Reuters
PHOENIX (Reuters) Thu Jan 27, 2011 - In a brazen attempt reminiscent of a medieval siege, Mexican smugglers tried to use a hefty catapult to hurl drugs north over the U.S. Border, authorities said..
The Mexican military seized 45 pounds of marijuana, a sports utility vehicle and a metal-framed catapult just south of the Arizona border near the small town of Naco last Friday, following a tip-off from the U.S. Border Patrol.
Surveillance video taken by National Guard troops deployed to support the Border Patrol caught a group of men apparently attempting to pull down a metal beam and load or test the catapult, which was powered by powerful elastic and mounted on a trailer close to the metal border fence.
"It looks like a medieval catapult that was used back in the day," Tucson sector Border Patrol spokesman David Jimarez told Reuters.
Arizona straddles a furiously trafficked corridor for human and drug smugglers from Mexico.
The U.S. Border Patrol seize hundreds of tons of marijuana and other drugs each year, smuggled over or under the line using a variety of means, including trucks, clandestine tunnels, horseback and even micro-light aircraft -- although the catapult was new, Jimarez said.
"I have not seen anything like that in my time before as a Border Patrol agent ... although we are trained to handle any kind of a threat that comes over that border," he added.
(Reporting by Tim Gaynor, editing by Peter Bohan)
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
SPLATNAV! UK pensioners drive into German church...
Reuters
BERLIN (Reuters) Mon Jan 24, 2011. - Two British pensioners landed in hospital in southern Germany after their car's global positioning system directed them to drive into a church.
While driving their Renault in the evening on a back road near the Austrian border, the navigation system instructed the couple to turn right where there was no road.
"They were confused and didn't notice that the navigation system was faulty," a police spokeswoman said.
The 76-year-old driver then plowed into the side of the village church, writing off the car, knocking a picture off the wall and damaging the building's foundations. Total damages were some 25,000 euros, police in the nearby town of Immenstadt said.
The couple, who were traveling to France, spent the evening in hospital recuperating from minor injuries.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Paul Casciato)
BERLIN (Reuters) Mon Jan 24, 2011. - Two British pensioners landed in hospital in southern Germany after their car's global positioning system directed them to drive into a church.
While driving their Renault in the evening on a back road near the Austrian border, the navigation system instructed the couple to turn right where there was no road.
"They were confused and didn't notice that the navigation system was faulty," a police spokeswoman said.
The 76-year-old driver then plowed into the side of the village church, writing off the car, knocking a picture off the wall and damaging the building's foundations. Total damages were some 25,000 euros, police in the nearby town of Immenstadt said.
The couple, who were traveling to France, spent the evening in hospital recuperating from minor injuries.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Paul Casciato)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Burglars snort man's ashes, thought it was cocaine | Reuters
Reuters
MIAMI (Reuters) Wed Jan 19, 2011. Burglars snorted the cremated remains of a man and two dogs in the mistaken belief that they had stolen illegal drugs, Florida sheriff's deputies said on Wednesday.
The ashes were taken from a woman's home in the central Florida town of Silver Springs Shores on December 15. The thieves took an urn containing the ashes of her father and another container with the ashes of her two Great Danes, along with electronic equipment and jewelry, the Marion County Sheriff's Office said.
Investigators learned what happened to the ashes after they arrested five teens in connection with another burglary attempt at a nearby home last week.
"The suspects mistook the ashes for either cocaine or heroin. It was soon discovered that the suspects snorted some of the ashes believing they were snorting cocaine," the sheriff's report said.
Once they realized their error, the suspects discussed returning the remaining ashes but threw them in a lake instead because they thought their fingerprints were on the containers, sheriff's spokesman Judge Cochran said.
Police divers were trying to recover the ashes. The suspects were jailed on numerous burglary and other charges.
(Reporting by Jane Sutton; Editing by Sandra Maler)
MIAMI (Reuters) Wed Jan 19, 2011. Burglars snorted the cremated remains of a man and two dogs in the mistaken belief that they had stolen illegal drugs, Florida sheriff's deputies said on Wednesday.
The ashes were taken from a woman's home in the central Florida town of Silver Springs Shores on December 15. The thieves took an urn containing the ashes of her father and another container with the ashes of her two Great Danes, along with electronic equipment and jewelry, the Marion County Sheriff's Office said.
Investigators learned what happened to the ashes after they arrested five teens in connection with another burglary attempt at a nearby home last week.
"The suspects mistook the ashes for either cocaine or heroin. It was soon discovered that the suspects snorted some of the ashes believing they were snorting cocaine," the sheriff's report said.
Once they realized their error, the suspects discussed returning the remaining ashes but threw them in a lake instead because they thought their fingerprints were on the containers, sheriff's spokesman Judge Cochran said.
Police divers were trying to recover the ashes. The suspects were jailed on numerous burglary and other charges.
(Reporting by Jane Sutton; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Semen allergy suspected in rare post-orgasm illness...
Reuters By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) Mon Jan 17, 2011 - A mysterious syndrome in which men come down with a flu-like illness after an orgasm may be caused by an allergy to semen, Dutch scientists said on Monday.
Men with the condition, known as post orgasmic illness syndrome or POIS and documented in medical journals since 2002, get flu-like symptoms such as feverishness, runny nose, extreme fatigue and burning eyes immediately after they ejaculate. Symptoms can last for up to week.
Marcel Waldinger, a professor of sexual psychopharmacology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, published two studies in the Journal of Sexual Medicine which suggest that men with POIS have an allergy to their own semen, and that a treatment known as hyposensitization therapy can help reduce its impact.
"These results are a very important breakthrough in the research of this syndrome," Waldinger said in a telephone interview. He said the findings "contradict the idea that the complaints have a psychological cause" and show that an auto-allergic reaction to semen is the most likely cause.
Although it has been documented in scientific papers since 2002, post orgasmic illness syndrome is largely unknown among family doctors and experts say many men who suffer the condition feel ashamed about it and confused about what is wrong.
Waldinger said while the syndrome is probably rare, it is likely that many men who suffer with it do not know it is a recognized condition and so do not come forward to doctors.
For these studies, Waldinger and colleagues analyzed 45 Dutch men who were diagnosed with the illness.
"They didn't feel ill when they masturbated without ejaculating, but as soon as the semen came from the testes...after that they became ill, sometimes within just a few minutes," Waldinger said.
Thirty-three of them agreed to undergo a standard skin-prick allergy test using a diluted form of their own semen. Of those, 29, or 88 percent, had a positive skin reaction indicating an auto-immune response, or allergic reaction.
In a second study in the same journal, Waldinger's team decided to try treating two of the volunteers with hyposensitization therapy -- a well-known technique for treating allergies, also called allergen immunotherapy, which repeatedly exposes the body to small but gradually increasing amounts of the allergen over several years.
In the POIS therapy, the men were given skin injections containing their own semen, at first in an extremely dilute form, and then in gradually less diluted forms. The study's results showed that after one and three years respectively, the men showed a significant reduction in their POIS symptoms.
"It's a very slow process. It is used for all sorts of allergies and can sometimes take up to 5 years," Waldinger said. In the light of the first results, his team have now started several more POIS patients on hyposensitization therapy.
