Skeedz News


Bioshock film to be made by Pirates director
Tuesday 13th May 2008 (news.com.au)
Pirates Of The Caribbean director Gore Verbinski will make a movie based on the hit videogame Bioshock, Take-Two Interactive Software has announced. "Gore is an avid video gamer and true fan of Bioshock. That was extremely important to us in deciding to move forward with this project," said president of Take-Two's 2K Games label...

Hacker exposes six million people's data to make a point
Tuesday 13th May 2008 (the inquirer)
A Chilean hacker posted sensitive information about six million of his compatriots on the Internet, apparently in an act of protest against the government’s lax data security. According to Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, details including people’s address’, phone numbers, ID numbers, email addresses and even academic records were all laid bare for the world...

US soldiers pick up viruses from pirated porn
Tuesday 13th May 2008 (the inquirer)
Sexually transmitted diseases are not a new phenomenon for soldiers stranded for months in foreign countries, away from their families, who decide to play away from home. But one type of STD is definitely a recent development, and is becoming a virtual epidemic on US soldiers' laptops. The Washington Post reports that pornographic DVDs being...

Mozilla slates Firefox 3.0 RC1 for late May
Tuesday 13th May 2008 (computerworld)
Mozilla Corp. announced that it has stopped making changes to the first release candidate of Firefox 3.0 and is working to get that build to users by the end of the month. "We are code complete for Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 (RC1)," said Mike Schroepfer, Mozilla's vice president of engineering, in a post to the company's development blog on Saturday...

Performance showdown: Flash drives versus hard disk drives
Tuesday 13th May 2008 (computerworld)
Solid-state disks (SSD) are probably some of the most talked-about new gadgets of late. They easily distinguish themselves from the mechanical hard drives of the Jurassic period because they have no moving parts. Like USB drives, they use nonvolatile flash memory to store data, but SSDs are wrapped in an enclosure the size of a 2.5-in. mechanical...

Hydrogen Cars Won't Make a Difference for 40 Years
Tuesday 13th May 2008 (wired)
President Bush, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the big automakers agree on this much: They love hydrogen-powered fuel cell technology and its promise of a zero-emission, petroleum-free future. Unfortunately, experts say it will be 40 years or more before hydrogen has any meaningful impact on gasoline consumption or global warming, and we can't...

Australian pokes shark in eye to survive mauling
Tuesday 13th May 2008 (yahoo!)
An Australian swimmer says he survived a mauling by a 16-foot shark by wrestling with the beast, finally getting free by poking it in the eye. The shark, believed to be a great white, seized Jason Cull by the left leg as he was swimming at Middleton Beach in southwestern Australia on Saturday. The shark was one of three that swimmers reported seeing at...

Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically
Tuesday 13th May 2008 (yahoo!)
Two decades from now Americans could get as much electricity from windmills as from nuclear power plants, according to a government report that lays out a possible plan for wind energy growth. The report, a collaboration between the Energy Department research labs and industry, concludes wind energy could generate 20 percent of the...

Old gas pumps can't handle ever-rising prices
Tuesday 13th May 2008 (yahoo!)
Mom-and-pop service stations are running into a problem as gasoline marches toward $4 a gallon: Thousands of old-fashioned pumps can't register more than $3.99 on their spinning mechanical dials. The pumps, throwbacks to a bygone era on the American road, are difficult and expensive to upgrade, and replacing them is often out of the question for...

Once shunned by academics, Wikipedia now a teaching tool
Tuesday 13th May 2008 (yahoo!)
Wikipedia, the upstart Internet encyclopedia that most universities forbid students to use, has suddenly become a teaching tool for professors. Recently, university teachers have swapped student term papers for assignments to write entries for the free online encyclopedia. Wikipedia is an "open-source" web site, which means that entries can be started or...

Pupils go wild on spiked school dinners
Monday 12th May 2008 (ananova)
Police in Russia are investigating after pupils stripped off, climbed walls or lay on the floor laughing after their school dinners were spiked with drugs. The teenagers - aged 13 to 15 - were given ecstasy in their soup and drinks at their school in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in eastern Russia. Teachers said it was as if the school had turned into "a lunatic asylum...

Neil Young gets his own spider
Monday 12th May 2008 (news.com.au)
US singer and songwriter Neil Young has had an honour bestowed upon him that is not received by many musicians – his own spider. East Carolina University biologist Jason Bond discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and opted to call the arachnid after his favourite musician, Canadian Neil Young, naming it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi. "There are rather...

Mafiaa demands $15 million from Pirate Bay
Monday 12th May 2008 (the inquirer)
The MPAA says it will be demanding $15.4 million from Pirate Bay when its lawsuit goes to trial. The content mafiaa plans to claim damages for just four movies -- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Syriana, The Pink Panther and Walk the Line -- and 13 episodes of the recent TV series Prison Break. It's demanding between 222.50 and 261.50 kronor...

