Brooding men, smiling women seen as sexy?

Reuters By Allan Dowd

VANCOUVER (Reuters) Thu May 26, 2011. Guys, want to look sexy and get the girl? Don't smile too much. Look brooding or show a bit of shame instead. Women, ignore that advice.

Women find happy men less sexually attractive than those with expressions that show pride or hint that they have done wrong and know it, according to Canadian researchers.

The study published online Tuesday in the American Psychological Association journal Emotion showed pictures of the opposite sex to both men and women. Participants were then asked for their initial reactions on sexual attractiveness based the expressions they saw.

"Men who smile were considered fairly unattractive by women," said Jessica Tracy, a University of British Columbia psychology professor who directed the study.

"So to the extent that men think that smiling is a good thing to do if they want to be found sexually attractive our findings suggest that's not the case," Tracy said.

The men's reaction was just the opposite.

"Women who smile are absolutely very attractive. That was by far the most attractive expression women showed," Tracy said in an interview.

The researchers admit they are not sure why men and women reacted differently to smiles. In a man, a big smile may make him appear too feminine or more desperate for sex.

The study also adds fuel to the notion that women are attracted to bad boys.

"Women are attracted to guys like James Dean, Edward the vampire. The guys who are flawed, but who know it and are tortured by it," Tracy said.

A slightly downcast expression of shame is an appeasement gesture that hints at a need for sympathy.

Men also found sexual attractiveness in women whose expressions and body language hinted at shame.

The researchers stressed they looked only at initial reactions of sexual attractiveness, and were not recommending men adopt a no-smile policy for a long-term relationship.

"When people want a long-term relationship they take much more into account than sexual attractiveness. How nice a person is, is a big thing," Tracy said.

"So we're not saying, don't be a nice guy," she said.

(Reporting Allan Dowd; editing by Rob Wilson)

Police hunt for Goldilocks...

Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) Fri May 27, 2011 - British police appealed for help Friday in tracing a suspected burglar they have dubbed "Goldilocks" because he breaks into houses, eats food and then has a sleep.

Essex detectives said they were trying to trace Jesse Dobinson who is suspected of carrying out two burglaries at a house in Wickford, northeast of London, in February and March.

"On both occasions beds in the property were slept in and food eaten before items, including electrical goods, were stolen," police said in a statement.

Unlike the fairytale character, Dobinson is also wanted in connection with an assault and a knifepoint robbery.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)

Ex-teammate admits to doping, implicates Armstrong

Olympic gold medal cyclist Tyler Hamilton admits in next Sunday’s CBS news program “60 Minutes” that he took performance-enhancing drugs and accuses other top cyclists, including seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, of doing the same. By News Wires (text)

REUTERS 20 May, 2011. Tyler Hamilton, who was allowed to keep his Athens Olympics gold medal despite failing a doping test, has finally confessed to cheating and accused other top cyclists, including Lance Armstrong, of doing the same.

In an interview to be aired by “60 Minutes” on Sunday, Hamilton ended years of denials by finally admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs, but insisted he was not alone. The 40-year-old said he witnessed his former teammate Armstrong inject himself with a blood-booster during the 1999 Tour de France, which Armstrong won.

“(Armstrong) took what we all took... there was EPO (erythropoietin)... testosterone... a blood transfusion,” Hamilton said in an excerpt released by the CBS television network.

“I saw (EPO) in his refrigerator. I saw him inject it more than one time, like we all did, like I did many, many times.”

TOUR DE DOPING

Armstrong, who won the Tour de France seven times, has always denied taking banned substances but has repeatedly had to fend off accusations despite never having failed a drugs test.

His lawyer, Mark Fabiani, told Reuters on Thursday that Hamilton’s accusations about Armstrong were untrue.

“Hamilton is actively seeking to make money by writing a book and now he has completely changed the story he has always told before so that he could get himself on “60 Minutes” and increase his chances with publishers,” Fabiani said.

“But greed and a hunger for publicity cannot change the facts: Lance Armstrong is the most tested athlete in the history of sports." Armstrong reiterated Fabiani’s view on his Twitter page.

