The contest to design a commemorative quarter for this year’s Canada Day was won by Nick Wooster, aged 11, of Saanichton, British Columbia with this great, cartoony moose design.
Possibly the cutest coin I’ve ever seen — via BoingBoing
The world’s largest truck is the Liebherr T 282B, used for hauling in the mining industry. At more than 7 metres tall and 14 metres long, the 200 tonne monstrosity can still putt along at 64 kilometres per hour. New Scientist has published an interview with Francis Bartley, head of R&D for Liebherr:
The first time I was in it at a mine, the driver started to drive away and actually ran into the back of a service truck. It seems we mashed it down to the ground. I saw someone yelling, but we didn’t feel a thing.
Delicious giant Tonka toy goodness — via boingboing
Microsoft has issued a security update which changes settings in Internet Explorer to protect users of its Internet Explorer browsers from a new virus risk, although it has not actually patched the flaw. Download Mozilla now
The Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement gives corporations the power to sue government, in either domestic courts or through international arbitration, riding over democracy
RadarVision has developed a radar system that uses ultra-wideband technology to produce three-dimensional pictures of the space behind a wall from a distance of up to 20 metres. The pictures, which reportedly resemble those produced by ultrasound, are relatively high-resolution and are produced in real time. It sounds like the potential benefits of this device are huge, saving lives of soldiers, firemen, or police; the potential for privacy invasion, however, is similarly large
Ever want to silence the urban assault vehicle beside you at the stop light, pounding out gangster angst at orthodontia-rattling volumes? Now you can courtesy of Engadget
JK Rowling has silenced the rumour-mongers by confirming the new book in her series will be called Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The author of the multi-million selling books revealed the title but gave no indication of when the book would come out. Rowling laughed at suggestions the new book was to be called Harry Potter and The Pillar of Storge
Body artists in Delaware who want to go beyond tattooing and piercing soon may risk a serious tongue lashing by a judge if they don’t consult with their doctors first. A bill approved by the state Senate on Tuesday prohibits the practice of tongue splitting unless it is done by a licensed doctor or dentist. Considering the complete cluelessness of doctors and dentists on body modification procedures, I shudder to think of the complete bollocks they’ll make of it — via boingboing
Two mines thought to date from the Second World War were found off the Spanish coast after a swimmer spotted one device nestling on the seabed. Bomb disposal experts cordoned off the beach to deactivate the first mine which measured some 20 inches in diameter
Michael Moore has welcomed the appearance on the internet of pirated copies of his anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 and claimed he is happy for anybody to download it free of charge — via BoingBoing
Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that ISPs do not have to pay royalties to composers and artists for music downloaded by web customers. Companies providing wide access to the web are merely intermediaries
who are not bound by Canadian copyright legislation, the court said in a 9-0 ruling
Google changed its Gmail membership policy this week to prevent people from profiting on the sale of popular e-mail names
Professor Terry Davidson and associate professor Susan Swithers, both in the Department of Psychological Sciences, found that artificial sweeteners may disrupt the body’s natural ability to count
calories based on foods’ sweetness. This finding may explain why increasing numbers of people in the United States lack the natural ability to regulate food intake and body weight. The researchers also found that thick liquids aren’t as satisfying — calorie for calorie — as are more solid foods — via BoingBoing
It’s been a big couple o’ weeks for Apple with their WWDC thang, preview of Tiger aka Mac OS 10.4, release of Airport Express, new G5 line up and the announcement of their new cinema displays.
Another rumour though has been brought to my attention: Apple quits taking iMac orders; New model in September. Hmmm… interesting indeed, will these new breed iMacs be a totally different beast to the igloo flat-panel macs, or something shinier akin to the G5 and G4 PowerBooks. Only time and maybe some overzealous mac heads on mac rumour sites will tell.
www.happytreefriends.com. This site / collection of toons is fantastic! The production is first class, the characters are so fluffy and retro cute, but the extreme violence is truly grotesque, and amazing.
I was squirming in my seat, the violence and gore are just so well thought out. But you’ve just gotta keep watching until you yourself start to feel what it would be like to go through the perils these innocent big eyed woodland creatures are subject to.
First rate violent toon all the way.
Looks like Sony’s offering up an iPod challenger, the NW-HD1 Network Walkman Digital Music Player. A sneak peak can be seen here.
The NW-HD1, (they really need a far sexier name), is smaller and lighter than the iPod, and a bit bigger than the iPod Mini and holds 20G worth of music. As for battery life, it boasts a 30 hour rechargeable battery. Price? Looks to be about AU$800 with an August-ish release.
Will I be cashing in my beloved 30 Gigger (iPod) for one of these? No.
Will it offer some healthy competiton for Apple? Yes.
Security weaknesses in Microsoft’s server and browser software are taking their toll on Australian Internet banking sites. According to St George Bank, AusCERT and the Australian High Tech Crime Centre are helping local financial institutions track down the origins of a new Trojan that’s helping online criminals defraud consumers of their savings. BHODemon is a free tool that will list all Browser Helper Objects that are installed on a Windows system by scanning the registry and give you the ability to disable them. This will also list good
BHOs as well, but nevertheless is a useful tool in detecting and disabling malicious software. Download Mozilla now
An Australian music activist has posted what he claims to be a draft position paper from the country’s peak music industry body that rejects proposals to introduce a blank media levy paid to copyright owners as compensation for the copying of music for private and domestic purposes
Utah-based artist Tom Forsythe, who won a five-year legal battle with Mattel over his photographs of Barbie dolls sometimes naked and paired with kitchen appliances on Tuesday said the court decision cleared the way for other parodies of iconic American brands. The ruling late last week by a federal judge in Los Angeles was the second major blow in two years to a bid by toy maker Mattel to defend Barbie’s image from use by artists and singers
Distiller and beverage manufacturer Suntory has developed the world’s first blue roses with Australian firm Florigene. Suntory officials said researchers extracted the gene that produces blue pigment in pansies and activated it inside the roses — via BoingBoing
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