Slashdot Mirror

Keiko Wakabayshi, a 77-year-old Japanese grandmother and master of jujitsu, jojitso, kenjitso, judo, kendo and karate, has been hired by the Italian military to teach soldiers hand-to-hand combat and humility. Standing a mere 5ft tall she easily wipes the floor with the soldiers in the Folgore brigade, most of whom are over 6ft and a third her age. I hear her best move is forward, forward, heavy kick and you should watch out for her laser attack.

A group of really hungry students from the Danish School of Journalism have been kicked off Facebook for cooking and eating a cat. The group posted 30 pictures of themselves cooking and eating the animal in an attempt to draw attention to the way pigs and cattle are raised for meat. Laura Bøge Mortensen, the editor of a student magazine that carried an article about the meal, said, "We had to count to three before we sat down to eat, and I wouldn't really say that we stuffed our face. Everyone did take a bite though." She added that the taste was "a little like chicken, with an aftertaste of fur." If you drop a roasted cat, does it still land on its feet?

It took Pat Acton more than two years and 602,000 matchsticks to build his latest masterpiece, a detailed scale model of Harry Potter's Hogwarts school. The model features all the turrets, walkways and towers seen in the films. He is currently working on scale model of the Minas Tirith fortified city from The Lord of the Rings movies. Pat says,"The Minas Tirith model will contain hundreds of city buildings. It will also be topped with the Tree of Gondor and the White Tower of Etchelion. The dimensions on it will be roughly 10 feet long and about nine feet wide. The great tower is seven feet tall." Imagine what this guy could do if he harnessed the power of Lego.

A Chinese restaurant in Changchun city has received some criticism for keeping ornamental carp in the four meter long urinal in the men's bathroom. A spokesman for the restaurant says the urinal contains a mixture of urine and water which was not harmful to the fish. The owner added that the fish were intended as an attraction for diners and were not used in dishes. I'm surprised this hasn't caught on in more businesses. I know I would enjoy golf a lot more if I could relieve myself into a box of kittens at every hole.

David Waterman, a 41-year-old Ashtead fireman, is facing legal action for refusing to take down a pirate flag he raised to celebrate his daughter's pirate-themed eighth birthday party after a neighbor complained. Under current laws, any flag flying outside a residential property has to have planning permission unless it is a national flag. When asked to comment on the flag, the neighbor said "The history of the ninja, in fact, is marked by a strong code of moral and just behavior that applies not only to the fighting or military aspects, but also to the everyday life and birthday parties. Learning to attain sei shin (or right mind) is essential to becoming a ninja and virtually impossible with the flag of your enemy flying next door."

In a blatant attempt to become the next Iron Chef UK, a Kent man has vowed to eat nothing but wild food he can forage, including road kill, for a year. Fergus Drennan will gather his food within a 10 mile radius of his home. Starters on his menu include such things as mushrooms, berries, nuts and acorn coffee. Dead squirrels, foxes, badgers and rabbits he comes across make up his main courses and he plans on using their skins for clothing. Lets hope he's purchased a lot of Altoids.

Dog owners in Amsterdam are upset that the city has promised to clampdown on people who let their pets walk in one of the cities most famous parks without a leash. They wouldn't be as outraged if the city hadn't also legalized public sex in the same park. A spokesman for the council said, "When the dogs are not kept on a leash they pee on whatever they see and they cause a lot of nuisance for other visitors." Alderman Paul Van Grieken added, "Why should we oppose a rule on something you can't oppose a rule on. Moreover it isn't a nuisance for the other visitors and gives a lot of pleasure to a certain group of people. There still are rules, They must take their garbage with them afterwards and never have intercourse near the playground. The sex must be limited to the evening hours and night."

jefu writes "The Hungarian government is sponsoring an internet vote to name a new bridge. So far naming the bridge after acter Chuck Norris has been the most popular. However, last night Stephen Colbert (of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report") suggested that viewers vote to name the bridge after him. Remembering the effect that a Colbert segment had had on Wikipedia, I visited the voting page (in Hungarian when it works) soon after that and it was completely non-responsive. This morning (8:00 Thursday Pacific time) it is showing a "Horrible exception" and a Jetspeed/tomcat stack trace. " I believe Colbert's straight-talking sensibilities have earned him far more than just a bridge in whatever continent Hungaria is in. Instead I think we should consider renaming one of our lesser used states as an honor more appropriate to his grippy contributions to America. We're not doing anything with Colorado these days anyway, but imagine the appeal of a new and improved state with a virile name like Colberado. Book your tickets today!

