M&Mâs World Headlines: Jan 29, 2009
RIAA recruits Comcast, AT&T to monitor file sharing Cnet
When the RIAA said in December it would stop pursuing individual illegal file sharers, it wasn’t clear exactly why. Now, CNET News says the industry group is just switching tactics. Several sources close to Comcast and AT&T say that they, along with several other Internet service providers, will agree to monitor their networks for illegal file sharing by its customers. Update: More info here.
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U.S. retrieves MP3 player with military files Reuters
A New Zealand man who bought a second-hand MP3 player that contained U.S. military files on personnel who served in Afghanistan and Iraq handed it over to U.S. officials on Wednesday, New Zealand media reported. U.S. embassy officials in New Zealand spoke to Ogle on Tuesday night and swapped his old MP3 player for a new one on Wednesday, New Zealand Press Association said. Ogle said the officials asked him what computers the player’s files had been loaded onto and whether he had made copies and then photographed some of the files, but would not say how sensitive the information was.
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Russia tells Dell where to stick his computers TheInquirer
RUSSIA’S Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has rebuffed an offer by Michael Dell to help the Russians build their infrastructure. Dell asked “How can we help” you with your country’s IT infrastructure, but Putin told him to go forth and multiply.
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Naked couple greeted with applause News AU
A couple treated open air diners to a 15-minute naked parade in Singapore, triggering both embarrassment and applause for a scene almost unheard of in the conservative city-state. Pub manager Terence Chia told the Straits Times newspaper he saw the couple taking off their clothes on Saturday night at a staircase in a block of flats in Holland Village, known for its popular nightspots. Police said the couple, a Caucasian man and an ethnic Chinese woman in their 20s, had been arrested and released on bail. If convicted under Singapore law, they could face a fine of maximum fine of S$2000 ($1995), up to 3 months in jail, or both. Protests are rare in Singapore and only made legal last year in a designated area called “Speakers’ Corner”, modelled on London’s Hyde Park.
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Thailand bans Economist magazine BBC
The latest edition of UK-based current affairs magazine the Economist has been banned in Thailand, amid local anger over its coverage of the royal family. The Economist’s Thai distributor held back Friday’s issue – which contains an article about an Australian writer who was jailed for slandering the monarchy. Last month another edition was banned because of an article questioning the Thai king’s role in public life. Thailand’s laws against lese-majeste are among the strictest in the world. The Economist sent an e-mail to its Asia subscribers stating: “This week our distributors in Thailand have decided not to deliver the Economist in light of our coverage relating to the Thai monarchy.”
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Virgin complaint letter: Author of Virgin letter offered chance as airline’s food tester UK Telegraph
A passenger who wrote an amusing complaint letter to Virgin Atlantic has been invited by Sir Richard Branson to select the food and wines for future Virgin flights. The complainant contacted Sir Richard, the chief executive of the airline, after a flight from Mumbai to Heathrow on December 7 last year, to convey his disappointment with the food served on board the airline. The letter, which also included five photographs of the offending dishes, has been circulated around the world and has been almost universally praised for its pointedness and humour. [The Complaint letter can be read here along with the pictures, "Virgin: the world's best passenger complaint letter"? |Comment: If you haven't read the complaint letter yet, 2nd link, do it. It's a classic.]
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Those polite Canadians-Asked nicely, robber leaves store CBC
It seems even a thief appreciates good manners. A masked man walked into a Needs convenience store in Lower Sackville, N.S., Tuesday night and demanded cash and cigarettes from the clerk. Cpl. Joe Taplin, an RCMP spokesman, said the employee simply refused. “He asked him, ‘Please leave the store,’” Taplin said. That polite request caught the would-be bandit by surprise. “The suspect then looked at him and said, ‘You know, you’re the first one to ask me to leave in such a nice way, and because of that I’m going to leave,’” Taplin said. The man left the Cobequid Road store and headed up toward Sackville Drive.
»»»As wars drag on, suicides among U.S. soldiers set new peak CBC
Suicide among American soldiers increased again last year and is at a nearly three-decade high, senior U.S. defence officials told the Associated Press on Thursday. At least 128 soldiers killed themselves in 2008, said two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the data has not been formally released.
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Gene therapy cures form of ‘bubble boy disease’ CBC
Gene therapy seems to have cured eight of 10 children who had potentially fatal “bubble boy disease,” according to a study that followed their progress for about four years after treatment. The eight patients were no longer on medication for the rare disease, which cripples the body’s defences against infection. The successful treatment is reported in Thursday’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and offers hope for treating other diseases with a gene therapy approach.
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Ottawa eyeing nanotech safety CBC
Canada is poised to become the first government in the world to require companies to provide information about their use of potentially harmful nanomaterials in products, experts say. The information is to be used to evaluate the risks that these ultra-tiny materials pose to the health of people and the environment. “People and the environment are being increasingly exposed to new nanomaterials, yet governments lack information on the type, quantity and possible risks of nanoscale materials being manufactured and used in products,” Maynard said Wednesday. It is estimated that more than 800 consumer products containing nanomaterials are being sold around the world. The particles are used in everything from anti-bacterial ceiling paint and medical bandages to toothpaste and cosmetics. But some studies suggest that some nanomaterials can act like cancer-causing asbestos. Some nanoparticles also generate cell activity that can alter DNA.
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PMSBuddy.com reminder service signs up 100,000 people News AU
ONE hundred thousand men sick of copping a monthly serve from cranky wives and girlfriends have signed up for an online reminder service that warns when pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) is about to hit. PMSBuddy.com, the brainchild of a 28-year-old bloke whose mates were too often in cycle-related strife, is designed for men who have a darling of a partner for three weeks of the month and a demon for the rest.
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Aussie caught on the dunny by Google Earth TheInquirer
Googlehas pulled an image from its mapping service showing a man sitting on his outhouse dunny in an inner-city Melbourne back yard. The snap appeared last August when Street View was rolled out in Oz…
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Police find dope farm using Google Earth The Star
Swiss police said Thursday they stumbled across a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the search engine company’s satellite mapping software. Police said the find was part of a bigger investigation that led to the arrest of 16 people and seizure of more than one tonne of marijuana as well as cash and valuables worth $780,000 US.
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Facebook killer jailed for life BBC
A teenager who posted a message on Facebook saying he felt like killing someone, hours before stabbing a man to death, has been jailed for life.
January , 2009
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January 29th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
The Aussie caught sitting in his outhouse made me laugh.
Go to the loo and big brother see’s you.
January 29th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
RIAA recruits Comcast, AT&T to monitor file sharing Cnet…
I hope they realize that if i visit that network that according to the privacy laws of canada what i do online is the same as in my country as in you need it in writting to mess with my private data.
See how the shoe fits back….
and then there is that aussie, , if that happened here in canada you could sue, thats why they have it so that its very far up and not those lovely close ups.
still it is a technical invasion of privacy.
soon or later people will get sick a this and all these so called bailouts are a distraction of them continuing to erode basic human rights
YOU HAVE OT FIGHT
FOR YOUR RIGHT
TOOOOOOO PAAAARRRRTTTYYYY
January 29th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
CHRoNoSS said:
“I hope they realize that if i visit that network that according to the privacy laws of canada what i do online is the same as in my country as in you need it in writting to mess with my private data.”
You are sadly misinformed. Please go read this site in its entirety: http://www.privcom.gc.ca
Good thing its only in the states though. I hope that kind of stuff doesn’t ever come to your country.
But on another topic, I think you should cut down on the “party” thing. There appears to be an affect with your non-physical well being.