The Psychology Of The Honour System At The Farm Stand

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13 June 2012
2 min read
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In Business
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In a state full of tasty surprises, count the Swanton Berry Farm, along the coast highway just north of Santa Cruz, California, among the most charming. At this pick-your-own, certified-organic berry field and farm stand cafe on the planted bluffs above a tumbling surf, you can pick or picnic with ocean views –— and, if you’re lucky, catch a glimpse of a grey whale and her calf migrating north from Baja. Locals bring out-of-town guests to Swanton’s to swoon over the juicy organic strawberries or blackberries on buttery shortcake, or the scones slathered with tartly sweet, small-batch strawberry-citrus jam.

But what customers seem to love at least as much as the expansive views and good food is Swanton’s old-style method of payment: Step up to the unmanned counter whenever you’re ready, figure out what you owe (scratch paper provided), and stuff the cash through a slot in the honour box. Swanton founder Jim Cochran says his stand has thrived for years on the honour payment system, a style of business he first admired as a college student at his favourite bakery in Santa Cruz decades ago — via redwolf.newsvine.com

4G ‘far superior’ to the NBN, claims Joe Hockey

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13 June 2012
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In Politics, Technology
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Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey has inaccurately claimed that 4G mobile broadband has the potential to be far superior to the fibre technology which Labor’s National Broadband Network policy features, in a controversial interview in which he also claimed that it could cost Australians up to $1,000 to connect to the NBN.

The claims were made in a radio interview which Hockey gave with the ABC’s Statewide Mornings show on ABC 936 in a visit to Tasmania last week. The host, Leon Compton, asked Hockey a number of questions about the Coalition’s own approach to the NBN. In one segment of the interview, Hockey spoke extensively about the potential of wireless technologies to serve the nation’s future broadband needs — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Plague of dodgy prescriptions puts illicit drugs in the shade

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13 June 2012
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In Health
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Despite a lively public debate about illicit drugs, the dominant drugs of addiction overtaking Western societies are those prescribed legally by trusted doctors. Prescription drugs, initially given to modulate chronic pain, reduce disabling anxiety or lift fledgling moods, are most likely to become chemicals of abuse and addiction.

The numbers are staggering.

The National Drug Strategy household survey results in 2009 reported more than 1.2 million Australians had used a pharmaceutical drug for a non-medical purpose.

Several experts, such as Professor Nick Lintzeris of Sydney University, believe as many as 100,000 Australians may have a problem with prescription painkillers. Prescribed opioids are fast replacing heroin, cocaine and ice as the drug of choice in the illicit markets — via redwolf.newsvine.com

What is an internet troll?

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13 June 2012
3 min read
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In Politics, Technology
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I’m sitting waiting for the House of Commons to start debating a Law Against Trolls or, as they would call it, an amendment to the Defamation Act. It would basically let internet providers off the hook for the publication of their content, so long as they signed up to divulge the identity of any of their users. To warrant such a disclosure, the injured party would have to show that their reputation had been significantly damaged; then they would be given the offender’s identity, and would be free to pursue a civil case. Online abuse still won’t be a criminal offence, even if the bill is passed. It has wide support in parliament, so is not intended to be a very heated debate: I want to watch it to see how many MPs actually know what a troll is.

The term is widely misused: Frank Zimmerman, who received a suspended sentence for asking Louise Mensch which of her children she wished to remain alive, is not a troll, he is a hater (the death threats take him beyond the realm of ordinary hater into criminal hater; but that’s his category nonetheless). You can hear haters described in song by Isabel Fay, but they’re not the same as trolls, even while many people (Fay included) use the terms interchangeably (I’m not being a hater when I say that, by the way; I’m being a pedant). Trolls aren’t necessarily any more pleasant than haters, but their agenda is different – they don’t just want to insult a particular person, they want to start a fight — hopefully one that has a broader application, and brings in more people than just the object of their original trolling. The term derives from a fishing technique – say your stupid thing, watch the world bite — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Police find 26 child laborers at New Delhi factories

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13 June 2012
1 min read
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In Business, Rights
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Police raided factories in New Delhi today and rounded up 26 children who were working at dangerous textile factories and metal processing plants, the Associated Press reported. Some of them were working in acid and metal, Kailash Satyarthi of India’s charity Save the Child told the AP.

The Child Labour Act from 1986 allows children to be employed, but only in industries that are not categorised as hazardous, Can-India reported. And in 2006, the Indian government ruled that no child under the age of 14 should legally work, the Times of India reported. Yet activists say the law is regularly ignored — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Hitchhiker shot while researching ‘Kindness of America’

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13 June 2012
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In Weird
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A hitchhiker researching a book on The Kindness of America is currently recovering in hospital after a gun-toting truck driver game him a small donation of some searing hot lead.

Ray Dolin, was hitching on Highway 2 in Montana on Saturday as part of a project to produce a memoir on the great things about the open road in the big country.

Dolin was sitting on his backpack, just west of of the town of Glasgow early Saturday evening when a pickup truck slowed down.

However, rather than extending the offer of a ride, the driver extended a gun out of the window and shot Dolin in the arm.

