Australians can take their video mobile phones into concerts without fear of criminal sanctions, the federal Government has announced. Under amendments to federal copyright laws announced today, it will no longer be a criminal offence to take a devices capable of audio-visual recording to a live entertainment venue and record the performance without permission. The announcement outlined the federal Government’s response to a Senate committee report which had recommended changes to the Copyright Amendment Bill, 2006
A Sydney man has been charged over an alleged $1.2 million internet banking scam. The 42-year-old was arrested yesterday by detectives attached to Strike Force Ackeron, established in 2003 to investigate the scam
Microsoft’s Vista may be vulnerable to at least three pieces of widespread malware, two of which date back to 2004, according to security vendor Sophos. At least three well-known Internet worms — labelled Stratio-Zip, Netsky-D and MyDoom-O by Sophos — are able to execute on the OS. These worms comprise 39.7 percent of all malware currently in circulation, according to the security vendor. The MyDoom and Netsky variants were first detected back in 2004
The Queensland government has started seeking expressions of interest for the construction of a high-speed, open access broadband network across Brisbane. In a statement, the state’s Premier Peter Beattie said his government had already received responses from a number of parties interested in the proposed network, dubbed Project Vista
, which was first flagged in October
An official document (PDF), dated 19 November, summarises an agreement between the US and Russia in which Russia has agreed to close down AllofMP3.com, and any sites that permit illegal distribution of music and other copyright works
. The agreement is posted to the web site for the Office of the US Trade Representative. It summarises the joint efforts of the two countries to fight content piracy, an issue in which Russia and Eastern Europe figure prominently
Using cheap acoustic sensors the surface of any 3D object can be instantly made into a touch-sensitive interface capable of tracking two objects at once. Its creators are planning to make hospitals more hygienic — keyboards and mice will be replaced by desks wired to perform as keyboards and touchpads
The NSW state government will in early 2007 go shopping for suppliers to establish universal coverage
of free Wi-Fi in Sydney’s central business district (including North Sydney), in addition to the suburbs of Parramatta, Penrith and Liverpool and outlying cities Newcastle, Wollongong and Gosford
IE and Firefox might vie for dominion in desktop browsing, but Opera, makers of a browser that comes in desktop, smartphone, and mobile phone versions, wants to control the mobile space
Starting next year, French deputies will use desktops and servers running Linux, Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser, and OpenOffice.org, an open-source alternative to Microsoft Office
Sir Cliff Richard appears set to lose a battle to extend the number of years that musicians can receive royalties for their records. He wants copyright to last 95 years, rather than the present 50 years. But an independent review is to recommend the terms are not extended, a well-placed government source has said
A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan — via Pagan Prattle
Here’s yet another way to dodge the irksome requirement of presenting a valid e-mail address to register for a Web site: 10 Minute Mail, a Seam-based Web application that fills the bill just long enough to get you onto the site… and then disappears. No fuss, no muss, and best of all, no spam
Bob Averill, a student at the Art Institute of Portland, claims he was expelled for being an atheist after he challenged a young woman’s belief in the ludicrous. I jokingly asked her if she believed in leprechauns. It turns out, she does. They live on another energy layer,
Averill told the Portland Mercury. In the interest of bringing my own view to the discussion, I began to ask her how she knew these things. Again I know all too well that people can be sensitive about their spiritual beliefs, so I was pretty much walking on glass as I did so.
The other student complained to the teacher, and Averill was eventually expelled — via Portland Mercury
YouTube is coming to mobile phones — or, to be more precise, a small slice of YouTube is coming to some Verizon Wireless phones. While its explosively popular Web site is free, YouTube’s phone-based version will require a $15-a-month subscription to a Verizon Wireless service called VCast. And instead of choosing what to watch from a vast library of clips, VCast users will be limited to an unspecified number of videos selected and approved by the companies
24-year-old Sainul Abideen thinks he’s come up with an alternative to CDs and other data storage options that’ll allow for greater storage capacities and be cheaper and biodegradable to boot, using a fancy printing technique he’s devised to cram loads of data onto a plain old sheet of paper. The system appears to be somewhat similar to QR Codes and other newfangled bar code-type technologies currently in use in parts of the world other than here, but Abideen’s Rainbow Versitile Disc
can apparently store far more amounts of data than those — between 90 and 450GB — via Engadget
A new telescope has been unveiled in Mexico by President Vicente Fox. The Large Millimeter Telescope will be used to pick up electromagnetic radiation known as millimetre waves emitted 13 billion years ago, when the first stars burst into existence, astrophysicists say. The $128M telescope is a joint project between Mexico and the US. With an antenna diameter of 164 feet, the LMT dwarfs existing millimetre-wave telescopes and should be able to pick up signals from the faintest objects in outer space
Researchers at the University of Rochester have found a way to change the properties of almost any metal by using a femtosecond laser pulse. This ultra-intense laser blast creates true black metal
from copper, gold or zinc by forming nanostructures at the surface of the metal. As these nanostructures capture radiation, the metals turn black. And as the process needs surprisingly low power, it could soon be used for a variety of applications, such as stealth planes, black jewels or car paintings
I have gecko.
I’m sitting here, writing away, watching crap late night television and a gecko scuttled along the living room cornice. I didn’t know there were geckos around my house, let alone in it.
The little guy seems reluctant to be caught and has vanished under a bookshelf. If he plans on staying, he’d better learn to keep out of the way of the dogs.
Mozilla’s Firefox 2.0 has long been considered a safer Web browser than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, but a new flaw in the Firefox Password Manager could let hackers steal login data
It’s been more than 100 years since the discovery of the 2,000-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, but researchers are only now figuring out how it works. Since its discovery in 1902, the Antikythera Mechanism — with its intricate and baffling system of about 30 geared wheels — has been an enigma… During the last 50 years, researchers have identified various astronomical and calendar functions, including gears that mimic the movement of the sun and moon. But it has taken some of the most advanced technology of the 21st century to decipher during the past year the most advanced technology of the 1st century BC
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