And the most important trait in a mate is...

Reuters.comBy Kamakshi Tandon

Fri Jan 27, 2006. TORONTO (Reuters) - When it comes to romance, women prefer someone who tickles their funny bone while men opt for those who catch their eye, according to an international survey released on Wednesday.

The survey, conducted in 16 countries by Canadian romance publisher Harlequin Enterprises, asked men and women on six continents about traits they liked or disliked and how they went about trying to meet Mr. or Ms. Right.

The poll revealed differences between countries in the way people tried to impress the opposite sex.

Australians and British men frequently admitted drinking too much, while about half of German and Italian men said they had lied about their finances. Spaniards were the most likely to use sex to catch someone's attention.

Eighty percent of Brazilian and Mexican men said they had lied about their marital or relationship status, as did 70 percent of German women, the survey said.

When it came to meeting that special someone, a majority of respondents preferred to rely on friends for introductions. The Internet was not a popular hunting ground except in Portugal, where about half the surveyed men and women opted to find people online.

Both Spain and France suffered a gender gap. Thirty percent of Spanish men, but no Spanish women, looked for love online. In France, 40 percent of men but only 10 percent of women attended parties, bars and clubs to meet someone, but they did have one thing in common: both sexes rated looks as more important than their counterparts in other countries.

When it came to that first meeting, a majority of men polled said beauty was more important than brains, while women put a sense of humor at the top of their list.

Physical attraction was the top priority for men in France, Brazil, Greece, Japan and Britain. And while 40 percent of Portuguese men rated intelligence over looks in a first encounter, no Australian men did so.

In the United States and Canada, humor was considered the most important trait by both men and women, getting 63 and 73 percent of the vote respectively.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

TURIN BUILDS VIRTUAL FORTRESS FOR GAMES...

Technology News Article Reuters.comBy Sophie Hardach and Antonella Ciancio

Mon Jan 30, 2006. MILAN (Reuters) - Olympic organizers have tightened the screws on data processing security to prevent identity fraud and tampering with scores and times, a project director at Atos Origin, which manages the IT system for the Games, told Reuters.

Patrick Adiba, head of the Olympic Games project at Atos, said there had been some five million security alerts on the secure network for the Summer Games in Athens.

Only about 20 of these were critical -- people trying to access the network without authorization.

"The main innovation is that we have managed to have a much more effective filter system than in Athens," he said.

"We are also implementing a new system of identity management, so when people want to log in you can check if they have the right to do so."

Italy is protecting the Games with an army of snipers, policemen and firemen, and has been praised for its security efforts in the face of militant Islamist threats and local political protest groups.

It also receives information from intelligence agencies around the world about Olympic risks.

As with intelligence reports, the challenge is to find the real threats in a fog of data.

Adiba said many information technology alerts were prompted by people at the Olympic venues trying to connect their own computers to the secure network, often just to surf the Internet.

In each case, Atos responds by immediately disconnecting the computer from the network and then sending out security staff to physically check what happened.

Atos also provides data to police and immigration authorities. For example, accreditation to the Games has the same value as a visa, since citizens from countries requiring a visa for travel to Italy are granted it as part of the accreditation process.

"A lot of the security is related to processes. We try to design a system that's secure, to prevent people from processing, entering or modifying data," Adiba added.

Sensitive data includes itineraries for visiting heads of state, athletes' medical appointments and case histories -- and, of course, competition results.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

MyWife prevention and cure...

CNET reviews By Robert Vamosi

Jan. 26, 2006.This mass-mailing e-mail worm uses an old trick--the lure of pornography--and may delete your critical Microsoft Office files.

QUICK FACTSName: MyWife (W32.MyWife@mm), aliases include CME-24 (US-CERT), Tearec (Panda), Nyxem (Sophos), Blackmal (Symantec, Computer Associates, Vet), and GREW (Trend).

What it does: Disables security apps and attempts to overwrite data files on your PC.

Means of transmission: E-mail and shared network files

How to recognize: E-mail suggesting a sexually oriented file attachment, and possibly the inability to run an antivirus scan.

Who is at risk:All Windows users.

How we rate A classic e-mail virus is on the loose and is posed to delete crucial files on the third day of each month.

MyWife (W32.MyWife@mm) (aliases include CME-24 (US-CERT), Tearec (Panda), Nyxem (Sophos), Blackmal (Symantec, Computer Associates, Vet), and GREW (Trend)) lures potential victims with a promise of sexual content. There are several variations of the worm available, most of which delete or disable security protection from Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, and Kaspersky security products. Worse: on the third day of each month, MyWife overwrites data files with the following extensions: DOC, XLS, MDE, MDB, PPT, PPS, RAR, PDF, PSD, DMP, and ZIP. According to Sans.org, the files are overwritten with an error message "DATA Error [47 0F 94 93 F4 K5]." MyWife affect all versions of Windows; it does not affect users of Mac OS, Linux, or Unix. Because Mywife spreads via e-mail and could damage system files, this worm rates a 6 on the CNET/ZDNet Virus Meter.

How it works
MyWife arrives via e-mail with subject lines similar to the following list:

The Best Videoclip Ever
School girl fantasies gone bad
A Great Video
Fu**in Kama Sutra pics
Arab sex DSC-00465.jpg
give me a kiss
*Hot Movie*
Fw: Funny :)
Fwd: Photo
Fwd: image.jpg
Fw: Sexy
Re:
Fw:
Fw: Picturs
Fw: DSC-00465.jpg
Word file
eBook.pdf
the file
Part 1 of 6 Video clipe
You Must View This Videoclip!
Miss Lebanon 2006
Re: Sex Video
My photos

According to antivirus vendor McAfee, MyWife adds the following files to an infected system: %Windows%\rundll16.exe
%System%\scanregw.exe
%System%\Update.exe
%System%\Winzip.exe
c:\winzip_tmp.exe
%Temp% \word.zip

Nyxem also installs the following registry key:

[HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] "ScanRegistry" = "%System%\scanregw.exe /scan"

The worm will attempt to copy itself to the following shares, using the current user's authentication:

C$\documents and settings\all users\start menu\programs\startup\winzip quick pick.exe
Admin$\winzip_tmp.exe
C$\winzip_tmp.exe

Once executed, MyWife attempts to delete or disable active security protection from Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, and Kaspersky security products.

Prevention
MyWife infections can be avoided if a personal firewall is enabled on a desktop PC, if attachments to e-mail files are not opened (or opened with caution), and if your antivirus subscription remains current.

Removal
A few antivirus software companies have updated their signature files to include this worm. This will stop the infection upon contact and in some cases will remove an active infection from your system. For more information, see Computer Associates, F-Secure, McAfee, Microsoft, Panda, Sophos, Symantec, and Trend Micro.

SCIENTISTS WARN SKYPE IDEAL FOR HACKERS...

Technology News Article Reuters.com

Thu Jan 26, 2006. LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers from Cambridge University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) warned on Thursday that Internet calling applications like Skype may provide the ideal disguise for hacker attacks.

The Communications Research Network (CRN) of both renowned universities said no attacks had yet been recognized, but "it is only a matter of time before the technique becomes mainstream."

It had discussed the matter with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) firms like Skype, it said in a statement.

Luxembourg-headquartered Skype, which has been downloaded on 242 million computers around the world and was acquired by eBay (EBAY.O: Quote, Profile, Research) last year, was not immediately available to comment. Cambridge University is based in Britain and MIT in the United States.

The CRN's working group on Internet Security said it had discovered that VoIP applications could provide excellent cover for launching denial of service attacks.

In such attacks computers are being hijacked by hackers and turned into so-called "zombies" in order to bombard a Web site or e-mail server with page requests or e-mails. The aim of the attack is that the site or entire network collapses under the pressure.

VoIP programs are popular among consumers because they allow free or ultra-cheap phone calls across the globe.

VoIP cuts a voice conversation into digital bits and hackers can use those data streams for cover, making it almost impossible to trace the source of an attack.

Internet service providers monitor instant messaging traffic which is currently used to trigger attacks.

It is more difficult to trace VoIP traffic which often uses a lot of proprietary software with secret code to make sure that Internet phone calls will not be blocked by Internet service providers or firewalls.

"The loophole could be resolved if VoIP providers were to publish their routing specifications or switch over to open standards," the researchers said.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

CELL - PHONE SEX; WILL IT PAY IN PEORIA?

Technology News Article-Reuters.com By Tom Brown

26 Jan. 2006. MIAMI (Reuters) - Dial P for porn? It may never be quite that easy. But cell-phone pornography is a fast-growing business that analysts expect will generate about $2 billion in global revenue by 2009.

And porn-on-the-go was the focus of a two-day Mobile Adult Content Congress that wrapped up in Miami on Thursday amid expectations, according to at least some participants, that it will soon catch on in the United States.

