— via Lio
Hellboy sketchbreak! I finally watched the movie on Netflix after seeing Pacific Rim. Turns out del Toro likes making adorable action movies!? I need to read these comics for serious — via Cube Watermelon
Australians have been told they are wasting their money
on homoeopathy, with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) reporting there is no reliable evidence
homeopathic remedies are effective in treating health conditions.
The finding, which has been documented in a draft information paper, has been welcomed by some in the medical research community, who argue patients should not pay money for unproven folk remedies.
Doctor Nick Zeps, who was part of the working group that developed the paper, says the evidence that was gathered in the review would suggest that there is no reliable evidence in many instances that homoeopathy has an effect that is different from a placebo
.
If it’s no better than a placebo, then objectively you could say that they [patients] were wasting their money,
he said.
The finding has been supported by Emeritus Professor of medicine at the University of New South Wales, John Dwyer.
I think there’s no question … that people are relatively easily hoodwinked into thinking that these preparations might be effective,
he said — via redwolf.newsvine.com
It’s very uncommon to find an original 1950s English Rose kitchen in a house these days. The next best thing, if you want the look, is to buy a reproduction. Like this 1950s-inspired Creme de la Creme kitchen by John Lewis of Hungerford — via Retro To Go
Researchers have uncovered an extremely critical vulnerability in recent versions of OpenSSL, a technology that allows millions of Web sites to encrypt communications with visitors. Complicating matters further is the release of a simple exploit that can be used to steal usernames and passwords from vulnerable sites, as well as private keys that sites use to encrypt and decrypt sensitive data.
From Heartbleed.com:
The Heartbleed bug allows anyone on the Internet to read the memory of the systems protected by the vulnerable versions of the OpenSSL software. This compromises the secret keys used to identify the service providers and to encrypt the traffic, the names and passwords of the users and the actual content. This allows attackers to eavesdrop communications, steal data directly from the services and users and to impersonate services and users
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
— via Guinea Something Good
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has succeeded in having a member of the public remove a post from her Facebook wall that a spokesperson has said targeted a staff member within the department.
On Friday, in a series of Tweets from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s official Twitter account, the department asked Vanessa Powell, a teacher and a volunteer on community radio, to remove a Facebook post that “contains an offensive remark directed at a staff member” from a man named George Georgiadis — via redwolf.newsvine.com
9:365, originally uploaded by keithj5000
Almost one in five working mums lost their job before or after having a baby, a report says.
Half of Australia’s working mothers report discrimination during pregnancy, parental leave or when returning to work.
Pregnant workers say they have been sacked, threatened with sacking or didn’t have their contract renewed, according to an Australian Human Rights Commission report.
The report found 18 per cent of mothers had been made redundant, dismissed, had their job restructured or not had their contract renewed, either during their pregnancy, when requesting or taking parental leave or when they returned to work.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said women had their salaries cut and missed out on training, professional development and promotional opportunities.
The most common types of discrimination … included negative comments about breastfeeding or working part-time or flexibly and being denied requests to work flexibly,
Ms Broderick said on Monday.
The vast majority of mothers who copped discrimination — 84 per cent — said it had a negative impact on them — via redwolf.newsvine.com
There is no case, none, to limit debate about the performance of national leaders. The more powerful people are, the more important the presumption must be that less powerful people should be able to say exactly what they think of them.
That’s the Tony Abbott of 2012, addressing his friends at the Institute for Public Affairs. What a difference a couple of years makes.
New guidelines from the department of prime minister and cabinet threaten employees with discipline if they are critical or highly critical of the department, the minister or the prime minister
on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Flickr, blogs, or anywhere much else.
Note that the policy applies to posts in a personal capacity — even those made anonymously — and that public servants are urged to dob in any colleagues they might recognise.
If an employee becomes aware of another employee who is engaging in conduct that may breach this policy,
the edict explains, there is an expectation that the employee will report the conduct to the department
.
Tim Wilson, then head of the IPA, was in the audience for Abbott’s freedom wars
speech. Surely our self-proclaimed freedom commissioner will denounce measures muzzling public servants?
Not so much, no.
There is nothing inconsistent with free speech and having codes of conduct or policies as a condition of employment that require professional, respectful behaviour in their role and the public domain,
Wilson told the Daily Telegraph.
Elsewhere, Wilson explicitly rejects the charge that he cares only about the rights of the most powerful. Free speech is for everyone,
he says. But his support for the restrictions on employees illustrates that, by everyone
, he means something more like everyone I know
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
Crashed with a smile, originally uploaded by Red Wolf
The chief executive of Mozilla — the company best known for its Firefox browser — has stepped down.
Brendan Eich was appointed just last month but came in for heavy criticism for his views on same-sex marriage.
Mozilla’s executive chairwoman Mitchell Baker announced the decision in a blog post.
Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn’t live up to it,
she wrote.
We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves.
“We didn’t act like you’d expect Mozilla to act. We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry. We must do better.
Mr Eich has also stepped down from the board of the Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit organisation which owns the for-profit Mozilla Corporation — via redwolf.newsvine.com
World Vision Australia has issued a statement today that re-affirmed its pro-LGBTI workplace policies and differentiated the organisation from its US counterpart following the criticism the latter faced when it reversed an inclusiveness policy.
Midway through last week, the US branch of World Vision announced a workplace policy that would’ve allowed openly-LGBTI job seekers with the appropriate qualifications to apply for jobs. However, it was soon reversed.
According to World Vision US president Richard Stearns in a statement to Associated Press, the initial policy change had caused numerous major donors and other prominent supporters to threaten to withhold their support for the organisation’s child support, education and welfare programs if they didn’t revert back to their initial policy of requiring celibacy outside of marriage and maintaining faithfulness within the Bible covenant of marriage between a man and a woman
.
While the policy rollback caused a public relations nightmare for World Vision in the US, other branches of the global Christian relief agency, such as World Vision Australia, have been operating successfully under fully inclusive workplace policies for years.
In a statement today to the Star Observer, World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello reassured that his organisation was different to that of its American counterpart when it came to LGBTI recruitment, engagement and workplace rights — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Check out these tiny Octopus hatchlings at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Florida — via ZooBorns
Advocates on Fraser Island off south-east Queensland say the classification of dingoes as a distinct native species will allow the animals to be better protected.
University of Sydney research has led to authorities classifying the dingo as a distinct Australian animal.
Malcolm Kilpatrick from Save Fraser Island Dingoes says it will allow purebred dingoes to be distinguished from dingo dogs
.
He says purebreds need to be conserved as they play an important role in the Fraser Island ecosystem.
When you take an apex predator out of any ecological circle you’ve got a major disaster on your hands — that the next one up is going to step up and take the position of the animal that’s gone,
he said.
On the mainland whether it’s a coyote or a fox or anything like that, it can be a real problem because they spare nothing.
Mr Kilpatrick says the classification will allow better dingo protection — via redwolf.newsvine.com
This tiny Fantastic Leaf-tailed Gecko hatched at the Houston Zoo on 17 February is easy to spot perched on top of a pencil. But in the wild, these lizards are so well camouflaged that they’re nearly impossible to find — via ZooBorns
This is a great gift to compliment any bookshelf or desk and is a must have for collectors of art glass pieces — via Wildlife Wonders
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