(Editing by Ben Hirschler and Peter Graff)
LONDON (Reuters) Mon Jan 17, 2011 - A mysterious syndrome in which men come down with a flu-like illness after an orgasm may be caused by an allergy to semen, Dutch scientists said on Monday.
Men with the condition, known as post orgasmic illness syndrome or POIS and documented in medical journals since 2002, get flu-like symptoms such as feverishness, runny nose, extreme fatigue and burning eyes immediately after they ejaculate. Symptoms can last for up to week.
Marcel Waldinger, a professor of sexual psychopharmacology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, published two studies in the Journal of Sexual Medicine which suggest that men with POIS have an allergy to their own semen, and that a treatment known as hyposensitization therapy can help reduce its impact.
"These results are a very important breakthrough in the research of this syndrome," Waldinger said in a telephone interview. He said the findings "contradict the idea that the complaints have a psychological cause" and show that an auto-allergic reaction to semen is the most likely cause.
Although it has been documented in scientific papers since 2002, post orgasmic illness syndrome is largely unknown among family doctors and experts say many men who suffer the condition feel ashamed about it and confused about what is wrong.
Waldinger said while the syndrome is probably rare, it is likely that many men who suffer with it do not know it is a recognized condition and so do not come forward to doctors.
For these studies, Waldinger and colleagues analyzed 45 Dutch men who were diagnosed with the illness.
"They didn't feel ill when they masturbated without ejaculating, but as soon as the semen came from the testes...after that they became ill, sometimes within just a few minutes," Waldinger said.
Thirty-three of them agreed to undergo a standard skin-prick allergy test using a diluted form of their own semen. Of those, 29, or 88 percent, had a positive skin reaction indicating an auto-immune response, or allergic reaction.
In a second study in the same journal, Waldinger's team decided to try treating two of the volunteers with hyposensitization therapy -- a well-known technique for treating allergies, also called allergen immunotherapy, which repeatedly exposes the body to small but gradually increasing amounts of the allergen over several years.
In the POIS therapy, the men were given skin injections containing their own semen, at first in an extremely dilute form, and then in gradually less diluted forms. The study's results showed that after one and three years respectively, the men showed a significant reduction in their POIS symptoms.
"It's a very slow process. It is used for all sorts of allergies and can sometimes take up to 5 years," Waldinger said. In the light of the first results, his team have now started several more POIS patients on hyposensitization therapy.
(Editing by Ben Hirschler and Peter Graff)
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Thieves make BMW hottest car at auto show...
Reuters
DETROIT (Reuters) Fri Jan 14, 2011 - When carmakers like BMW say they hope people find their next car at auto shows like the one in Detroit this week, this wasn't exactly what they meant.
Two thieves drove away in a brand new $94,000 BMW 750i xDrive Sedan on Wednesday night that was left idling outside the Westin Book Cadillac, one of Detroit's major hotels.
The car was one of more than a dozen BMW sedans used to ferry executives and guests around town during the show.
On Thursday morning, police said they were still looking for the gray four-door BMW.
Police said the car was dropped off by a valet to be loaded onto a transport truck to take it back to BMW's North American headquarters in New Jersey when two men jumped into the car and drove away.
BMW, which featured its glitzy 650i convertible at the Detroit auto show, said it remains committed to the event.
"It's just an unfortunate incident," BMW spokeswoman Stacy Morris said.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall. Editing by Peter Bohan)
DETROIT (Reuters) Fri Jan 14, 2011 - When carmakers like BMW say they hope people find their next car at auto shows like the one in Detroit this week, this wasn't exactly what they meant.
Two thieves drove away in a brand new $94,000 BMW 750i xDrive Sedan on Wednesday night that was left idling outside the Westin Book Cadillac, one of Detroit's major hotels.
The car was one of more than a dozen BMW sedans used to ferry executives and guests around town during the show.
On Thursday morning, police said they were still looking for the gray four-door BMW.
Police said the car was dropped off by a valet to be loaded onto a transport truck to take it back to BMW's North American headquarters in New Jersey when two men jumped into the car and drove away.
BMW, which featured its glitzy 650i convertible at the Detroit auto show, said it remains committed to the event.
"It's just an unfortunate incident," BMW spokeswoman Stacy Morris said.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall. Editing by Peter Bohan)
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Trapped burglars call police for help...
Reuters
BERLIN (Reuters) Thu Jan 13, 2011. Two would-be thieves called in their own crime to police in Germany after they could not escape from a broken-down elevator over the weekend, police said in a statement.
"This sounds really dumb," one of the thieves told police in Cologne over the elevator's emergency phone, "But I'm afraid that we wanted to break in and the elevator has gotten stuck."
When police arrived they found the two thieves aged 31 and 37 stuck in the elevator of an office building.
The thieves allegedly broke into the building and were attempting to reach a higher floor when the elevator became stuck, the police said.
They decided to phone for help when one thief injured his hand attempting to pry open the door.
Firemen eventually freed the men and they were arrested.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; editing by Paul Casciato)
BERLIN (Reuters) Thu Jan 13, 2011. Two would-be thieves called in their own crime to police in Germany after they could not escape from a broken-down elevator over the weekend, police said in a statement.
"This sounds really dumb," one of the thieves told police in Cologne over the elevator's emergency phone, "But I'm afraid that we wanted to break in and the elevator has gotten stuck."
When police arrived they found the two thieves aged 31 and 37 stuck in the elevator of an office building.
The thieves allegedly broke into the building and were attempting to reach a higher floor when the elevator became stuck, the police said.
They decided to phone for help when one thief injured his hand attempting to pry open the door.
Firemen eventually freed the men and they were arrested.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; editing by Paul Casciato)
Friday, January 07, 2011
Penguin in zoo strolls into lions' den...
Reuters
A foraging Emperor penguin preens on snow-covered sea ice around the base of the active volcano Mount Erebus, near McMurdo Station, the largest U.S. Science base in Antarctica, December 9, 2006. Credit: Reuters/Deborah Zabarenko
BERLIN (Reuters) Thu Jan 6, 2011. A resourceful baby penguin took advantage of Germany's wintry weather to give her minders the slip and embark on a tour of the zoo before waddling into the lions' den.
A visitor spotted the African penguin, born in September, taking a stroll in the lion enclosure but the animal was lucky as the lions were asleep inside rather than braving the icy weather outside, Muenster zoo said on its website.
It took keepers a day to get the penguin out of the den, luring her out with a trail of herrings, the statement said.
The escape gave the penguin, up to then only known as number 459, a name. Her minder now calls her Leona, the zoo said.
(Reporting by Annika Breidthardt, editing by Paul Casciato)
A foraging Emperor penguin preens on snow-covered sea ice around the base of the active volcano Mount Erebus, near McMurdo Station, the largest U.S. Science base in Antarctica, December 9, 2006. Credit: Reuters/Deborah ZabarenkoBERLIN (Reuters) Thu Jan 6, 2011. A resourceful baby penguin took advantage of Germany's wintry weather to give her minders the slip and embark on a tour of the zoo before waddling into the lions' den.
