac and Windows programs. So if you’re working on the Mac, you can right-click a Word document and have it open in Word for Windows.
A Mac program called Parallels Explorer lets you manipulate the contents of your virtual Windows “hard drive” even when Parallels isn’t running.
If you sometimes use Apple’s Boot Camp program, Parallels can use the same copy of Windows, so you don’t have to install Windows twice. In 3.0, this great, space-saving feature also applies to installed copies of Windows Vista, not just XP.

You can now set up shared folders in either direction. That is, you can plunk the icon of a Macintosh-world folder right there in your Windows world, for easy opening, or vice-versa.

Shared Networking. I love this one a lot. In Parallels 3.0, Windows “hides” behind the Mac’s networking; it’s completely invisible to hacks, pings and bots on the Internet looking to infect you. Your “Windows PC” is therefore much less likely to wind up becoming a “zombie” or “bot” that does the bidding of spammers behind your back.
3-D graphics. This is a huge one for gamers. People used to say that Parallels was great — but that it couldn’t handle the 3-D games. The new version, however, works with both DirectX and OpenGL 3D, underlying technologies that drive games like World of Warcraft, Half-Life 2, and Unreal Tournament. All of these are now playable on the Mac running Windows. (I haven’t tested them, though.)
Transporter. This utility can bring over your entire world — programs, documents, settings, and all — from a real Windows PC, or from an old Mac running Microsoft Virtual PC, either over the network or using a FireWire cable.
USB 2. Parallels 3.0 does much better with high-speed connections to printers, scanners, flash drives, external hard drives, BlackBerrys and other smartphones — and headsets.

Sound good? The upgrade costs existing Parallels users $40; new licenses are 80 bucks. See more on running Windows and Mac OS X side by side with Parallels Desktop for Mac.

Breaking Down the Walls Between Mac OS X and Windows [Pogue’s Posts]

Swedish piracy doc wants your footage

Swedish piracy doc wants your footage:
Cory Doctorow:

Steal This Film, a great documentary on the Swedish “pro-piracy” movement and The Pirate Bay, is in production for its second sequence, and they want clips of you (and you and you) expressing your feelings about the entertainment industry:

STEAL THIS FILM II (codename: Dissolving Fortress) is currently in production at a secret bunker location Berlin. We’re very excited about its forthcoming release. But we need you to help us complete it. Tbe task is simple: take a few minutes, turn on your webcam and microphone, and record your message to the intellectual property industries.

Express yourself to the full extent of your capabilities, using costume, mask or avatar, from Second Life or ‘real’ life, whether you’re young or old, drunk or sober — you are a Peer and we want to hear from you. Use a Camcorder, a Webcam or a Microphone — record the statement in the best quality you can. There is no minimum quality but we’d appreciate you getting us the best recordings you can. (If you don’t have software for recording video, you can use YouTube’s help — please tag it “STFII” and mail us the link: peers@stealthisfilm.com).

Link

See also: Steal This Movie: documentary on Swedish piracy movement

Beer bottle solar-powered water heater

Beer bottle solar-powered water heater:
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Here’s a beer bottle solar-powered water heater from China –

A Chinese farmer has made his own solar-powered water heater out of beer bottles and hosepipes. Chinese farmer Ma Yanjun has made his own solar-powered water heater out of beer bottles and hosepipes /Lu Feng. “I invented this for my mother. I wanted her to shower comfortably,” says Ma Yanjun, of Qiqiao village, Shaanxi province. Ma’s invention features 66 beer bottles attached to a board. The bottles are connected to each other so that water flows through them.

Ananova – Beer and sunshine land farmer in hot water – [via] Link.
Related:
Blog Solarbox 1453 Resized1
HOW TO – Almost free garage heat – just drink a lot of … – Link.
Uploadedimages Articles Issues 1979-09-01 059-070-01Pic
HOW TO – Make a homemade solar water heater – Link.
Images 2006-01 Poor-Man-Hot-Water-Heater
Poor man’s hot water heater – Link.
[Read this article] [Comment on this article]

Is there life out there? Almost definitely, say UK scientists | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Ufo-13

Is there life out there? Almost definitely, say UK scientists | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited:

In this section
Is there life out there? Almost definitely, say UK scientists

MoD opens its files on UFO sightings to public

The question: Is there anyone out there?
Is there life out there? Almost definitely, say UK scientists

· Revolution in space technology aids search
· Primitive life will be found in 10 years, minister told

Intelligent extra-terrestrials almost certainly exist on distant planets beyond our solar system, leading British astronomers told the government yesterday.
The scientists exp

Webcomic about Hurricane Katrina

Webcomic about Hurricane Katrina:
Mark Frauenfelder:

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The terrific Smith Magazine just published Chapter 4 of its webcomic about the New Orleans disaster, called A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. It’s a true story about real people who lived in New Orleans and survived the disaster and its aftermath. The website also has podcast interviews with the people portrayed in the comic. It’s an excellent way to present the personal stories of people affected by the natural disaster and the monumental government failure that followed.

(Here’s a YouTube video about the comic, which is drawn by American Splendor artist, Josh Neufeld.)

Link

Suddenly, the Paranoids Don’t Seem So Paranoid Anymore

Privacy-Policy1
Suddenly, the Paranoids Don’t Seem So Paranoid Anymore:
Have you noticed? We’ve become a people that no longer respects, or apparently desires, privacy. Our own or anybody else’s.
That’s a remarkable thing, when you stop to think about it. We Americans, historically, have fiercely guarded our personal privacy. It’s one of our defining characteristics. Others, who live in societies where personal privacy isn’t so easily taken for granted, have looked on with a mixture of admiration and bemusement. “Mind your own business” is a singularly American expression.
But now we’ve allowed that birthright to be compromised, in a hundred little ways, and in a few conspicuously big ones, by an increasingly meddlesome government — not to mention opportunistic, predatory marketers — armed with the technology that gives them an easy entrée into our most secret places. Why is that, do you su