“20+ year career. 500 drug controls worldwide, in and out of competition. Never a failed test. I rest my case,” he tweeted.

Hamilton said he had decided to come clean after he was subpoenaed by a grand injury currently investigating Armstrong after another of his former teammates pointed the finger at him.

In an open letter to his friends and family published by various media, Hamilton wrote: “Last summer, I received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury. Until that moment I walked into the courtroom, I hadn’t told a soul.

“My testimony went on for six hours. For me, it was like the Hoover Dam breaking. I opened up; I told the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And I felt a sense of relief I’d never felt before.”

Olympic controversy

Floyd Landis, who won the 2006 Tour de France but was stripped of his victory after failing a dope test, made similar accusations against Armstrong when he finally confessed to cheating after spending four years and $1 million protesting his innocence.

No charges have been laid against Armstrong, who retired in February after one of the most successful and controversial careers in professional cycling.

The Texan was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996 but recovered and returned to racing, winning the Tour de France an unprecedented seven consecutive years, from 1999 to 2005.

He quit when he was at the top, but made a comeback in 2009, at 37, saying he partly missed the thrill of competition but was driven by a greater cause, to help promote cancer awareness.

Hamilton was a support rider of Armstrong’s at the U.S. Postal Service team for his first three Tour de France victories.

In 2004, Hamilton won the time-trial at the Athens Olympics and was allowed to keep his medal after testing positive for blood doping because the laboratory accidently destroyed his B-sample by deep freezing it.

The following year, Hamilton tested positive for a blood transfusion and was banned for two years.

In 2006 he was linked to the Spanish doping scandal dubbed “Operation Puerto” before testing positive for steroids three years later. He was given an eight-year ban after he said he had taken an over-the-counter treatment for depression.

Silent victims thwart cybercops...

Qld Police - Security - News By: Stilgherrian.

ZDNet.com.au on May 17th, 2011. Police could pursue more online criminals if more victims reported the crimes committed against them, according to one of Australia's highest-profile investigators.

"Probably less than 1 per cent of computer crimes are reported to police," said Detective Superintendent Brian Hay, head of the Fraud and Corporate Crime Group of the Queensland Police Service.

However, businesses are reluctant to become involved. "The last thing they want is the police taking their file servers away to perform a forensic analysis, to seize and examine the logs to find the intrusions or compromises for offenders in another country that may never even be brought to justice," he said.

Hay believes this reluctance goes back to the internet's historical roots. "It commenced as a science and military tool. They didn't want the coppers involved. Then it's exploited by academic institutions. They didn't want the coppers involved either. The commercial world saw the opportunities to make money from the internet. And they too didn't want the boys and girls in blue being involved," he said. "But when the internet became a place to make money, it wasn't just the commercial environment that piqued its interest. The organised criminal world also saw opportunities. And by the way, they didn't want to talk to the coppers either."

Hay's comments came during his entertaining presentation to the AusCERT information security conference. Entitled "Mythbusters", it ridiculed the fictional police work we see on TV.

"They're immediately accessing 47 different jurisdictional databases, constructed 12 offender suspect profiles, and found out that he's just bought a packet of Cheezels at the Baltimore 7-Eleven store earlier that morning, not yet finished, they do an online access to the local Baltimore council database, retrieve the recorded files for the CCTV footage across the road from the 7-Eleven store, play them back, and from a piece of blurry footage utilise photo-enhancement software to generate clear photo blow-ups that'll run through their special facial recognition systems and then, within 2.5 seconds, their suspect's criminal mugshot appears from nowhere. Magic," he said.

Hay said it's a myth that the police know how to investigate all computer crimes, that police share information with other law enforcement agencies, and that police will hunt down overseas offenders and bring them to account. "Reality? Generally speaking, our skill levels and knowledge are behind that of the criminals ... We do lack effective and efficient sharing mechanisms commensurate with the speed of the cyber environment," he said. "Australia is a victim country, and we do not have the necessary international treaties and legal frameworks in place to facilitate many overseas prosecutions."

Other myths busted included the idea that crimes are always solved in 43 minutes plus commercials without any paperwork, that detectives can "saunter into any premises without [a] warrant", and that warrants can be obtained in seconds rather than hours.