Roland Piquepaille writes "According to Ananova, a Swiss company has developed a totally new type of smoke-free cigarette. You will be able to use it in non-smoking restaurants, and even in airplanes -- if you care for nicotine. But the PRAVDA, from Russia, adds that the product is far from perfect. It looks like a cigarette, it's used as a cigarette, but it's not a cigarette at all. Each pseudo-cigarette consists of a replaceable 'filter' containing the nicotine, and a heating element working on a battery, recharged by the 'pack' of cigarettes. The company, NicStic, says its product is good for smokers because it doesn't contain any tar, and for non-smokers, because there is obviously not passive smoking effect. It plans to introduce the product in Germany in about a year for a price similar as normal cigarettes. This overview contains more details about this pseudo-cigarette which might be sold in the U.S. in the near future."

jcr13 writes "Wired news is running a story about TV-B-Gone, a new weapon in the fight against the pervasiveness of television in our society. With this device, which takes the form of a keychain fob with a single button, you can turn off virtually any TV set. How does it work? By rolling through all known IR power-off codes, one by one, trying codes from the most popular brands first. Personally, I am terribly annoyed by TVs in restaurants and airports: they grab my attention over and over, no matter how hard I try to ignore them, and they distract me from the conversations that I should be having with my human companions. Unfortunately, the TV-B-Gone website seems to have already been swamped by the Wired coverage, so we cannot order these just yet. In the mean time, those of you with DIY proclivities may want to think about wiring one of these up yourself using a PIC chip or other micro-controller." An anonymous reader adds links to mentions at CNET, TV station KESQ and Ananova.

Roland Piquepaille writes "The robotics actuality is pretty rich these days. Besides the fighting robots of Robo-One and the flying microrobots from Epson (the best picture is at Ananova), here are some the latest intriguing news in robotics. In Japan, Yoshiyuki Sankai has built a robot suit, called Hybrid Assistive Limb-3 (or HAL-3), designed to help disabled or elderly people. In the U.S., Ohio State University is developing a robotic tomato harvester for the J.F. Kennedy Space Center while Northrop Grumman received $1 billion from the Pentagon to build a new robotic fighter. I kept the best for the end. A Californian counselor has just patented the ten ethical laws of robotics. A good read for a Sunday, if you can understand what he means. This summary only focuses on HAL-3 and one of the most incredible patents I've ever seen, so please read the above articles for more information about the other subjects."

s20451 writes "Slashdotters may remember Canadian actor William Shatner from such hit TV shows as T. J. Hooker and Rescue 911; he was also known to dabble in science fiction. Shatner released an album, The Transformed Man, in 1968. Intending the album to be taken seriously, it is now held up as one of the campiest recordings of all time, including the worst Beatles cover ever produced. Now a new album is in the works, featuring joint work with Ben Folds, Henry Rollins, and Brad Paisley. More on Ananova."