A visitor spotted the African penguin, born in September, taking a stroll in the lion enclosure but the animal was lucky as the lions were asleep inside rather than braving the icy weather outside, Muenster zoo said on its website.
It took keepers a day to get the penguin out of the den, luring her out with a trail of herrings, the statement said.
The escape gave the penguin, up to then only known as number 459, a name. Her minder now calls her Leona, the zoo said.
(Reporting by Annika Breidthardt, editing by Paul Casciato)
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Skype could be designated illegal in China...
Reuters By Terril Yue Jones and Jennifer Saba
BEIJING/NEW YORK (Reuters) Fri Dec 31, 2010 - The popular Internet telephone service Skype could be dealt a major setback in one of the world's largest markets as the Chinese government cracks down on what it called illegal Internet telephone providers.
A Chinese government circular from the powerful Ministry of Information and Industry Technology called for a crackdown "on illegal VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) telephone services" and said it was collecting evidence for legal cases against them. It did not name any phone companies.
Skype was still available in China on Friday evening through its joint venture partner TOM Online.
Skype had not yet been contacted by Chinese government officials, a Skype spokesman said on Friday in the United States.
The timing of a ban in one of the world's fastest growing markets could dampen investor enthusiasm for Skype as it prepares a 2011 initial public offering. The Luxembourg-based company, which has about 124 million users worldwide, is expected to be valued at about $1 billion in the IPO.
The Chinese move appeared to be aimed at protecting three government-controlled phone carriers -- China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile -- that provide the bulk of China's telephone services.
The South China Morning Post quoted an unidentified ministry official on Thursday as saying VoIP services could only be provided by the big three Chinese operators.
China has been known to play hardball with foreign businesses. After a months-long stand-off over censorship, China finally gave Google approval in July to keep operating its Chinese search page.
Skype has 20 million users in Asia Pacific, or 16 percent of the company's total users as of the end of June, according to a U.S. regulatory filing. The filing did not break out China's user numbers and a Skype spokesman in the United States said he did not know how many Chinese users it had.
No single country other than the United States represented more than 7 percent of Skype's average monthly user, according to the filing.
The latest news is another setback after Skype's global service outage last week, which cast doubts on the reliability of the service.
In 2005, Skype was blocked in parts of China as the government sought to ban phone calls made over the Internet.
Skype, partly owned by Web retailer eBay Inc, has been growing in popularity among Chinese users and businesses to make cheap or free international phone calls over the Internet.
"Nearly 1 in 6 people in the world live in China, and a great many of them rely on Skype to connect with families and friends, run businesses, and call people around the world," wrote Skype's Josh Silverman in an October blog post about Chinese privacy.
The Chinese circular, dated December 10, did not say what amounted to illegal services and did not name any VoIP providers it considered to be breaking the law.
Continue with this article by clicking: Reuters (By Terril Yue Jones and Jennifer Saba)
BEIJING/NEW YORK (Reuters) Fri Dec 31, 2010 - The popular Internet telephone service Skype could be dealt a major setback in one of the world's largest markets as the Chinese government cracks down on what it called illegal Internet telephone providers.A Chinese government circular from the powerful Ministry of Information and Industry Technology called for a crackdown "on illegal VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) telephone services" and said it was collecting evidence for legal cases against them. It did not name any phone companies.
Skype was still available in China on Friday evening through its joint venture partner TOM Online.
Skype had not yet been contacted by Chinese government officials, a Skype spokesman said on Friday in the United States.
The timing of a ban in one of the world's fastest growing markets could dampen investor enthusiasm for Skype as it prepares a 2011 initial public offering. The Luxembourg-based company, which has about 124 million users worldwide, is expected to be valued at about $1 billion in the IPO.
The Chinese move appeared to be aimed at protecting three government-controlled phone carriers -- China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile -- that provide the bulk of China's telephone services.
The South China Morning Post quoted an unidentified ministry official on Thursday as saying VoIP services could only be provided by the big three Chinese operators.
China has been known to play hardball with foreign businesses. After a months-long stand-off over censorship, China finally gave Google approval in July to keep operating its Chinese search page.
Skype has 20 million users in Asia Pacific, or 16 percent of the company's total users as of the end of June, according to a U.S. regulatory filing. The filing did not break out China's user numbers and a Skype spokesman in the United States said he did not know how many Chinese users it had.
No single country other than the United States represented more than 7 percent of Skype's average monthly user, according to the filing.
The latest news is another setback after Skype's global service outage last week, which cast doubts on the reliability of the service.
In 2005, Skype was blocked in parts of China as the government sought to ban phone calls made over the Internet.
Skype, partly owned by Web retailer eBay Inc, has been growing in popularity among Chinese users and businesses to make cheap or free international phone calls over the Internet.
"Nearly 1 in 6 people in the world live in China, and a great many of them rely on Skype to connect with families and friends, run businesses, and call people around the world," wrote Skype's Josh Silverman in an October blog post about Chinese privacy.
The Chinese circular, dated December 10, did not say what amounted to illegal services and did not name any VoIP providers it considered to be breaking the law.
Continue with this article by clicking: Reuters (By Terril Yue Jones and Jennifer Saba)
Friday, December 31, 2010
Microsoft co-founder relaunches tech patent suit...
Reuters By Bill Rigby
SEATTLE (Reuters) Wed Dec 29, 2010 - Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen relaunched a wide-ranging patent lawsuit against Apple Inc, Google Inc, Facebook and others with specific allegations that the companies are illegally using technology owned by his company.
Interval Licensing LLC, a small research company set up by Allen in 1992, originally filed a broad patent suit in federal court in Seattle in August, but Judge Marsha Pechman dismissed it on the grounds that it did not specify any actual products or devices. The revised suit was filed by Interval on Tuesday.
Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975, claims Interval was central to research and development of technology in the Internet arena in the 1990s, amassing more than 300 patents and providing research assistance to Google.
In the suit, Allen's company claims four of its patents -- chiefly related to the way Web data is sorted and presented -- have been infringed by a number of successful companies.
MULTIPLE CLAIMS
The first patent concerns the generation of data related to information being browsed. Interval claims Google uses this technology to match advertisements from third parties to content being displayed, while AOL's sites use it to suggest items related to news stories.
Interval claims Apple's iTunes service uses the technology to suggest music based on a user's searches, and that eBay Inc, Facebook, Netflix, Yahoo Inc and Office Depot's sites have also infringed the patent in the way they direct users to related content.
The second and third patents concern relaying information on a computer screen in a peripheral, unobtrusive manner, such as in an instant messaging box or overlay.
Interval claims its patent has been infringed by features in AOL's Instant Messenger, Apple's Dashboard, Google Talk and Gmail Notifier, Google's Android phone system and Yahoo Widgets.
The fourth patent concerns alerting Web browsers to new items of interest based on activity of other users. Interval claims AOL uses this technology on its shopping sites, while Apple's iTunes uses it to recommend music.
Interval claims eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot, Staples Inc, Yahoo and Google's YouTube all have infringed the patent in the way they suggest content to users.
