82/365_Cady fins, originally uploaded by red stilletto.
Japan has suspended some imports of wheat from the United States after genetically engineered wheat was found on an Oregon farm.
The Agriculture Department announced the discovery on Wednesday. No genetically engineered wheat has been approved for American farming.
Japan is one of the largest export markets for American wheat growers. Katsuhiro Saka, a counsellor at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, said Thursday that Japan had cancelled orders of western white wheat from the Pacific Northwest and also of some feed-grade wheat.
In most countries the unapproved genetically modified wheat would be a target of concern,
Mr Saka said. The Japanese people have similar kinds of concerns.
In addition, the European Union said it would test incoming American shipments and block any containing genetically modified wheat — via redwolf.newsvine.com
27 April marked the arrival of baby Arctic Wolves At Zoo Vienna. The cubs are now ready to leave the den from time to time for short excursions into the outside world — via ZooBorns
Scientists have discovered that about one in thirteen people have flexible ape-like feet.
A team studied the feet of 398 visitors to the Boston Museum of Science.
The results show differences in foot bone structure similar to those seen in fossils of a member of the human lineage from two million years ago.
It is hoped the research, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, will establish how that creature moved.
Apes like the chimpanzee spend a lot of their time in trees, so their flexible feet are essential to grip branches and allow them to move around quickly — but how most of us ended up with more rigid feet remains unclear.
Jeremy DeSilva from Boston University and a colleague asked the museum visitors to walk barefoot and observed how they walked by using a mechanised carpet that was able to analyse several components of the foot — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Lunch today. A mysterious Gilliamesque stranger… — via Awesome People Hanging Out Together
Designers Hilden & Diaz have created a fixture that can transport you to a dark forest with the flick of a light switch. When you turn on this chandelier, you’re suddenly engulfed in a tangle of tree-shaped shadows.
The designers say that this light sculpture, titled Forms in Nature, was inspired in form by the drawings of naturalist Ernst Haeckel. But the chaotic beauty of the chandelier is overshadowed by its effect on the room around it. Forms in Nature isn’t available for sale yet, but the designs say it is currently in production — via io9
News websites reporting on Singapore will be operating under individual licences from the first of June.
The government Media Development Authority (MDA) says the new scheme will place such news sites on what’s termed a more consistent regulatory framework
.
The licence requires online news sites to remove disapproved-of content within 24 hours of notification.
If in breach, the news sites risk losing a $AU40,000 bond — via redwolf.newsvine.com
People who do not identify as male or female have achieved formal legal recognition in Australia for the first time, after the NSW Court of Appeal overturned a ruling that everyone must be listed as a man or a woman with the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages.
In a landmark decision with major implications for thousands of intersex, androgynous and neuter people across the country, the court on Friday upheld an appeal by Sydney activist Norrie
against a decision by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal that people must be officially registered as M
or F
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
To make these pretty little squares I picked up Schacht Spindle Co’s fabulous Zoom Loom. An updated version of a classic pin loom, the Zoom Loom is thoughtfully designed with smart details that make weaving a breeze. And now my head is swimming with ideas for all the things I’ll make with my new skill: cute pockets, sachet pillows, gingham placemats, even blankets — via The Purl Bee
The Federal Government has acknowledged that a third agency, beyond ASIC and the Australian Federal Police, has been using the Telecommunications Act to unilaterally block certain websites, with bureaucrats refusing to disclose which agency was involved, apart from stating that the issue was a national security matter
.
In Budget Estimates hearings last night in Canberra, broadband department deputy secretary Abul Rizvi revealed under questioning by Greens Senator and Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam that a third agency, “in the Attorney-General’s portfolio” was also using the notices to order websites blocked.
However, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy interjected in the questioning and refused to answer further questions about which specific agency or department was involved, requesting that Ludlam pose his questions on the issue to the Attorney-General’s Department directly.
In a separate hearing this morning, Ludlam posed similar questions to the AFP about the issue, at a hearing attended by bureaucrats from the Attorney-General’s Department, such as departmental secretary Roger Wilkins. There’s one other agency also using it,
Ludlam said. The full video is available online. Could someone at the table illuminate me as to who that is?
Wilkins replied: We don’t comment on national security matters, Senator.
Ludlam replied that he hadn’t asked whether the website blocking was a national security matter. It is a national security matter; we’re not commenting on it,
Wilkins added.
