15.10.05

Chinese 4x4 gets zero in safety test - News - Times Online

: "The first Chinese car to be sold in Europe has scored zero — the worst-ever score — in safety tests."

14.10.05

Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com

Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com: "BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Four years ago, Etienne Verhees broke two vertebrae falling off a ladder, after which doctors put a metal plate in his neck to help heal the wound.

This week, the Belgian coughed up one of four screws used to hold the plate in place."

The Globe and Mail: Study turns pot wisdom on head

: "Calgary — Forget the stereotype about dopey potheads. It seems marijuana could be good for your brain.

While other studies have shown that periodic use of marijuana can cause memory loss and impair learning and a host of other health problems down the road, new research suggests the drug could have some benefits when administered regularly in a highly potent form.

Most "drugs of abuse" such as alcohol, heroin, cocaine and nicotine suppress growth of new brain cells. However, researchers found that cannabinoids promoted generation of new neurons in rats' hippocampuses.

Hippocampuses are the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory, and the study held true for either plant-derived or the synthetic version of cannabinoids.

"This is quite a surprise," said Xia Zhang, an associate professor with the Neuropsychiatry Research Unit at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon."

Beethoven manuscript, lost 115 years, is found - Europe - International Herald Tribune

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | EU says internet could fall apart

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | EU says internet could fall apart: "A battle has erupted over who governs the internet, with America demanding to maintain a key role in the network it helped create and other countries demanding more control.

The European commission is warning that if a deal cannot be reached at a meeting in Tunisia next month the internet will split apart."

BBC NEWS | Europe | Turkey bird flu is deadly strain

BBC NEWS | Europe | Turkey bird flu is deadly strain: "EU states have been urged to stockpile anti-viral drugs after confirmation that the bird flu virus found in Turkey is the H5N1 strain dangerous to humans."

12.10.05

Microsoft, Yahoo to Link IM Networks

Microsoft, Yahoo to Link IM Networks: "Microsoft and Yahoo are set to announce on Wednesday a blockbuster interoperability deal that will reshape the landscape of the fragmented instant messaging market.

The companies will connect their IM networks so users on each can communicate with one another using text and voice chat free of charge."

11.10.05

TorontoSun.com - Peter Worthington - Bush's judge riles right

TorontoSun.com - Peter Worthington - Bush's judge riles right: "President George Bush seems to have achieved the unthinkable -- he's alienated the conservative 'right' in a way not even Democrats anticipated.

By nominating his Texan friend and White House counsel, Harriet Miers, to the U.S. Supreme Court (replacing Justice Sandra Day O'Connor who is retiring) he's outraged some of his most steady and loyal media allies -- the likes of George Will, Rush Limbaugh, Robert Novak, Laura Ingraham, Bill Bennett, Bill Kristol, Pat and Bay Buchanan, Ann Coulter, John Fund, Michelle Malkin and, of course, that nice David Frum."

Schwarzenegger signs video game bill | CNET News.com

Schwarzenegger signs video game bill | CNET News.com: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation on Friday to outlaw the sale to teenagers of electronic games featuring reckless mayhem and explicit sexuality."

New Scientist Technology - Shock tactics to destroy torpedoes

New Scientist Technology - Shock tactics to destroy torpedoes: "THE US navy wants to protect its warships with a system that will destroy incoming torpedoes by firing massive underwater shock waves at them.

The ships would be equipped with arrays of 360 transducers each 1 metre square - effectively big flat-panel loudspeakers - running along either side of the hull below the waterline. When the ship's sonar detects an incoming torpedo, the transducers simultaneously fire an acoustic shock wave of such intensity that the torpedo either detonates early or is disabled by the pulse's crushing force."

Mob boss ordered JFK hit, book says

Mob boss ordered JFK hit, book says: "'Mafia Princess' Antoinette Giancana, daughter of the late Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, claims in a new book that her father ordered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

If true, this would make Sam Giancana guilty of one of history's worst crimes. But that doesn't trouble Antoinette Giancana.

'The Kennedys were not kind to my father,' she said. 'They were just as evil and corrupt as any mafioso.'"

The Australian: Machine to age wine in minutes [October 11, 2005]

10.10.05

World's oldest party girl - The Other Side - Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au

World's oldest party girl - The Other Side - Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au: "SOON to turn 175 years of age, Harriet the Galapagos tortoise - possibly the world's oldest living creature - is finally getting the recognition she surely deserves."

GIGWISE.com | Relationship Advice From Gene Simmons

GIGWISE.com | Relationship Advice From Gene Simmons: "Veteran Kiss rocker, Gene Simmons, is offering some pearls of wisdom on how to copulate with numerous ladies and remain happy in a long-term relationship. The key is – get involved with someone that doesn’t mind you bedding birds left, right and centre. And maybe even from behind.

Simmons, who claims to have sex with about four and a half thousand women has been with his girlfriend Shannon Tweed for 22 years and thanks his lucky stars that the pair never got married: “I have been happily unmarried for 22 years and we have two great kids but neither of us has dominion. Loving and caring about someone does not mean they have the right to own you. She will mount the milkman if she wants, so relax, why torture each other?”

“I’m the only one I know who has never been divorced. The biggest cause of divorce is marriage.”

Simmons also claims he has never had a complaint from any of the women he has slept with, because of his total honesty. He is quoted on femalefirst.com as saying: “I have not heard a complaint. That’s because I am straight with them. I don’t lie, like most men do. I will tell a girl I want and desire her, but I’ll tell her straight, “I want your sister and your mommy as well.”

Tempting, Gene, very tempting…"

,0263 FBI May Relax Rules on Marijuana Use From Asap

,0263 FBI May Relax Rules on Marijuana Use From Asap: "WASHINGTON (AP) - Just Say No is still the doctrine, but the FBI may decide it's OK that some applicants didn't heed Nancy Reagan's advice once or twice in college.

Senior FBI managers have been deeply frustrated that they could not hire applicants who acknowledged occasional marijuana use in college, but in some cases already perform top-secret work at other government agencies.

Some officials want to ease limits about how often - and how many years ago - applicants for jobs such as intelligence analysts, linguists, computer specialists, accountants and others had used illegal drugs.

FBI Director Robert Mueller will make the final decision. 'We can't say when or if this is going to happen, but we are exploring the possibility,' spokesman Stephen Kodak said"

Telegraph | News | Bush will veto anti-torture law after Senate revolt

Telegraph | News | Bush will veto anti-torture law after Senate revolt: "The Bush administration pledged yesterday to veto legislation banning the torture of prisoners by US troops after an overwhelming and almost unprecedented revolt by loyalist congressmen.

The mutiny was the latest setback for an administration facing an increasingly independent and bloody-minded legislature. But it also marked a key moment in Congress's campaign to curtail the huge powers it has granted the White House since 2001 in its war against terrorism."