Joint strike force shuts down largest carding operation in Australia

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28 September 2012
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The Australian Federal Police (AFP), in conjunction with NSW Police, NSW Roads and Maritime Services, and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, has shut down the largest known carding operation in Australian history, and arrested those behind the operation.

The case has been worked on for more than a year, with the different agencies assembling an Identity Security Strike Team to investigate identity fraud and carding operations, beginning in April 2011. Its investigation focused on dismantling a Sydney-based identity fraud syndicate that was responsible for manufacturing credit cards, which the AFP has said could have potentially netted around AU$37.5 million — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Police barter data retention against Australians’ privacy

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28 September 2012
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When Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Tony Negus told a parliamentary hearing yesterday that he would ideally like telecommunications customer data kept indefinitely, it was clear that he was engaged in bargaining with the government.

We would like to have it indefinitely, and if we had [our way], we would definitely like to see this held indefinitely, and then we can go back and reconstruct issues or crime scene events that happened many, many years ago. But we understand that is not practical in the context of costs associated with that, he told the committee.

He revealed that the AFP and other law enforcement agencies had asked the Attorney-General’s Department to keep so-called telecommunications metadata for longer — between five and seven years — but the department said that two years was more appropriate, given the privacy concerns and costs associated with implementing the changes. When the government released its discussion paper on the telecommunications reform proposals earlier this year, the backlash to even two years was strong.

Since then, telecommunications companies have flagged that — based on the European experience with data retention — six months is a more appropriate length of time to retain the data — via redwolf.newsvine.com

File-Sharing for Personal Use Declared Legal in Portugal

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28 September 2012
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Hoping to curb the ever-increasing piracy figures in Portugal, local anti-piracy outfit ACAPOR reported the IP-addresses of 2,000 alleged file-sharers to the Attorney General last year. This week the Portuguese prosecutor came back with a ruling and decided not to go after the individuals connected to the IP-addresses. According to the prosecutor it is not against the law to share copyrighted works for personal use, and an IP-address is not enough evidence to identify a person — via TorrentFreak

Burglars should accept risk of being shot, says judge

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27 September 2012
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A judge has told two burglars that if they choose to raid a home where the householders legally own a gun they should accept the risk of being shot.

Judge Michael Pert QC made his remarks as he jailed Joshua O’Gorman and Daniel Mansell for four years at Leicester crown court after they were blasted by Andy Ferrie’s shotgun while attempting to burgle his farm cottage in Welby, near Melton Mowbray, in the early hours of 2 September.

Rejecting a plea that he take into account the shooting, which injured and allegedly traumatised the defendants, the judge said: That is the chance you take.

O’Gorman, who was shot in the face, and Mansell, who was hit in his right hand, had pleaded guilty to the break-in at an earlier hearing.

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said they had a string of convictions between them — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Eric Clapton Selling His Ultra-Rare Platinum Patek Philippe Ref 2499

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27 September 2012
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Rock legend Eric Clapton is selling one of the finest of his watches, an ultra rare platinum-cased Patek Philippe (reference 2499/100P) Perpetual Calendar Chronograph. Watch fans — this is BIG, and let me tell you why: aside from the obvious fact that the watch is from the private collection of famous musician and Patek collector Eric Clapton, this Patek 2499 watch is one of only two ever made in platinum. Not only is it one of only two ever made, but Clapton’s Patek Philippe Ref. 2499 in platinum is the only one in private hands.

The other one? Sitting comfortably in the Patek Philippe museum in Geneva. That makes the sale of this watch on 12 November 2012, at the Four Seasons hotel in Geneva one of those rare moments of horological history in the making. This watch could fetch more than $4.25 million — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Octopus Pillow / Maine Cottage

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27 September 2012
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Each pillow is made by artisans in Wisconsin that block-print by hand using fine-art printmaking techniques. Printed on exceptional linen and cotton fabric using environmentally sensitive, water-based inks that are free of solvents, lead and heavy-metals. Everything is washable and superbly colour-fast, resulting in a product that is not only eco-friendly but also beautiful and durable — via Maine Cottage

RCM-189 Final Edition / AC Sanctuary

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26 September 2012
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The Katana GSX1100S had a strange gestation. It was conceived in Bavaria by Target Design, at the behest of Suzuki’s marketing manager for Germany. This Katana, however, comes from the Japanese resto-mod masters AC Sanctuary. Called the RCM-189 Final Edition, it’s designed to be the ultimate expression of the breed — via Bike EXIF

Gowings, Gowings but not gone

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26 September 2012
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The long-absent gargoyles are back at Gowings as one of Sydney’s most historic landmark buildings is transformed into a destination hotel.

