October 13, 2007

Pets Hurled Off Bridge in Puerto Rico

Animal control workers seized dozens of dogs and cats from housing projects in the town of Barceloneta and hurled them from a bridge to their deaths, authorities and witnesses said Friday. Mayor Sol Luis Fontanez blamed a contractor hired to take the animals to a shelter.

Humans are the lowest form of life on this fucking planet.

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October 10, 2007

Blogs target jihadis online

Ordinary Americans are tracking down U.S. Web sites used by al Qaeda and jihadi sympathizers and then using the Internet to persuade the service providers to snuff out the sites.

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'Storm worm' exploits YouTube

Spammers are exploiting YouTube's "invite your friends" function to send spam containing a variant of the "Storm worm."

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RIAA Eyes Next Possible Targets: CD Burners, Radio Listeners

Pariser believes in a very broad definition of stealing that is echoed by many supporters in the RIAA. She believes that users who buy songs are entitled to one, and only one copy. Burning CDs is just another name for stealing, in her mind. "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'."

Such logic has been a driving force behind efforts to "rights manage" music including the current DRM found on Apple's iTunes files and Microsoft's DRM, which is also widespread.

While it seems unlikely that the RIAA would be able to effectively identify "burners", such litigation remains a legal possibility for the RIAA and major music labels, in the minds of their lawyers.


I dream for the day when there are no music labels and no RIAA.

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We'll Sue You If You Don't Takedown Your Opinion Of Our Game!

Left Behind Games, makers of (somewhat controversial) religiously themed real-time strategy games based apparently isn't happy that its video games were reviewed negatively across the blogworld. So, they did what any video game company would do: they improved their game. Oh... no, they didn't. As pointed out by reader Grey, they simply pulled out the lawyers and threatened to sue a bunch of bloggers for posting "false and misleading" content about the games. Of course, opinions can't be either false or misleading, so they'll have quite a case on their hands. In the meantime, perhaps this was merely an attempt at a reverse "Streisand Effect" as the attempt to take down those negative reviews is simply getting a lot more attention on those negative reviews. Whether or not that leads to sales is another story...

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THERE ARE NO MORE COUNTRIES, ONLY MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS

This isn't an article... it's not even going to be much of a comment... it's just the hard, sad truth as I see it right now.

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These people don't need any more money. They don't need anymore power. They already have everything they could possibly need. Why are they continuing to foment wars?

And since they KNOW there are NO more countries, who or what are they going to declare war on.

RELIGIONS!


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October 9, 2007

Barbie Teaches Credit Cards 101: "You Never Run Out Of Money!"

Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique, the correctly named Barbie toy, features a built-in credit card swiper and a life-size credit card for young children to use when buying outfits for their dolls. According to the Amazon website, "Once the balance hits zero, it will reset so you can continue to shop."

WTF?

Who's brilliant fucking idea was this?

Check out the commercial below.



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Blood pressure and weight predict heart failure

Higher blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) in mid-life appear to increase the risk of heart failure in later life, according to findings published in the medical journal Hypertension.

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Pill helps alcoholics taper off drinking

A migraine pill seems to help alcoholics taper off their drinking without detox treatment, researchers report, offering a potential option for a hard-to-treat problem.

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First Radiohead...now Nine Inch Nails bids adieu to music label

Two well-known bands taking to the Internet to sell their own albums is not yet a trend, but it certainly must be a cause for concern in the halls of the four major music companies. The question raised by the defections is whether well-established performers need big music conglomerates in the digital age.

It costs relatively little to distribute songs over the Web. So why can't bands do it themselves from their own Web sites?

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One thing is for sure: the numbers of performers dissatisfied with the current music-industry business model is not abating.


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House may ban Net taxes for another four years

Under mounting pressure from their Republican colleagues, the Democrats on a U.S. House of Representatives panel have finally scheduled a vote on a bill that would extend by four years a soon-to-expire federal ban on Internet access taxes.

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Democrats Seem Ready to Extend Wiretap Powers

Two months after insisting that they would roll back broad eavesdropping powers won by the Bush administration, Democrats in Congress appear ready to make concessions that could extend some crucial powers given to the National Security Agency.

Administration officials say they are confident they will win approval of the broadened authority that they secured temporarily in August as Congress rushed toward recess. Some Democratic officials concede that they may not come up with enough votes to stop approval.


And we let them get away with doing this shit.

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What If Cold Fusion Is Real?

It was the most notorious scientific experiment in recent memory - in 1989, the two men who claimed to have discovered the energy of the future were condemned as imposters and exiled by their peers. Can it possibly make sense to reopen the cold fusion investigation? A surprising number of researchers already have.

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Boot camp boy died under 'routine' control

Charles Helms, a former army drill instructor, and six other guards at Bay County boot camp, Florida, are charged with aggravated manslaughter in connection with the death of Martin Lee Anderson in January last year.

A 30-minute surveillance video shows them hitting, kneeing and dragging the limp boy in the exercise yard as Kristin Schmidt, a nurse from the now-closed camp, looked on. The child died the following day. Ms Schmidt has also been charged.


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The appendix does have a use - re-booting the gut

The US scientists found that the appendix acted as a "good safe house" for bacteria essential for healthy digestion, in effect re-booting the digestive system after the host has contracted diseases such as amoebic dysentery or cholera, which kill off helpful germs and purge the gut.

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Following Honeybee Disappearance, Bumblebees Begin Vanishing Act

He fears that the species — Franklin's bumblebee — has gone extinct before anyone could even propose it for the endangered species list. To make matters worse, two other bumblebee species — one on the East coast, one on the West — have gone from common to rare.

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Warning over vodka snorting fad

Some drinkers are snorting vodka through the nose to get drunk more quickly in a fad that alcohol health workers say could be dangerous.

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Officials have warned the activity can lead to long-term health damage.

Bar staff said some people were "in tears" after trying the trend, while others reacted so quickly they were seen falling to the floor as a result of snorting the alcohol.


The things humans do.

Chimps choose more rationally than humans

German researchers have demonstrated chimpanzees make choices that protect their self-interest more consistently than do humans.

Hence, chimps did not vote for Bush.

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October 8, 2007

Orwell in 2007

In “1984,” the Party barrages citizens with psychological stimuli designed to overwhelm the mind. The giant telescreen in every room monitors behavior. People are continuously reminded of government’s surveillance, especially by omnipresent signs reading, “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.” Individuals are encouraged to spy on each other, even children on their parents, and report any instance of disloyalty to the Party — i.e., government.

“1984″ is happening in 2007.

Signs along interstate highways urge citizens, “Report Suspicious Behavior.” Cameras mounted at strategic locations monitor our everyday movement (just as in the novel). Red, orange and yellow are no longer just bright, pretty colors: They now represent levels of national security alerts. Intelligence agencies now define “chatter” as “terrorist speak.”


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Blessed be cheerleaders for they will be vilified

League executives sent a memo recently to its 32 teams, warning them to control their cheerleaders. There's growing concern that some home teams are using these ladies for a competitive advantage, telling them to warm up in front of the opponents, hoping their beauty will steer players away from their pregame preparation.

If the NFL were any more paranoid, commissioner Roger Goodell would need to dead bolt his sock drawer.


Pathetic.

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