Scotland’s adoption laws are set to be radically overhauled in a bid to cut the record numbers of children currently in foster care who need a permanent home. Ministers are poised to introduce measures next year which will, for the first time, allow unmarried and same-sex couples to adopt. They are also expected to make major changes to the law in the hope of streamlining the tortuous adoption process, which is blamed for deterring many parents from signing up
Those clever folks at RCA have apparently designed a DVD player that automatically scans movies and censors them to make them kosher, as it were. That means none of the naughty bits and none of those bad words either. It will be sold by Walmart for the price of $79, and what with the recent Janet Jackson ‘wardrobe malfunction’ this product will likely be lauded by the FCC and moralists everywhere, though Hollywood is already complaining
The video of a man who shot himself after his girlfriend broke up with him has appeared online under the heading of Introducing: The Self-Cleansing Housing Projects
. The report mentions that the police officers receive no training to deal with privacy issues
If you’ve ever hit a crossword question asking for the collective noun for a particular group of animals, the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Centre has a page titled Animal Congregations, or What Do You Call a Group Of…? that may help you.
Worth noting that the NPWRC page is talking through its arse once it gets to the non-American animals — a group of kangaroos is a mob, not a troop, as are sheep if you’re in Australia — so for something a little more worldly try; Scorpio Tales’ Collective Nouns, Fun With Words’ Collective Nouns, and OjoHaven’s Collective Nouns.
For less than 5% of the price of a real Steadycam (the ones made for small video cameras go for about $900), you can apparently build your own SteadyCam for $14 with parts from a hardware store. The sample video makes it look pretty good. Great gift for the amateur videographer in your life who refuses to use a tripod, the bastard
Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology are refining a method that uses the current generation of chip-making tools to produce smaller chips than previously thought possible with those tools. The key ingredient happens to be one of the most commonly available substances on the planet. By running a small stream of water across a silicon wafer as the circuit lines are being etched into the chip, the current generation of lithography tools can produce circuits down to the 45nm level due to the refractive properties of water
A proposed California law that would have significantly broadened the scope of an existing state identity theft law has been quietly amended in what appears to be a concession to groups opposing it
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has unexpectedly suspended plans for a massive dam system on the Nu River in western China that scientists had warned could ruin one of the country’s last unspoiled places. Wen’s intervention signals that China’s top leaders have not approved a plan that most opponents had considered a fait accompli. However, environmentalists cautioned that the dam project could still eventually go forward in some form
I highly recommend getting an RSS feed of Rojisan’s Meta-Roj Blog for updates of his continuing adventures of exposing and dealing with the moronic spammers who foolishly deface his site. There’s currently are rather animated discussion between Roj and a complete fuckwit who seems determined to avoid getting a clue
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader called Tuesday for the retarded monkey boy to be impeached [BugMeNot] for deceiving the American people night after night after night
about US involvement in Iraq. When you plunge our country into war on a platform of fabrications and deceptions, and you bring back thousands of American soldiers who are sick, injured or dead, and that war is unconstitutionally authorised to begin with, Mr Bush’s behaviour qualifies for the high crimes and misdemeanour impeachment clause of the Constitution,
the 2000 Green Party presidential nominee said to applause from about 200 students at Columbia College Chicago. Nader said President Clinton was impeached for far less of an offence
Scientists have detected the first signs that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) may have crossed into sheep in a study that is likely to rekindle anxieties over the safety of lamb and mutton
A pregnant woman in Mexico gave birth to a healthy baby boy after performing a caesarean section on herself with a kitchen knife. It is thought to be the first known case of a self-inflicted caesarean in which both the mother and baby survived. The unidentified 40-year-old, who lived in a rural area without electricity, running water or sanitation that was an eight-hour drive from the nearest hospital, performed the operation when she could not deliver the baby naturally
NEC has developed a battery that can be recharged only in 30 seconds. Called an organic radical battery, it can be recharged to the same level of power as that stored in nickel-hydrogen cells, which are widely used in digital cameras, portable MD players and other electronic devices. It takes only about 30 seconds to recharge the battery enough to allow 80 hours of continuous operation of an MD player, compared with around an hour needed by conventional rechargeables — via Meta-Roj Blog
The latest fashion trend to hit the Netherlands is eyeball jewellery. Dutch eye surgeons have implanted tiny pieces of jewellery in the mucous membranes of the eyes of six women and one man. Called Jewel Eye, the cosmetic surgery procedure has been pioneered by an ophthalmic surgery research and development institute in Rotterdam. The procedure involves inserting a 3.5mm wide piece of specially developed jewellery into the eye’s mucous membrane. The technique is performed under local anaesthetic at a cost of about $800 to $1,600 — via Die Puny Humans
Regular doses of worms really do rid people of inflammatory bowel disease. The first trials of the treatment have been a success, and a drinkable concoction containing thousands of pig whipworm eggs could soon be launched in Europe. At the moment the concoction cannot be stored for long, so doctors or hospitals would have to prepare fresh batches of the eggs for their patients. But a new German company called BioCure, whose sister company BioMonde sells leeches and maggots for treating wounds, hopes it will soon solve the storage problem
The film industry is fighting rampant piracy in Russia with a new tactic: cutting prices. To fight piracy in Russia, where 9 out of 10 DVDs are illegal copies, Columbia TriStar, a division of Sony, will price discs at no more than 299 rubles, or just over US$10, less than half of the current price. Warner Home Video, a division of Time Warner, has already cut its prices in Russia to the equivalent of US$15
Chuckles Central makes handbags and other accessories filled with sickeningly sweet cuteness, all handmade by genuine humans. They sell felt decorated robot handbags, crocheted iPod / digital camera / mobile phone cozies, laptop magnets and robot magnets.
Mozilla have got their finger out in the merchandising department and know have Firebird t-shirts available.
Yet another wacky controller for PS2 is about to be released, this one is a wireless motion-sensitive sword for a character in Onimusha 3.
Magnetoids are yet another magnet toy for me to drool over. Despite sounding like some kind of strange ointment for an android’s rear port, these curious yet beautiful little oblique spheroids are actually incredibly powerful magnets that simply can’t bear to be apart.
Pioneer Electronics just announced that they will introduce an electron-beam recorder for next-generation optical data storage. The electron beam is much finer than that of a typical laser so they are able to achieve densities of 50GB or more with a standard 12cm disc
The Teletubbies and Tweenies are to be banned from promoting unhealthy children’s food, the BBC announced yesterday. The change follows intense pressure from food campaigners concerned that pre-school television characters are used to sell foods high in salt, sugar and fat
The Government will split amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception) Act, holding off changes that could have blocked employers from monitoring staff e-mail for viruses and offensive content. The decision came after a senate committee examining the amendments was most concerned
about a dispute between the Australian Federal Police and the Attorney-General’s Department over how police had been interpreting the existing Act. The AFP has been using search warrants to access suspects’ e-mail accounts and download messages, a practice the department said was not permitted under the legislation
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