The pickup truck then headed west, leaving Dolin to use his other arm to flag down a passing driver, who then notified the authorities — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Browse Like Bond: Use Any Computer Without Leaving a Trace with Tails

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12 June 2012
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In Technology
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In this post, we’ll walk through how to use a USB stick or DVD to anonymise, encrypt, and hide everything you do on a computer no matter where you are. When we say browse without leaving a trace, we truly mean it. Using the Linux-based, live-boot operating system Tails (The Amnesiac Incognito Live System), you can use any computer anywhere without anyone knowing you were ever on it. Tails is a portable operating system with all the security bells and whistles you’ll ever need already installed on it. You can install Tails on one of your many dust-gathering USB drives or a DVD. We’ll show you how to set up your own portable boot disc in the second section, but let’s start by taking a look at what you get with Tails — via Lifehacker

China’s mighty terracotta army gains 100 soldiers

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12 June 2012
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In History
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Emperor Qinshihuang’s terracotta army appears even mightier after Chinese archeologists unearthed more than 100 additional soldiers, though the warriors fell prey to arson and looting by the military leader who overthrew the First Emperor’s dynasty, the new find suggests.

We have found large quantities of red clay and charcoal along with holes for robbing in the major pit, Shen Maosheng, who is leading one of the teams, told Shanghai Daily. Rebel leader Xiang [Yu] was the person with the power, time and motive to destroy the terracotta warriors.

He believes Xiang’s troops stole the weapons and smashed figures before setting fire to parts of the pit.

In all, more than 8,000 soldiers have been uncovered at the world famous mausoleum in Xi’an, north-west China, but much of it is still unexplored. The 310 relics found in this phase of excavation, which began in 2009, are believed to be only a fraction of those that remain — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Far-flung dung beetles here to ‘finish the job’

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12 June 2012
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In Science, Wildlife
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Specially chosen for their spring frenzy and voracious appetite for dung, two new species of European dung beetles have arrived in Australia to improve cattle pastures and finish off a job well started through more than 40 years of dung beetle work by CSIRO and partners.

Collected in the south of France, Onthophagus vacca and Bubas bubalus are the first new species of dung beetles imported in more than 20 years through a project led by CSIRO and supported by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Websites to be forced to identify trolls under new measures

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12 June 2012
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In Politics, Rights, Technology
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Websites will soon to be forced to identify people who have posted defamatory messages online.

New government proposals say victims have a right to know who is behind malicious messages without the need for costly legal battles.

The powers will be balanced by measures to prevent false claims in order to get material removed — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Alleged Romanian Subway Hackers Were Lured to US

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12 June 2012
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In Technology, Weird
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The alleged ringleader of a Romanian hacker gang accused of breaking into and stealing payment card data from hundreds of Subway restaurants made news late last month when he was extradited to face charges in the United States. But perhaps the more interesting story is how his two alleged accomplices were lured here by undercover U.S. Secret Service agents, who promised to shower the men with love and riches.

Adrian-Tiberiu Oprea, 27, appeared in a New Hampshire federal court a week ago Tuesday, after being extradited from Constanta, Romania to face charges of hacking into the point-of-sale terminals at more than 150 Subway restaurants and at least 50 other retailers. Oprea was among four men indicted last year on charges of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, wire fraud and access device fraud.

Two of Oprea’s alleged accomplices arrived in Boston one day apart in August 2011, and were arrested immediately after stepping off of their respective flights. Previous news stories have noted their arrests and detentions in the United States, but all of the accounts I read neglected to mention one very interesting fact: Both men entered the country of their own volition — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Outstanding Octopus Pumps

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12 June 2012
37 second read
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In Design, Wildlife
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These unique high heels feature 4.75″ heels (3.25″ if you exclude the 1.5″ platform sole), and a black velveteen body with a red octopus embroidered across the entire shoe including the heel! They say it’s not nice to walk all over your friends, but these little guys are happy to get stepped on all day long — via PLASTICLAND

Zombie bullets fly off US shelves after wave of undead attacks

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12 June 2012
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Special ammunition optimised for fighting zombies is selling like hot cakes in the USA, according to reports, following sensational media coverage of incidents involving flesh-eating and similar undead-esque behaviour.

In particular, fears of an imminent zombie plague were stoked by the recent case of Rudy Eugene. The 31-year-old was shot dead by police officers in Miami last month while chewing on another man’s face — presumably in an attempt to get at his brain. Other vaguely similar incidents have been dredged up and conflated with this by various media outlets to produce a tenuous undead-apocalypse theme.

All this has apparently been extremely fortunate for US ammo maker Hornady, which last October brought out its Zombie Max line of cartridges (make dead permanent). We hear courtesy of WWJ Detroit that Zombie Max rounds are flying off the gun-shop shelves — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Villa Poiret / Robert Mallet-Stevens

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12 June 2012
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In Design
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Quite a long title and this listed 1920s Robert Mallet-Stevens-designed art deco Villa Poiret property in Île-de-France, near Paris, France has quite a long and complex history.

Sat around 25 miles out of Paris, it was originally designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens for fashion designer Paul Poiret, with building starting in 1923. Unfortunately, the house, one of three designed by Mallet-Stevens in France, never got completed at the time due to a lack of funds / Poiret’s bankruptcy.

It was left as a shell until after the war, when architect Paul Boyer, who was entrusted to complete the works, whilst preserving the original design (although he added a moderne touch, which was the rage at the time). It stayed in the same ownership until 1985, stayed empty until 1999, then was bought and restored to its former glory, using the post-war plans.

Price on application, but we suspect Villa Poiret doesn’t come cheap — via WowHaus

Ducati Pantah / Radical Ducati

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10 June 2012
46 second read
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In Design
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There’s a sweet spot in custom motorcycle building—a point where performance and beautiful aesthetics collide. Spain’s Radical Ducati hit this spot time after time, and they’ve done it again with ‘Pantahstica’. You could be forgiven for thinking it’s a Ducati Pantah, given the color scheme, but it’s actually based on a Cagiva Alazzurra, a mid-80s touring derivative of the Pantah — via Bike EXIF

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