Consumers already spend tens of millions of dollars a year on cell-phone-based adult content in Europe where companies such as mobile-phone giant Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) -- or "Vodafilth" as it was dubbed by one British newspaper -- are among the distributors.

Leading American cellular carriers have been reluctant to jump onto the bandwagon, however, fearing a backlash from the conservatives and the religious right if they provide U.S. consumers easy access to hand-held X-rated theater.

The Miami conference, aimed at allaying some of those concerns, was sponsored by Waat Media, a California-based company that represents some of the leading so-called late-night U.S. entertainment brands.

Rather than focusing on steamy content or images, such as video footage featuring conference attendee Ron Jeremy -- a porn star who has licensed his name to RJ Mobile -- industry officials focused here on issues such as content rating and filtering devices or age verification mechanisms, meant to prevent underage consumers from buying adult content.

It was all a bit staid and very business-like, but one speaker, an executive identified as James Walz of West Management, did seem to get worked up as he talked about features like "personalized strip teases" and unbridled U.S. market potential.

"There's a huge consumer demand following up on the immense success of the Internet," Walz said. "It's a sizzling, serious business."

U.S. sales of erotica or porn distributed via cell phones were estimated at no more than about $30 million last year.

But Adi McAbian, Waat Media's managing director, told Reuters that U.S. revenues could soon hit about $500 million per year, once the right technology, and services such as "robust age verification," are in place.

One key to future growth, apart from an avoidance of excessive regulatory controls, will be the ability U.S. consumers should have to get billed for adult content directly by their cell-phone providers, McAbian said. Con

"There's no doubt it's a huge market forthcoming. Long-range it's a huge market," he said.
On a global basis, Juniper Research, which specializes in research on the telecoms industry, says sales of adult mobile services are seen tripling between 2004 and 2009 to $2.1 billion.

Tina Southall, director of content standards at Vodafone, told Reuters adult offerings were a key part of the company's multimedia strategy across Europe.

But what sells in Austria or Hungary, which she described as Europe's "most explicit markets," or even in Ireland, Britain and Sweden, which she ranked as Europe's "most conservative" venues, may not play in Peoria, Illinois.

Jeffrey Nelson of Verizon Wireless, the U.S. cell-phone service that Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shares with Vodafone, said the company had absolutely no plans to offer adult content on its mobile phones.

"As my grandmother would have said, 'fat chance,"' Nelson said.

"I hear all the same things you do about analysts saying this is a big boom," he said. "We don't think that our customer base wants it."

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

A really, really no-frills ride...Diapers required!

Reuters.com

The Lunar New Year, which this year starts on January 29, is the biggest holiday in the Chinese-speaking world and family reunions prompt arguably the biggest movement of humanity on Earth.

Many supermarkets in southern Foshan had reported a 50 percent increase in sales of adult diapers for the train trips, the China Daily said in what some local commentators called the "shame of the nation." It did not mention other cities.

Domestic media said railways in China had transported 3.8 million people alone Monday, an all-time high.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Sex harassment affects most US college students...

Health News - Reuters.com By Deborah Zabarenko

Tue Jan 24, 2006 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly two-thirds of U.S. college students are affected by sexual harassment -- ranging from offensive jokes and gestures to touching and grabbing, according to a study released on Tuesday.

Men are more likely to harass than women, but women and men are equally likely to be harassed on U.S. campuses, according to a report by the American Association of University Women.

Researchers found that 62 percent of college students experienced sexual harassment, and 32 percent of college students said they were victims of physical harassment.

"The primary form of harassment that we're seeing is actually non-contact: it tends to be remarks, gestures and jokes," Elena Silva, the report's co-author, said in a telephone interview. "But the fact that one-third of college students are experiencing some form of physical harassment is certainly a concern."

In a representative survey of 2036 undergraduates at U.S. colleges and universities, 41 percent said they had sexually harassed someone.

"In most cases, these students say that they thought it was funny, the other person liked it, or it is 'just a part of school life,"' the report found.

Common types of physical harassment include being touched, grabbed or pinched in a sexual way, or intentionally brushing up against someone in a sexual way, the study found.

Flashes of frontal or rear nudity, calling someone gay, lesbian or a homophobic name or spreading sexual rumors about someone also were reported as sexual harassment in the survey.

'YOU LOSE YOUR CONFIDENCE'
"It messes things up for you," said Heather Pennison, who has encountered sexual harassment throughout her school career and is now a student at Georgia Southern University.

"You lose your confidence, you don't want to go to class, you don't want to go to certain parts of the campus," Pennison said by telephone before the survey was released. "You're not getting the full experience that you should be getting."

Less than 10 percent of all students report sexual harassment to a school employee, the study found. Most student victims say the incident was "not a big deal" even though it made victims feel "helpless" or "horrible."

"We have a real contradiction where students are saying, on the one hand, it's no big deal and didn't report it ... but on the other hand, they say, 'Yes, I was upset by it, yes, it made me feel bad about myself,"' Silva said.

The issue of sexual harassment grabbed U.S. headlines in 1991, when Anita Hill leveled accusations against her former boss, Clarence Thomas, who was named to the Supreme Court by then-President George H.W. Bush, the current president's father.

In televised congressional hearings, Hill alleged Thomas pressured her for dates and frequently talked about pornography and sexual acts. Thomas, who denied Hill's claims, was confirmed by a 52-48 vote in the U.S. Senate.

The survey of students ages 18 to 24 was conducted online by Harris Interactive and had a sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Google co-founders cash in...

CNET News.com By Elinor Mills, Staff writer.


January 24, 2006. Last month, the 32-year-old celebrity co-founders of Google each sold more than $160 million worth of their company's stock.

That may sound like the ultimate jackpot to most people, but to Sergey Brin and Larry Page it was just another month in their billionaire-in-a-year lives.

Since the search giant went public in August 2004, Brin has sold about 6.5 million shares at a market value of $1.68 billion. Page has sold about 5.8 million shares at a market value of $1.4 billion, according to calculations from Thomson Financial. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, who was brought in to run the company before it went public, has sold more than 2.1 million shares, worth more than $502 million.

More stories on this topic
Of course, there's nothing new about executives at hot tech outfits getting rich selling their stock once their companies go public. Microsoft's Bill Gates didn't become the richest man in the world because of his take-home salary. And Oracle's Larry Ellison didn't exactly fund his far-flung yachting adventures by cashing in a 401K plan.

The speed at which the Google bosses have sold their stock and the eye-popping value of the sales have raised some eyebrows among corporate governance experts. "Any time you sell stock it is an affirmative decision that your assets are better deployed somewhere else," said Charles Elson, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. "I just don't think that for the top leadership of a company, large stock sales send a particularly strong message to the other shareholders. I don't think it's a good thing."

He wasn't the only one to take notice, though he was more critical than Wall Street stock analysts who can take comfort in the fact that everyone who invested in Google early on has been amply rewarded by a stock price that has increased nearly 400 percent in 17 months.

Taking Google's measure
Elinor Mills, Mike Yamamoto and Charlie Cooper debate how long Google can maintain its frenetic growth rate.

"The insider-selling cases are never a positive for the stock and sometimes they could be red flags," Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy wrote in an e-mail response to questions. "(But) by itself, I don't think this sale activity is a major telling point, although it does appear to be quite large and is somewhat concerning."

Not too concerning, apparently. Rashtchy raised his 2006 price target for Google stock to $600 a share from $445 a few weeks ago.

Sales planned long ago
Why the nonchalance? One answer could be that so far there's little reason to think Google's bosses are doing anything unseemly or separating their interests from those of other shareholders. Yes, they've already made a gargantuan amount of money, and stand to make a lot more if Google continues to rebound from a surprising 8.5 percent share price drop on Friday--the biggest single-day drop in the company's brief history. The drop came amid a broader Wall Street decline and one day after it became public that Google is fighting a Justice Department request for random search data.

But the Googlers' stock sales were carefully planned before the search giant went public. Unlike insider sales that are made by company executives accused of unloading stock right before a suspected downturn, the Google executives' sales were decided long ago. They were coordinated under a schedule that allows insiders to pre-arrange the sale of a certain number of shares over a period of time.

The plan, called a 10b5-1, allows them to sell stock on a regular basis without appearing as though they are reacting to market movements up or down. When they announced that they were adopting the plan in 2004, Google said that after the sales were completed Brin and Page would each retain more than 80 percent of their current holdings and Schmidt would retain nearly 85 percent. Continued...

Sexy "booth babes" face fines at video game show...

Technology News - Reuters.com

Tue Jan 24, 2006 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The video game industry's 2006 E3Expo trade show in Los Angeles is getting a make-over -- banned are the swarms of sexy, semi-clad "booth babes" that in years past took the unveiling of new games and technology to titillating new levels.