Thanks to Ananova for reporting that Acclaim UK are trying what they call 'bloodvertising' to promote Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance, their PlayStation 2 and Xbox title billed as "the bloodiest ever [videogame]." The UK promotion will include: "Advertisements in bus shelters.. [where] cartridges of red dye will be placed behind clear sheets of film and released over a six-day period. The 'blood' will slowly appear to spill out on the streets and drip onto the pavements." This continues Acclaim's increasingly desperate series of publicity stunts, including using "spray-painted homing pigeons" at the Wimbledon tennis tournament and trying to place game adverts on gravestones.

sethadam1 writes "I was not at all surprised to find that experts are predicting the death of the compact disc in as little as 5 years. This article over at Ananova suggests the next format of music will be little fingernail-sized cards. As cool as these sound, is anyone else worried that sneaky industry folks might try to distribute all new music in DRM'ed WMA files?" Yeah, this description sounds basically like bigger Magic Gate, that wonderful situation where you can pay more than normal to get DRM. Update: 11/13 16:45 GMT by H : As RobertB-DC pointed, this is sort of a dupe - see our previous article.

sethadam1 writes "I was not at all surprised to find that experts are predicting the death of the compact disc in as little as 5 years. This article over at Ananova suggests the next format of music will be little fingernail-sized cards. As cool as these sound, is anyone else worried that sneaky industry folks might try to distribute all new music in DRM'ed WMA files?" Yeah, this description sounds basically like bigger Magic Gate, that wonderful situation where you can pay more than normal to get DRM. Update: 11/13 16:45 GMT by H : As RobertB-DC pointed, this is sort of a dupe - see our previous article.

troc writes "Finally that age-old myth of the duck's quack has been overturned. It has long been thought that the duck's quack did not produce an echo, so some boffins with spare time and a duck did some experiments. "

xneilj writes "According to Ananova.com, a Chinese gamer is believed to be suing Korean-based JC Entertainment, after losing in-game items in the PC MMO title RedMoon Online. As well as the return of his lost items, he is also seeking over $1200 for 'mental anguish'." The article explains: "Li, from Beijing, had built up his stock of virtual weaponry while playing RedMoon over the last two years... When he discovered all of his awarded equipment had disappeared, he contacted the provider for help, but the company refused to take any responsibility for the loss."

levell writes "Although the legal difficulties Microsoft was having in the US seem to be drawing to a close, it's not yet over in the EU. In this story, the BBC reports that the EU says it is still abusing its monopoly with Windows Media Player, and perhaps more interestingly from a Linux point of view, also in the low-end server market. The story is also being covered on CNN, Ananova, Reuters, etc." The EU's press release is informative.

Thanks to Ananova for their article discussing a videogame controlled by brainwaves that helps musicians play better. According to the piece, "Scientists have improved the performance of musicians by up to 17% by teaching them to control their thoughts... Sensors were attached to their heads that filtered out specific brainwaves. These influenced a video game displayed on a screen, which the students learned to control by altering particular thought patterns." At the end of all this, "a panel of expert judges" proclaimed the 'deep relaxation' neurofeedback as having a significantly positive effect on the musicians' playing.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Yes, this is possible, thanks to researchers at Tohoku University, reports Japan Today in a brief article [Warning: it takes a while for loading]. Equipped with a computer, sensors and batteries, it can move in any direction on four wheels and has memory for five steps necessary to dance the waltz. This sidebar contains a photograph of a student waltzing with the robot, MS DanceR (Mobile Smart Dance Robot), coming from another short story carried by Ananova."

skantman writes "Potentially sad news for Spiderfans. Tobey Maguire has back problems and may have to pull out of the Spider-Man sequel." Since the film was apparently slated to pay him 11M GBP, sucks to be him just as much as us if he doesn't play the part. CT Updated, thats 11M pounds, not USD.

An anonymous reader writes "British scientists at the National Physical Laboratory in London have invented the darkest material on Earth. 'It could revolutionise optical instruments because it reflects 10 to 20 times less light than the black paint currently used to reduce unwanted reflections. The key to the nickel and phosphorous coating's blackness is that its surface is pitted with microscopic craters.' Wonder how effective it would be as a solar heating surface ?"

jonerik writes "According to this story from Ananova, Finland's Supreme Court has ruled that taxi drivers must pay royalty fees of about $20 annually if they play music in their car while a customer is in the backseat. According to the article, 'Lauri Luotonen, chairman of the Helsinki Taxi Drivers' Association, says the ruling is likely to force most drivers to keep their radios off.'" This includes if they play the radio, which ostensibly already pays such fees.

jonerik writes "According to this story from Ananova, Finland's Supreme Court has ruled that taxi drivers must pay royalty fees of about $20 annually if they play music in their car while a customer is in the backseat. According to the article, 'Lauri Luotonen, chairman of the Helsinki Taxi Drivers' Association, says the ruling is likely to force most drivers to keep their radios off.'" This includes if they play the radio, which ostensibly already pays such fees.