The 17-month restoration project promises to retain the distinct heritage of the Gowings building and the State Theatre.

The building was purpose-designed back in 1912, built for the Gowings Bros department store. The retail family owned and occupied some of the building from 1929 until they went into receivership in 2006. Amalgamated Holdings bought the building for $69 million and has spent almost that figure on demolition and redevelopment.

Gothic features, originally designed by the renowned architect Crawford H Mackellar, have been returned to their former glory. The gargoyles and statuettes were removed for safety during World War II — via redwolf.newsvine.com

‘Squid from hell’ secrets revealed

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26 September 2012
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Biologists say they have unlocked secrets about the vampire squid, a mysterious creature that feeds on the decaying dead in the unlit depths.

The squid is so weird that it is known as a phylogenetic relic. It has the honour of occupying a taxononomic category all of its own, combining features of octopuses and squids in a unique evolutionary formula that has survived for millions of years.

As Vampyroteuthis infernalis — the squid from hell — it is the only species in the Order Vampyromorpha, where it was placed in 1903 — via redwolf.newsvine.com

10 Tools for Evaluating Web Design Accessibility

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26 September 2012
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Testing for web accessibility (how usable a website is by individuals with disabilities) is an often neglected part of web design and development. Web accessibility is important not only because your content will reach a wider range of audience, but also because correcting web accessibility issues have secondary benefits such as cleaner and more semantic code and better indexibility on search engines — via Six Revisions

The Tree House / Isle of Wight

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26 September 2012
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I know there are often valid reasons for selling, but I am amazed that so many houses featured on the Grand Designs show go on the market so soon after being built. The Tree House four bedroom property in Binstead, Isle of Wight (aka Tane) is another addition to the list, built in 2010 and on the market in 2012.

You can watch the episode it was featured in right now on the Channel 4 website, which shows the couple behind it buying an old bungalow, then transforming it into their dream home with one eye on it blending the new place into the surrounding woodland.

If the house and the move to the Isle of Wight appeals, you’ll need to find somewhere around the £1,000,000 to secure this place — via WowHaus

New privacy laws could mean opt-outs in all direct marketing and $1.1m fines for rule breakers

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26 September 2012
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How marketers use data to target new and existing customers is to get tougher if new laws are passed, industry body ADMA has claimed.

Among the new rules would be mandatory opt-outs in all direct marketing — including social media – and heavy fines of $1.1m for those who flout the rules, the marketing body says. But the Senate has recommended that a proposal to ban direct marketing altogether be dropped, as well as the need to deal with customers anonymously or enabling them to use a pseudonym — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Craft

Carve Rocks with a Dremel / Ashley Hackshaw

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26 September 2012
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Every crafter should have some basic carving skills under her/his belt, and this rock carving tutorial from Lil Blue Boo is a great place to get started. Just think of the creative possibilities — via MAKE

Meeting A Troll…

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26 September 2012
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It started in July 2009. I’d been on Twitter for over 2 years at that point having joined in May 2007, and I’d never had a problem. My account was followed by a fairly innocuous looking one which I followed back and within 10 minutes I had received a Direct Message (DM) calling me a Dirty f*cking Jewish scumbag. I blocked the account and reported it as spam. The following week it happened again in an identical manner. A new follower, I followed back, received a string of abusive DM’s, blocked and reported for spam. Two or three times a week. Sometimes two or three times a day. An almost daily cycle of blocking and reporting and intense verbal abuse. So I made my account private and the problem went away for a short while. There were no problems on Twitter but my Facebook account was hacked, my blog was spammed and my email address was flooded with foulmouthed and disgusting comments & images. Images of corpses and concentration camps and dismembered bodies — via redwolf.newsvine.com

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