Friday, 1. November 2002

Judge OKs Most Microsoft Provisions
Civil Action No. 98-1233 (CKK)


A federal judge on Friday approved most of the provisions of an antitrust settlement between Microsoft Corp. and the Justice Department largely setting aside concerns by some states that the sanctions were too light on the software giant. The court is satisfied that the parties have reached a settlement which comports with the public interest," U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote.

Microsoft said it was reviewing the decision.

¬> Associated Press ¬> uscourt FINAL JUDGMENT pdf

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Tetris, a popular computer game, turns out to be hard for a reason


NP or not NP?
TETRIS, a computer game invented in 1984, has sold over 60m copies. It is played by organising a sequence of falling blocks in a rectangular well. Dr Demaine and his colleagues have demonstrated that Tetris belongs to a class of mathematical problems known as NP-complete.

In mathematical jargon, that would mean showing that P=NP.

Most mathematicians believe that P and NP are not, in fact, equal—although none know how to prove that, either. For the lucky person who manages to prove either that P=NP or, contrariwise, that it doesn't, a prize of $1m awaits, courtesy of the Clay Mathematics Institute.

¬> Economist

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FBI says DNS server attacks came from U.S., Korea
FULL STORY


THE DISTRIBUTED DENIAL of service (DDoS) attacks against 13 of the Internet's core servers has been traced to computers in the U.S. and Korea, according to statements made by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Robert Mueller.

¬> INFOWORLD

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New zip code for London: WC2


It's a pop-up revo-loo-tion. From today drunken revellers in London's West End will be able to spend a penny in new open-air public urinals that rise from the streets just as the evening's drinking sessions begin.

The first of the two-metre high, stainless steel telescopic toilets goes live today in Villiers Street, near Embankment tube station - an area that local councillors believe is a notorious "wet spot".

¬> Guardian ¬> Flash

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An Afghan farmer ...


..shows marijuana plants which are almost ready to harvest at a marijuana field on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2002.

An Afghan farmer shows marijuana plants which are almost ready to harvest at a marijuana field on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2002. Farmers, not rich and well-connected dealers, will be the main target in Afghanistan's war on illegal drugs for the time being, authorities said. Powerful players behind the trade in both marijuana and opium in the region would have their stock confiscated, but would not be arrested, said Khalid Pashtoon, government spokesman for the southern province of Kandahar.(AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

¬> <a href="story.news.yahoo.com"target="_blank">Associated Press

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KILLER CLOUDS


GAS USED IN RUSSIAN TRAGEDY PART OF U.S. CROWD CONTROL PLANS Ironically, according to the Sunshine Project, an international NGO dedicated to the eradication of bio/chemical weapons, this is the very drug that has caught the eye of American researchers at Penn State who are exploring potential military uses of pharmaceuticals.

The Sunshine Project, which has obtained a deluge of documents through the Freedom of Information Act, believes the U.S. military is in fact deeply interested in weaponized "calmatives," particularly Valium, Prozac and Zoloft. Arms monitors are sounding the alarm that, while George W. Bush prepares to invade Iraq over its alleged chemical weapons, U.S. efforts to turn pharmaceuticals into "non-lethal" armaments are themselves in direct violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

¬> NOW Online

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PumpkinPC v1.0


I created this Pumpkin for the Hack-O-Lantern contest at Bjorn3D. I put it up here a couple days after I finished because I was scared to death that a /.ing would bring my entry down before the contest was judged ;D

¬> <a href="home.attbi.com"target="_blank">viv][sel

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Leaked DOOM 3 demo on the net?


Super rumour: they say a beta version of DOOM III (stolen, of course), appeared on the net and can be found with edonkey2000.

edonkey2000 >> extend search - Doom.III.Beta.v1.31.cracked.by.Schlossberg.zip - size 453 Mb

I'd like to remind that beta versions of Unreal2 and UT2K3 have appeared the same way before. And what if they didn't manage to get DOOM III to Quakecon 2002 wherer they promised to show it?

¬> Cyberfight

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Not Exactly Your Low-Scoring Soccer Match
149 : 0


Newly-crowned Madagascan champions AS Adema thrashed their opponents 149-0 in a top national league soccer match after the opposition deliberately scored one own goal after another in a protest over a refereeing decision. Radio Madagascar reported Friday that Stade Olympique l'Emyrne scored the own goals against Adema as a protest after SOE's coach Ratsimandresy RaCzarazaka lost his temper with the referee.

¬> Reuters

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Centsless


Was Jam Master Jay killed because of his ties to 50 Cent? Police speculate that the young rapper's ridicule of gangsta rap may have inspired the murder of his mentor, the Run-DMC DJ. The rising rapper, who is poised for fame with an appearance on the soundtrack album to Eminem's upcoming movie ''8 Mile,'' is known for his parodies of other rappers' songs. This summer, he had a hit called ''Wanksta'' that ridicules gangsta rappers who can't come up with enough cash to buy the fancy cars they boast about because of their frequent stints behind bars. ''One of the theories is that somebody was trying to get back at 50 Cent by taking out Mizell,'' a police spokesperson told the New York Times.

¬> Entertainment Weekly

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Soldier survives 3,000 ft chute failure


Yugoslav Army paratrooper has survived a drop from an altitude of 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) after both his parachutes malfunctioned, according to Belgrade daily Glas Javnosti. The paper said on Friday 40-year-old Dragan Curcic escaped with minor cuts and bruises after his main and spare parachutes first failed to open and then became tangled when they opened simultaneously during an exercise on Tuesday.

¬> Reuters

The Free Fall Research Page
The Free Fallers are the most amazing stories of all. They had no parachute, not even one that failed. They didn't cling to aircraft wreckage. They just fell. All were World War II airmen. Lt. I.M. Chisov, Sgt. Alan Magee, and Sgt. Nicholas Alkemade all fell more than 20,000 feet.

¬> Green Harbor

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World Plants Near Extinction Close to 50 Pct.-Study


The percentage of the world's plants threatened with extinction is much larger than commonly believed, and could be as high as 47 percent if tropical species are included, researchers said on Thursday.

¬> <a href="story.news.yahoo.com"target="_blank">Reuters

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