Makarand writes "Ananova has an article on the world's first tattooing robot. An Austrian electrician, after being left with some permanent reminders of his tattooing robot project, has unveiled his creation at a hi-tech fair in Vienna. He said that he had to test it on himself to get the robot do the right thing and has not recieved any complaints from volunteers who got a tattoo for free at the trade fair."

Makarand writes "Ananova has an article on the world's first tattooing robot. An Austrian electrician, after being left with some permanent reminders of his tattooing robot project, has unveiled his creation at a hi-tech fair in Vienna. He said that he had to test it on himself to get the robot do the right thing and has not recieved any complaints from volunteers who got a tattoo for free at the trade fair."

loonix_gangsta writes "The BBC is running a blurb on the disclosure of Star Wars helmsman George Lucas not allowing Spielberg to direct one of the Star Wars movies. According to Ananova Steven had actually begged George for the job."

RobertTaylor writes: "Ananova is reporting that Japanese scientists have developed a laser powered paper plane. A blast of light from a commercial laser heats up a droplet of acrylic polymer or water on its surface which acts as fuel. Full story here" Nature also has a story on this advance.

RobertTaylor writes: "Ananova is reporting that Japanese scientists have developed a laser powered paper plane. A blast of light from a commercial laser heats up a droplet of acrylic polymer or water on its surface which acts as fuel. Full story here" Nature also has a story on this advance.

samjam writes "'Rodney Bartlett devised a new form of solid nitrogen salt' says Ananova reporting on an article in Nature. 'Scientists at the University of Florida say it should be possible to make nitrogen with atoms linked in groups of five.' 'If their calculations are correct, the new form will have twice as much energy as the same volume of hydrazine which is the compound propelling many spacecraft today.' This new fuel could be a boon for home-brew rocket builders?" Note that by "salt", they don't mean table salt, just a compound of ions. Nitrogen compounds are important in explosives because the formation of nitrogen gas (which is very stable) can give off a lot of energy - so whatever you can do to create new and crazy nitrogen structures can potentially increase the energy density of your explosives.

Weirdolet writes: "Ananova are reporting that ultra-dense, pollen sized strangelets (aka nuggets of strange quarks) travelling at 900,000 miles per hour hit the earth, violently pass through it and have done on at least two occasions already. It's also reported, allegedly, in the Sunday telegraph but I haven't found it there yet :P Coming to a particle accelerator near you soon ... ?" Another reader has found the story at the Telegraph.

scrm writes: "Nokia just released a slew of new phones at CEBIT. Among them are two phones - a full-color phone and a cheap n' cheerful model - both of whose software can be upgraded with Java applications." And Haggis writes "Nokia are to use the Opera browser in the latest incarnation of their everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink mobile phone, the 9210i. Oh, and it will run Java applets too."

mccalli writes :"Thought people might find this amusing. In 1986, the UK compiled an electronic domesday book. They used BBC Master computers to do it, and the result was put on laserdisc. I actually used this project whilst at school. This article states that nothing can now read these merely 15-year old discs. The original, written approx. 1086, is still doing fine thank you very much." Sounds like a good candidate for Bruce Sterling's Dead Media Project. (Speaking of Sterling, the "graying cyberpunk" has an interesting article in the Austin Chronicle on the upcoming SXSW Interactive conference called "Information Wants to be Worthless" -- thanks to reader ag3n7.) Update: 03/03 19:38 GMT by T : That's "domesday" not "doomsday."

