p2pnet World Headlines – Sept 28, 2009

Tue,29 Sep 2009 04:58 GMT -4:00 http://www.p2pnet.net/story/29018

Wal-Mart best symbolizes America, a new poll finds Associated Press

Half the respondents of a new poll say taxing the richest Americans by at least 50 percent is a great idea, while more than a third consider Twitter a fad that will likely fade. Those are among the findings of a new “60 Minutes”-Vanity Fair Poll released Sunday. Nearly half of the respondents chose Wal-Mart as the institution that best symbolizes America today, leaving in the dust runners-up Google, Microsoft, the NFL, and the banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs. Dining out was chosen most often by respondents as a luxury they hate sacrificing in these tough economic times. And 5 percent thought the best way to fight obesity among patrons of fast-food chains is to equip each restaurant with scales for them to weigh themselves. A politician taking bribes is considered by far the greater sin (chosen by 37 percent of the respondents) when stacked against extramarital affairs (just 2 percent). [What does this tell you? ]

Film industry links ISP’s best customers with piracy IT News

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft has claimed that there is a link between ISP iiNet upgrading the service plans of heavy-internet users and the proliferation of film piracy, according to documents filed with the Federal Court. AFACT declined a request by iTnews to spell out what the link might be, due to restrictions placed upon it by the Court. “That’s the kind of evidence that will come out during the course of the case,” a federation spokesman said. iiNet was brought before the Federal Court in a suit lodged by the federation of film distributors over copyright material being allegedly shared illegally over the Perth ISP’s network. In AFACT’s outline of opening submissions – an abridged version of which was released today – it alleged that “through inactivity and indifference, iiNet has … permitted a situation to develop and continue where users of its internet services are free to engage in infringements of … copyright”.

Xerox to Buy Affiliated Computer for $6.4 Billion Bloomberg News

Xerox Corp. agreed to buy Affiliated Computer Services Inc. for $6.4 billion in its biggest purchase, shifting to computer services as sales of its traditional printing equipment decline. The transaction will help triple sales from services to about $10 billion, Xerox said today in a statement. The total price of the cash-and-stock deal is about 34 percent more than Dallas-based Affiliated Computer’s closing price Sept. 25. The acquisition is Chief Executive Officer Ursula Burns’s first since taking over the world’s largest maker of high-speed color printers in July. Burns’s predecessor, Anne Mulcahy, helped Xerox avoid bankruptcy this decade by paring debt, exiting unprofitable businesses and shedding jobs.

Canada’s ‘Prince of Pot’ to surrender for U.S. extradition Canwest News Service

Canada’s “Prince of Pot,” Marc Emery, is expected to surrender to authorities Monday and await extradition to the U.S. where he is expected to serve up to five years in prison for shipping marijuana seeds across the border. Mr. Emery, 51 was indicted in 2005 along with two associates on drug and money-laundering charges stemming from a lucrative mail-order pot-seed business run out of Mr. Emery’s Vancouver book and paraphernalia shop, which also doubled as B.C.’s Marijuana Party headquarters. Two charges Mr. Emery faced — conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering — were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea on the charge of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. Canadian authorities drew criticism for helping the U.S. nab Mr. Emery because he openly participated in an operation that drew little heat in Canada.

Ants vs. worms Heise Online

Since ants are pretty good at finding and combating enemies in the natural world, a team of researchers decided to try reproducing an ant-type model on computer networks. In contrast to standard anti-virus defences, this approach does not rely on anti-virus products permanently installed on workstations. Instead, digital ants wander around the network searching workstations for malware. Up to 3,000 different types of ants are used, each able to detect specific threats. If an ant finds a threat, it leaves a digital scent marker. Other digital ants are then attracted by the marker and can also add their own markers. The stronger the signal, the more ants are attracted to the workstation in question. The idea is that infections can be detected more reliably and using less resources than a standard anti-virus product, which contains thousands of signatures and special detection procedures.

DNA test shows Hitler skull is that of a woman news.com.au

Adolf Hitler may not have died in a bunker after fresh research suggests the skull thought to be the tyrant’s was from a woman. US archaeologist Nick Bellantoni found fragments from the skull believed to be Hitler’s were too thin to be from a male, and suspected it was the remains of a much younger woman, The Sun reports. “The bone seemed very thin – male bone tends to be more robust. It corresponds to a woman between the ages of 20 and 40,” Dr Bellantoni said. DNA tests performed in a US laboratory confirmed the remains could not have belonged to the Nazi leader. The discovery casts doubt on the exact circumstances of Hitler’s death and could force history books to be rewritten.

EU to set volume limits on MP3 players to limit risk of hearing loss Canadian Press

The EU says it will draft new technical standards to limit the volume of mobile music players. EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva says maximum sound levels on the popular gadgets are damaging and will lead to more hearing loss among young people. She says the 27-nation bloc will impose new limits setting default safe noise levels for players such as iPods and those installed in cellphones.

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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

September, 2009




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