"You know when they're really onto something because out comes the trusty pen, which is used to infect the crime scene and cross-contaminate the evidence. That pen seems to have several uses except one: taking notes," Hay said. "Complicated crime scenes can take days to process. Detectives do not handle crime scene evidence, and extensive notes are taken."

'Sperma gevonden in hotelsuite IMF-baas Strauss-Kahn'...

Elsevier.nl - Buitenland

Dinsdag 17 mei 2011 10:50. 'Sperma gevonden in hotelsuite IMF-baas Strauss-Kahn'. Op de borst van IMF-leider Dominique Strauss-Kahn zijn krassen aangetroffen, waarvan wordt vermoed dat ze afkomstig zijn van het kamermeisje dat hij in New York zou hebben geprobeerd te verkrachten. Ook is er sperma in de hotelkamer gevonden.

Lees het commentaar: Seksaffaire IMF probleem voor schuldencrisis.Lees ook de weblog Vrouw van de Wereld: Ik geloof voorlopig niets van Strauss-Kahn-verhaal. Dat schrijft de Franse website Atlantico.fr, die zegt zich te baseren op verslagen van Franse diplomaten en de New Yorkse politie.

De authenticiteit van de documenten is niet bevestigd. Opgemerkt moet worden dat Atlantico wordt gezien als een pro-Sarkozy-nieuwssite. De socialist Strauss-Kahn werd tot voor kort gezien als uitdager voor het Franse presidentschap.

Naakt.

Volgens de bestanden wordt er onderzoek gedaan om te kijken of de DNA-sporen van Strauss-Kahn afkomstig zijn. De uitkomsten hiervan worden binnen vijf dagen verwacht.

In het proces-verbaal dat door de New Yorkse politie is opgesteld, zou letterlijk staan: 'Toen de vrouw de kamer binnenliep, kwam Dominique Strauss-Kahn, een 62-jarige blanke man, naakt uit de badkamer gelopen.'

Bed

Vervolgens zou hij de vrouw op het bed hebben geduwd en hebben gedwongen hem oraal te bevredigen. Het kamermeisje is een 32-jarige vrouw van Afrikaanse of Portugese afkomst en wordt in diverse media beschreven als 'zeer knap'.

Op het bovenlichaam van Strauss-Kahn zijn krassen aangetroffen. De IMF-baas, die nu vastzit in de beruchte gevangenis op Rikers Island in New York, zou hebben ingestemd met aanvullend onderzoek.

Some feline fun with hi-tech headgear...

Reuters By Chiaki Kawase

TOKYO (Reuters) Mon May 16, 2011 In Japan, they're all ears for the latest in hi-tech fashion.

The stylish headgear, a set of white ears that move according to the wearer's thoughts and emotions, is called "Necomimi" -- "cat's ears" in Japanese.

With two brain-wave sensors, Necomimi can detect and interpret the emotional state of the wearer, expressing it through four distinct movements.

The eats shoot up with the wearer is nervous or focused, but flatten when the person is relaxed.

During a specific activity like a game or reading a book, in which the user may be relaxed and focused at the same time, the ears swirl around in a circular motion. When brain activity is low, they flap gently back and forth.

The science of neuro-control is being developed in labs all over the world as a way to help the disabled or victims of 'locked-in' syndrome, where a patient is awake but unable to move or communicate, but Necomimi's creators at a firm called Neuroscience wanted something for all to enjoy.

The cat theme required some tinkering, though.

"For example, when cats are frightened or want to scare away an enemy, they flatten their ears. But with Necomimi, flat ears mean a relaxed state of mind," said Kana Nakano at Neurowave, one of Necomimi's creators.

"We have changed the meaning to suit human perceptions. To humans, it's kind of cute when cat ears are flat. So the most difficult bit was to fine tune cat ear movements."

In Switzerland, scientists are adapting neurowave technology for wheelchair users, while in Germany, it's being tested as a means for operating a car.

While the cat ears may seem like a trivial approach, the developers say the technology could be adapted as a communication tool for those who may be reclusive or shy around strangers.