gilgsn writes: "The Raven is a honeycomb paper, foam and graphite-fibre tape, human powered airplane designed to beat the current record held by MIT's Daedalus . The plane is also powered by a 16MHz Motorola 68332. The technical specifications of the onboard computer are pretty interesting. Unfortunately, as reported on Ananova, the Raven recently crashed a mere 100 feet after taking off, causing some damage to its fragile structure. Maybe they could upgrade to a Pentium and convinced Lance Armstrong to give it a try..."

gilgsn writes: "The Raven is a honeycomb paper, foam and graphite-fibre tape, human powered airplane designed to beat the current record held by MIT's Daedalus . The plane is also powered by a 16MHz Motorola 68332. The technical specifications of the onboard computer are pretty interesting. Unfortunately, as reported on Ananova, the Raven recently crashed a mere 100 feet after taking off, causing some damage to its fragile structure. Maybe they could upgrade to a Pentium and convinced Lance Armstrong to give it a try..."

limpdawg writes "Stephen Hawking bet Gordon Kane of the University of Michigan $100 that the Higgs Boson does not exist."

Sara Chan writes: "Japan has decided to allow combined human-animal embryos to be produced through cloning, which could result in mixed-species creatures. The intended purpose is to permit transplant organs to be produced in specially-bred animals. The original story is in a Japanese newspaper, but you can get an English summary here."

IronClad writes: "By some reports, the annual Leonid meteor shower should be the best show in decades, and possibly until 2099. With meteors peaking November 17-18, and particularly over the Pacific, now is the time to check the predicted local meteor flux and buy chips for those star parties. Anyone adding a wireless hub and laptops for a star+lan party?"

Everyone out there who set up content mirrors helped the spread of information survive as well as it did. After the tremendous crush yesterday, conventional news sources seem to have largely recovered. However, people are still cushioning the network burden with their own mirrors and original reporting. We'll be putting up occasional updates as necessary, but for now hit that link below and you can read a ton of stories on all aspects of the story.

Ian Peon writes: "SF Gate has a short article on how the Internet "proved its mettle as a communications facilitator in a time of crisis." Kudos to all those who kept things running!"

An anonymous reader writes: "The who, what, and how are detailed in this Boston Herald story. The weapons were smuggled in the razor cases. And in order to get to the cockpit, they terrorized the stewardesses, killing a few in order to lure the pilot out. Once the pilot was out, they took control of the plane. They have identified a car driven by 5 arabs had flying instruction in arabic. The men have been traced back to different arab countries."

This WorldTribune.com story claims that Israeli intelligence reports favor the idea that the attacks may have had the backing of Saddam Hussein's Bagdhad government. According to a submission from UberOogie ,Osama bin Ladin denies involvement in the attacks. The claims, speculation and disclaimers will no doubt continue.

Connord D writes: "View the Survivor's Register Please, PLEASE go to the survivor registers, register that your looking for your family, tell your friends, pass the word around and identify those that have survived and those that are missing. Help worried families either confirm the fates of their loved ones so that they can mourn, or help them find those people that are missing." And Brian Mears, LAN Systems Operations Manager for Computer Sciences Corporation, writes: "I have created a forum on my website to allow families and friends of survivors to post messages and communicate with each other concerning this most tragic period." Here's the link: http://www.ntadmin.net/forum/.

It would be a godsend if the various survivor registries would pool their data, or if someone sets up a google-like search engine to reach all of them at once.

oo7 writes: "CNN has a stream of the first plane crash. If you'd like to download it you can from the videos section of this site; it has news updated as fast as I can and streams as fast as I can capture. Please forward any unknown news and links that you may have."

pKa writes: "The last image from WTCs 77th floor webcam is available on a few sites around the net. The original WCTA.org cam-site is dead, but available in Googles cache, where you can see the dark screen (camera already dead, most likely) at 09:52:52, 09/11/01 - just before the buildings crashed. Article (in norwegian) with screenshots available here" The stream of concern that yesterday's events will lead to an illiberal attitude toward privacy is growing into a torrent: vena writes: "CNN reported on television broadcast earlier today that the NSA was now going through volumes of recorded cellular calls for calls made by passengers on the planes. Clear admission."

