Topic: DOPE HEAD - on April 22, 2012 at 9:03:00 AM CEST
Marihuana-Happenings in den USA: Oh Shit!
Amerikas Universitätsstädte unter Marihuana-Schwaden: Am 20. April gehen in den USA traditionell die Cannabis-Aktivisten auf die Straße, um für die Legalisierung der Droge zu kämpfen. Sie bekamen auch noch Unterstützung vom größten lebenden Country-Star des Landes.
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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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Topic: HOLLYWALD - on April 17, 2012 at 10:21:00 AM CEST
Let's remember the birthday of one of the greatest filmmakers/movie icons ever. Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era.[2] He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I. Chaplin used mime, slapstick and other visual comedy routines, and continued well into the era of the talkies, though his films decreased in frequency from the end of the 1920s. His most famous role was that of The Tramp, which he first played in the Keystone comedy Kid Auto Races at Venice in 1914.[3] From the April 1914 one-reeler Twenty Minutes of Love onwards he was writing and directing most of his films, by 1916 he was also producing them, and from 1918 he was even composing the music for them. With Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith, he co-founded United Artists in 1919.[4]
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Topic: LEGO - on April 17, 2012 at 10:15:00 AM CEST
Epic Mario: a Lego Kickstarter
What would you do with 780,000 Lego studs?
Zachary Pollock wants to combine them with another childhood classic. He’s started a Kickstarter project to build an enormous mosaic, recreating the entire level 1-1 of the original Super Mario Brothers video game.
This project has a couple goals. First and foremost, I want to inspire a new generation of Lego enthusiasts. I also want to show people what they have forgotten, that building with Lego can be done at any age. My second goal is to use this project to test the waters for a foundation I would like to start that will work with children doing healing art projects using Lego bricks. This project aims to push the limits of imagination about what you can do with Lego bricks and particularly to break down stereotypes people have about both Lego and video games only being toys. I want to show the world Lego and video games can be works of art as well. Last but certainly not least I, and I think many other people, really want to see the entire level 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. made from Lego because it is just FUN! Right now I think we all need a little more fun in our lives.</p>
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Topic: MUSIK - on April 17, 2012 at 10:13:00 AM CEST
Gema fordert 1000 Prozent mehr Geld
Eine "Verarmung der Veranstaltungskultur" befürchtet die Bundesvereinigung der Musikveranstalter angesichts neuer und oftmals höherer Tarife der Verwertungsgesellschaft Gema.
Die Folge der steigenden Kosten ab Januar 2013 seien deutlich weniger Musikveranstaltungen, sagte Stephan Büttner, Geschäftsführer der Vereinigung. Viele Diskotheken seien bei teils extremen Steigerungen in ihrer Existenz gefährdet.
Die Gema wandte ein, dass für 60 Prozent der Musikveranstaltungen keine höheren Gebühren anfallen oder diese sogar sinken würden. Insbesondere kleinere Veranstaltungen würden profitieren. Büttner verwies hingegen darauf, dass sich für Diskotheken die Gema-Gebühr durchschnittlich um 400 bis 500 Prozent, in einigen Fällen sogar um mehr als 1000 Prozent erhöhe.
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Topic: DRUGS - on April 17, 2012 at 10:11:00 AM CEST
Feds shutter online narcotics store that used TOR to hide its tracks
Federal authorities have arrested eight men accused of distributing more than $1 million worth of LSD, ecstasy, and other narcotics with an online storefront that used the TOR anonymity service to mask their Internet addresses.
"The Farmer's Market," as the online store was called, was like an Amazon for consumers of controlled substances, according to a 66-page indictment unsealed on Monday. It offered online forums, Web-based order forms, customer service, and at least four methods of payment, including PayPal and Western Union. From January 2007 to October 2009, it processed some 5,256 orders valued at $1.04 million. The site catered to about 3,000 customers in 35 countries, including the United States.
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Topic: Phone - on April 17, 2012 at 10:09:00 AM CEST
Moody's Downgrades Nokia Debt to Near Junk
Moody's ratings agency downgraded Nokia's debt grade to near junk status on Monday, citing a sharp decline in first-quarter cell phone sales that led to a 35 percent fall in revenue.
The agency lowered Nokia Corp.'s long-term credit rating by one notch to Baa3 — just a step above non-investment grade — following last week's profit warning which had caused Nokia's shares to plunge by more than 20 percent.
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