Thursday, 23. January 2003

Albanian comedian disarms good-humoured gangsters


A famous Albanian comedian averted a highway robbery by making the bandits laugh, an Albanian newspaper has reported.

The gangsters, who aimed Kalashnikov rifles at Sejfulla Myftari's car, recognised his shaved head and bulging eyes when he stepped out of it, the Shekulli daily said.

¬> Reuters

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Microraptor gui


Chinese scientists have discovered fossils of a feathered, four-winged dinosaur which they say provides new evidence of the origin of avian flight. The creature, called Microraptor gui, is less than a yard long and is thought to have glided from tree to tree, similar to flying squirrels, in an intermediary step before full, flapping flight.

¬> Reuters

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Dubliners raise their glasses to brewing genius


Two hundred years ago, the city of Dublin came to a standstill and thousands of mourners lined its cobbled streets to say goodbye to a brewing genius.

The bicentenary of the death of Arthur Guinness on Thursday was a less sombre occasion, with Dubliners only too happy to raise a glass or two in his memory.

¬> Reuters

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Trial and error reveals master keys


Pin-and-tumbler locks only open when a key has elevated all the pins inside the mechanism to their correct positions. A normal lock with five pins can have around a million different pin configurations.

However, locks for which there is a master key have two sets of correct pin positions. The first is unique to each individual lock; the second works with the master key and is the same for every lock.

In a paper submitted to the journal IEEE Security and Privacy, Blaze shows that it is possible to work out the master key positions in a relatively short amount on time using trial and error.

¬> New Scientist

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The Cheeky Girls: The worst act ever ?


Two years ago, twins Gabriela and Monica Irimia left their Transylvanian city for an extended vacation in England before starting law school. Their pop-disco song, "Touch My Bum," written by their mother and dedicated to shy English men, rocketed to the No. 2 spot on the British charts last month and has stayed among the top five for weeks.

¬> cnn

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US building highway to the South Pole


American engineers in the Antarctic have begun work on a highway from the giant US coastal base at McMurdo Sound to the South Pole - a distance of 1600 kilometres.

In the next few weeks the ice road should have crossed the wide expanse of the Ross ice shelf, which permanently covers the ocean, and be approaching the Transantarctic Mountains. The mountains mark the halfway point to the Pole.

¬> New Scientist

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FBI investigating theft of data on international students


University of Kansas officials discovered Wednesday that a computer hacker downloaded personal information gathered on 1,450 of its international students.

The information was collected as part of new homeland security measures. The university alerted Immigration and Naturalization Service and FBI officials and said it was told the INS was notifying U.S. ports of entry. The FBI was starting an investigation.

¬> Topeka Capital-Journal

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Gaudi design proposed for WTC


Architectural plans by the late Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi are to be submitted to an international memorial competition for redesigns of New York's former World Trade Center site. Gaudi's 95-year-old plans, which were originally designs for a futuristic hotel about the same size as the Empire State building, will be entered into the competition this spring by a group of art historians, architects and enthusiasts of his work.

¬> BBC

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Woodstock of hip-hop in works for Atlanta


It will be like Woodstock, only with hip-hop instead of hippies.

That's the vision of organizers who are planning a three-day hip-hop celebration called the Urban Hip Hop Music Festival in Atlanta. A news release calls the gathering, scheduled to begin April 11, "the Woodstock of hip-hop."

¬> ajc

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The Ten Second Films Competition


The medium is digital video, the submission period lasts from February 3 to March 10, and first prize is a thousand bucks. What can you do in ten seconds?

¬> <a href="www.tensecondfilms.com"target="_blank">ten secondfilms

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Kubrick 2001


G R E A T

¬> Flash

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World record holder going for 13th ascent of Everest.


A Nepalese mountaineer who has climbed Mount Everest a record 12 times is planning to come out of retirement.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Everest ascent, and Appa Sherpa believes it will be the perfect occasion to make it his 13th.

¬> <a href="news.bbc.co.uk"target="_blank">BBC

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