Staff emails are not owned by firms, rules judge

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12 November 2012
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In Business, Rights, Technology
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A high court judge has ruled that companies do not have a general claim of ownership of the content contained in staff emails.

The decision creates a potential legal minefield for the terms of staff contracts and an administrative nightmare for IT teams running email servers, back up and storage.

The judge ruled businesses do not have an enforceable proprietary claim to staff email content unless that content can be considered to be confidential information belonging to a business, unless business copyright applies to the content, or unless the business has a contractual right of ownership over the content — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Internet filter backdown: Conroy announces no filter in Australia

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12 November 2012
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In Politics, Rights, Technology
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It’s appropriate that the lingering but inevitable death of Labor’s mandatory internet censorship policy finally happened this week, because it’s a third fine victory for the connected and data-aware over dumb dinosaurs.

The other two are pollster Nate Silver’s precision data-driven prediction of the US election result, and the comprehensive ridicule of TV chef Pete Evans’ belief in the nutty nutritional pseudo-sciences of alkalised water and activated almonds.

These three disparate stories demonstrate a simple, obvious but frequently forgotten fact: this internet revolution thing is completely rebuilding the way human society handles information, at every level. Information leads to knowledge, and knowledge is power. So the power relationships are changing, fundamentally, at every level of society.

Fundamentally.

Every level.

In the jockeying for power in this rapidly evolving environment, the winners will be those who understand what it’s really about. One key factor is that brains beat brawn. In the online world, brain power can be pooled to create more intelligence, whereas muscular huffing and puffing just makes you look more stupid as your most ludicrous sound bites go viral — via redwolf.newsvine.com

The SayBoat / Milan Rídký

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11 November 2012
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In Design
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The construction of minimalist house [Milan Rídký] on the water was intended to provide a highly comfortable year-round housing for two people or to be a residence for family weekends. The houseboat is built with a clear vision which can be summarised in Corbusier’s assertion that human habitation should be a cell with a view of the stars. The floating house is full-fledged residence, providing all features that are associated with a pleasant housing — via ArchDaily

Tasmanian Devils / Alma Park Zoo

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11 November 2012
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The Alma Park Zoo‘s baby Tasmanian Devils (Imps) are starting to make themselves known as they begin to venture out of the den with their mum, Lilith. All three are girls and what is even more remarkable is the fact they are all completely black. Devils usually have a white band across their chest or white across their rump, but not these girls. To have one completely black would be rare, to have three is quite exceptional — via ZooBorns

Miniature Tool Chest / William Robertson

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10 November 2012
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It’s almost difficult to comprehend that this replica of an 18th century gentleman’s tool chest, packed with tools, is only 2 inches long. It is a masterful 1/12 scale reproduction based on the Hewitt chest at Colonial Williamsburg and is by celebrated miniaturist William Robertson — via The Toolchest Site

Angled Extension / Baksvan Wengerden

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10 November 2012
44 second read
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A single subtle visual trick turns would could be a cumbersome extension into a more natural expansion in this traditional brick Dutch home — a roof form picked up in a strategically-sliced outside wall. Sloped roofs dominate the original, which are picked up in the concrete angles found in the first-level addition by Baksvan Wengerden that creates additional living space and connection to the backyard — via Dornob

Kawasaki Z1000 / Bull Dock

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9 November 2012
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This Kawasaki Z1000J is a recent Bull Dock build, but classified as a budget build by their standards. Still, the modifications are extensive. The wheels are Dynamag and have been dropped down to 17” in diameter, while the 998cc motor has been boosted to 1135cc with a Wiseco kit — via Bike EXIF

Pleasant View / Huf Haus

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9 November 2012
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Luxury all the way with this six-bedroom Huf Haus in Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey. Sadly, a price to match too.

This is, of course, a contemporary build, with those clever German craftsmen coming over and constructing this eco-friendly gem using exacting factory-made component parts. If I ever had the land and the money, I would probably give them a call too.

The house is known as Pleasant View (presumably because it offers that, courtesy of Richmond Park) and is everything you would expect from a Huf Haus and more besides.

£2,950,000 is the asking price, should you win the Lotto this weekend. More images on the listing — via WowHaus

Bulgarian archaeologists find golden treasures in ancient Thracian tomb

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9 November 2012
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In History
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Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered bracelets with snake heads, a tiara with animal motifs and a horse-head piece in a hoard of ancient golden artefacts unearthed during excavations at a Thracian tomb in the north of country.

The artefacts have been dated to the end of the fourth or the beginning of the third century BC. They were found in the biggest of 150 ancient tombs of the Getae people, a Thracian tribe that was in contact with the Hellenistic world. The hoard also yielded a golden ring, 44 female figure depictions and 100 golden buttons.

These are amazing findings from the apogee of the rule of the Getae, said Diana Gergova, head of the archaeologist team and a researcher of Thracian culture with the Sofia-based National Archaeology Institute. From what we see up to now, the tomb may be linked with the first known Getic ruler, Cothelas.

The site is at the ancient Getic burial complex near the village of Sveshtari, about 250 miles north-east of Sofia. One of the tombs there, the Tomb of Sveshtari, is included in the Unesco world heritage list for its unique architectural decor showing half-human, half-plant female figures and painted murals — via The Guardian

Twitter survives election after Ruby-to-Java move

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9 November 2012
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In Technology
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Micro-blogging site Twitter experienced record traffic as the results of the 2012 US Presidential election were announced on Tuesday night, but the service never faltered despite the increased load — something Twitter engineers credit to the company’s move from Ruby to Java for its backend software.

According to a blog post by Mazen Rawashdeh, Twitter’s VP of infrastructure operations engineering, Twitter users posted an average of 9,965 messages per second between the hours of 8.11pm and 9.11pm Pacific Time.

During a single second at 8:20pm, Twitter users produced 15,107 new posts, Rawashdeh writes, and during the peak traffic period of the evening they generated 874,560 posts in a single minute.

Such numbers are unusual for Twitter, Rawashdeh says, and they represent an evolution in how customers use the service. While in the past Twitter has experienced brief traffic spikes to mark particular events, such as New Year’s Eve or the close of a sporting event, this was the first time such heavy traffic lasted for such a sustained period. It was also the highest volume of traffic during an election since Twitter launched — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Key test for re-healable concrete

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8 November 2012
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Experimental concrete that patches up cracks by itself is to undergo outdoor testing.

The concrete contains limestone-producing bacteria, which are activated by corrosive rainwater working its way into the structure.

The new material could potentially increase the service life of the concrete — with considerable cost savings as a result.

The work is taking place at Delft Technical University, the Netherlands.

It is the brainchild of microbiologist Henk Jonkers and concrete technologist Eric Schlangen — via redwolf.newsvine.com

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