Mayid’s call shortly after 4.00am sent four Polk County, Florida, deputies racing to the 2,150-acre lake just outside Lakeland, where they jumped into the water and wrenched Apgar’s arm from the gator’s mouth. The 45-year-old victim, who told authorities he’d passed out nude on the shore after smoking crack cocaine, was rushed to a hospital in critical condition #8212; via Pharyngula
An outspoken opponent of US government efforts to reestablish the gray wolf in western states has pleaded guilty to trying to poison the federally protected species. Tim Sundles, 48, planted meatballs laced with a poisonous pesticide in Idaho’s remote Salmon-Challis National Forest in 2004 with the aim of killing wolves. The meatballs instead poisoned a coyote, fox, magpies and three pet dogs. Sundles could face as much as six months behind bars and five years probation
French and American researchers have discovered that the stones on the higher levels of the great pyramids of Egypt were built with concrete. Until recently it was hard for geologists to distinguish between natural limestone and the kind that would have been made by reconstituting liquefied lime. They found traces of a rapid chemical reaction which did not allow natural crystallisation. The reaction would be inexplicable if the stones were quarried, but perfectly comprehensible if one accepts that they were cast like concrete
What do remote-control garage door openers have to do with national security? A secretive Air Force facility in Colorado Springs tested a radio frequency this past week that it would use to communicate with first responders in the event of a homeland security threat. But the frequency also controls an estimated 50 million garage door openers, and hundreds of residents in the area found that theirs had suddenly stopped working
The Western Australia state government will pool the next 10 years of its annual AU$100 million telecommunications spend into a billion dollar contract to build a state-wide broadband network
The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone’s microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations. The technique is called a roving bug
, and was approved by top US Department of Justice officials for use against members of a New York organised crime family who were wary of conventional surveillance techniques such as tailing a suspect or wiretapping him
Those who expected the initial Vista release to generate a wave of hype will be sorely disappointed. While Vista is now available for companies, they do not really appear to care. The situation is the same with Office 2007. Why? Several reasons, not the least of which is expected difficulty in adaptation to the new features
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
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