Rules prohibiting the use of scantily clad young women to peddle video games are nothing new, but the handbook for this year's show in May outlines tough new penalties, including a $5,000 fine on the spot for the booth owner if the "booth babe" is semi-clad.

"What's new in 2006 is an update and clarification of the enforcement policies; as we do from time to time, we have taken steps to ensure that exhibitors are familiar with the policy and how it will be enforced," Mary Dolaher, E3Expo show director, said in an e-mail.

She did not comment on the reasons for the change.

The video game industry has come under fire from federal and local politicians, who want to limit sales of violent and sexually explicit games to minors.

The handbook from the Entertainment Software Association, the show's promoter, says: "Material, including live models, conduct that is sexually explicit and/or sexually provocative, including but not limited to nudity, partial nudity and bathing suit bottoms, are prohibited on the show floor, all common areas, and at any access points to the show."

Exhibitors would receive one verbal warning when a violation occurs. Upon a second violation, the ESA said it would impose a $5,000 penalty, payable immediately on the site. It would also require that models comply with the dress code before returning to the floor.

ESA said it has sole discretion to determine what is acceptable.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

'Botmaster' pleads guilty to computer crimes...

Reuters.com By Dan Whitcom

Tue Jan 24, 2006. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 20-year-old accused of using hundreds of thousands of hijacked computers, or "bot nets," to damage systems and send massive waves of spam across the Internet, pleaded guilty to federal charges on Monday.

Jeanson James Ancheta, who prosecutors said was a well-known member of the "Botmaster Underground" -- a secret network of hackers skilled in "bot" attacks -- was arrested in November in what prosecutors said was the first such case of its kind.

The Los Angeles area man pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, damaging computers used by the U.S. government and fraud. He had been scheduled to stand trial later this year on a 17-count indictment.

Ancheta faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, although prosecutors say federal guidelines recommend between five and seven years.

"Mr. Ancheta was responsible for a particularly insidious string of crimes," U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said. "He hijacked somewhere in the area of half a million computer systems. This not only affected computers like the one in your home, but it allowed him and others to orchestrate large scale attacks."

A bot is a program that surreptitiously installs itself on a computer so it be controls by a hacker. A bot net is a network of such robot, or "zombie," computers, which can harness their collective power to do considerable damage or send out huge amounts of junk e-mail.

Prosecutors say the case was unique because Ancheta was accused of profiting from his attacks by selling access to his "bot nets" to other hackers and planting adware, software that causes advertisements to pop up, into infected computers.

Among computers he attacked were some at the Weapons Division of the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, California, and at the U.S. Department of Defense.

In entering the guilty pleas, Ancheta admitted using computer servers he controlled to transmit malicious code over the Web to scan for and exploit vulnerable computers, which he then controlled as "zombie" machines.

As part of the plea, he agreed to pay some $15,000 in restitution to the military facilities and forfeit the proceeds of his illicit activities, including more than $60,000 in cash, a BMW automobile and computer equipment.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Woman arrested in "kill for a job" case...

Reuters.com

Fri Jan 20, 2006. RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazilian police have arrested a woman they believe ordered the killing of a female former co-worker and an attempt on the life of another to get a permanent job next to a man she loved.

A duty police officer in Cubatao, an industrial city next to Sao Paulo, said Carolina Farias Santos, 22, confessed that she had hired friends for about $1,300 to kill Monica Tamer, a full-time employee at an oil processing company where Santos had worked temporarily.

Santos told police she wanted to work next to a man she had fallen in love with during her stint at the company. She had been hired to temporarily replace another woman, Renata Boreli, who was filling in while Tamer was on maternity leave.

In November, Boreli was wounded as two assailants fired shots at her car, and then started to receive telephone threats warning her not return to work. The following month, Tamer, a mother of two, was killed.

Police traced phone calls to Boreli's house, which led them to Santos and four friends. Two were arrested along with Santos on Wednesday and two remained at large.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Whatever you do, don't call for the nurse..

Reuters.com

Mon Jan 23, 2006. TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese nurse who tried to relieve her work stress by tearing off patients' nails was sentenced Monday to three years and eight months in prison.

The 32-year-old Japanese woman, who worked at a hospital in the ancient capital of Kyoto, tore off the fingernails and toenails of six female patients in September and October 2004. The patients were all immobile after strokes or other illnesses.

The Kyoto District Court said the woman had committed the cruel acts to relieve stress she was under from extra work forced on her by her supervisors.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Should parents be allowed to smack their children?

BBC NEWS

Do you think parents should have the right to smack their children?

The UK's four child commissioners have written to Education Secretary Ruth Kelly calling for a total ban on the smacking of children.

Earlier this month Prime Minister Tony Blair admitted to smacking his older children but not his youngest, Leo.

Should there be a total ban on smacking? Is this an infringement on civil liberties? Does the present law, which permits the use of mild smacking as "reasonable punishment", go far enough? Send us your comments.

Published: Sunday, 22 January, 2006, 10:26 GMT 10:26 UK

Read on.... for some interesting comments ...and add yours to this posting

LESS WAITING, FINGERPRINT CHECK COMING TO YOUR BANK...

Technology News Reuters.com By Steve Slater

Thu Jan 19, 2006. LONDON (Reuters) - Imagine a personalised welcome, few queues and fingerprint checks. This could be your bank branch in the future, thanks to cutting-edge technology such as radio frequency identification and biometric scanning.

In five years' time major banks across the globe could be using these time-saving and customer-personalised devices to revolutionise branch banking, consultancy firm Accenture said on Wednesday in a presentation on the bank branch of the future.

"Banks are trying to differentiate themselves and branches are still fundamental to this, so they are trialling lots of this new technology," said Simon Jenkins, retail banking partner for Accenture in the UK.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a technology being developed by retailers that should migrate to banks. Customers would be automatically identified by the RFID-encrypted card in their wallet as they pass through the door, prompting a personalised welcome to flash up on a computer screen.

By the time the customer reaches the counter all his or her details are on the screen of the teller, who can discuss specific requirements without asking a lot of redundant questions.

"The bank wants to be able to identify the customer the minute they walk in and understand why they are there," said Mike Redding, head of development for Accenture Technology Labs.

"The most innovative banks will then combine the data they already have and the new information they get and simplify it and make it usable."

RFID is also likely to feature in bank cards, key rings or mobile phones as a payment option. The process is already under way in many countries and oil major Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has issued 6 million SpeedPasses to allow users to pay for gasoline easily at the pump, Redding said.

Demand for anti-fraud measures should see advances in biometrics -- fingerprint or eye, facial, palm, voice, vein or even ear shape recognition software operated by bank staff or included in an automated teller machine.

Redding said that, with banks keener than ever to get an edge over rivals, other technology set to appear in branches includes digital pen and paper or camera-based tracking to monitor customer traffic and improve service and efficiency.

Away from the branch, other financial services applications set to feature includes telematics, or automotive data collection, which could see more insurers analysing journeys and offering "pay-as-you-drive" cover for motorists.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

WHY STRESS AT WORK RAISES ODDS OF HEART DISEASE...

Health News-Reuters.com

Thu Jan 19, 2006. LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists in Britain said on Friday they had found evidence of why stress at work can raise the odds of developing heart disease and diabetes.

Researchers at University College London (UCL) have shown that work stress is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome which includes high blood pressure, raised cholesterol levels, high blood sugar and excess weight.

"We found quite strong evidence that higher exposure to stress at work is associated with increased risk of the metabolic syndrome," said Tarani Chandola of UCL.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of characteristics that can lead to heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) said the study provides a possible explanation for the link between stress and heart disease.

"The good news is that many of the features of the metabolic syndrome can be reversed or improved by lifestyle changes, in particular increasing exercise and losing weight, combined with stopping smoking," Professor Peter Weissberg, the medical director of the BHF said in a statement.

In the study of more than 10,000 British civil servants published online by the British Medical Journal the scientists said the higher the stress levels reported by the employees the greater the risk of metabolic syndrome.

The scientists studied the stress levels of the civil servants over the past 20 years and compared them with components of metabolic syndrome which were measured between 1997 and 1999.

They also recorded lifestyle factors such as drinking, smoking, eating habits and exercise.

Men with chronic work stress were nearly twice as likely to develop the syndrome than workers who reported little or no stress, according to the study.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN...

Reuters.com By Patricia Reaney

Thu Jan 19, 2006. LONDON (Reuters) - Germans have a word for it -- schadenfreude -- and when it comes to getting pleasure from someone else's misfortune, men seem to enjoy it more than women.

Such is the conclusion reached by scientists at University College London in what they say is the first neuroscientific evidence of schadenfreude.

Using brain-imaging techniques, they compared how men and women reacted when watching other people suffer pain.

If the sufferer was someone they liked, areas of the brain linked to empathy and pain were activated in both sexes.