For now, however, Necomimi is aimed at the curious and the fashion-conscious.

"I find it amusing that cat ears were moving in conjunction with my feelings," said Misa Tokuizumi, a dentist.

Neurowave says it plans to launch the Necomimi internationally later this year at a price of several hundred dollars per unit.

(Reporting by Reuters Television, editing by Elaine Lies)

MS hints at Skype's future, stresses cross-platform support - VoIP, telephony, Telecommunication, Skype, Phones, Microsoft, consumer electronics...

MS hints at Skype's future Computerworld

11 May, 2011 Microsoft's Skype acquisition will result in voice and video calling blended into lots of existing Microsoft products, but the company also stressed that it'll keep building Skype across other platforms.

Skype will be blended into lots of Microsoft products, but MS stressed it'll keep building Skype across other platforms

"Our vision is that products and services that Skype users know and love today will simply grow and be enhanced," Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said at a press conference Tuesday. "Part of that commitment is to continue investing and supporting Skype on non-Microsoft client platforms."

Skype chief executive Tony Bates said cross-platform support was "absolutely critical," and a fundamental part of the deal.

[ Get the latest IT news on the Australian government and businesses in Computerworld's Business & Government newsletter ]

Microsoft announced this morning that it will buy Skype for $8.5 billion in cash. At the press conference, Ballmer said the companies finalized that figure on April 18, and signed the deal Monday night.

For now, Microsoft isn't explaining its plans for Skype in detail. The product roadmap will come later, pending regulatory approval. But that didn't stop the companies from dropping hints, saying Skype will make its way to Kinect for Xbox 360, Windows phones, Outlook and the Lync communications client for businesses. It seems that Microsoft is keen on using Skype to have all of its services communicate through a single voice and video service.

"We want to stitch together the world, and we have big customer bases that we can connect in a way that will add value to, I think, all members of the community," Ballmer said.

Less clear is how Microsoft will approach wireless carriers, which have treated Skype with caution. Skype for Android, which launched for all carriers in October, didn't support 3G voice calls until last month. The iPhone version of Skype went through similar growing pains. "I've certainly already heard back this morning from some of our operator partners who've been enthusiastic, and I'm sure we'll have some work to do to also communicate clearly, to continue to support the broad set of operator partners," Ballmer said.

Bates also said that Skype is "just scratching the surface" with advertisements as a new revenue stream. Skype launched advertisements in March, and Bates talked of a "rich media" approach to ads in Skype software.

Bates has high hopes for Skype under Microsoft. "We think this (acquisition) allows us to extend from hundreds of millions to literally billions. We believe that this is a platform and a set of services that can reach everyone on the planet."

Follow Jared on Facebook and Twitter for even more tech news and commentary.

Should your home broadband connection be IPv6 ready right now? ...

Tech Authority by Alex Kidman

May 6, 2011 -- Some ISPs are beginning to plug IPv6 home routers, but should you be concerned about it? Here's the situation for home routers and networking equipment in a nutshell.

In recent weeks there’s been more than the usual amount of noise surrounding IPv6; just yesterday Internode announced it was selling a couple of IPv6 ready routers and iiNet’s made the same claim of its upcoming Bob2 router. If you’re still a little hazy on IPv6, this rather dry YouTube video does a good job covering the basics.

With the pool of IPv4 addresses being technically exhausted, as a consumer should you be worrying about IPv6 right now, rushing out to upgrade routers, PCs and modems?

The short answer is no, not quite yet unless you fancy playing on the cutting edge. Of the major Australian ISPs, only Internode has a customer-facing IPv6 service up and running, and even that’s a trial with a limited feature set. It’s currently entirely an opt-in service, not something that Internode customers are being pushed into. Internode’s current modem offerings are all IPv6 compatible, so new customers (in theory) shouldn’t even notice the difference.

iiNet has recently indicated via its blog (http://blog.iinet.net.au/ipv4-shortage-sensational-sounds/) that a selection of its customer base may be invited to IPv6 trials in the coming months; other ISPs are considerably more coy on their IPv6 implementation plans.

