Microsoft says parts of the source code, or software blueprint, for its closely-guarded Windows programs has leaked onto the Internet, possibly exposing its products to hackers and illicit copying. Microsoft said that copies of the source code from its Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems were being traded over the Internet, but that the copies comprised a tiny portion of the millions of lines of code used to create its cash cow products — via The Importance Of
Germany’s local and city councils have been pioneering the migration from Windows to Linux. Now, one of the IT staff behind one move has revealed how they persuaded workers to accept the changes. Stuffed toy penguins and Linux t-shirts helped to create an open-source love-in at the council offices, and they got a senior chairwoman to demonstrate the new system to the troops. Male ego stopped anyone claiming that Linux was difficult to use, once they’d seen that the weaker sex
could master it
It’s not all hearts and puppies over at Fuck Valentine’s Day 2004 headquarters.
Do you hate Valentine’s Day, and look forward to February 14th with a sense of impending doom? So do we! Purchase ‘Fuck Valentine’s Day’ posters, gift cards, and download free wallpapers.
Have a downtrodden, depressing story about Valentine’s Day? Think the holiday sucks ass? Can’t stand February 14th? Share with us your testimonials and stories by e-mailing us at fvday@att.net.
The guys at Something Awful have been doing awful things to the Bayeux Tapestry. A lot of the jokes are lame, but there are a few gems.
My favourite is Apriori‘s A fovl and pestilent congregation of vapovrs hast occvred in me pantaloons
.
Feel free to take a crack yourself — via Making Light
We’ve all long suspected it and now the research of Dr Susan Hallam of the Institute of Education at the University of London confirms it: homework is a waste of time. Anxiety, boredom, fatigue and emotional exhaustion are all side-effects of bringing schoolwork home, according to a review of 75 years of study into the issue.
Even those who believe homework improves their performance in the classroom resent the encroachment on their spare time.
And the best place for extra study may not, in fact, be at home. The report by the Institute of Education makes a case for out-of-hours study to be done in after-school learning clubs, away from the potentially disruptive influence of parents.
Tensions are the most pronounced in middle-class families where the pressure to succeed can create a volatile atmosphere. Parents who are overbearing can undermine any pleasure children derive from study.
Parents have the most positive influence when they offer moral support, make appropriate resources available and discuss general issues. They should only actually help with homework when their children specifically ask them to — via The Green Man
Doc Searls and David Weinberger, co-authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto, have put together a 10-part guide for how to stop mistaking the Internet for something it isn’t. It contains some painfully obvious and often overlooked characteristics of the world of ends we call the Internet
Greens MP Ian Cohen is reporting that the independent
NSW Advisory Council on Gene Technology has become nothing more than a rubber stamp for companies seeking to grow commercial-sized GM crops, despite legislation enforcing a three-year ban
Comcast’s hostile bid for Disney this week has created turmoil on three pivotal fronts — and the outcome of each skirmish could have a direct impact on what most Americans see on their television screens and when they use a high-speed cable Internet connection. On the business front, Disney won’t take things lying down. Wall Street aren’t too impressed with the spectre of the AOL-Time Warner deal still in recent memory. And consumer advocates have signaled they’re going to fight the merger
Telstra has been accused of fuelling massive profits by charging consumers too much in telephone line rental fees, after it announced a half-year profit of almost $2.3 billion
Technology Review has an interesting article about how kids are writing Harry Potter fan fiction and editing each other’s stories in order to become better prolific writers.
FictionAlley, the largest Harry Potter archive, hosts more than 30,000 stories and book chapters, including hundreds of completed or partially completed novels. Its (unpaid) staff of more than 200 people includes 40 mentors who welcome each new participant individually. At the Sugar Quill, another popular site, every posted story undergoes a peer-review process it calls
beta-reading. New writers often go through multiple drafts before their stories are ready for posting.The beta-reader service has really helped me to get the adverbs out of my writing and get my prepositions in the right place and improve my sentence structure and refine the overall quality of my writing,explains the girl who writes under the pen name Sweeney Agonistes — a college freshman with years of publishing behind her.Like many of the other young writers, Agonistes says that Rowling’s books provide her with a helpful creative scaffolding:
It’s easier to develop a good sense of plot and characterization and other literary techniques if your reader already knows something of the world where the story takes place,she says. By poaching off Rowling, the writers are able to start with a well-established world and a set of familiar characters and thus are able to focus on other aspects of their craft. Often, unresolved issues in the books stimulate them to think through their own plots or to develop new insights into the characters.