Women had a similar response if they disliked the person experiencing the pain but men showed a surge in the reward areas of the brain.

"The women had a diminished empathic response," said Dr Klaas Enoo Stephan, a co-author of the report. "But it was still there, whereas in the men it was completely absent," he added in an interview.

The scientists, who reported their findings in the journal Nature, said the research shows that empathic responses in men are shaped by the perceived fairness of others.

"Empathic responses to other people are not automatic, as has been assumed in the past, but depend on the emotional link to the person who is observed suffering," Stephan said.

In the two-part study, 32 men and women volunteers played a game in which they exchanged money with four other people who were actors playing a part.

The actors were either fair characters, who returned equal amounts of cash that have been given to them, or unfair people who gave little or no money back to the volunteers.

In the second part of the experiment, the volunteers were placed in magnetic imaging brain scanners as they watched the actors receiving a mild electric shock, similar to a bee sting.

The scientists measured reactions of the volunteers in areas of the brain associated with pain and empathy and reward while the actors experienced pain.

The responses shown in the brain images were backed up with questionnaires filled in by the volunteers. Men admitted to having a much higher desire for revenge than women and derived satisfaction from seeing the unfair person being punished.

"We will need to confirm these gender differences in larger studies because it is possible the experimental design favored men as there was a physical rather than psychological or financial threat involved," said Dr Tania Singer, who led the study.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

NAKED WOMAN ON A MUSCLE CAR...

Reuters.com

Thu Jan 19, 2006. DETROIT (Reuters) - Auto aficionados got more than a preview of the hottest models.

Detroit officials are looking into how a woman sneaked into the North American International Auto Show after closing hours early on Tuesday to pose naked on Chrysler's Dodge Challenger muscle car.

Security guards at the Cobo Center where the show is being held this week found the woman standing on the new Challenger, with some people -- mostly men -- taking pictures at about 2 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Tuesday.

"Some people told us there were real cameras there, and some said there were only cellphone cameras," Jason Vines, a spokesman for DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group, said, adding he did not know how many people were there.

Chrysler had brought in "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria on Sunday to pose with Chrysler Chief Executive Tom LaSorda next to the new Imperial luxury concept car. Longoria was fully-clothed.

Chief of security for the show, Carl Berry, said the incident was being investigated.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

WODKA VOOR KOUDE CIRCUSOLIFANTEN...

Trouw, het Nieuws van Europa - (Russian News) By Jelle Breandt Corstius

Traffic control by the police!

18 Jan. 2006. Met temperaturen van overdag dertig graden onder nul, tot min vijftig in Siberië, beleeft Rusland volgens meteorologen de ergst kou in 30 jaar.

,,Op dit moment is het - 29 graden, maar door een briesje uit het noordoosten voelt het aan als - 41,” vertelt de Russische weerdame droogjes op de televisie. De zelfs voor Russen ongebruikelijke kou beïnvloedt het straatbeeld in de volkswijk Koezminki. Het oude vrouwtje dat elke dag op een geïmproviseerd tafeltje haar knoflook staat te slijten is verdwenen, samen met de meeste marktkraampjes.

Op straat werken alleen nog de mensen die geen keus hebben. Zoals Sergej (23), die de verlaten markt bewaakt. Zijn toch al slopende werkdagen van 24 uur achtereen zijn nu haast ondraaglijk geworden. „Ik probeer de helft van de tijd een oogje op de markt te houden vanuit het metrogebouw,” vertelt hij met ijskristallen in zijn neusgaten.

„Of het hier wel eens kouder is geweest?” Taxichauffeur Alexander Boranjenkov moet diep in zijn geheugen graven „Dat was de winter van 1978, toen werd het -33 graden. Maar dat voorspellen ze ook voor eind deze week,” vertelt hij. Volgens Borjanenkov kon ongeveer de helft van zijn collega’s de auto niet starten in de ochtend. De meeste Lada-bezitters nemen daarom hun accu voor de nacht mee naar binnen.

Verbijsterend genoeg doet het ijskraampje nog steeds goede zaken. Verkoopster Klavdia Djomina heeft er al achttien verkocht. „Dat is een normale omzet. IJs blijft lekker.”.

Eigenlijk had Djomina haar kraampje vandaag moeten sluiten. In deze koude dagen komt de stad stroom tekort. Met opgelegde besparingen probeert het stadsbestuur algehele stroomuitval te voorkomen. Daarom kregen gisteren een aantal bedrijven het bevel de zaak te sluiten voor de komende week. Hierdoor moest onder meer de Moskouse beurs voor korte tijd dicht. De journalisten van de krant Moscow Times mochten wel de krant drukken, maar moesten hun werk doen bij kaarslicht.

Niet alleen Moskou is in de ban van de kou. In heel Rusland zijn de meeste scholen gesloten. In grote steden knapten draden van trolleybussen en werden elektrische forensentreintjes stilgezet omdat de remmen bevroren. Meer dan twintig Russen zijn al aan de kou bezweken. In de Noord-Russische Komi-republiek werden 83 mensen geëvacueerd omdat de stadsverwarming niet meer werkte.

Het Russische staatscircus, op tournee in Siberië, heeft het dagelijkse dieet van de olifanten gecomplementeerd met twee liter wodka om de dieren warm te houden.

Volgens de voorspellingen houdt de extreme kou nog dagenlang aan.

AND LOOK AT WHAT HIS GUY STOLE...

Reuters.com

Wed Jan 18, 2006. BERLIN (Reuters) - A bungling German thief left a Hansel and Gretel-style trail of feathers which led police from the crime scene to his front door, authorities said Tuesday.

Police in the western city of Bochum said the man ripped open his quilted jacket as he broke into a shop to steal a karaoke set and did not notice it was leaking feathers all the way home. A witness saw the break-in and quickly told police.

"Luckily they were able to act before the next story was played out -- "Gone with the Wind," said Bochum police spokesman Frank Plewka. "All they had to do was follow the feathers."

The 36-year-old was astonished when police came knocking at his door shortly afterwards to arrest him.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

MICROSOFT: XP 3 WONT ARRIVE UNTIL 2007

By Ina Fried, Special to ZDNet

18 January 2006.Aiming to keep its focus on Windows Vista, Microsoft is now targeting 2007 for its next Windows XP service pack update.

In a posting to its life cycle Web site, Microsoft set a preliminary date of second half of next year for the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3 for both home and professional editions. That puts its debut well past the arrival of Vista, which is slated for the second half of this year and later than both outsiders and some insiders had originally predicted.

"We will be releasing another service pack for XP over the course of the product life cycle, and we are tentatively targeting the second half of 2007 for release," a Microsoft representative said in an e-mail. "However, right now our priority is Windows Vista--we'll have more information to share about the next service pack for XP after Windows Vista ships."
Microsoft declined to say what features or patches might be included in the service pack update.

Speculation over when the update would appear and what it will contain has been ongoing almost since Service Pack 2 debuted in August 2004. SP 2 contained more new features than a typical Microsoft service pack, adding a host of security enhancements, a pop-up ad blocker and improved handling of wireless networks.

A Microsoft France executive confirmed in September that a Service Pack 3 was in the works and suggested that it was slated for sometime in 2006, but after Vista's debut.

The update to Microsoft's life cycle page was earlier noted by the Microsoft Watch.

MISSION GUIDE: NEW HORIZONS...

BBC NEWS

Tue 17 Jan. 2006. A mission to an unexplored planet is being launched for the first time since the Voyager craft left for Jupiter and Saturn in the 1970s.

New Horizons' trip to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt Objects will mean that all the Solar System's planets have been visited.

Science/Nature Mission guide: The huge distance New Horizons must cross to reach Pluto means it will not arrive until July 2015 - at the very earliest.
To achieve that, Nasa must launch the probe before 3 February, so that it can "slingshot" around Jupiter and use the planet's gravity to achieve speeds of about 25km/s (56,000mph). ns

The huge distance New Horizons must cross to reach Pluto means it will not arrive until July 2015 - at the very earliest.

To achieve that, Nasa must launch the probe before 3 February, so that it can "slingshot" around Jupiter and use the planet's gravity to achieve speeds of about 25km/s (56,000mph).

Read more about this very interesting subject

QUICK! MOVE THAT TV INTO THE DEN!

Reuters.com

Tue Jan 17, 2006. ROME (Reuters) - Thinking of buying a TV for the bedroom? Think again -- it could ruin your sex life.

A study by an Italian sexologist has found that couples who have a TV set in their bedroom have sex half as often as those who don't.

"If there's no television in the bedroom, the frequency (of sexual intercourse) doubles," said Serenella Salomoni whose team of psychologists questioned 523 Italian couples to see what effect television had on their sex lives.

On average, Italians who live without TV in the bedroom have sex twice a week, or eight times a month. This drops to an average of four times a month for those with a TV, the study found.

