A family of animals known as Diatomyidae thought to have been dead for 11 million years has been discovered in Laos. Fossilised remnants of this group have been found throughout Asia with a distinctive jaw structure and molars. It represents a rare opportunity to compare assumptions derived from the fossil record and an actual living specimen to determine overall accuracy of the techniques involved. This discovery also provides a compelling argument for preservation efforts in Southeast Asia
Automated phone system annoy the hell out of people, so it is a welcome relief to find GetHuman, which offers a list of hacks for getting to talk to a human faster. The Australian section is still in progress
Today, the possibility of being moved around by an outside force is more science than fiction, thanks to researchers at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in Japan
iiNet will invest a further AU$15 million into expanding its ADSL2+ network which should increase its coverage to 90 percent of metropolitan Australia. The additional funding would allow the nation’s third largest ISP to install another 150 DSLAMs (DSL Access Multiplexers) in exchanges around Australia by January 2007
Australian scientists have uncovered what they believe are the earliest examples of Buddhist literature. Carbon dating of rare manuscripts from a private collection dubbed the Dead Sea scrolls of Buddhism
may reveal the religion’s ancient origins
An upcoming version of Firefox will include protection against phishing scams, using technology that might come from Google
Google’s official blog tells us that Google has acquired Writely, a collaborative word processor. To be clear, Writely is still in beta, and it’s far from perfect. Upholding our great user experience means everything to us, so we’re not accepting new registrations until we’ve moved Writely to Google’s software architecture. If you’re interested in giving us a try, we hope you’ll get on the waitlist so we can let you know when you’ll be able to try out Writely
Google is preparing to offer online storage to web users, creating a mirror image of data stored on consumer hard drives, according to company documents that were mistakenly released on the web
Cops in Orange County, California, have recently been issuing citations to public transit users who listen to music on headphones while riding the bus — via boingboing
Scientists at the University of Dublin have found a way to break down styrofoam, the bane of recyclers/composters everywhere. This could be a great step towards sustainability, but it does require the styrofoam to be heated first
Walter Soehnge, a retired Texas schoolteacher, and his wife had a little run in with the Department of Homeland Security. The crime? Paying off their credit card
La La, a new online music service aims to offer CDs for $US1 by letting members trade used physical discs, in a new twist on online song swapping
A US state has signed into law a bill banning most abortions, in a move aimed to force the US Supreme Court to reconsider its key ruling on the issue. The South Dakota law — approved by the governor on Monday — makes it a crime for doctors to perform terminations. Exceptions will be made if a woman’s life is at risk, but not in cases of rape or incest. Harking back to the era of Jane, an organisation providing illegal abortions in the Chicago area in the 1960s and early 1970s, Molly has published a manual for setting up an abortion clinic
Robert Fisk says that in his three decades of reporting from the Middle East for British newspapers, he’s never seen it more dangerous, and that he’s certain another major crisis, possibly even another September 11, is coming. The veteran war reporter also says he remains baffled by just who is trying to generate civil war in Iraq
SMS 007, a Java application developed by Czech company CircleTech, can encrypt SMS messages on mobiles. The encryption used ensures that wiretapping entities cannot get to the plaintext version of the message. Data stored by the programme is also protected by encryption, so stealing the phone and examining it for data is useless
About 50,000 opponents of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra are holding a peaceful protest in Bangkok, vowing to stay in the streets until he steps down. Thai television has been notorious for remaining silent when historic events are happening. Instead of covering the protest they aired Backstreet Boys concerts, MTV shows, commercials and chat — via Warren Ellis
Missouri legislators in Jefferson City, unfamiliar with the separation of church and state, considered a bill that would name Christianity the state’s official majority
religion — via Warren Ellis
Fairfax has agreed to buy New Zealand internet auction site Trade Me for NZ$700 million dollars
A church was blocking the only high speed signal in town, so Kevin Lavallée decided he needed to go higher. This is the story of one man’s quest to build a 60-foot reception tower in his yard and retire his modem once and for all
Desmond Irvine, 74, was so heartbroken by the death of his wife Veronica on Valentine’s Day that he put her in a nice dress and, with the help of his son, took her in a taxi from Edinburgh, Scotland to their holiday home in Berwick, England where they put her in the freezer. Two weeks later, police were tipped-off by concerned family members and discovered the body. Desmond was detained by police for nine hours. Apparently, Desmond and his son are now trying to bring Veronica back home — via Boing Boing
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