Topic: AUSTRIA - on April 18, 2012 at 8:39:00 AM CEST
Fucking, Austria, Considering Name Change
Prank callers have proved the final straw for the mayor of Fucking, who will hold a vote this week about whether to change the name of the village.
The good people of Fucking, Austria, have had it with English speakers. Since the end of World War II, this small Austrian village has been the target of jokes, pranks, insults and plain old rudeness.
A few years ago, this town of 104 welded its signs to metal poles because people kept stealing the signs. For a small town, sign replacement was getting very expensive. At other times, tourists would stop at the signs and engage in imaginary sex acts or partially clad women would have their photographs taken there. In all, it doesn’t provide much of a family environment.
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Topic: health - on April 18, 2012 at 8:37:00 AM CEST
Schmallenberg Virus: Scientists Say Spread Is "A Warning To Europe"
The outbreak of a new livestock disease in western Europe last year, particularly harmful to offspring, could move further into areas surrounding the worst affected countries in the next cycle of new births, scientists say.
Schmallenberg virus - named after the German town where it was first detected in November - infected sheep and cows on at least 2,600 farms in eight EU countries last year, most likely between August and October.
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Topic: GOOGLE - on April 18, 2012 at 8:33:00 AM CEST
Fight Is On Between Oracle And Google Over Java API Copyrights
Last summer, we noted that there was an interesting "sideshow" in the patent dispute between Oracle and Google -- a question of whether or not Java's APIs are covered by copyright. That "sideshow" has become the main attraction now that the trial has started and many of the patent claims have been kicked out.
If you just see that side of it, you might be convinced, but the details suggest a much less convincing story. First off, there are serious concerns about whether or not an API even can be covered by copyright. In fact, before Sun was acquired by Oracle, Sun's own CTO had said that "internet specifications are not protectable under copyright," which (you might think) gives Google an implied go ahead to make use of the API. Furthermore, many of the email snippets that Oracle presents are taken out of context -- they show little snippets of big emails and pull from very very different time periods -- ranging from 2005 to 2010, when different factors applied. Oracle also scrubbed a blog from former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz in which he warmly welcomed Google to the Java family when the company launched Android.
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Topic: STRANGE - on April 18, 2012 at 8:29:00 AM CEST
Silent magician Teller files copyright suit over "stolen" shadow trick
Teller, the silent half of the well-known magic duo Penn and Teller, has sued a rival magician for copying one of his most famous illusions. The case promises to test the boundaries of copyright law as it applies to magic tricks.
In "Shadows," a spotlight casts a shadow of a rose onto a white screen. When Teller "cuts" the shadow on the screen with a knife, the corresponding parts of the flower fall to the floor.
A Dutch magician with the stage name Gerard Bakardy (real name: Gerard Dogge) saw Teller perform the trick in Las Vegas and developed his own version. Bakardy sells a kit—including a fake rose, instructions, and a DVD—for about $3,000. To promote the kits, he posted a video of his performance to YouTube and prepared a magazine ad. (With the video down, the link points to screenshots from the video filed by Teller in his lawsuit.)
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Topic: WEB - on April 18, 2012 at 8:27:00 AM CEST
“Die Cloud” als fünftgrößter Energieverbraucher der Welt
Eine neue Greenpeace-Studie mit dem Titel “How clean is your cloud” untersucht die Auswirkungen der stetig wachsenden Informationsindustrie auf Energieverbrauch und Umwelt. Analysiert werden die “Ökologischen Fingerabdrücke” von 14 weltweit tätigen IT-Großkonzernen. Besonders gut schneiden laut der Studie Google, Yahoo! und Facebook ab, zu den Negativ-Spitzenreitern zählen dagegen Microsoft, Amazon und der so sehr in Imagepflege geübte iPhone-Hersteller Apple. Die Firma decke alleine 55 Prozent des Energiebedarfs für ihre Cloud mit Kohlestrom, weitere 27 Prozent mit Atomstrom.
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Topic: COMPUTER - on April 18, 2012 at 8:25:00 AM CEST
Raspberry Pi $35 PC reviewed, doesn’t disappoint
The Raspberri Pi $35 computer started shipping this weekend and the first customers are starting to receive the little computer boards. Meanwhile the folks at bit-tech have already put the Raspberry Pi through the paces to see just what you can do with an inexpensive low power computer that you can fit in the palm of your hand.
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