GothChip writes: "Ananova are reporting that just hours after the terrorist attack on New York, the FBI started approaching ISPs asking for help in installing Carnivore."

mkelley writes: "This is only the beginning folks...looks like the internet is going to be blamed for this...Wired has a story that is sure to cause panic. This is going to be the goverment's way to push wiretapping into your email and web surfing. In this time of crisis, people in high places are going to use this to get their agenda through. "Blame the Internet" is going to be the rallying cry for everything ..." If you're interested in the details of the planes the terrorists chose, a Semi-Anonymous Coward writes: "American Airlines flight 77 confirmed down, crashed into the Pentagon, Washington DC. Flight 77 (Dulles to Los Angeles) is scheduled as a Boeing 757-200:

Boeing 757-200 data and history:

American Airlines Boeing 757-200 photos:

• American Airlines flight 11 confirmed down, crashed into World Trade Center New York. Flight 11 (Boston to Los Angeles) is scheduled as a Boeing 767-200:
• Boeing 767-200 data and history
• American Airlines Boeing 767-200 photos

United Airlines flight 175 confirmed down, crashed into World Trade Center New York. Flight 175 (Boston to Los Angeles) is scheduled as a Boeing 767-200:

• United Airlines Boeing 767-200 photos

United Airlines flight 93 confirmed down near Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Flight 93 (Newark to San Francisco) is scheduled as a Boeing 757-200:

• United Airlines Boeing 757-200 photos: United Airlines Boeing 757-200 photos"

Everyone out there who set up content mirrors helped the spread of information survive as well as it did. After the tremendous crush yesterday, conventional news sources seem to have largely recovered. However, people are still cushioning the network burden with their own mirrors and original reporting. We'll be putting up occasional updates as necessary, but for now hit that link below and you can read a ton of stories on all aspects of the story.

Ian Peon writes: "SF Gate has a short article on how the Internet "proved its mettle as a communications facilitator in a time of crisis." Kudos to all those who kept things running!"

An anonymous reader writes: "The who, what, and how are detailed in this Boston Herald story. The weapons were smuggled in the razor cases. And in order to get to the cockpit, they terrorized the stewardesses, killing a few in order to lure the pilot out. Once the pilot was out, they took control of the plane. They have identified a car driven by 5 arabs had flying instruction in arabic. The men have been traced back to different arab countries."

This WorldTribune.com story claims that Israeli intelligence reports favor the idea that the attacks may have had the backing of Saddam Hussein's Bagdhad government. According to a submission from UberOogie ,Osama bin Ladin denies involvement in the attacks. The claims, speculation and disclaimers will no doubt continue.

Connord D writes: "View the Survivor's Register Please, PLEASE go to the survivor registers, register that your looking for your family, tell your friends, pass the word around and identify those that have survived and those that are missing. Help worried families either confirm the fates of their loved ones so that they can mourn, or help them find those people that are missing." And Brian Mears, LAN Systems Operations Manager for Computer Sciences Corporation, writes: "I have created a forum on my website to allow families and friends of survivors to post messages and communicate with each other concerning this most tragic period." Here's the link: http://www.ntadmin.net/forum/.

It would be a godsend if the various survivor registries would pool their data, or if someone sets up a google-like search engine to reach all of them at once.

oo7 writes: "CNN has a stream of the first plane crash. If you'd like to download it you can from the videos section of this site; it has news updated as fast as I can and streams as fast as I can capture. Please forward any unknown news and links that you may have."

pKa writes: "The last image from WTCs 77th floor webcam is available on a few sites around the net. The original WCTA.org cam-site is dead, but available in Googles cache, where you can see the dark screen (camera already dead, most likely) at 09:52:52, 09/11/01 - just before the buildings crashed. Article (in norwegian) with screenshots available here" The stream of concern that yesterday's events will lead to an illiberal attitude toward privacy is growing into a torrent: vena writes: "CNN reported on television broadcast earlier today that the NSA was now going through volumes of recorded cellular calls for calls made by passengers on the planes. Clear admission."