Billion's 7800NL: IPv6 compatible

Even when IPv6 rollouts start across more ISPs, the other factor to keep in mind is that while there’s a number of new IPv6 compatible routers on the market right now, some older models may be firmware upgradeable to work with IPv6. That won’t cover every box (and some models “promised” future IPv6 compatibility may not get those upgrades), but it’s well worth checking with your hardware provider to see if there’s an IPv6 upgrade available or imminent. If your modem is capable of taking the OpenWRT firmware, there’s the possibility to enable IPv6 there as well.

Ultimately, your ISP should advise as to the time and need for IPv6 within the user base - that’s you - and the equipment and/or software modifications required. It’s more likely that we’ll see IPv4 in the Australian marketplace for the next couple of years - realistically the lifespan of most of today’s current consumer networking equipment - in any case.

"Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Vista and Windows 7 all have TCP/IP v6 protocol stack drivers but they have to be installed manually in the network connection properties. Therefore, most users ..." Wanted: skilled ADSL users for upcoming Internode IPv6 broadband trial.

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German mayor rescues man trapped in women's prison...

Reuters

BERLIN (Reuters) Wed May 4, 2011. - A mayor in Germany helped rescue a man who became trapped in a women's prison after mistaking it for a shortcut to a nearby park, police in the northern city of Hildesheim said on Wednesday.

Hildesheim Mayor Henning Blum heard the man's cries for help while passing by the prison near the city center and notified police who came and freed the 24-year-old.

The man told police he was strolling through town and did not immediately notice he had walked into a prison. By the time it dawned on him where he was, the gate to the jail had already closed, locking him inside.

Police said they are investigating why the prison gate was open, enabling the man to wander in.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Paul Casciato)

Westpac datacentre crashes ATMs online ...

Westpac Business - News By Luke Hopewell, ZDNet.com.au

<--Westpac ATM tells users it's "closed".

ZDNet May 5th, 2011.Westpac has blamed the outage on an air-conditioning problem in Westpac's datacentre, according to Westpac spokesperson Jane Counsel.

"I can confirm and assure customers that this is something we're working on as an absolute priority," Counsel told ABC Radio this morning.

Counsel said that St George services had also been affected, but added that she wasn't aware of the full impact.

Hundreds of angry customers took to the social-networking service to protest.

"Yesterday #Westpac [announced] a $3.17bn profit. Today I can't even get $30 out of tier ATMs," said one user.

"If I cannot get my pay this week #Westpac will be on the wrong end of a #ClassActionSuit. Sorry for the inconvenience," remarked another, re-enforcing analyst views that customers will start voting with their feet when it comes to technology glitches.

The bank's outage has also affected CityRail payment services in NSW, with customers forced to pay with cash due to the crash.

Westpac's telephone banking is still operational.

Josh Taylor also contributed to this article.

Women march in Syria to demand jailed men be freed...

Reuters

<--Women demonstrate on the Baida coastal highway April 13, 2011. By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

AMMAN (Reuters) Wed Apr 13, 2011 - Hundreds of women from a Syrian town that has witnessed mass arrests of its men marched along Syria's main coastal highway on Wednesday to demand their release, human rights activists said.

Security forces, including secret police, stormed Baida on Tuesday, going into houses and arresting men aged up to 60, the activists said, after townsfolk joined unprecedented protests challenging the 11-year rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

The women from Baida were marching on the main highway leading to Turkey chanting slogans to demand the release of some 350 men, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"The women of Baida are on the highway. They want their men back," the organization said, adding that women also marched in support in the nearby Mediterranean city of Banias.

In Syria's northern city Aleppo, around 150 students marched in a protest demanding political freedoms on the campus of the main university, human rights defenders in contact with students said.

Baath Party irregulars quickly dispersed the students who chanted "We sacrifice our blood and our soul for you Deraa," in solidarity with the southern city where demonstrations against the Baath Party's iron rule started three-and a-half weeks ago.

With heavy secret police presence, preachers on the state payroll giving pro-Assad sermons and the Sunni merchant class staying on the sidelines, major protests have not spread to Damascus proper or to Aleppo, denying protesters the critical mass seen in the uprisings which swept Tunisia and Egypt.