Hackers Find a New Place to Hide Rootkits
Monday 12th May 2008 (pcworld)
Security researchers have developed a new type of malicious rootkit software that hides itself in an obscure part of a computer's microprocessor, hidden from current antivirus products. Called a System Management Mode (SMM) rootkit, the software runs in a protected part of a computer's memory that can be locked and rendered invisible to the operating...

Omaha man says this was his second self-tracheotomy
Monday 12th May 2008 (yahoo!)
The 55-year-old Omaha man who performed a tracheotomy on himself with a steak knife says he did the same thing to himself two years ago. Steve Wilder said Friday that his throat is shrunken because of radiation treatments for cancer. Those treatments ended four years ago, but scar tissue remains. He said seasonal allergies may have caused...

Actor Farina arrested after gun found in luggage at LAX
Monday 12th May 2008 (yahoo!)
Actor Dennis Farina was charged with a felony Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport after a loaded gun was found in his carry-on luggage. When the weapon was discovered at a security checkpoint, the 64-year-old actor said he had forgotten the .22-caliber handgun was in his luggage, police said. Farina was booked for investigation of...

EBay's PayPal rule in Australia draws fire
Monday 12th May 2008 (yahoo!)
EBay Inc. is exploring whether to require customers to use its online payment service PayPal, a move that has angered users and prompted antitrust scrutiny in Australia, where a PayPal-only rule takes effect next month. It's unclear whether eBay will institute a similar policy in the United States and other countries. However, the online auction...

Parenthood doesn't lead to joy
Friday 9th May 2008 (yahoo!)
Marriage will make you happy, and money won't hurt. But if you're seeking joy in your life it's probably best not to have children, a Harvard academic has told a Sydney conference. The troika of experiences is conventionally considered to be the cornerstone of happiness, but such thinking does not stand up to scientific scrutiny, Harvard University...

Dad's pirate flag battle
Thursday 8th May 2008 (ananova)
A fireman is facing prosecution for flying a skull and crossbones outside his home for his daughter's pirate-themed birthday party. David Waterman, 41, faces legal action for refusing to remove the Jolly Roger flag he hoisted to celebrate his daughter's eighth birthday. The father of four left the 5ft by 3ft flag flying after the party but was ordered to...

Vodafone set to release iPhone in Australia
Thursday 8th May 2008 (news.com.au)
The Apple iPhone will be released in Australia later this year with mobile carrier Vodafone, the company has confirmed. Vodafone issued a short press release this afternoon stating that it would sell Apple's handset in Australia later this year, as well as in New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, South Africa and Turkey...

Not using Paypal is akin to buying heroin on the street
Thursday 8th May 2008 (the inquirer)
Ebay Australia has firmly lodged its foot in its mouth, by comparing sellers who don’t use the Paypal option to heroin dealers. At a "town hall" style meeting to discuss the fact that Ebay Australia will be scrapping all payment methods apart from Paypal, events went from bad to worse, with Ebay’s regional VP ending the evening with a comparison...

MySQL remains Open Sauce
Thursday 8th May 2008 (the inquirer)
MYSQL has decided to abandon its plans to take some of its database software out of the open source community's paws. According to VP Kaj Arno's bog here MySQL is forgoing close sourcing portions of the MySQL Server. There were dark rumours that the company was preparing to close source the server's backup, encryption, and storage engines...

Studios win $111 million judgment against TorrentSpy.com
Thursday 8th May 2008 (yahoo!)
The six major Hollywood studios have won a $111 million judgment for copyright infringement against the shut-down file-sharing Web site TorrentSpy.com. The judgment, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, fined the operators of the Web site, Valence Media LLC, $30,000 per violation for nearly 3,700 illegal movie and TV show downloads...

Hackers' posts on epilepsy forum cause migraines, seizures
Thursday 8th May 2008 (yahoo!)
Computer attacks typically don't inflict physical pain on their victims. But in a rare example of an attack apparently motivated by malice rather than money, hackers recently bombarded the Epilepsy Foundation's Web site with hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images. The breach triggered severe migraines and near-seizure...

Illinois smoking ban tamps down puffing at pipe convention
Monday 5th May 2008 (yahoo!)
There will be no indoor smoking at a large convention for pipe smokers in Illinois. A new Illinois law bans smoking in public places. That's taken some of the steam out of this weekend's Chicagoland International Pipe & Tobacciana Show in St. Charles. The event draws 4,000 pipe collectors from more than 60 countries. Organizers tried to get around the new...

