The Sunday paper, 12/30/01

[VWguy]

Jackson changing "The Two Towers" title?

The IMDB (http://us.imdb.com) reports that Peter Jackson has qualms about releasing the second "Lord of the Rings" film under the title "The Two Towers," which is the title for the second novel.

"Tolkien fans would kill us," he said. "It's true that I've thought about what that title means now," Jackson told the newspaper. "I just pray that by the time the second movie comes out, it won't cause any controversy."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0112/28/e...ntertain4.html

Products you can't live without

David Coursey,
Executive Editor, AnchorDesk
Friday, December 21, 2001

With the year winding up, I've been thinking about the technologies that I just couldn't live without during 2001. This isn't an attempt to do a "product of the year" selection, but rather a way to tell you about the products I've used and found invaluable.

The single thing--really a collection of items--that's most important to me is my network, which has been tethered at different times to broadband connections from AT&T Broadband (cable) and PacBell/SBC (ADSL). If both of these companies were to fall over dead I would shed no tears, as their customer service stretches the description "lousy" to new lengths. My DSL connection is more reliable, but the cable modem--at least until AT&T took over the network from @Home--is faster. AT&T now promises to sell me "tiered" service so I can get higher speeds. They should consider themselves lucky to have any customers at all. http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stor...834332,00.html

Make beautiful imusic

The highly stylized, luminescent iPod is just a hunk of lovely lucite without the player-jukebox power of the newly updated iTunes 2.0. If Apple's latest offerings have caught your attention, find out how they work together to create an MP3-lovers' powerhouse combination. Read our reviews.
http://www.zdnet.com/products/storie...833807,00.html

Sexchart Degrees of Separation

It started out as a simple girl-meets-boy story, but it soon whirled dizzyingly out of control. A girl met a boy, and then she met another boy, and then several other boys, all of whom met boys and girls of their own, who in turn met their own girls and boys. And four years after the first girl met the first boy, some 1,400 boys and girls had met and intimately mingled.
How do 1,400 hackers and crackers and Internet-lovers document their hook-ups? They use a diagram, of course -- a chart that shows how each person is connected to the other through bedroom dalliances, a chart that has now grown titanic in scale.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,48997,00.html

Surf 'N Hemp: Feel the Power

Waves and cannabis have a long and colorful association, captured memorably on screen by Sean Penn's stoner-surfer Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Now a Republican representing Hawaii in the House of Representatives wants to turn waves and hemp into keywords for responsible cultivation of renewable energy sources. She's already off to a good start.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,49087,00.html

Why Worm Writers Stay Free

Virus writers often act as if the Internet, the most public forum in the world, is their very own private playground.

Law enforcement officials are amused and amazed by the many virus writers who carefully include identifying comments or credits in their code, and who often are found bragging about their skills and latest creations in newsgroups or on Internet Relay Chat channels.

"Cyber criminals are like idiot Hansel and Gretels, scattering electronic breadcrumbs that lead straight to them," said retired New York City detective Pete Angonasta. "You just don't see this sort of behavior in other criminals. I've never seen a burglar leaving cute notes crediting the crime to himself. And I've never run across a burglar who puts up a self-promotional website or goes into a chat room to discuss the night's activities."
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,49313,00.html

Buy a Star, But It's Not Yours

Winona Ryder got one for Johnny Depp. Nicole Kidman got one and named it "Forever Tom." Princess Diana has two, purchased for her after her death. And at least one widow of a fireman lost in the World Trade Center attack wanted to buy one in memory of her late husband.

What these people have is a 12-by-16-inch certificate from the Illinois company International Star Registry (ISR), claiming that a star had been named for them or their loved one.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,49345,00.html

Why Goldfish Might Turn Blue

Scientists at the Department of Biological Sciences at Singapore's National University intend to produce commercially viable zebra fish that can be used as a simple, cheaper alternative to current pollutant-testing systems.

Zebra fish are usually black and silver in color, but through genetic manipulation researchers have produced a few varieties that radiate green or red fluorescent color.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,49185,00.html

Nanocircuits lead 2001’s listof breakthroughs

Molecular-scale circuitry — which could open the way for ultrafast computers and disease-fighting micromachines in your bloodstream — ranks at the top of Science’s annual list of the year’s 10 biggest scientific achievements. This year’s runners-up include RNA chemistry, the decoding of the human genome, the appearance of anti-cancer “smart bombs” and the growing consensus on the causes of climate change. http://www.msnbc.com/news/674650.asp?cp1=1

Pact for peacekeepers finalized in Afghanistan

The United Nations and Afghanistan's interim government have reached agreement on a multinational peacekeeping force for the country, Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said Sunday.

The deal had been held up by disputes over the force's size and specific duties. The first group of peacekeepers from Britain, which will lead the force, arrived in Afghanistan before the recent inauguration of the interim government.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/12/30/gen...ror/index.html

Secret wedding for Potter author

LONDON, England -- Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling married her boyfriend at a private ceremony over Christmas, her spokeswoman said.