For the over-50s the effect is even more marked, with the average of seven couplings a month falling to just 1.5 times.

The study found certain programs are far more likely to impede passion than others. Violent films will put a stop to sexual relations for half of all couples, while reality shows stem passion for a third of couples.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

EXERCISE COUNTERS DEMENTIA DEVELOPMENT: STUDY

Health News Reuters.com

Mon Jan 16, 2006. CHICAGO (Reuters) - Routine exercise, even as simple as a 15-minute walk three times a week, can help ward off dementia and related conditions among those 65 and older, according to a study published on Monday.

Exercise may help by improving brain function since it boosts blood flow to areas of the brain used for memory, according to the chief author of the study, Eric Larson, director of the Group Health Cooperative Center for Health Studies in Seattle.

"Earlier research has shown that poor blood flow can damage these parts of the brain. So one theory is that exercise may prevent damage and might even help repair these areas by increasing blood flow," he said.

His study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was described as the most definitive investigation to date on exercise and dementia.

"Even those elderly people who did modest amounts of gentle exercise, such as walking for 15 minutes three times a week, appeared to benefit," Larson said. "Based on these findings, we can advise older people to 'use it even after you start to lose it,' because exercise may slow the progression of age-related problems in thinking."

The six-year study involved 1,740 people age 65 and older. It found that those who exercised three or more times a week had up to a 40 percent lower risk for developing dementia compared with those who exercised fewer than three times per week.

"As our population ages, strategies are needed to reduce the risks and delay the onset of dementing disorders such as Alzheimer's disease," Larson said. "These findings indicate that programs that encourage elderly people to exercise should be part of those strategies."

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

COUGH SYRUPS COUL HARM KIDS' TEETH...

Health News Reuters.com By Charnicia Huggins

Tue Jan 17, 2006. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children should brush their teeth after swallowing syrupy cough and cold medications, results of a new study suggest.

"Although some medications are necessary for general health they can be extremely harmful to the teeth if the medicine is given at bedtime or without following proper oral health habits," study author Dr. Carolina Covolo da Costa, of the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil said in a statement from the Academy of General Dentistry.

Her findings are based on a study involving a popular cough medication used to treat respiratory allergies. The syrup was found to be very acidic, while containing no fluoride and only a small amount of calcium -- all factors that could lead to tooth erosion.

To investigate, da Costa and her team studied 70 samples of tooth enamel immersed in various solutions to simulate the normal oral environment during the day and at night for 10 days. An antihistamine cough syrup was repeatedly applied to some of the tooth samples and several were also given daily fluoride treatments.

Under the microscope all of the enamel samples exposed to the antihistamine showed signs of erosion, but the fluoride "protected the enamel and thus is capable of diminishing the erosive effect of an acid product," the researchers report in the current issue of General Dentistry, the journal of the Academy of General Dentistry.

"Fluoride was considered the fundamental key for the preservation of sound dental tissue in a situation where daily acid challenges were present," Da Costa's group says. Although this study was done in the lab on tooth enamel samples, they believe fluoride "probably will do the same" for people.

In light of the findings, "parents need to be aware that long-term use (of syrupy cough medications), especially at bedtime, could cause an increased risk of tooth decay," according to Dr. Paul Bussman, a spokesperson from the academy.

He explained that the effect is "very much similar to allowing a child to drink juice before bedtime," in that there is "no saliva, increased sugar, increased attack from acid-producing bacteria (and an) increased risk of decay."

Preventing dental erosion of this nature is as simple as maintaining good dental habits, however. "Brushing and flossing is a very important part of the prevention," Bussman told Reuters Health. "If there is no bacteria or plaque to convert the sugar to acid, the risk of decay decreases," he explained.

However, he acknowledged that there is "very little concern" among dentists about dental erosion resulting from cough syrups and similar medications, "as long as the exposure is short term and not used on a regular basis."

SOURCE: General Dentistry, January-February 2006.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

STEEDS MEER MENSEN BELLEN VIA DE KABEL...

Trouw - Het Nieuws Nederland Bij Vincent Dekker

KPN verliest aan goedkopere rivalen. De kabelnetten halen massaal telefoonabonnees weg bij KPN. In een half jaar tijd is vijf tot tien procent van de Nederlanders via de kabel gaan bellen.

In de kop van Noord-Holland mag Multikabel zich belkampioen onder de kabelnetten noemen. Het bedrijf heeft inmiddels 50000 telefoonabonnees, wat neerkomt op een marktaandeel van ruim vijftien procent. „En er komen nog elke week nieuwe telefoonklanten bij”, aldus een woordvoerder in Alkmaar.

Het laatste geldt ook voor de kabelnetten van UPC, Essent en Casema, de drie grootste kabelnetten van Nederland. UPC heeft nog geen cijfers voor eind vorig jaar, maar had in september al 273400 bellende klanten, wat al een marktaandeel van dik tien procent vormde. Essent zit nu op 45000 (2,5 procent marktaandeel), en dat terwijl het nog geen reclame maakt omdat het net niet helemaal klaar is voor telefonie. Dit jaar moeten er 100000 aansluitingen bij kunnen komen.

Casema is in augustus begonnen met de promotie van zijn belmogelijkheden. „De teller staat nu op 70000”, meldt een woordvoerster.

Het maakt duidelijk dat kabeltelefonie in zeer korte tijd een enorme concurrent is geworden voor KPN, dat tot voor kort nagenoeg een monopolie had op bellen via vaste lijnen. Kabeltelefonie kwam jarenlang niet van de grond, maar nieuwe digitale technieken maken het nu veel aantrekkelijker.

Door combinatiepakketten met internet en tv aan te bieden, kunnen de kabelaars het telefoonabonnement goedkoop houden. Zo rekent Essent zes euro voor een maandabonnement, wat tien euro minder is dan KPN. Dat wil de tegenaanval inzetten door enerzijds voordelige tv-abonnementen aan te bieden en anderzijds bellen via internet heel goedkoop te maken. Vooralsnog is het bedrijf technisch niet in staat een concurrerend tv-aanbod te doen.

Internetbellen hoopt KPN dit voorjaar gereed te hebben.

BRITONS TURN TO OLIVE OIL AS COOKING STYLES CHANGE...

Health News Reuters.com

Fri Jan 13, 2006 LONDON (Reuters) - Olive oil is becoming ever more popular in British kitchens, with more money spent on it than on all other types of cooking oils for the first time, a survey showed on Friday.

Sales of olive oil have risen by almost 40 percent since 2000 to hit 104 million pounds, according to research by market analyst Mintel.

Olive oil has overtaken other standard cooking oils, with a market share of 51 percent compared to 43 percent in 2000.

"The fact that Brits now spend more on olive oil than on standard oils shows a willingness to pay a premium price for sophisticated alternatives to everyday products," said Claire Birks, Mintel senior market analyst.

"The use of olive oil in rustic and exotic dishes has also done a lot to elevate its status as something 'special', especially amongst those who enjoy recreational cooking."

The popularity of standard oils has been mixed, with vegetable oil in particular falling out of favor.

Overall, the market for edible oils has increased by 15 percent to 220 million pounds in 2005, with liquid oils taking up 94 percent of the sales.

Sales of lard, which dominates the solid fats market, have dipped by around 35 percent to 14 million pounds since 2000.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

FUJITSU TO START MAKING 1.8-INCH HARD DRIVES...

Technology News Reuters.com

Fri Jan 13, 2006. TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd. said on Friday it would start producing 1.8-inch hard disk drives used in portable music players and video cameras, entering a market dominated by Toshiba Corp..

Fujitsu's move is prompted by expectations that growth in hard disk drive demand will be driven by consumer electronics such as Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod and mobile PCs in the coming years.

Fujitsu, a chips-to-computers conglomerate, currently makes 3.5-inch drives used in servers and the 2.5-inch variety for notebook PCs.

"We are entering the consumer electronics arena and the market for smaller drives because that's where growth is," Fujitsu Corporate Senior Vice President Ichiro Komura told a news conference.

Fujitsu will be going head-to-head with Toshiba, which is the world's sixth-largest hard drive maker overall but leads in the 1.8-inch variety. Toshiba supplies small drives for Apple's iPod.

"Fujitsu's 2.5-inch drives fetch a premium over similar products from other suppliers because of their quality and dependability," Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Yuichi Ishida said.

"Now, armed with this strength, Fujitsu is entering the 1.8-inch market. I see a pretty good chance for them to succeed."

Following the announcement, shares of Fujitsu closed up 5.06 percent at 1,058 yen, outperforming the broader market, which was virtually flat. Toshiba ended the day unchanged at 800 yen.

DRIVE SALES
Fujitsu's Komura said that the launch of 1.8-inch drives will help Fujitsu boost sales of hard disk drives to 400 billion yen ($3.49 billion) by the year to March 2009, by when it aims to become one of the world's top three makers.