Man complains after beer makes him drunk
Monday 5th May 2008 (ananova)
A Romanian man has lodged an official complaint with the local trading standards agency after he got drunk on a single can of beer. Iancu Boroi, 35, said he had bought the beer at a local supermarket in Arges in southern Romania but was so drunk after drinking just one can that he nearly passed out. He said: "I am more than capable of holding my drink...

Balancing act
Monday 5th May 2008 (ananova)
It may look like the most dangerous motorbike in the world but this new invention is actually the latest form of green transport. The electric Uno is the brainchild of 18-year-old Canadian Ben Gulak who spent several years developing the bike, which is controlled entirely by body movements. The machine actually has two wheels, side-by-side, and uses...

Pink Floyd's missing pig finally lands
Monday 5th May 2008 (news.com.au)
A giant inflatable pig belonging to ex-Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters which went missing from a California music festival at the weekend has been found in tatters in a desert town. The pig, which has been a signature Pink Floyd stage prop since its appearance on the 1977 cover of Animals and the song Pigs on Wings, broke away from its tethers on Sunday...

Soldier sues over 'humiliating' nickname
Monday 5th May 2008 (news.com.au)
British soldier Kerry Hylton is suing the army because of the embarrassing nickname given to him by fellow troops. Hylton claims he has been "demeaned'' by the nickname "Paris'', after the notorious blonde American socialite and Hilton hotel empire heiress. He is suing for race discrimination, alleging that his fellow soldiers ignored orders to stop calling...

Are Australian blokes going soft?
Monday 5th May 2008 (sunshine coast daily)
Australian men: Do you regularly play footy with your mates? Get dirty under the bonnet of your car? Own a backyard shed? If not, you could be one of the increasing number of Aussie men going soft. According to the results of a recent survey that polled 1,000 Australian men on their blokey-ness, "the nation's iconic hard Aussie blokes are a dying...

Emma Watson shows her Hairy Potter
Monday 5th May 2008 (website)
Emma Watson had her 18th birthday party last night and many questions were raised. Questions like, did she flash her crotch? Why, yes. Yes she did. The Sun UK says: "Harry Potter star Emma Watson - Hermione Granger in the films - had a face like thunder on Saturday night, despite a great 18th birthday bash...The young actress didn't flash a smile but...

Marvel turns 'Iron Man' into gold with $100M-plus debut
Monday 5th May 2008 (yahoo!)
"Iron Man" was pure gold at the box office. The Marvel Comics adaptation, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the guy in the metal suit, hauled in $100.7 million during its opening weekend and $104.2 million since debuting Thursday night, the second-best premiere ever for a nonsequel, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film also scored overseas with...

Tesla rolls out its long-awaited electric sports car
Monday 5th May 2008 (yahoo!)
It's safe to say Jeremy Snyder gets a charge out of the two-seat Tesla Roadster whenever he pulls one off the lot -- and not because it's equipped with an all-electric engine. As he pulled one of the sleek new automobiles down a side street Thursday and put the pedal to the metal, its lithium-ion battery-powered engine didn't give off sparks. It just...

Man asks court to change his name to 'In God We Trust'
Monday 5th May 2008 (yahoo!)
Steve Kreuscher wants a judge to allow him to legally change his name. He wants to be known as "In God We Trust." Kreuscher (CROY'-shir) says the new name would symbolize the help God gave him through tough times. The 57-year-old man also told the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald he's worried that atheists may succeed in removing the phrase "In...

Texas man trying to cash $360 billion check arrested
Friday 2nd May 2008 (yahoo!)
Charles Ray Fuller must have been planning one big record company. The 21-year-old North Texas man was arrested last week for trying to cash a $360 billion check, saying he wanted to start a record business, authorities said. Tellers at the Fort Worth bank were immediately suspicious -- perhaps the 10 zeros on a personal check tipped them off...

Reward offered for Floyd flying pig
Thursday 1st May 2008 (news.com.au)
Organisers of a major California music festival are offering a $US10,000 ($10,670) reward and four festival tickets for life in exchange for ex-Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters' two-storey inflatable pig, which was lost on Monday. Waters' signature pig was seen floating away during his closing set at the three-day Coachella Valley Arts and Music...

Hackers Focus Efforts on Firefox, Safari
Thursday 1st May 2008 (washington post)
Many people are switching from Internet Explorer to alternative browsers such as Firefox and Safari. Though that might make them feel more secure, the shift has also opened new doors for bad guys. Case in point: We have no IE bugs to report this month, but both Firefox and Safari have been hit hard. So forget the idea that just because you've switched...

'Grand Theft Auto' Hailed As 'Masterpiece'
Thursday 1st May 2008 (informationweek)
Video gamers geared up Monday for the midnight launch of "Grand Theft Auto 4," as early reviews hailed the criminal action title as a brutal and satirical "masterpiece" equal to films like "The Godfather." The near-universal accolades lavished on "Grand Theft Auto 4" also helped boost the shares of publisher Take-Two Interactive Software...