NO MICROSOFT
The suit makes no mention of Microsoft as a patent holder or infringer, even though Allen's former company offers products similar to some described in the suit. A spokesman for Allen declined to comment on the suit.
Allen, 57, is the world's 37th richest person, according to Forbes magazine. He resigned as a Microsoft executive in 1983. Since then, he has funded scientific and medical research through his Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and invested in many projects in his native Seattle and Pacific Northwest region.
Interval has asked the court for damages and a ban on products that use the disputed patents. It is unclear how seriously the court, or the companies he has targeted, will take Allen's legal charges.
To be continued at: Reuters By Bill Rigby
SEATTLE (Reuters) Wed Dec 29, 2010 - Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen relaunched a wide-ranging patent lawsuit against Apple Inc, Google Inc, Facebook and others with specific allegations that the companies are illegally using technology owned by his company.
Interval Licensing LLC, a small research company set up by Allen in 1992, originally filed a broad patent suit in federal court in Seattle in August, but Judge Marsha Pechman dismissed it on the grounds that it did not specify any actual products or devices. The revised suit was filed by Interval on Tuesday.
Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975, claims Interval was central to research and development of technology in the Internet arena in the 1990s, amassing more than 300 patents and providing research assistance to Google.
In the suit, Allen's company claims four of its patents -- chiefly related to the way Web data is sorted and presented -- have been infringed by a number of successful companies.
MULTIPLE CLAIMS
The first patent concerns the generation of data related to information being browsed. Interval claims Google uses this technology to match advertisements from third parties to content being displayed, while AOL's sites use it to suggest items related to news stories.
Interval claims Apple's iTunes service uses the technology to suggest music based on a user's searches, and that eBay Inc, Facebook, Netflix, Yahoo Inc and Office Depot's sites have also infringed the patent in the way they direct users to related content.
The second and third patents concern relaying information on a computer screen in a peripheral, unobtrusive manner, such as in an instant messaging box or overlay.
Interval claims its patent has been infringed by features in AOL's Instant Messenger, Apple's Dashboard, Google Talk and Gmail Notifier, Google's Android phone system and Yahoo Widgets.
The fourth patent concerns alerting Web browsers to new items of interest based on activity of other users. Interval claims AOL uses this technology on its shopping sites, while Apple's iTunes uses it to recommend music.
Interval claims eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot, Staples Inc, Yahoo and Google's YouTube all have infringed the patent in the way they suggest content to users.
NO MICROSOFT
The suit makes no mention of Microsoft as a patent holder or infringer, even though Allen's former company offers products similar to some described in the suit. A spokesman for Allen declined to comment on the suit.
Allen, 57, is the world's 37th richest person, according to Forbes magazine. He resigned as a Microsoft executive in 1983. Since then, he has funded scientific and medical research through his Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and invested in many projects in his native Seattle and Pacific Northwest region.
Interval has asked the court for damages and a ban on products that use the disputed patents. It is unclear how seriously the court, or the companies he has targeted, will take Allen's legal charges.
To be continued at: Reuters By Bill Rigby
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Confessions of a Windows 7 pirate...
ZDNet By Ed Bott
March 3, 2010. In the interest of research, I’ve been digging into message boards and forums run by unabashed Windows enthusiasts who are intent on breaking Microsoft’s activation technology. I’ve had these forums bookmarked for years and stop in every once in a while just to see what’s new. This time I decided to drop by and actually try some of tools and utilities to see if I could become a pirate, too.
Unfortunately, I succeeded.
In this post, I’ll share my experiences, including close encounters with some very nasty malware and some analysis on how the latest showdown between Microsoft and the pirates is likely to play out.
You won’t find names or direct links here—although these guys seem like genuine enthusiasts, I have no intention of giving them any free publicity. But if you’re interested in tracking down the tools I tested you should have no trouble finding them using the clues available in screenshots and descriptions here.
If you do intend to try this stuff out for yourself, I recommend extreme caution. My hunt for utilities that bypass Windows 7 activation technologies led me to some very seedy corners of the Internet. First, I did what any red-blooded wannabe pirate would do and tried some Google searches. Of the first 10 hits, six were inactive or had been taken down. After downloading files from the remaining four sites, I submitted them to Virustotal.com, where three of the four samples came back positive for nasty, difficult-to-remove Windows 7 rootkits. Here’s one example: Open ZDNet By Ed Bott
And that experience is borne out by at least one real-world experience, which was reported, ironically, in the Talkback section of this blog. After I wrote about Microsoft’s most recent anti-piracy initiative last week, one commenter (a loud, proud Linux advocate) insisted that the update opened a secret back-channel, probably as part of a plot by Microsoft to covertly gain access to its customers’ PCs. A day or so later, after checking with his Windows-using friend, he returned with this sheepish admission:Refer ZDNet By Ed Bott
It turns out his iso was not a bona fide purchased copy [of Windows 7], but rather a cracked version off of the net. In all likelihood the iso was trojaned…
Indeed. Which is why I exercised extraordinary caution. For my hands-on tests, I used a fresh copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, installed without a product key. I then looked at two widely distributed tools that work in completely different ways.
Page 2: Disabling Windows activation completely A clever little tool called RemoveWAT not only disables Microsoft’s activation subsystem, it also installs the latest anti-piracy update from Microsoft and then disables it, too!
Page 3: Fooling Windows by tinkering with the BIOS Big PC makers get to install copies of Windows that don’t require activation. Naturally, pirates soon figured out how to make any PC look like it came from one of those big factories.
Page 4: Microsoft versus the pirates Pirates are clever and fast. Microsoft is highly motivated to keep its lucrative Windows revenue stream intact. Are customers going to get caught in the crossfire?
More details and screenshots begin on the next page refer: ZDNet By Ed Bott
March 3, 2010. In the interest of research, I’ve been digging into message boards and forums run by unabashed Windows enthusiasts who are intent on breaking Microsoft’s activation technology. I’ve had these forums bookmarked for years and stop in every once in a while just to see what’s new. This time I decided to drop by and actually try some of tools and utilities to see if I could become a pirate, too.
Unfortunately, I succeeded.
In this post, I’ll share my experiences, including close encounters with some very nasty malware and some analysis on how the latest showdown between Microsoft and the pirates is likely to play out.
You won’t find names or direct links here—although these guys seem like genuine enthusiasts, I have no intention of giving them any free publicity. But if you’re interested in tracking down the tools I tested you should have no trouble finding them using the clues available in screenshots and descriptions here.
If you do intend to try this stuff out for yourself, I recommend extreme caution. My hunt for utilities that bypass Windows 7 activation technologies led me to some very seedy corners of the Internet. First, I did what any red-blooded wannabe pirate would do and tried some Google searches. Of the first 10 hits, six were inactive or had been taken down. After downloading files from the remaining four sites, I submitted them to Virustotal.com, where three of the four samples came back positive for nasty, difficult-to-remove Windows 7 rootkits. Here’s one example: Open ZDNet By Ed Bott
And that experience is borne out by at least one real-world experience, which was reported, ironically, in the Talkback section of this blog. After I wrote about Microsoft’s most recent anti-piracy initiative last week, one commenter (a loud, proud Linux advocate) insisted that the update opened a secret back-channel, probably as part of a plot by Microsoft to covertly gain access to its customers’ PCs. A day or so later, after checking with his Windows-using friend, he returned with this sheepish admission:Refer ZDNet By Ed Bott
It turns out his iso was not a bona fide purchased copy [of Windows 7], but rather a cracked version off of the net. In all likelihood the iso was trojaned…
Indeed. Which is why I exercised extraordinary caution. For my hands-on tests, I used a fresh copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, installed without a product key. I then looked at two widely distributed tools that work in completely different ways.
