Apple's Steve Jobs wows programmers with a preview of the next major release of OS X, code-named Tiger. Leander Kahney reports from Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

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No comments needed ...

'Blow-up' sheep forces insurance brokers to move office!

A business couple is moving their office from its current location because a neighbour embarrasses their staff by pretending to have sex with a blow-up sheep and pig. Insurance brokers, Patricia and Graham Wadsworth decided to move their office after a judge ruled that the law could not stop the eccentric neighbour Stefan Halan's daily performances at a bedroom window. According to The Sun, Judge Stephen Gullick said at Bradford Crown Court that Halan's behaviour was wholly unacceptable but it did not breach any court order. Graham was upset with the ruling of the court and has described it as strange. (ANI)

(link) [WebIndia123.com] via Secular Blasphemy

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Reality, indeed. For anyone still contending that our culture is not in serious trouble, I offer the following link.

ABC is looking to spin off its fall reality series "Wife Swap."

(link) [CNN]

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What can I add to this ...???

The Register reports: Myron Tereshchuk, 42, of Maryland, pleaded guilty to "attempted extortion affecting commerce" for sending threatening messages to a competing patent firm, including a demand for $17 million in exchange for not revealing sensitive information. He was clever in hiding his tracks, the messages came from two different homes and a dentist's office, all of which turned out to be running unsecured WAPs. He also avoided a web bug sent by the firm, and managed to penetrate the company's computer system. But he made a few mistakes. First of all he was already a prime suspect due to "past altercations between Tereshchuk and the company". But "the clearest sign came when he issued the $17m extortion demand, and instructed the company to 'make the check payable to Myron Tereshchuk.'""

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

I'll have to say that being in my geographic location is not exactly optimal for radio reception. But 'Net radio comes thru loud and clear.

Internet radio services keep getting better and attracting bigger audiences. Digital features like personalization and variety blow away anything on the airwaves. But some of the services are better than others. Katie Dean reviews a few top choices.

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What are they smoking in the patent office?

Okay, so it's not a bank branch per se, but a particular kind of bank branch -- one that has play areas for kids, serves coffee and popcorn, and has kiosks instead of teller windows. Washington Mutual has dubbed this branch design, "Occasio" (a generic Latin word meaning, "favorable opportunity," and which has probably been trademarked). The San Francisco Chronicle reports that it may be the first time the USPTO has awarded a patent for the design of a retail store/presence.

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Sometimes I run across stuff that is so strange, on the surface, but makes so much sense when viewed with a deeper lens, that I'm aghast that I didn't see a connection before. But some things are just so counter-intuitive that they're easy to overlook. Sometimes, if you go left far enough, you end up on the right. Or is that the other way around? With that bit of introduction, let me pass on the link to:

Ralph Nader: Conservatively Speaking

Ralph Nader recently accepted Pat Buchanan’s invitation to sit down with us and explain why his third-party presidential bid ought to appeal to conservatives disaffected with George W. Bush. We think readers will be interested in the reflections of a man who has been a major figure in American public life for 40 years—and who now finds himself that rarest of birds, a conviction politician.

(link) [The American Conservative]

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Spotted this all over the place - it seems as though there might be another case. If so, perhaps the USDA will reconsider it's idiotic rules on testing.

An animal may have tested positive for mad cow disease in the US, the agricultural department says.

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Ya know, I kinda like the idea behind this: it's educational, and it does give cash strapped farmers (such as yours truely) an additional income source. And we have done the tour and petting zoo routine here at Hammerstead.

But it still seems a shame, somehow, to reduce food production to a tourist enterprise. Or maybe it's just a sad commentary on the times we live in.

One sunny morning, a lanky middle-aged man who likes to be called Farmer Dale lifted a wood panel in his chicken coop and a half-dozen free-range hens strutted out in a line on the chicken run.

(link) [CNN]

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Thirty years ago, I had a rather heated argument with my step-father over marijuana. He was, of course, adamantly opposed to any "drugs", and would loudly proclaim this while sucking down a beer and smoking a cigarette.

I told him that by letting the government control "drugs" now, we were essentially giving them carte blanche to regulate tobacco, and that someday, he'd be buying his smokes from the same source I used for mine.

Kenny died in 1994, but the year before, we revisted this subject, and he actually apologized, and acknowledged that I had been right. He speculated himself, at that time, that the next great target of the "war on fun" (his words) would be either sugar or fat.

I agreed with him, and we were right.

Global strategies similar to those used against the tobacco industry are needed to tackle the obesity epidemic, argue researchers in this week's BMJ. Diets across the globe are being shaped by a concentrated and global food industry that is fiercely resisting public health attempts to promote healthy eating, write the authors. The food industry tactics are similar to those used by the tobacco industry -- supplying misinformation, use of supposedly conflicting evidence, and hiding negative data.

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Well, it's not everyday that Hoosiers get a mention on CNet! Unfortunately, this particular piece of shit requires Windows ... I wonder how much M$ paid the state for this one?

Indiana residents can access applications, personal files online using free,state-supplied software tools.

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Sacrificing science for safety. With our endless wars on concepts (terror, drugs, poverty) I'm afraid that this is rapidly becoming the metaphor of our times.

Since 9/11, the feds have imposed a lot of hoops for hobby rocketeers to jump through, including background checks and visits by federal agents. For many, it's just not worth it. By Daniel Terdiman.

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Only if you use IE on Winodws...:

Meanwhile, the average Internet surfer is left with few options. Windows users could download an alternate browser, such as Mozilla or Opera, and Mac users are not in danger.

Do it: download Mozilla.

Web surfers beware: Programs that control PC users' systems are spreading via compromised Web sites.

00:00 /Technology | 1 comment | permanent link