Australian and British scientists have achieved a technical breakthrough to help control insects that have developed resistance to common agricultural pesticides. Developed by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Rothamsted Research in the UK, the technique relies on the use of naturally occurring enzyme inhibitors to disarm an insect’s defence system. The enzyme inhibitor acts first to shut down an insect’s resistance mechanisms. A few hours later, while the bug’s defences are still low, the pesticide kicks in
Sony’s latest DVD Burner can be connected directly to your VCR or Camcorder to record or back up your home movies, TV shows, whatever. It can also be hooked up to a PC via a USB 2.0 connection. The device effectively removes the PC from the equation, giving users an easier way to make their own DVDs. No word yet if it will record straight from your television, or from your DVD Player to circumvent copy-protection
The FBI has issued an order to hosting provider Rackspace in the US, ordering it to turn over two of the servers [BugMeNot] hosting the Independent Media Centre’s web sites in the UK. Rackspace complied with the FBI order, without first notifying Indymedia, and turned over Indymedia’s server in the UK. This affects over 20 Indymedia sites worldwide. The servers have since been returned, but are being treated as compromised
An elusive giant ape [BugMeNot] has been spotted in remote forests in central Africa, sparking theories that it could be a new species of primate — a finding that would be the most astonishing wildlife discovery in decades. The mysterious creatures have been seen in forests around the towns of Bondo and Bili, in the far north of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Scientists are warning that the earth’s climate could be changing more rapidly than anyone thought because of a sudden and unexplained rise in the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide
The wags at Fairfax have sent out a job ad for Prime Minister: Having previously advertised elsewhere, and after receiving only two mediocre applications, our client is now undergoing an urgent nationwide search for the position of Leader of Our Great Country.
Somehow, I can’t see Murdoch’s press monkeys doing the same thing
As if I needed any more proof that the vast number of my countrymen are deeply stupid people, John Howard was re-elected as moron in chief. Not that Latham‘s any better, but it seems Australians are far too apathetic to kick the arses of two of the country’s biggest idiots. At least there is some satire on the matter around: You have betrayed the lord our Gough and his only begotten political son, Latho. Fie, FIE! I predict there will be seven plagues of regret: the sale of Telstra, the destruction of Medicare, more damaging Americanisations, higher interest rates, further embarrassing human rights abuses against immigrants and indigenous people, Christian fundamentalists, and Tony Abbott
Two Presidential candidates — for the Green and Libertarian parties — attempted to serve papers on the Commission on Presidential Debates, demanding the right to participate. As they attempted to approach the CPD officials, they were arrested. Makes the behaviour of the Australian pollies look tame by comparison — via BoingBoing
Voting is under way across the country, as 13 million Australians choose their next leader. Oh joy, the time has come around again where we get to choose to keep the lying mongrel we have or swap him for an almost indistinguishable lying mongrel. I don’t see why we can’t have them both taken out the back and beaten with a stick
The tall bearded irises that I got from Kris have flowered. Their large, bright yellow flowers are quite spectacular.
Now to see what the rest of the irises look like when they flower.
Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan who created a women’s movement which has planted more than 30 million trees in 20 countries, became the first African woman to win the Nobel peace prize
Three teenagers who complained about leaflets that named them as part of a gang which terrorised
an area of north-west London were told by the High Court yesterday that the publicity had not breached their human rights
Business e-mail security provider, MessageLabs, has issued a warning to Internet users not click on the opt-out
link on spam e-mails, as the company said it had discovered yesterday a number of messages using this function to open a spam distribution point on the recipient’s computer
The House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at making spyware illegal, and the bill could be made law as soon as this week
Hitachi and Toshiba unveiled new fuel cell prototypes for a range of applications that could be commercialised as early as next year. The prototypes on display at Ceatec Japan 2004 show that fuel cells could become a widely adopted supplementary power source to conventional lithium ion batteries, and could start replacing them in some applications after 2007
The Western Australian Internet Association has slammed the Internet censorship policy created by the Family First Party in the wake of Australia’s biggest ever child porn bust. The group said it shares the public’s outrage
over the child pornography racket but it is concerned that the actions of a small minority could be used as a justification for unwarranted restrictions on the rights of ordinary Internet users to access material freely online
The Liberal Party today defended its use of pre-recorded phone messages from John Howard, with which it is bombarding households across Australia in the lead-up to polling day. Labor has lodged an official complaint saying the spam contravenes the electoral act
Red the lurcher astonished staff at Battersea Dogs’ Home in south London by learning not only to how to unbolt his kennel door, but then to liberate his favourite canine companions to join the fun
Constantin Mocanu, an elderly Romanian man, mistook his penis for a chicken’s neck, cut it off and his dog rushed up and ate it. Doctors said the man, who was brought in by an ambulance bleeding heavily, was now out of danger
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