"FORCED CHANTS"

A human rights lawyer earlier said security forces had arrested 200 residents in Baida, killing two people.

"They brought in a television crew and forced the men they arrested to shout 'We sacrifice our blood and our soul for you, Bashar' while filming them," the lawyer, who was in contact with residents of the town, told Reuters.

"Syria is the Arab police state par excellence. But the regime still watches international reaction, and as soon as it senses that it has weakened, it turns more bloody," said the lawyer, who did not want to be further identified.

Assad, who tried to position Syria as self-declared champion of "resistance" to Israel while seeking peace with the Jewish state and accepting offers for rehabilitation in the West, has responded to the protests with a blend of force and vague promises of reform.

A new cabinet will be announced on Thursday, a semi-official newspaper said, to replace the government which resigned last month.

Opposition leaders said any genuine move to lift severe restrictions on freedoms would require an effective executive branch and independent judiciary to replace a powerless government structure dominated by the Baath Party.

The Damascus Declaration, Syria's main rights group, said the death toll from the pro-democracy protests had reached 200.

Authorities have described the protests as part of a foreign conspiracy to sow sectarian strife, blaming unspecified armed groups and "infiltrators" for the violence, and denying a report by Human Rights Watch that security forces have prevented ambulances and medical supplies from reaching besieged areas.

"FANTASY SCENARIOS"

Montaha al-Atrash, board member of the Syrian human rights group Sawasieh, said the authorities "dream up more fantasy armed gang scenarios as soon as another region rises up to demand freedom and democracy."

"Shame on them. They are doing a disservice to their own president. Why do infiltrators and armed groups disappear when the authorities organize a 'popular' pro-Assad demonstrations?" Atrash said.

"As soon as an area like Baida stands up, they attack it and put out the usual film reel of members of the security forces who died defending stability and order," Atrash said.

Activists said Baida was targeted because its residents participated in a demonstration in Banias last week in which protesters shouted: "The people want the overthrow of the regime" -- the rallying cry of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions where the leaders were toppled.

One activist said some residents of Baida had weapons and it appeared that an armed confrontation had erupted.

But Sheikh Anas Airout, an imam in nearby Banias, said Baida residents were largely unarmed and that they were paying the price for their non-violent quest for freedom.

Irregular Assad loyalists, known as "al-shabbiha," killed four people in Banias on Sunday, a human rights defender in the city said, raising tensions in the mostly Sunni Muslim country ruled by minority Alawites, an offshoot sect of Shi'ite Islam.

The official state news agency said churches in Syria would oversee an austere Easter to honor the "martyrs" and "in an expression of national unity."

Not all young Australian men want more sex? | Reuters

Reuters

SYDNEY (Reuters) Mon May 2, 2011 - Unbelievable as it may sound, not all young men want more sex. According to a survey of Australian men, 12 percent between the ages of 16 and 24 said they wanted less sex -- the highest proportion of any age group.

"Although it's a minority, it's still interesting that it's more of them (than any other age group), which is not that sort of myth, boys not getting enough sex and dying to get it," Juliet Richters, Associate Professor in Sexual Health, University of New South Wales, told Reuters.

Richters and a team of researchers from around Australia surveyed some 4,300 heterosexual men and 4,400 women between the ages of 16 and 64.

She said another survey five years ago showed similar results.

Only 31 percent of men in that age group said they wanted more sex, the lowest of any other age group as well.

"It may well be that they are being overwhelmed by girls of much the same age who are madly in love and very keen," she said.

"It also takes men of that age about a year or longer to commit to a relationship."

More predictably, the survey found that 57 percent of men between 35 and 44 wanted more sex compared with only 28 percent of women, while 14 percent of women said they wanted less.

Half of men aged 55 to 64 wanted more sex, while only 27 percent of women in the same age group felt the same.

"The evolutionary explanation is women are only keen on sex when they can conceive. A social explanation is a whole lot of stuff, including time, pressure, tiredness," Richter said.

"I mean, sex is a leisure activity after all."

(Reporting by Pauline Askin; editing by Elaine Lies)