Page 2: Disabling Windows activation completely A clever little tool called RemoveWAT not only disables Microsoft’s activation subsystem, it also installs the latest anti-piracy update from Microsoft and then disables it, too!
Page 3: Fooling Windows by tinkering with the BIOS Big PC makers get to install copies of Windows that don’t require activation. Naturally, pirates soon figured out how to make any PC look like it came from one of those big factories.
Page 4: Microsoft versus the pirates Pirates are clever and fast. Microsoft is highly motivated to keep its lucrative Windows revenue stream intact. Are customers going to get caught in the crossfire?
More details and screenshots begin on the next page refer: ZDNet By Ed Bott
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Is that really Kate? UK royal coin raises eyebrows...
Reuters
The commemorative coin to mark the engagement of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton is seen in this undated photograph released in London December 23, 2010.Credit: Reuters/The Royal Mint/Handout
LONDON (Reuters Life!)Thu Dec 23, 2010 - The design for an official commemorative coin to mark the engagement of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton was unveiled on Thursday, but not everyone might recognize the bride-to-be.
The depiction, based on photographs of the couple at a sporting event, bears some resemblance to William but less so his fiancee.
Royal watchers said she appears much fuller in the face on the coin than she is in real life.
"This coin is of historical importance -- to get it so wrong seems ridiculous," Editor-in-Chief of Majesty magazine, Ingrid Seward, was quoted on the Sky News website as saying.
The design was approved by the 28-year-old couple and by William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth.
The Royal Mint, which produced the collectors' item, said it had no intention of changing the design.
"It is quite a subjective issue," a spokesman for the Mint, based in Llantrisant, south Wales, told Reuters.
"It is always challenging to engrave profiles and features onto something as small as a coin, particularly the features of young people."
Prince William, second-in-line to the throne after his father Prince Charles, announced his engagement to his long-term girlfriend in November, and the couple will marry on April 29.
The coin depicts him in profile -- an allusion to his royal status -- with Middleton looking at him face-on in a more informal pose, the Mint said.
It bears her full name, Catherine.
She is likely to become one of the most photographed women in the world, just like William's mother, the late Princess Diana.
Production of the coin has yet to begin, and it is not clear how many will be struck, but orders have been taken.
The Royal Mint has created many commemorative medals and coins to mark special occasions, including the 2012 London Olympics as well as other royal events, but this is the first time it has created a commemorative royal engagement coin.
"The Royal Mint has been recording historical events for over 1,100 years and we're fortunate to be in a role that allows us to add to that legacy," Dave Knight, director of Commemorative Coin at the Royal Mint, said in a statement.
The coin comes in silver and gold, and its various models cost from 9.99 to 1,550 pounds ($2,400).
(Writing by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Steve Addison)
The commemorative coin to mark the engagement of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton is seen in this undated photograph released in London December 23, 2010.Credit: Reuters/The Royal Mint/HandoutLONDON (Reuters Life!)Thu Dec 23, 2010 - The design for an official commemorative coin to mark the engagement of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton was unveiled on Thursday, but not everyone might recognize the bride-to-be.
The depiction, based on photographs of the couple at a sporting event, bears some resemblance to William but less so his fiancee.
Royal watchers said she appears much fuller in the face on the coin than she is in real life.
"This coin is of historical importance -- to get it so wrong seems ridiculous," Editor-in-Chief of Majesty magazine, Ingrid Seward, was quoted on the Sky News website as saying.
The design was approved by the 28-year-old couple and by William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth.
The Royal Mint, which produced the collectors' item, said it had no intention of changing the design.
"It is quite a subjective issue," a spokesman for the Mint, based in Llantrisant, south Wales, told Reuters.
"It is always challenging to engrave profiles and features onto something as small as a coin, particularly the features of young people."
Prince William, second-in-line to the throne after his father Prince Charles, announced his engagement to his long-term girlfriend in November, and the couple will marry on April 29.
The coin depicts him in profile -- an allusion to his royal status -- with Middleton looking at him face-on in a more informal pose, the Mint said.
It bears her full name, Catherine.
She is likely to become one of the most photographed women in the world, just like William's mother, the late Princess Diana.
Production of the coin has yet to begin, and it is not clear how many will be struck, but orders have been taken.
The Royal Mint has created many commemorative medals and coins to mark special occasions, including the 2012 London Olympics as well as other royal events, but this is the first time it has created a commemorative royal engagement coin.
"The Royal Mint has been recording historical events for over 1,100 years and we're fortunate to be in a role that allows us to add to that legacy," Dave Knight, director of Commemorative Coin at the Royal Mint, said in a statement.
The coin comes in silver and gold, and its various models cost from 9.99 to 1,550 pounds ($2,400).
(Writing by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Steve Addison)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Traffic tip for Santa: reflective reindeer collars | Reuters
Reuters
OSLO (Reuters) Tue Dec 21, 2010. Norwegian reindeer owners have a Christmas safety tip for Santa -- put reflectors on his fleet-footed animals so they won't get hit by cars.
About 2,000 reindeer have been fitted this month with reflective yellow collars or small antler tags to cut down on the car crashes that now kill 500 reindeer a year and pose a danger to motorists across Arctic Norway.
"It really works," Kristian Oevernes, the leader of the project at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, told Reuters of the project in Finnmark, where the sun does not rise in mid-winter.
A test drive on a snowmobile showed that marked reindeer were far more visible in the dark than others. Several people are injured every year in car accidents involving reindeer, and one recent accident in Finland was fatal.
"I guess so," Oevernes said, when asked if Santa might take up the safety tip.
"This is the first time it (reindeer marking) has happened on this scale."
Sami herders had tried small experiments to attach reflective tape to the animals but the glue failed in the cold. Finnish herders had also tried a reflective spray, but it reduced the fur's ability to keep out the chill.
About 200,000 reindeer live in Norway, mostly owned by Sami indigenous people who raise them for meat, skins and antlers, according to the International Center for Reindeer Husbandry.
If the new project is successful, supporters say, reindeer owners or vehicle
(Editing by Paul Casci
OSLO (Reuters) Tue Dec 21, 2010. Norwegian reindeer owners have a Christmas safety tip for Santa -- put reflectors on his fleet-footed animals so they won't get hit by cars.
About 2,000 reindeer have been fitted this month with reflective yellow collars or small antler tags to cut down on the car crashes that now kill 500 reindeer a year and pose a danger to motorists across Arctic Norway.
"It really works," Kristian Oevernes, the leader of the project at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, told Reuters of the project in Finnmark, where the sun does not rise in mid-winter.