The company, which projects hard disk drive sales of 280 billion yen in the current business year to March, ranked fifth with 8.4 percent of the $22.9 billion market in 2004, according to research firm Gartner.

U.S.-based Seagate Technology took the top spot with about 27 percent, followed by Hitachi Global Storage Technologies -- a unit of Hitachi Ltd., Maxtor Corp. and Western Digital Corp..

Fujitsu aims for an operating profit of 20 billion yen at its hard disk drive operations in the year to March 2009, up from an estimated profit of six billion yen in the current business year to March.

The company will jointly develop 1.8-inch drives with U.S.-based Cornice Inc. for consumer electronics and aims to launch a 120-gigabyte model by April-September 2007.

The drives will be used in music players and video cameras, which are increasingly employing hard drives instead of conventional media to store moving images.

Fujitsu also plans to develop by itself another set of 1.8-inch drives for "ultra-portable" notebook PCs.

($1=114.47 Yen)

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

CHEEKY FENCER FOILED IN BID FOR TEAM...

Reuters.com By Lin-joo

Fri Jan 13, 2006. SEOUL (Reuters) - One of South Korea's top women fencers was dropped from the country's national team because she underwent plastic surgery that included receiving cheek implants, local media reported.

Nam Hyun-hee, a top foil fencer, had cosmetic surgery in December on her eyes to fix a problem that meant her eyelashes were bothering her vision, reports said.

Along with the eye surgery, she also decided to have a little work done on her cheeks to increase their amplitude, South Korean media reported. The cosmetic surgery was not approved by her coaches or the country's fencing federation, reports said.

The cheek surgery caused her to miss several days of practice because of a swollen face. This angered her coaches and South Korean fencing officials who said she should not have put improving her personal appearance ahead of her commitment to the team.

"We have to be more strict in the management of our athletes. For instance, what are other athletes thinking when a fellow athlete is lounging around because of plastic surgery?," Oh Wan-gun, the director of the Korean Fencing Federation said by telephone Friday.

Nam could not immediately be reached for comment.

The fencing federation has kicked Nam off the national squad for two years, officials said, adding they are still looking into the matter.

Nam has asked to be reinstated more quickly so that she can be on the team for this year's Asian Games and be in good shape for the 2008 Olympics, reports said.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

KILT WEARING BOY WINS APOLOGY...

Reuters.com

Thu Jan 12, 2006. KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A Missouri high school student who was barred from a school dance because he was wearing a Scottish kilt has received an apology from school officials after the action sparked outrage among Scottish heritage supporters.

In a letter dated January 9, Jackson School District Superintendent Ron Anderson apologized to Jackson High School senior Nathan Warmack and said the district would train staffers how to properly apply the school dress code.

The letter came after more than two months of debate and discussion about the actions of school officials when they asked Warmack, who is of Scottish descent, to change into trousers before entering the dance on November 5.

News of the event sparked an Internet petition, which was ultimately signed by more than 10,000 supporters and championed by the Clan Gunn Society of North America, which promotes Scottish heritage and traditions.

"Individual members felt like there had been an injustice to the young man," said society president Rich Gunn.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

NAKED NEWS BREAKING IN JAPAN MARKET...

Reuters.com By Julian Ryall

Wed Jan 11, 2006. TOKYO (Hollywood Reporter) - Naked News, which features anchors and reporters who disrobe during newscasts, launched its risque take on current affairs in Japan Tuesday.

Beneath a banner proclaiming Naked News as "The program with nothing to hide," Sunrise Corp. CEO Takuya Uchikawa described the service as "a unique concept for the Japanese market."

Sunrise, which specializes in sales of goods and services via the Internet, and Naked News owner eGalaxy Multimedia have set a target of 10,000 mobile subscribers in the first year.

"We would not have dared to come to Japan unless we were convinced that there was a definite market, and we now see there is a massive market here, we have a partner that understands that market and the technological skills to provide an enjoyable product," eGalaxy Multimedia Inc. CEO David Warga said.

Since making its debut in Canada in 1999, Naked News has become available via the Internet, television and mobile phones in North America, Australia and Europe.

"We believe there is a huge untapped market for the right kind of information if it was properly packaged," Warga said. "So we created a news-entertainment program in which women, and later men, informed while removing their clothing."

The service initially will be news that is provided for Naked News' existing markets but with Japanese subtitles. The plan is eventually to produce content in Japan that will appeal to a larger percentage of the population.

Another area being tested concerns the degree of nudity of the presenters. Initially, newscasters will strip to their underwear, but Uchikawa indicated that he hopes to be able to see how far Japanese obscenity broadcasting laws can be bent before they are broken.

Canadian-born presenter Lily Kwan has been peeling off her work clothes for five years and described the experience as "liberating."

"I love being able to go out onto the streets and take my clothes off," she said. "While we have been in Tokyo, people have been very surprised to see us with no tops on, but they're very happy and interested in talking to us."

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Note by Peter V:
There once was a time and not so long ago, that the Naked News was really naked, meaning, not wearing a stitch after the girls finished reading the news.

The naked news not naked any more.....

ADULT BIZ HOT FOR HOME VIDEO...

Technology News Reuters.com By Thomas K. Arnold

Mon Jan 9, 2006. LAS VEGAS (Hollywood Reporter) - The Consumer Electronics Show wasn't the only entertainment trade show in town last week.

Sharing space with CES at the Sands Expo Center was trade publication Adult Video News' annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, the traditional start-of-year showcase for the booming adult industry.

In the first quantitative study conducted in three years, Adult Video News estimates consumers spent $12.6 billion on adult entertainment last year.

Nearly $4.3 billion, or 34%, came from the purchase or rental of adult video DVDs and videocassettes. Another 20%, or $2.5 billion, was generated through Internet sales, with the third-largest segment -- dance clubs -- generating about $2 billion, or 16% of the market.

Adult software providers also remain at the forefront of technology. They were among the first to embrace DVD when the format hit the market nine years ago and are now aggressively going after high-definition and other new formats, including such hand-held devices as cell phones and game players. Digital Playground, one of the adult industry's top software suppliers, recently released a $2 million film, "Pirates," which was shot entirely in high definition. It was released on video in a three-disc set, two of them standard DVDs and the third in HD.

"Right now, most consumers can't play the HD disc because next-generation players aren't yet on the market," said Martin Blythe, spokesman for the Video Software Dealers Assn., which co-sponsored the show with AVN. "But the point is, these companies are already ahead of the curve."

Indeed, Digital Playground just announced that it will issue trailers for upcoming movies in HD and also make them available for playback on iPod and Sony's PlayStation Portable.

"We've been shooting everything in HD for more than two years, and the playback technology is finally available on Web consumers," company founder Joone said.

The AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, which wrapped Sunday, was projected to draw more than 30,000 people, 20,000 of them fans on special Fan Days. Nearly 400 companies were exhibiting.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

DUTCH COMPANY SELLING NAZI HELMETS AS A JOKE...

Chron.com
Jan. 10, 2006, 7:01AM AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — A Dutch company is selling replica Nazi helmets bearing pro-Dutch slogans in an early attempt to cash in on German-Dutch rivalry going into this summer's World Cup in Germany.

The orange plastic helmets, which cost euro5 (US$6), have small Dutch flags printed on the side and bear slogans such as "Attack!" and "Go, Netherlands Go" in Dutch.

The Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II is still a sensitive subject 60 years later. Many Dutch harbor lingering resentment that sometimes is played out in the countries' fierce soccer rivalry.

Frank Huizinga of the Netherlands soccer association is not amused by the helmet stunt.

"We reject every link between soccer and the war," Huizinga said. "There are so many ways you can make a joke, but this is too obvious to be funny, it shows no creativity at all."

Weno Geerts, director of Free Time Products, the company selling the helmets, said critics should lighten up.

"There's no political message here," Geerts said. "It's just a joke. We're making fun of Germans, just like they like to make fun of us."

After the Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, German pranksters started a Web site themed "Where's Holland?"

The Dutch lost to Germany in the 1974 World Cup final, but beat their rivals in the semifinals of the 1988 European Championship and went on to win the title.

The last time German and Dutch supporters clashed seriously was after a friendly match in 1996. The two teams are in separate groups at this year's World Cup and won't meet unless both advance to the later rounds.

© 2006 The Associated Press

URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO SAVE AFRICAN LION

Science News Reuters.com By Ed Stoddart

Mon Jan 9, 2006. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The "King of the Beasts" may not rule beyond this century unless urgent action is taken to protect remaining lion habitat and halt conflict between humans and the big cats, a leading conservationist said on Monday.

"Lions have lost 80 percent of their historic range in the last century and we don't want the next century to be a repeat," said Kristin Nowell, a member of the cat specialist group of the World Conservation Union, the world's largest network of conservation groups.