The Truth About the Spinning Dancer
Thursday 1st May 2008 (nytimes)
A popular e-mail going around features a spinning dancer that has been touted as a test of whether you are right-brained and creative or left-brained and logical. If you see the dancer spinning clockwise, the story goes, you are using more of your right brain, and if you see it moving counterclockwise, you are more of a left-brained person. But while the...

Judge: Music Sharing Doesn't Necessarily Equal Infringement
Thursday 1st May 2008 (wired)
One of the biggest bones of contention between the RIAA and file-sharing lawsuit defendants has been whether making a file available to others constitutes distribution of the file. In other words, if I drag a song about a tree falling in the woods into my Kazaa "shared files" folder but there's no proof that anyone downloaded it, have I committed...

Scientists Create Missing Fourth Electronic Circuit Element
Thursday 1st May 2008 (wired)
Researchers at HP Labs have built the first working prototypes of an important new electronic component that may lead to instant-on PCs as well as analog computers that process information the way the humain brain does. The new component is called a memristor, or memory resistor. Up until today, the circuit element had only been described in a series of...

David Blaine breaks world record for holding one's breath
Thursday 1st May 2008 (yahoo!)
David Blaine took on a Zen-like appearance in the water tank as the minutes ticked by during his attempt to set a new breath-holding record. Oprah Winfrey, however, was anything but calm. She fidgeted in her chair, pursed her lips, placed her head in her hands, and kept seeking reassurance from the doctor at her side about the 35-year-old magician's persistently...

Mondex the frog-dog
Tuesday 29th April 2008 (ananova)
A chihuahua in a scuba suit has won a canine fashion show in the Philippines. Five-year-old Mondex wore a four-legged wetsuit, air bottle, four little flippers and goggles for the day. Mondex was joined by other pampered pooches in the pet fashion show held in a mall in suburban Manila. He faced stiff competition from Tucker, another five-year-old...

Hair of the dog may be good for kids
Tuesday 29th April 2008 (news.com.au)
Young children who live with a dog may get an immune-system boost against asthma and other allergies, researchers say. Joachim Heinrich of the Institute of Epidemiology at the Heimholtz Centre in Munich, Germany, led an investigation into more than 3000 children, whose health was closely monitored from birth to the age of six. Blood tests showed that...

Scientists post live webcam of giant squid thaw
Tuesday 29th April 2008 (news.com.au)
For those of you who have trouble defrosting a steak in the microwave, spare a thought for New Zealand scientists tasked with thawing out a 500kg squid. The massive colossal squid - the largest ever found - has been creating a headache for researchers trying to extract it from a giant block of ice. The creature was frozen by fishermen who hauled it...

Blu-ray still has a fight on its hands
Tuesday 29th April 2008 (the inquirer)
Despite emerging triumphant in the battle of the high-definition storage format, Sony may still have a way to go to win the war, say boffins from analyst outfit ABI Research. ABI reckons that because almost 85 per cent of all Blu-ray players are actually PS3s, Blu-ray as a separate video unit, or PC disk drive could take as long as five years to take off. In a...

Guitar Hero: Gateway Drug to Six-String Bliss
Tuesday 29th April 2008 (wired)
Guitar Hero is turning some gamers into actual guitar players. With more than 14 million units sold in North America since the videogame's release in 2005, the incredibly popular franchise is giving an entire generation of potential guitarists just enough of a taste for them to consider experimenting with the real thing. "I'd always had an interest in playing...

Oregon fishing spot drains on opening day
Tuesday 29th April 2008 (yahoo!)
Opening day was drained out at a popular Southern Oregon fishing spot. Angler Doug Evans took his family to a pond in the Denman Wildlife Area at noon Saturday. The water level quickly seemed to dip and then it dipped some more. It wasn't his imagination. By 4 p.m., the pond was dry, transformed into a mudhole populated with dying carp, catfish...

Iran takes new shot at Barbie, calling US doll 'destructive'
Tuesday 29th April 2008 (yahoo!)
A top Iranian judiciary official warned Monday against the "destructive" cultural and social consequences of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys. In the latest salvo in a more than decade-old government campaign against Barbie, Prosecutor General Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi said in an official letter to Vice President Parviz Davoudi that the doll and other...

Stone Temple Pilots singer Weiland pleads no contest to DUI
Tuesday 29th April 2008 (yahoo!)
Rocker Scott Weiland has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge and was sentenced to eight days in jail. Weiland entered the plea through his attorney in a Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday. He also was sentenced to four years probation and must take part in an 18-month alcohol program. Weiland came to fame as the lead singer...

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