A test drive on a snowmobile showed that marked reindeer were far more visible in the dark than others. Several people are injured every year in car accidents involving reindeer, and one recent accident in Finland was fatal.
"I guess so," Oevernes said, when asked if Santa might take up the safety tip.
"This is the first time it (reindeer marking) has happened on this scale."
Sami herders had tried small experiments to attach reflective tape to the animals but the glue failed in the cold. Finnish herders had also tried a reflective spray, but it reduced the fur's ability to keep out the chill.
About 200,000 reindeer live in Norway, mostly owned by Sami indigenous people who raise them for meat, skins and antlers, according to the International Center for Reindeer Husbandry.
If the new project is successful, supporters say, reindeer owners or vehicle
(Editing by Paul Casci
Squeaky-clean Singapore in toilet manners campaign...
Reuters
SINGAPORE Reuters Fri Dec 17, 2010. Squeaky-clean Singapore needs cleaner toilets and public awareness is one way to achieve this, a civic group said at the launch of the latest stage of its LOO campaign -- Let's Observe Ourselves.
But a survey by the Restroom Association (Singapore) (RAS) found that only some 500 of the island's public toilets overall were up to its standards of working facilities, lack of litter and odor, and the provision of basic amenities such as hand soap and toilet paper.
"For us, toilet etiquette reflects Singaporeans' culture. It tells people how civilized we are," RAS President Tan Puay Hoon told reporters on Thursday, when the association unveiled its 70-page report on public restrooms as part of a campaign to improve island-wide toilet cleanliness.
"We are a First World country and we want a gracious society to reflect that."
Under the RAS Happy Toilet Programme, toilets are rated from three to five stars. A four-star toilet should have a diaper changing station or urinal for children and a five-star should have eco-friendly features such as water-saving taps.
To call attention to its 3-year blueprint on public restroom and a public awareness program urging users to adopt proper restroom etiquette in the Heartlands area, site of many government-built apartment blocks, the RAS launched LOO@Heartlands -- the first coffee shop with a five-star toilet.
The RAS said it would also distribute packets of pocket tissues with restroom etiquette messages only to toilet visitors during peak hours at shops nearby.
"Singapore's effort in branding itself as one of the most liveable cities in Asia is exemplary," the association said in its report, which was submitted to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in September.
"Unfortunately, the cleanliness of our public restrooms has not been in tandem," the report added.
The RAS was founded in 1998 as a non-profit organization and says it is dedicated to promoting the cleanliness, design and functionality of public toilets in Singapore.
The LOO Campaign began in 2008. The RAS has also conducted the Happy Toilet School Education program and is a founding member of the World Toilet Organization and the Keep Singapore Beautiful Movement.
(Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Elaine Lies)
Oddly Enough
SINGAPORE Reuters Fri Dec 17, 2010. Squeaky-clean Singapore needs cleaner toilets and public awareness is one way to achieve this, a civic group said at the launch of the latest stage of its LOO campaign -- Let's Observe Ourselves.But a survey by the Restroom Association (Singapore) (RAS) found that only some 500 of the island's public toilets overall were up to its standards of working facilities, lack of litter and odor, and the provision of basic amenities such as hand soap and toilet paper.
"For us, toilet etiquette reflects Singaporeans' culture. It tells people how civilized we are," RAS President Tan Puay Hoon told reporters on Thursday, when the association unveiled its 70-page report on public restrooms as part of a campaign to improve island-wide toilet cleanliness.
"We are a First World country and we want a gracious society to reflect that."
Under the RAS Happy Toilet Programme, toilets are rated from three to five stars. A four-star toilet should have a diaper changing station or urinal for children and a five-star should have eco-friendly features such as water-saving taps.
To call attention to its 3-year blueprint on public restroom and a public awareness program urging users to adopt proper restroom etiquette in the Heartlands area, site of many government-built apartment blocks, the RAS launched LOO@Heartlands -- the first coffee shop with a five-star toilet.
The RAS said it would also distribute packets of pocket tissues with restroom etiquette messages only to toilet visitors during peak hours at shops nearby.
"Singapore's effort in branding itself as one of the most liveable cities in Asia is exemplary," the association said in its report, which was submitted to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in September.
"Unfortunately, the cleanliness of our public restrooms has not been in tandem," the report added.
The RAS was founded in 1998 as a non-profit organization and says it is dedicated to promoting the cleanliness, design and functionality of public toilets in Singapore.
The LOO Campaign began in 2008. The RAS has also conducted the Happy Toilet School Education program and is a founding member of the World Toilet Organization and the Keep Singapore Beautiful Movement.
(Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Elaine Lies)
Oddly Enough
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Gambling nun accused of embezzling $850,000...
Reuters
NEW YORK Mon Dec 13, 2010(Reuters) - A Catholic nun with a reputation for gambling trips to Atlantic City was accused of embezzling more than $850,000 from a college where she oversaw the school's finances, officials said on Friday.
Sister Marie Thornton, former vice president of finance at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, is charged with sending phony invoices to the school to pay off personal credit card bills and expenses, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
The thefts occurred between 1999 and 2009, when Thornton resigned from the Catholic college, court documents said. She entered a plea of not guilty to a federal embezzlement charge.
The college of some 5,000 students has come under fire from alumni and donors for never reporting the missing money to authorities and only mentioning the theft in its 2009 tax filing sent in February to the Internal Revenue Service.
Iona officials issued a statement saying the school has implemented new financial oversight controls and recovered most of the missing funds.
The nun had a reputation for visiting casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, according to former Iona basketball coach Jeff Ruland.
The U.S. Attorney's office originally said the theft was more than $1.2 million but on Friday revised the amount to more than $850,000, saying it had originally miscalculated.
Thornton's lawyer Sam Talkin said: "We think the case will be resolved in a manner fair to all the parties involved."
(Reporting by Aman Ali; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Greg McCu
NEW YORK Mon Dec 13, 2010(Reuters) - A Catholic nun with a reputation for gambling trips to Atlantic City was accused of embezzling more than $850,000 from a college where she oversaw the school's finances, officials said on Friday.
Sister Marie Thornton, former vice president of finance at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, is charged with sending phony invoices to the school to pay off personal credit card bills and expenses, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
The thefts occurred between 1999 and 2009, when Thornton resigned from the Catholic college, court documents said. She entered a plea of not guilty to a federal embezzlement charge.
The college of some 5,000 students has come under fire from alumni and donors for never reporting the missing money to authorities and only mentioning the theft in its 2009 tax filing sent in February to the Internal Revenue Service.
Iona officials issued a statement saying the school has implemented new financial oversight controls and recovered most of the missing funds.
The nun had a reputation for visiting casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, according to former Iona basketball coach Jeff Ruland.
The U.S. Attorney's office originally said the theft was more than $1.2 million but on Friday revised the amount to more than $850,000, saying it had originally miscalculated.
Thornton's lawyer Sam Talkin said: "We think the case will be resolved in a manner fair to all the parties involved."
(Reporting by Aman Ali; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Greg McCu
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Wisconsin woman accused of biting off husband's tongue...