Sharman Networks threw down the legal challenge Tuesday in Australia’s Federal Court in Sydney. Sharman was raided by Music Industry Piracy Investigations, a private investigations unit established by the Australian Recording Industry Association to crack down on copyright infringement, including illegal Internet file sharing. MIPI successfully applied to the federal court for a number of private search warrants, known as Anton Piller orders, which were executed at 12 locations, including Sharman’s offices in Sydney. The order allowed MIPI to seize data and documents from all 12 sites, including the private residence of Sharman chief executive Nikki Hemming. The raids are a prelude to a copyright infringement suit, which will argue that Sharman has the ability to block the transfer of copyrighted works through its software but refuses to do so. Sharman vehemently denies the claim. Telstra is attempting to have the Anton Pillar orders overturned
The practice of releasing movies and DVDs at different times around the world is one of the major reasons for piracy. Even scissor-happy Blockbuster are calling for it to be ended, but their interest is more in carving out a share of the parallel importation market for themselves
US-based Primus Telecom Group announced its pending acquisition of ISP AOL|7, expanding the group’s customer base to a nearly half-million strong
A joke for your amusement: City Rail! (b-boom chiing!)
I’m not going to go into too much detail on the bullshit that has been subjected to us weary commuters. Driver strikes, gas leaks, cancellation,s etc, etc, etc. Good thing I got me an iPod, that’s all I’m gonna say.
So, to bring some sort of grin to our faces and extra dollars back in our wallets, City Rail will be offering (drum roll please): Complimentary Travel for Regular Commuters. Further details here: How To Redeem Your Free Travel.
City Rail, I would say thanks but I won’t. You’ve fucked up too much of late. We commuters deserve this as well as a reliable public transport system, not one that goes screwy when there’s some rain or it’s too hot or whatever.
So now that just leaves the question of what to do with my extra $37 next week. Let’s see, a cd, or dvd, or drinks, or astro boy figures, or kenshin figures, or new headphones for iPod, or more frangipani sea salt body scrub (don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it), or it could go towards my monthly massage… who knows at this stage. The possibilities are as endless as the value of a $37 weekly rail ticket.
OOOHHH!! Check this out a feedback form on City Rail service. Do I really need to tell you what to do with this, my angry hate filled friends?
Teller has an interesting article about his search for Donna Delbert, a legendary fire eater from the 40s. Rumored to be the American widow of a British tank gunner killed in the Normandy invasion, she was actually Delbert Hill, a male PFC gone AWOL from the USAF
Kids who spend their first year of life around dogs may have a lower risk of developing allergies, Dr James E Gern has found. Having a cat, however, appears to have no effect on allergy risk
A South African farmer and three others have been charged with murder, accused of feeding an ex-worker to lions, after police found a human skull and pieces of a leg in a lion enclosure — via Die Puny Humans
Chea Vichea [BugMeNot], popular leader of Cambodia’s independent trade union movement and outspoken activist for the rights of textile workers in his country, was murdered recently by three bullets at point blank range, while he was reading a newspaper at a café in a Phomn Penh street. Vichea was responsible for the placement of a complaint with the ILO’s Committee of Freedom of Association in the wake of the sacking of more than 30 textile factory workers, including Vichea himself, who were also union members. Vichea claimed that the workers were fired because of their union membership. The report was scheduled to be made public the day after the murder
The Union Network International, representing 15 million workers worldwide, has hit out at US-based security multinational Chubb over its actions in East Timor [BugMeNot]. The public condemnation of the company follows the sacking of 32 local workers who were employed in cleaning and security areas for Chubb’s client in Dili, the World Bank. The union claims that the workers were removed after they took strike action as a means of disputing a company attempt to cut wages by 30%. The union also claims that the company has sought to re-hire the workers but only if they eschew union membership and sign individual contracts accepting a significant wage cut. These measures are believed to be in contravention of East Timor law and fall short of complying with international labour laws
A British-based company is selling MP3 players which can be attached to an assault rifle. The AK-MP3
player is built into the ammunition clip of a Kalashnikov. It can be swapped with the real magazine carrying bullets and inserted into the weapon. The device is being advertised on the internet by a Buckinghamshire-based company set up by a group of Russian businessmen who sell audio books. It comes with enough storage space to hold 3,000 audio books or 9,000 songs — via Die Puny Humans
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