The comment is likely to raise fears that spy agency the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation was the agency involved in the blocking activity, as it falls under the purview of the Attorney-General’s Department. However there are also a large number of other agencies under that portfolio; listed here on the website of the department — via redwolf.newsvine.com
With shaggy fur and chunky legs, a baby Musk Ox is taking centre stage at the Calgary Zoo. The calf was born on 23 April to mum Shyia and dad Tlayopi. Though Musk Ox calves are big babies, they have a lot of growing to do before reaching their adult weight of 500 to 800 pounds — via ZooBorns
Heroes in a half shell… Snailtle power! As it is World Turtle Day, I figured it was the best day to premiere these guys. Snailonardo, Snailatello, Snailphael and Snailangelo The Ninja Snailtles! — via Crochet all the Things
A couple of weeks back, Australia’s Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) made a mistake: by trying to take down a Website promoting an investment scam, it accidentally blocked 1,200 sites using the same IP address as the scammer.
ASIC was able to attempt the take down thanks to a Section 313 Notice
, a legislative instrument that instructs telcos and ISPs to block sites that break Australian laws.
It has now emerged that there is little or no oversight or transparency in how such notices are issued, who’s allowed to request one or when they’re permitted to make such requests. That means, as a Senate Estimates hearing was told, that nobody really knows exactly how many agencies might have the right to use the notices to, as Greens Senator Scott Ludlam put it, knock a site off the Internet
.
A Section 313 notice
refers to this section of the Telecommunications Act. The act requires carriers to try and prevent their networks being used to commit offenses, and requires them to assist an undefined list of officers and authorities
of the Commonwealth, states and territories in preventing crimes using their networks.
Unfortunately, when the legislation was framed, the legislators had in mind telephones and fax machines, not the Internet. Its application to the Internet was the brainchild of Senator Stephen Conroy, as a way to implement the Interpol worst of the worst
Internet blacklist (which mainly concerns child pornography) without having to pass new legislation — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A Web user who contributed to NBCNews.com’s citizen journalism site Newsvine has sued the company for allegedly depriving her of money she earned through a revenue share program.
Kathleen Wilkes of Wisconsin says in her lawsuit that she earned around $180 from Newsvine’s prior business model, which paid users 90% of ad revenue associated with material they posted to the site. Wilkes says she requested payment in February, but that the company refused to pay her.
Newsvine quietly revised its revenue-sharing program late last year, and as part of that shift, required contributors to claim any proceeds they were owed by the end of the year, Wilkes alleges. Newsvine informed users about the change by posting an article to its home page, according to the complaint.
But Wilkes says that like many other users, she never saw that article, which ran in November and carried the headline Newsvine Now Supports Google AdSense
. She also says the company buried the most critical information at the end of the article. The last two sentences of the article said that November was the last month that users would receive 90% of ad revenue. Newsviners must cash out — or donate — their earnings Monday, December 31st,
the article ended — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Dublin Zoo is celebrating one of its most exciting arrivals of 2013: a male Southern White Rhinoceros calf. The calf, who is yet to be named, was born to mother Ashanti on 26 April and weighs approximately 50kg — via ZooBorns
It was a simple plan. They would leave their car running, dash inside the Burger King, take the money from the registers, run back out, and speed away. Then there was a small glitch, the thieves lost their car.
Gabriel Gonzalez, 19, and Jeremy Lovitt, 23, entered a Stockton Burger King Monday evening. As they were coming in, an employee snuck out the back door. The armed robbers proceeded to take the money from the registers. The employee realized the car left with the engine running was theirs, and drove it around the corner.
As Gonzalez and Lovitt exited the fast food restaurant, their car was nowhere to be found. They took off running, only to be captured by police in a field a few blocks away.
I haven’t heard of any employee actually leaving a business, getting inside the suspect vehicle, and trying to hide it,
says a Stockton officer — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Wrap the wire around your rounded jewellery pliers in a haphazard manner. Just keep track of the number of times you go around to keep your earrings consistent. Remove from the pliers and using your fingers or the pliers themselves smash the knot to flatten out as much as you can. Cut off about an inch of wire and continue to make the second knot for the second earring — via Dream a Little Bigger Craft Blog
A man found on fire in the front garden of house in County Durham, is being treated for serious burns.
The 30-year-old, who has not been named, was found by a police officer on the Woodhouse Close Estate, Bishop Auckland, on Sunday evening.
A Durham Police spokesman said witnesses were extremely distressed
but there was no threat to the public — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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