Reuters
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) Tue Dec 7, 2010 - A Wisconsin woman bit off half her husband's tongue during a kiss and has been arrested, authorities said on Tuesday.
The bitten piece of the husband's tongue was recovered, and he was taken to a hospital following the incident late on Monday, Sheboygan, Wisconsin police said in a statement.
The woman, 57, told emergency workers she had "bit her husband's tongue off," police said in a statement. She had blood on her clothing, they said.
The 79-year-old victim said his wife bit his tongue while he was kissing her, police said.
The woman was singing Christmas carols and blowing a New Year's horn when police arrested her on charges of felony mayhem. She was being held pending formal charges by the District Attorney's Office.
The victim was transported to an area hospital where doctors were trying to reattach his tongue, police said. About half his tongue was bit off, they said.
The victim said his wife had been acting strangely in recent days, said the police in Sheboygan, roughly 50 miles north of Milwaukee.
(Reporting by John Rondy; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Greg McCune)
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) Tue Dec 7, 2010 - A Wisconsin woman bit off half her husband's tongue during a kiss and has been arrested, authorities said on Tuesday.
The bitten piece of the husband's tongue was recovered, and he was taken to a hospital following the incident late on Monday, Sheboygan, Wisconsin police said in a statement.
The woman, 57, told emergency workers she had "bit her husband's tongue off," police said in a statement. She had blood on her clothing, they said.
The 79-year-old victim said his wife bit his tongue while he was kissing her, police said.
The woman was singing Christmas carols and blowing a New Year's horn when police arrested her on charges of felony mayhem. She was being held pending formal charges by the District Attorney's Office.
The victim was transported to an area hospital where doctors were trying to reattach his tongue, police said. About half his tongue was bit off, they said.
The victim said his wife had been acting strangely in recent days, said the police in Sheboygan, roughly 50 miles north of Milwaukee.
(Reporting by John Rondy; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Greg McCune)
Cycling may have impact on sperm health...
Health study--Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters)Thu Dec 9, 2010 - Most exercise appears to have little relationship to either the quality or quantity of sperm, but men who bike at least five hours a week have fewer and less active sperm than men who didn't exercise, a study said.
Research among competitive athletes has linked biking to genital or urinary problems and poor semen quality, said Lauren Wise at Boston University, who led the study published in "Fertility and Sterility."
"However, we were uncertain whether we would find an association among a sample of men engaged in more moderate levels of physical activity," she told Reuters Health, warning it is still too early to say regular biking caused the sperm problems.
Previous research has suggested that competitive athletes may have issues with their sperm. But the study looked at the relationship between sperm health and exercise in 2,200 average men attending fertility clinics.
Each man provided a semen sample and answered questions about their general health and physical activity.
After adjustment for the use of multivitamins, body weight, blood pressure, choice of underwear and other variables, the authors found that men who exercised regularly -- even vigorously -- were no more likely to have problems with the quality or quantity of their sperm than men who never exercised.
However, when Wise and her colleagues looked at specific types of exercise, they saw that men who said they spent at least five hours per week biking were twice as likely to have both a low sperm count and relatively poor sperm mobility.
Among men who did not get regular exercise, 23 percent had low sperm counts -- but so did more than 31 percent of those who biked at least five hours per week.
Nearly 40 percent of frequent bikers had low numbers of sperm with good motility, versus 27 percent of men who didn't exercise.
Trauma or temperature increases in the scrotum may explain the relationship between biking and semen health, Wise said.
She also noted that it was possible that the men included in the study may not be representative of the general population, since they were all attending a fertility clinic and therefore more likely to have problems with their sperm.
"More studies are needed to replicate our findings before they can be considered causal," she said.
(Reporting by Alison McCook at Reuters Health; editing by Elaine Lies)
NEW YORK (Reuters)Thu Dec 9, 2010 - Most exercise appears to have little relationship to either the quality or quantity of sperm, but men who bike at least five hours a week have fewer and less active sperm than men who didn't exercise, a study said.
Research among competitive athletes has linked biking to genital or urinary problems and poor semen quality, said Lauren Wise at Boston University, who led the study published in "Fertility and Sterility."
"However, we were uncertain whether we would find an association among a sample of men engaged in more moderate levels of physical activity," she told Reuters Health, warning it is still too early to say regular biking caused the sperm problems.
Previous research has suggested that competitive athletes may have issues with their sperm. But the study looked at the relationship between sperm health and exercise in 2,200 average men attending fertility clinics.
Each man provided a semen sample and answered questions about their general health and physical activity.
After adjustment for the use of multivitamins, body weight, blood pressure, choice of underwear and other variables, the authors found that men who exercised regularly -- even vigorously -- were no more likely to have problems with the quality or quantity of their sperm than men who never exercised.
However, when Wise and her colleagues looked at specific types of exercise, they saw that men who said they spent at least five hours per week biking were twice as likely to have both a low sperm count and relatively poor sperm mobility.
Among men who did not get regular exercise, 23 percent had low sperm counts -- but so did more than 31 percent of those who biked at least five hours per week.
Nearly 40 percent of frequent bikers had low numbers of sperm with good motility, versus 27 percent of men who didn't exercise.
Trauma or temperature increases in the scrotum may explain the relationship between biking and semen health, Wise said.
She also noted that it was possible that the men included in the study may not be representative of the general population, since they were all attending a fertility clinic and therefore more likely to have problems with their sperm.
"More studies are needed to replicate our findings before they can be considered causal," she said.
(Reporting by Alison McCook at Reuters Health; editing by Elaine Lies)
Friday, December 10, 2010
Older men want more sex, study finds | Reuters
Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tue Dec 7, 2010. The very oldest men are still interested in sex but illness and a lack of opportunity may be holding them back, Australian researchers reported on Monday.
The "male" hormone testosterone was clearly linked with how often a man over 75 had sex, and doctors need to do more studies to see if hormone replacement therapy might benefit older men, the researchers said.
Zoe Hyde of the University of Western Australia and colleagues surveyed more than 2,700 men aged 75 to 95 for their study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
They asked a range of questions about health, relationships and sexual activity.
"The older men were, the less likely they were to be sexually active, but sex remained at least somewhat important to one fifth of men aged 90 to 95 years, refuting the stereotype of the asexual older person," they wrote in their report.
"Of those who were sexually active, more than 40 percent were dissatisfied with the frequency of sexual activity, preferring sex more frequently."
More than 30 percent of the men reported some sort of sexual activity in the past year, but more than 48 percent said sex was important, suggesting many of the men wanted to have sex but could not.
Age was a factor but so were testosterone levels, the lack of an interested partner, and various diseases from diabetes to prostate cancer.
More than 40 percent of the men who had not had sex recently said they were not interested. (Reporting by Maggie Fox)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tue Dec 7, 2010. The very oldest men are still interested in sex but illness and a lack of opportunity may be holding them back, Australian researchers reported on Monday.The "male" hormone testosterone was clearly linked with how often a man over 75 had sex, and doctors need to do more studies to see if hormone replacement therapy might benefit older men, the researchers said.