GothChip writes: "Ananova are reporting that just hours after the terrorist attack on New York, the FBI started approaching ISPs asking for help in installing Carnivore."

mkelley writes: "This is only the beginning folks...looks like the internet is going to be blamed for this...Wired has a story that is sure to cause panic. This is going to be the goverment's way to push wiretapping into your email and web surfing. In this time of crisis, people in high places are going to use this to get their agenda through. "Blame the Internet" is going to be the rallying cry for everything ..." If you're interested in the details of the planes the terrorists chose, a Semi-Anonymous Coward writes: "American Airlines flight 77 confirmed down, crashed into the Pentagon, Washington DC. Flight 77 (Dulles to Los Angeles) is scheduled as a Boeing 757-200:

Boeing 757-200 data and history:

American Airlines Boeing 757-200 photos:

• American Airlines flight 11 confirmed down, crashed into World Trade Center New York. Flight 11 (Boston to Los Angeles) is scheduled as a Boeing 767-200:
• Boeing 767-200 data and history
• American Airlines Boeing 767-200 photos

United Airlines flight 175 confirmed down, crashed into World Trade Center New York. Flight 175 (Boston to Los Angeles) is scheduled as a Boeing 767-200:

• United Airlines Boeing 767-200 photos

United Airlines flight 93 confirmed down near Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Flight 93 (Newark to San Francisco) is scheduled as a Boeing 757-200:

• United Airlines Boeing 757-200 photos: United Airlines Boeing 757-200 photos"

Pointing to this story on Ananova, bl968 writes: "Stephen Hawking the noted physicist has suggested using genetic engineering and biomechanical interfaces to computers in order to make possible a direct connection between brain and computers, 'so that artificial brains contribute to human intelligence rather than opposing it.' His idea is that with artificial intelligence and computers, which increase their performance every 18 months, we face the real possibility of the enslavement of the human race." garren_bagley adds this link to a similar story on Yahoo!, unfortunately just as short. Hawking certainly is in a position shared by few to talk about the intersection of human intellect and technology.

lewko writes: "Scientists discovered that locusts have a large nerve cell in their brains known as the Giant Lobular Movement Detector. This is what allows them to fly in swarms by the thousand without banging into each other. To monitor the brain signals, the researchers designed plasticine restraints for the insects and put them in front of an edited version of Star Wars which shows battle sequences. "Essentially, we made little armchairs for them and stuck them in front of TV screens," said Dr Rind. Of course this doesn't seem to stop them going bammo into my windshield... Or maybe that's just the depressed ones?"

beanerspace writes: "Move over Vincent Flanders. In an article on Ananova.com, it was reported that the International Space Station 'sucks'. Apparently, someone got their hands on some leaked documents that reveal astronauts having to deal with dozens of irritating problems aboard the International Space Station. Things got so miserable that Bill Shepherd, who commanded the outpost for five months, reportedly told ground controllers that life aboard 'basically sucks.'" I don't see why this would have to be 'leaked' -- 5 months in cramped quarters hurtling through the vacuum of space seems sucky on the face of it.

gadders sends us a short blurb about Europe considering its own version of the DMCA. This piece doesn't have much information - does anyone have more info about exactly what is being proposed?

KjetilK writes "Ananova reports in an article that two spammers have been jailed for two years after sending 50 million e-mails. According to the story, 12,000 people bought their scam. May they be served SPAM every day in jail."

KjetilK writes "Ananova reports in an article that two spammers have been jailed for two years after sending 50 million e-mails. According to the story, 12,000 people bought their scam. May they be served SPAM every day in jail."

Chad Coffman was the first to submit Ananova, an animated character which can "read" news and breaking stories in real-time. Waste of bandwidth? Or broadband killer app?