She was in Johannesburg for a six-day workshop devoted to strategies for lion conservation in southern and east Africa which began on Sunday. It follows a similar workshop in Cameroon in October on lions in west and central Africa.

Lions are considered to be threatened everywhere in Africa but are at particular risk in its densely populated west.

Nowell said one of the key challenges was getting an accurate take on lion numbers and distribution.

"We are refining our knowledge of the status and distribution of the African lion and trying to identify the most important areas for lion conservation," she said.

Nowell said there were believed to be 34 lion range states in Africa and while exact numbers were patchy there was little doubt that the predator was doing far better in the east and south of the continent than elsewhere.

"The estimates are that there are between 23,000 to 40,000 lions in Africa. Of that, only 2,000 to 4,000 are in west and central Africa and the rest in are east and southern Africa."

"Lions are found everywhere except for the desert and the rainforest but we have big concerns about the populations in west and central Africa," she said.

Nowell said in that region, most of the lion populations were small and isolated, which raised concerns about the size of the gene pool. Small numbers also meant that the populations were vulnerable to disease outbreaks and other sudden stresses.

Much of west Africa has dense human populations and the bulk of the lion habitat there has been turned into farmland.

She said a priority was to improve the state of the lion's prey base. "If there is nothing for them to eat they turn to livestock and people too occasionally ... One of our objectives is to come up with strategies to reduce lion/human conflict."

Nowell said one avenue being pursued was to transplant successful lion trophy hunting programs in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa to other countries.

"As long as trophy hunting is done sustainably and doesn't affect the viability of the lion population then there is quite a lot of support for it among range states," she said. "It helps to raise money for conservation and gives local people an incentive to have lions living in their neighborhood."

Outside of Africa the only wild lion population is confined to the Gir forest in India.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

DECOMPOSED COMPOSER?

Reuters.com

Mon Jan 9, 2006. VIENNA (Reuters) - Forensic scientists were unable to say if a skull kept in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's home town of Salzburg is indeed that of the composer born 250 years ago, Austrian television said Sunday.

Austrian public TV station ORF last year commissioned an international research project -- dubbed "CSI Mozart" after the award-winning U.S. TV series about crime scene investigators -- to analyze teeth extracted from the skull.

ORF told the scientists to apply methods such as genetic testing to determine the identity of the skull, which the Mozarteum foundation in Salzburg obtained in 1902.

But the scientists -- from Austria's University of Innsbruck and the U.S. Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in Rockville, Maryland -- drew a blank, ORF said in their documentary broadcast Sunday night.

They compared the skull's DNA with genetic information retrieved from a grave where Mozart's niece and his grandmother were believed to have been buried.

But they found that neither of the two female skeletons was related, nor was either of them related to the person whose skull rests in the Mozarteum's safe.

"The identity of the individuals concerned in the Mozart family grave has proven to be a mystery," said Innsbruck University's Walther Parson in the documentary.

So the skull's secret, which began over 200 years ago, remains unsolved.

Joseph Rothmayer, a gravedigger who buried Mozart in a pauper's grave in Vienna's Central Cemetery in 1791 claimed to have unearthed the skull 10 years later. It ended up at the Mozarteum a century later.

The foundation put the skull on display until 1940 when its exhibition was deemed indecent and the relic went into a safe and was only made available to scientists. Many argued the skull belonged to Mozart, while others cast doubt on its authenticity.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

SAD, ON SO MANY LEVELS...

Reuters.com

Mon Jan 9, 2006. LONDON (Reuters) - Almost a third of young Britons have passed off a ready-made meal as their own creation in order to impress someone, according to a survey by the Department of Health.

Women were the worst offenders, with 40 percent saying they had claimed food bought in a shop as their own, compared to 22 percent of men.

And seven percent of the 1,000 16-24-year-olds questioned said they regularly claimed credit for food they had bought.

The research, conducted as part of the department's 5 A DAY campaign to encourage people to eat more fruit and vegetables, also found that one in 10 had never cooked a proper meal for themselves because they "don't know how."

It also discovered that women were more impressed by a man's cooking ability than whether they owned a flashy car.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

PORN STARS STRUT THEIR STUFF AT AWARDS...

Reuters.com By Gina Keating

Mon Jan 9, 2006. LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Cameras whirred and fans pressed 10 deep against a velvet rope in Las Vegas to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars sashaying into one of the first entertainment awards shows of the year.

As at any Hollywood awards ceremony, photographers asked the performers to twirl and pose, and reporters stationed along the red carpet begged for quips about the next project or the state of the industry.

But unlike the Golden Globes and Emmys, the goody bag contained "Barely Legal" playing cards and Hustler condoms, and the stars such as Arnold Schwartzenpecker and Britney Rears were not quite household names.

The 23rd annual Adult Video News (AVN) Awards, the Oscars of porn, boasted a higher attendance than ever this year, with more than 5,000 watching Saturday night's two-hour-long event in a huge ballroom at the ritzy Venetian Hotel.

The winners were as earnest and even as tearful as their Hollywood counterparts in their appreciation of the glass trophies they took home, and works such as "A Day Without Whores" and "Big Butt Road Trip" won fulsome praise.

Actor Manuel Ferrera, who picked up an award for Male Performer of the Year, drew laughs when he thanked "everyone, especially the ladies."

Best Film Actress winner Savanna Samson was cheered when she recognized the support of her peers as crucial because "most of my family is pretty ashamed of what I do."

X-RATED
Interviewers on the red carpet asked the usual questions but the answers were often as X-rated as the movies being honored.

One statuesque starlet, who appeared to be wearing nothing underneath her tight-fitting velvet dress, told an interviewer that she planned to planned to expand into "extreme anal" in the coming year.

Ron Jeremy, a portly porn super star, pledged to keep delivering the goods for his fans.

"I'm still working, not as much but as long as the penis works I'm going to exploit it," he said.
Porn is big business. Adult entertainment, including porn videos and films shot mainly in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, racked up estimated sales of $12.6 billion in 2005, according to statistics compiled by AVN.

That compared with U.S. theatrical revenue of $8.9 billion for mainstream Hollywood films, according to figures from box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

Like Hollywood, the U.S. porn industry is dominated by a handful of privately held studios: Wicked Pictures, Vivid Entertainment, New Sensations, Digital Playground/Adam & Eve and porn queen Jenna Jameson's company, Club Jenna.

Unlike Hollywood, they do not disclose revenue or production costs, making it difficult to gauge the size and profitability of the industry.

The porn studios maintain stables of starlets and studs who can make a dozen or more films each year.

This year's most-nominated film was Digital Playground's "Pirates" starring AVN awards host Jesse Jane and a slew of beauties who do battle with a band of marauding skeletons in between sex scenes.

The movie walked away with the award for best video, while Wicked Pictures' remake of "The Devil in Miss Jones" took best film honors.

Jameson, resplendent in a candy pink dress that barely restrained her bosom, claimed awards for "Miss Jones" and for Best Crossover Artist, and was inducted into AVN"s Hall of Fame.

Another famous pornographer, Larry Flynt, picked up a Hall of Fame Founders' award for free speech related to the industry, which has lately found itself under attack by President George W. Bush's administration over obscenity.

"Adult (entertainment) has gone to a $10 billion business, and it happened because it's a business that everybody cares about and takes seriously and I think we ought to remind the rest of the country about that," Flynt said.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

GATES TAKES WRAPS OFF WINDOWS VISTA...

Technology News-Reuters.com By Daisuke Wakabayashi

Thu Jan 5, 2006. LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Chairman Bill Gates took the wraps off its next-generation operating system known as Windows Vista on Wednesday, displaying features aimed at positioning the software giant as the entertainment hub for a future of digitally connected homes.

Gates also downplayed the threat from Web search leader Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , saying in an interview that Microsoft faced a host of rivals ranging from IBM to Apple to Sony to Nokia in its bid to control the next generation of software.

The much anticipated upgrade to Microsoft's flagship operating system displayed a new interface with 3-D scrolling between different windows, which can appear translucent to allow users to see the information beneath.

During Gates' keynote speech to a packed audience at the Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft plugged a digital cable into a PC to watch and record high-definition video and filtered downloaded music by the dates of albums.

As broadband and high-definition content become more ubiquitous, Gates said the unifying factor will be software.

"The software is where the magic is. If you're going to have all this power be simple enough, appealing enough and cool enough, it's going to be because the software is right," Gates said in an interview with Reuters in advance of his address at the largest U.S. electronics show of the year.

Some of the elements of Vista featured in Gates' speech took aim at Microsoft's various competitors, such as Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) .

Microsoft unveiled a search function within Vista that cuts across the content within the PC and its network, aimed at not conceding search on the desktop or the Internet to Google.

"People tend to get overfocused on one of our competitors. We've always seen that," said Gates.

