Topic: COPYRIGHT - on January 11, 2012 at 12:44:00 PM CET
Boycott SOPA for Android Scans Products, Warns You If the Manufacturer Supports SOPA
Armchair activists now have a tool that can transport their SOPA protestations into the real world: Boycott SOPA, an Android app that scans barcodes and tells you whether an object’s manufacturer/publisher is a supporter of the much maligned Stop Online Piracy Act.
If you’ve ever scanned a barcode on your Android phone to look up a book or CD on Amazon, Boycott SOPA works in exactly the same way: First you have to install the ZXing Barcode Scanner app, but then you simply go around pointing your phone’s camera at product barcodes. Boycott SOPA gives you a big red cross if the product is distributed by a SOPA supporter, or a green tick if it’s “clean.” Much to my chagrin, Coca-Cola supports SOPA — but Smirnoff, on the other hand, does not. If you ever needed a sign from Above that you ought to drink more, there it is.
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Topic: DRUGS - on January 11, 2012 at 12:33:00 PM CET
Marijuana Juicing is The Next Big Thing (or a Big Waste of Cash)
Weed can be smoked, vaporized and eaten.
But a practice advocated by Dr. William Courtney, an M.D. from Willits, California seems to be gaining traction in 2012:
He wants you to juice your marijuana. That's right, put that valuable green stuff in a blender and drink it up like a banana milkshake. Mmm.
And the best benefit (allegedly)?
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Topic: COMPUTER - on January 10, 2012 at 1:30:00 PM CET
Stephen Hawking's New PC
How did you come to be the guy who helps Stephen Hawking? Another engineer who was already working on this project transitioned it over to me back in 2001, and I've been running with it ever since. It's not my full-time job. I'm an application engineer supporting mobile and desktop chipsets.
What technology does Stephen use? The computer is made up of three parts: a Lenovo X220 tablet PC, a custom black box containing various peripherals and the hardware voice itself. The computer features an Intel Core i7 processor along with a forward-facing webcam, which Stephen uses to place phone calls using Skype.
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Topic: Phone - on January 10, 2012 at 1:29:00 PM CET
Punching through The Great Firewall of T-Mobile
T-Mobile UK are moving towards a mobile network which works (technically) in a very similar manner to the Great Firewall of China. I've been using them for mobile Internet access for over a year now, and recently received a second SIM card. When using this new SIM card for Internet access, I've experienced some very odd network traffic.
Both SIM cards are PAYG and both have had their default content block removed. I do not know why they behave differently, but it seems like T-Mobile may be in the middle of rolling out some related changes; There is a quote regarding this from a T-Mobile rep, that I will come to later.
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Topic: DRUGS - on January 10, 2012 at 1:26:00 PM CET
Snoop Dogg wegen Marihuana verhaftet - trotz Rezept
Texanische Polizisten haben US-Rapper Snoop Dogg (40) am Wochenende vorübergehend festgenommen, weil in seinem Tour-Bus Marihuana gefunden wurde. Der Musiker besitzt eigentlich ein ärztliches Rezept für die medizinische Verwendung.
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Topic: DRUGS - on January 10, 2012 at 12:46:00 PM CET
Snoop Dogg ARRESTED FOR WEED
Snoop Dogg isn't the only canine with a nose for weed ... TMZ has learned the rapper was ARRESTED in Texas this weekend after a drug-sniffing dog uncovered marijuana on his tour bus.
Law enforcement sources tell us ... Snoop's tour bus was stopped at a border patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca -- a small town in West Texas where Willie Nelson was popped for weed back in 2010.
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Topic: ART - on January 10, 2012 at 12:43:00 PM CET
Picasso painting stolen from Greek gallery
A Picasso painting, given to the Athens National Gallery by the artist himself, was stolen on Monday along with two other valuable works of art.
Picasso's Woman's Head was given to Greece in 1949 in recognition of the country's resistance to Nazi Germany.
In a statement, police said a Mondrian painting and a sketch by Italian artist Guglielmo Caccia had also been stolen.
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Topic: POLITIK - on January 10, 2012 at 11:21:00 AM CET
Wulff bricht sein Versprechen
Bundespräsident Christian Wulff kündigte im TV-Interview Transparenz an. Er werde die 400 Fragen und Antworten zu seiner Kredit- und Medienaffäre veröffentlichen, sagte er. Doch jetzt verweigert sein Anwalt laut einem Zeitungsbericht die zugesagte Herausgabe.
Die detaillierten Fragen und Antworten zu den Affären des Bundespräsidenten Christian Wulff bleiben unter Verschluss. Das teilte dessen Anwalt Gernot Lehr dem "Tagesspiegel" mit. "Der im Mandantenauftrag geführte Schriftverkehr zwischen Anwälten und Dritten fällt unter die anwaltliche Verschwiegenheitspflicht", sagte Lehr der Zeitung.
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Topic: SECURITY - on January 10, 2012 at 11:18:00 AM CET
US-Großbanken schmieden Allianz gegen Hacker
Amerikas Finanzbranche fürchtet einen Großangriff aus dem Cyberspace. Experten von Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs und Co. fahnden jetzt gemeinsam nach Strategien gegen Hacker. Die Attacken werden für die Geldindustrie zu einer ernsten Bedrohung.
Aktion Aurora war nur der Anfang. Vor gut neun Monaten sollen sich Hacker unter anderem Zugriff zum Computernetzwerk von Morgan Stanley verschafft haben. Sie pflanzten offenbar Schadsoftware in das Netzwerk der Großbank ein, mit deren Hilfe sich geheime Daten und interne Kommunikationen ausspähen lassen. Der Fall birgt Brisanz: Die Bank berät Unternehmen bei milliardenschweren Übernahmen. Verschwiegenheit ist dabei oberste Pflicht.
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Topic: COPYRIGHT - on January 10, 2012 at 11:15:00 AM CET
Geeks to Testify (Finally!) About SOPA Blacklisting Implications
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California), a major opponent of the Stop Online Piracy Act, announced Monday he is bringing in the techies to hold a public hearing highlighting the online security implications of a proposed bill that would force changes to internet infrastructure to fight online copyright infringement.
The announcement came three weeks after a markup of SOPA in the House Judiciary Committee was abruptly postponed amid concerns over its blacklisting element, which lets the attorney general order changes to core internet infrastructure in order to stop copyright infringement.
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Topic: WEB - on January 10, 2012 at 9:26:00 AM CET
Iran Mounts New Web Crackdown
Iran is mounting new clampdowns on Internet expression, including rules that will impose layers of surveillance in the country's popular Internet cafes, as Tehran's political establishment comes under increasing strains from economic turmoil and threats of more international sanctions.
In the most sweeping move, Iran issued regulations giving Internet cafes 15 days to install security cameras, start collecting detailed personal information on customers and document users' online footprints.
Until now, Iran's cybercafes have been a youth-culture mainstay of most towns and neighborhoods, used not only by activists but also by other Iranians who believe the security of their home computers is already compromised.
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Topic: POLITIK - on January 10, 2012 at 9:25:00 AM CET
Carla Bruni accused of giving AIDS charity money to friend
Bruni is an ambassador for the charity and leads the Born HIV Free campaign, launched in 2010 to raise funds to guard mothers and children from AIDS.
On Friday French political magazine Marianne claimed the 44-year-old wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy gave the whopping amount to companies owned by Julien Civange, a 43-year-old music entrepreneur, including nearly 500,000 pounds paid directly to Civange and his four colleagues for publicising the charity.
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