The wedding took place at the couple's home in Scotland on December 26.

The author, whose books about the young wizard have become a worldwide sensation, met anaesthetist Dr Neil Murray in Edinburgh, Scotland, just over a year ago.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/book...ing/index.html

Man arrested for carrying gun on two planes

A Florida man, who was arrested Friday for carrying a loaded gun in his carry-on luggage, said he forgot that he had put the weapon in his briefcase. Barry Brunstein was able to get through security checkpoints in Tampa, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia, before he was stopped for a random check at the airport in Memphis, Tennessee.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/12/30/rec...cts/index.html

Bush urges Pakistan to quell terror

CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf yesterday to take new steps to rein in "extremists" who led a deadly attack on India's Parliament this month, edging those two nations toward war. Mr. Bush said he feared the conflict could unravel the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism. http://www.washingtontimes.com/world...1230231032.htm

Euro still a 'stepchild' in shadow of the dollar

The euro, Europe's new common currency, had been expected to challenge the mighty dollar for global supremacy. So far it hasn't happened, and financial specialists say it may be years before the euro makes a serious run at the world's premier currency.
The euro has been trading on global currency markets for three years but will debut Tuesday in the form of notes and coins for the 12 nations that are using it as a common currency.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/natio...0-21069929.htm

Euro to debut with new year

FRANKFURT — They tolled the bell outside the Stock Exchange here at midnight Monday with a huge gong shaped like a euro — not only to celebrate Christmas but also to herald a new era for millions across the world.
A dozen Santa Clauses joined in the party, but the real show gets under way this Tuesday, when the euro is introduced to 304 million European citizens as their new currency. And soon, all the Christmas cheer could fade.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/natio...0-47369200.htm

More than 150 al Qaida probes in U.S.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The FBI is conducting more than 150 separate probes in the United States of groups and individuals with possible links to the al Qaida terrorist organization, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
Dozens of people are under surveillance through telephone wiretaps and others are being watched by undercover agents, U.S. officials told the newspaper.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-b...4831-4139r.htm

Top Female Tech Engineers May Make More Than Men

Women with plenty of experience in electronics and computer engineering are likely to make more money than their male counterparts, according to a survey from the U.S. arm of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
However the Washington-based IEEE-USA also pointed out in statistics released Thursday that most women in electrotechnology and information-technology jobs aren't pulling in the top dollars that require 20 or more years of experience.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/173285.html

Studies Predict Bright Future For Wireless

The telecommunications industry had a tough year in 2001, but according to two recent studies, things will start to improve by the end of 2002.
Boston-based consultancy the Yankee Group today released its review of the "most significant" events for wireless and mobile technology of the past 12 months. The firm hailed the expansion and launch of next-generation networks in many parts of the world, including Asia, Europe and North America.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/173289.html

Stealth copy protection - where we are now



This day a year ago, as I was throwing some clothes into the car trunk on my way to the desert, I saw the most welcome newspaper headline I'll ever see. Our coverage of the incorporation of CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media) into the ATA standard used by hard drives had been picked up by the San Jose Mercury which splashed it on the front page.

Since December 21, the story had generated enormous interest and outrage. And Boxing Day saw the start of a concerted attempt to kill the story by discrediting us. We'd done all a news outlet can do - stick to the facts that we know to be true, but for a few days it looked like that might not be enough. There was a real danger that the PR effort to neutralise the story would be successful simply by keeping the broadsheet print and TV media away.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/23516.html

U.S. Shifts Its Focus in Afghanistan to Prisoners

-- The military mission in Afghanistan shifted further from the battleground to the interrogation room Saturday, with the number of pro-Taliban prisoners in U.S. custody more than twice what it was the day before and expected to keep growing in the next several days.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...3001mili.story

AOL, Lotus to Test IM Interoperability

NEW YORK – America Online named its first instant-messaging system interoperability test partner Tuesday: IBM subsidiary Lotus Development. The two companies said they will begin a trial testing communication between their messaging systems, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and Lotus Sametime.

The test is part of AOL's federally mandated progress toward allowing its AIM and ICQ applications to communicate with other instant message systems, including Microsoft's MSN Messenger and Yahoo's Yahoo Messenger.
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,28699,00.html

Worms? You Ain't Seen Nuthin' Yet

– Sircam, Code Red and Code Red II might be causing some inconvenience, but this is just a fraction of the damage a worm could do, according to a worm expert speaking here at a hacker conference Friday.

"Most of the existing worms have been [of] very amateurish construction. We have only seen the tip of the iceberg of the worm problem," said Jonathan Wignall, a member of the Data and Network Security Council, an independent information-security U.K. pressure group that promotes safer networking, during the Hackers at Large conference.
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,28648,00.html

[Lowdown!]

Alot of information to take in....hehehe..nice thread.....