"The biggest company in the computer industry by far is IBM (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) . They have the four times the employees that I have, way more revenues than I have. IBM has always been our biggest competitor. The press just doesn't like to write about IBM."

Vista, targeted for shipment in the second half of 2006, will include the next version of Windows Media Center that is fully compatible with high definition programming, and Internet Explorer that promises improved security protection.

The five-year gap between the expected launch of Vista and Microsoft's current operating system Windows XP is the longest-ever gap between major launches of its core Windows product, the company's cash cow that accounts for more than a quarter of its $40 billion in annual revenue.

Gates, Microsoft's co-founder and chief software architect, emphasized the consumer elements of Vista rather than the traditional focus on business clients.

"Microsoft needs to show all the 'eye candy' features that reside in Vista," said Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund, who said there is speculation that Google may offer a network-based computer terminal that relies on software delivered via the Web.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft also unveiled MTV Network's Urge Music Service, which will be built into Vista's new Windows Media Center and offer users instant access to 2 million songs and videos in MTV's library.

In a show of pizzazz usually reserved for Apple, Gates was joined on stage by pop idol Justin Timberlake to introduce the new service.

The enormous popularity of Apple's iPod portable music player has made the accompanying iTunes music and video service the defining entertainment media delivery service.

Microsoft said it will also work together with DIRECTV to enable the transfer of digital content among Windows PCs, DIRECTV devices and the Xbox 360 to allow customers to watch movies and programs they get on their TV and play them on a number of different devices.

The company also offered a demonstration of Flight Simulator 10 to display the better graphics capability within Vista for video games.

(Additional reporting by Eric Auchard in Las Vegas)

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

BABY, YOU CAN PARK MY CAR...

Yahoo! Australia & NZ News

Thursday January 5. Baby, you can park my carLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Take a few leggy California blondes, throw in a passion for luxury cars, plenty of parties, and a distaste for parking your own car.

What have you got? A multimillion-dollar, female valet parking business, where struggling models and actresses dressed in bikinis, miniskirts or lingerie and Santa hats park the cars of the rich and famous in the Los Angeles area.

Beverly Hills, California-based Girls Valet Parking opened for business less than six months ago. This week, it took over its rival, Valet Girls, and announced plans to expand to San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego and Phoenix.

"Given the option of hiring acne-riddled teenage boys in red vests, or beautiful and sexy models and actresses trained in safety and hospitality, we're betting our success that restaurants, boutique hotels, clubs and private parties will prefer the latter," company founder Brad Saltzman said on Wednesday.

Saltzman said the privately held company expected 2006 sales in excess of $3 million (1.7 million pounds), rising to $14 million by 2010.

Clients, most of them movie stars and producers, can request a variety of uniforms, including lingerie, bikinis, capri pants, camisoles and miniskirts.

"If it is legal, we will do it, but we draw the line at nudity or topless," Saltzman said.

About half the business is based on requests for women valets dressed in the traditional dark pants and shirt.

Employees are hired through the kind of casting calls traditionally seen in the movie business and there are plenty of applicants. About 260 women showed up recently and six were hired.

SECRET GRAVE DISCOVERED ON CULT GROUNDS...

Reuters.com

Wed Jan 4, 2006. SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Chilean officials have discovered an old grave on the property of a secretive German cult where opponents to the nation's 17-year dictatorship may have been buried after being tortured and killed.

Chilean Judge Jorge Zepeda said on Tuesday the cult property, known as Colonia Dignidad and once run by the German citizen Paul Schaefer, was used as a center for torture and as a clandestine cemetery during the rule of former dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Pinochet ruled during an era in which an estimated 3,000 people died in political violence and some 28,000 people were tortured, according to official reports.

Zepeda said that between 10 and 12 opponents to the Pinochet regime were likely killed and buried on the property. He did not say when then grave was discovered.

Chilean officials said in June they discovered a cache of machine guns and rocket-launchers, one of the biggest weapons finds in the South American country's history, at the Colonia Dignidad.

Schafer, who led the cult of several hundred German followers in southern Chile for decades, is accused of aiding the secret police during Chile's 1973-1990 military dictatorship.

He fled Chile in 1997 and eluded capture until his arrest last year in Buenos Aires and is currently in custody in Santiago.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T ANSWER A STOLEN PHONE...

Reuters.com

Tue Jan 3, 2006. STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish police caught a burglar after he answered a phone he had just stolen and did not hang up, letting them eavesdrop on his getaway ride in a taxi.

The man broke into a house in Overtornea in the far north of Sweden, stealing a mobile phone and other possessions.

The police rang the stolen phone and heard him swearing about the late arrival of a taxi which he had ordered to take him to neighboring Kalix, 37 miles away.

"The thief answered the phone but then just put it away without turning it off," said Overtornea policeman Kurt Paavola.

The police tracked down the taxi and arrested the man late Monday.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

WINDOWS FLAW SPAWNS DOZEN OF ATTACKS...

Tech News on ZDNet By Dawn Kawamoto

January 3, 2006, Security threats Microsoft Windows Security Viruses and worms Spam and phishing Microsoft

A flaw in Microsoft's Windows Meta File has spawned dozens of attacks since its discovery last week, security experts warned Tuesday.

The attacks so far have been wide-ranging, the experts said, citing everything from an MSN Messenger worm to spam that attempts to lure people to click on malicious Web sites.

The vulnerability can be easily exploited in Windows XP with Service Pack 1 and 2, as well as Windows Server 2003, security experts said. Older versions of the operating system, including Windows 2000 and Windows ME, are also at risk, though in those cases the flaw is more difficult to exploit, said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure.

"Right now, the situation is bad, but it could be much worse. The potential for problems is bigger than we have ever seen," Hypponen said. "We estimate 99 percent of computers worldwide are vulnerable to this attack."

The Windows Meta File flaw uses images to execute arbitrary code, according to a security advisory issued by the Internet Storm Center. It can be exploited just by the user viewing a malicious image.

Microsoft plans to release a fix for the WMF vulnerability as part of its monthly security update cycle on Jan. 10, according to the company's security advisory.

"We have seen dozens of different attacks using this vulnerability since Dec. 27," Hypponen said. "One exploits image files and tries to get users to click on them; another is an MSN Messenger worm that will send the worm to people on your buddy list, and we have seen several spam attacks."

He added that some of the spam attacks have been targeted to select groups, such as one that purports to come from the U.S. Department of State. The malicious e-mail tries to lure the user to open a map attachment and will then download a Trojan horse. The exploit will open a backdoor on the user's system and allow sensitive files to be viewed.

The WMF flaw has already resulted in attacks such as the Exploit-WMF Trojan, which made the rounds last week.

Although Microsoft has not yet released a patch, security vendors such as F-Secure and the Internet Storm Center are noting Ilfak Guilfanov, a Russian security engineer, has released an unofficial fix that has been found to work.

"Ilfak Guilfanov has published a temporary fix which does not remove any functionality from the system," F-Secure noted in its daily security blog. "All pictures and thumbnails continue to work normally."

Security companies also are advising computer users to unregister the related "shimgvw.dll" portion of the Windows platform. Unregistering the dll, however, may also disable certain Windows functions and has not been thoroughly tested, according to a security advisory issued by Secunia.

Despite the potential for a large number of computer users to be affected by exploits related to this vulnerability, Hypponen said the chances of a widespread outbreak from a virus, as people return to work from the long holiday, are unlikely.

"We are still far away from a massive virus," he said. "Most people get attacked by this if they (search for something on the Internet) and get a million results. They may click on a link that goes to a malicious Web site or one that has been hacked, and then get infected."

SAMSUNG AND LG. PHILIPS START NEW LCD PRODUCTION...

Technology Reuters.com

Sun Jan 1, 2006. SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) , the world's largest maker of flat screens, said on Sunday it was set to start up its newest mass production line for liquid crystal display TV panels, three months ahead of schedule.

The announcement came as second-ranked LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd. (034220.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) said it started mass production at its own "seventh-generation" line for large-sized television panels.

Analysts are concerned the LCD industry could face overcapacity in 2006, as heavyweights like Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and LG.Philips, both based in South Korea, ramp up output.

Samsung's new seventh-generation production line, Line 7-2, will initially produce 45,000 substrates, from each of which eight 40-inch panels can be produced, per month.

The company plans to boost production in the year's second half to full capacity of 90,000 substrates per month.

Total investment in the second line would reach 4.13 trillion won ($4.09 billion), Samsung said.

Samsung, also the world's biggest maker of memory chips, already runs Line 7-1 jointly with Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) , which currently produces 60,000 substrates per month.

Its LCD sales in 2005 topped $10 billion, Samsung said, without elaborating.

LG.Philips LCD will also initially produce 45,000 substrates per month and plans to raise capacity to 90,000 substrates by the first quarter of 2007.

($1=1010.0 Won)

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.