Lance Armstrong, Sheryl Crow split up - Yahoo! Australia & NZ News

Yahoo! Australia & NZ News

Saturday February 4, 2006. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and Grammy-winning pop star Sheryl Crow have split up, scrapping plans for a Texas wedding after two years of dating, People magazine reported on Friday.

"After much thought and consideration we have made a very tough decision to split up," a joint statement by the couple issued to the magazine said. "We both have a deep love and respect for each other, and we ask that everyone respect our privacy during this difficult time."

A publicist for Crow said he was not aware of the statement and had no immediate comment. Armstrong's agent could not be immediately reached for comment.

Crow had recently posed for Allure magazine trying on a wedding dress and had told the publication that she and Armstrong planned to marry in his hometown of Austin.

Crow, a Missouri native and former school teacher, scored a smash hit with "All I Wanna Do," a track from her 1993 debut album and has gone on to win nine Grammy awards.

She met Armstrong at a cycling event in 2003 and the couple became engaged last year.

Armstrong won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times.

A cancer survivor, Armstrong has been a highly visible fund-raiser for victims and survivors of the disease. His nonprofit foundation created the yellow "Livestrong" wristbands that became a nearly ubiquitous symbol of philanthropy and fashion.

DRUG SIDE EFFECTS CAN MIMIC EARLY DEMENTIA: STUDY.

Health News Article Reuters.comBy Patricia Reaney

Wed Feb 1, 2006. LONDON (Reuters) - Common drugs used to treat depression, Parkinson's disease and allergies can produce side effects that can be mistaken for early dementia, scientists said on Wednesday.

They added that doctors should be aware the drugs, known as anticholinergics, can cause confusion, memory loss and disorientation and question patients about medication they are taking before prescribing drugs for early dementia.

"A large number of elderly people are taking medications that can mimic early dementia and are likely to be classed as having early dementia," said Karen Ritchie, of the Hopital La Colombiere in Montpellier, France.

There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, the leading cause of dementia in the elderly. The main treatments for early dementia are pro-cholinergic drugs.

"We might find a large number of people in the rather ridiculous position of taking what we call pro-cholinergic medication to counteract anticholinergic drugs they are already taking," Ritchie said in an interview.

"A very large number of people with so-called early dementia have these effects due to drug consumption. The drugs they are taking are very common -- they include things like antihistamines," she added.

The researchers, whose findings are published online by the British Medical Journal, questioned 372 elderly people without dementia about the drugs they had taken and their past illnesses. Ten percent had used anticholinergic drugs for a long period.

After monitoring and assessing the patients for up to 8 years, the researchers found that people who had used anticholinergic drugs had poorer cognitive performance. Eight-five percent met the criteria for mild cognitive impairment, compared to 35 percent of people who had not taken the drugs.

"What we showed is that many of the people who are classified in this way have it due to the medication they are taking, and not because they have early Alzheimer's disease," Ritchie said.

Anticholinergic drugs are prescribed to relieve tremors, muscle stiffness, weakness, anxiety, incontinence and sleep problems. There are also drugs not listed in the same class that have anticholinergic properties.

"The cholinergic system consists of neurotransmitters that regulate a lot of our mental functioning, particularly related to memory," said Ritchie.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

I'AM HERE FOR MY PRESCRIPTION, AND 6000 COOKIES...

Reuters.com

Thu Feb 2, 2006. AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch city of Groningen looks set to open the Netherlands' first pharmacy totally dedicated to providing high quality cannabis for pain relief at affordable prices, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

Although cannabis is readily available in Dutch coffee shops, the foundation for Medicinal Cannabis Netherlands, a support group for patients, intends launching a pharmacy in the northern Dutch city so people can have access to high-grade cannabis for medical use, the daily NRC Handelsblad said.

Groningen city council member Fleur Woudstra, who supports the cannabis pharmacy, told the paper that while pot may be cheaper in coffee shops -- usually around 10 euros ($12) for the equivalent of 3 or 4 joints -- quality often suffers.

The Office of Medicinal Cannabis, a Dutch government agency, and the community of Groningen as well as the local police back the idea and a site has been chosen. It was not immediately clear just when the pharmacy would open for business.

Two more cannabis pharmacies are planned in the towns of Hoogezand and Assen, the paper said.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

SEX EDUCATION TEACHER SIGNS ON THE BOTTOM LINE...

Reuters.com

Wed Feb 1, 2006. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African sex education teacher has been sentenced to three years probation after he allegedly propositioned female students by asking to sign their bottoms, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Port Elizabeth Herald said Mafa Chauke was also ordered to attend a rehabilitation program, but was acquitted of more serious charges that could have brought a prison sentence.

The Herald said Chauke, 34, started making indecent suggestions to female students aged between 12-13 after starting work at a local high school in 2002.

Chauke denied the accusations, saying he was the target of a campaign by other teachers at the school who wanted him fired. Port Elizabeth Magistrate Izak van Niekerk disagreed and found him guilty of indecent assault.

"You are unequipped, unqualified to be a school teacher. You have warped ideas of teaching children about life skills and sexual matters," the newspaper quoted the judge as saying.

Local rights groups criticized what they said was the lenience of Chauke's sentence. Sexual abuse in schools is a frequently highlighted problem in South Africa.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

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.