Zoe Hyde of the University of Western Australia and colleagues surveyed more than 2,700 men aged 75 to 95 for their study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
They asked a range of questions about health, relationships and sexual activity.
"The older men were, the less likely they were to be sexually active, but sex remained at least somewhat important to one fifth of men aged 90 to 95 years, refuting the stereotype of the asexual older person," they wrote in their report.
"Of those who were sexually active, more than 40 percent were dissatisfied with the frequency of sexual activity, preferring sex more frequently."
More than 30 percent of the men reported some sort of sexual activity in the past year, but more than 48 percent said sex was important, suggesting many of the men wanted to have sex but could not.
Age was a factor but so were testosterone levels, the lack of an interested partner, and various diseases from diabetes to prostate cancer.
More than 40 percent of the men who had not had sex recently said they were not interested. (Reporting by Maggie Fox)
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Skimpy trunks' design causes Singapore blushes...
Reuters By Ian Ransom
GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Thu Nov 25, 2010. The skimpy trunks sported by Singapore's men's water polo team at the Asian Games are causing red faces back home in the conservative city-state, with many embarrassed by their design.
The trunks display the Singaporean flag's white crescent moon on the front of the red briefs in what has been described as an inappropriate fashion.
The design -- lambasted by readers of Singapore's Straits Times newspaper as "disgusting," "nauseating" and "disgraceful" among other terms -- had not been approved by the country's Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (Mica), which governs the use of the flag.
"We would have told them that their design is inappropriate, as we want elements of the flag to be treated with dignity," Singapore media quoted a Mica marketing official as saying.
Few Internet users had given the trunks the thumbs up, many seeing them an insult to the Southeast Asian nation's dignity.
"There are 1000s of ways to show patroitism (sic) but sadly regrettably the chap who designed these trunks choose to do it in this disgusting and disrespecting way," one post read on the Straits Times website (www.straitstimes.com).
The trunks had also left the water polo team red-faced but ultimately powerless to do anything about it.
"The competition rules state that the trunks must be presented at that start of competition and they must be used throughout the tournament," Jose Raymond, the Singapore delegation's head of public relations told Reuters.
"The team can't use other trunks."
Singapore will play a Kuwait team competing under the banner of the International Olympic Committee in a battle for fifth place Thursday at Guangzhou's Tianhe Natatorium.
Raymond said the team were "apologetic if they've offended anyone in any way... they meant the flag no disrespect."
Raymond also confirmed the trunks' design would be tweaked upon the team's return home, after local media quoted a Singapore swimming official saying the crescent moon was supposed to be placed "more toward the side."
"Mica has given the team permission to use the trunks and then have them redesigned when they get back," he said.
China will battle Kazakhstan for the men's gold later on Thursday.
(Editing by Ossian Shine)
GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Thu Nov 25, 2010. The skimpy trunks sported by Singapore's men's water polo team at the Asian Games are causing red faces back home in the conservative city-state, with many embarrassed by their design.The trunks display the Singaporean flag's white crescent moon on the front of the red briefs in what has been described as an inappropriate fashion.
The design -- lambasted by readers of Singapore's Straits Times newspaper as "disgusting," "nauseating" and "disgraceful" among other terms -- had not been approved by the country's Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (Mica), which governs the use of the flag.
"We would have told them that their design is inappropriate, as we want elements of the flag to be treated with dignity," Singapore media quoted a Mica marketing official as saying.
Few Internet users had given the trunks the thumbs up, many seeing them an insult to the Southeast Asian nation's dignity.
"There are 1000s of ways to show patroitism (sic) but sadly regrettably the chap who designed these trunks choose to do it in this disgusting and disrespecting way," one post read on the Straits Times website (www.straitstimes.com).
The trunks had also left the water polo team red-faced but ultimately powerless to do anything about it.
"The competition rules state that the trunks must be presented at that start of competition and they must be used throughout the tournament," Jose Raymond, the Singapore delegation's head of public relations told Reuters.
"The team can't use other trunks."
Singapore will play a Kuwait team competing under the banner of the International Olympic Committee in a battle for fifth place Thursday at Guangzhou's Tianhe Natatorium.
Raymond said the team were "apologetic if they've offended anyone in any way... they meant the flag no disrespect."
Raymond also confirmed the trunks' design would be tweaked upon the team's return home, after local media quoted a Singapore swimming official saying the crescent moon was supposed to be placed "more toward the side."
"Mica has given the team permission to use the trunks and then have them redesigned when they get back," he said.
China will battle Kazakhstan for the men's gold later on Thursday.
(Editing by Ossian Shine)
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Romantic partner may play role in reducing vulvovaginal pain...
Virtual Medical Centre
An investigation published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine has found that male partners who express greater support, attention and sympathy to women's chronic vulvovaginal pain may trigger more pain, but also increase sexual satisfaction in female partners.
Women who took part in the study, conducted by the University of Montreal and University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre, suffer from a condition called provoked vestibulodynia (PVD). A condition that affects 12 per cent of premenopausal women, PVD can impair sexual functioning as well as diminish sexual desire, arousal, sexual satisfaction, orgasmic capacity and frequency of intercourse.
PVD, for which there are no relevant visible findings or clinically identifiable neurologic disorder, is characterised by discomfort or a burning pain specific to the vestibule. The chronic and recurrent condition causes vulvovaginal pain that is triggered mainly through sexual contact, but also via tampon insertion and gynaecological examination.
"An overly concerned partner may lead a woman to avoid sexual intercourse or exacerbate her pain by increasing her anxiety, hyper-vigilance and negative thoughts about the pain, which can in turn increase her pain during intercourse," says lead author, Dr Natalie O. Rosen, a University of Montreal post-doctoral fellow in psychology. "If a man avoids sexual intercourse with a partner with PVD, then he may also reinforce her negative pain appraisals and that can lead to increased pain during intercourse."
At the same time, the researchers found that a more concerned attitude in partners was linked to greater sexual satisfaction in women with PVD. "It's likely that women interpret the attention from their partner as a greater sensitivity and understanding of her pain during sexual activity and that results in greater sexual satisfaction," says Rosen.
For couples affected by PVD, the key to decreasing pain and bolstering sexual satisfaction may be to shift the focus away from vaginal intercourse without avoiding sexual activity altogether. "Couples can focus on pleasurable sexual activities other than penetration, or on the emotional benefits of sexual activity such as intimacy and closeness," says Rosen.
As part of the study, 191 heterosexual couples affected by PVD completed questionnaires about the condition. Following their participation, couples received a 30-minute telephone psychological consultation about PVD.
"This study furthers our understanding of the importance of how couples communicate about PVD in predicting pain and sexual satisfaction in women," says Sophie Bergeron, a University of Montreal psychology professor. "The more the partner is overly concerned, from the perspective of the woman and her partner, the more her pain intensity may increase during intercourse. Results of our study can help in the development of targeted psychological interventions to assist couples in coping with PVD."
(Source: University of Montreal: Journal of Sexual Medicine) Article Date: 5th Oct. 2010
An investigation published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine has found that male partners who express greater support, attention and sympathy to women's chronic vulvovaginal pain may trigger more pain, but also increase sexual satisfaction in female partners.Women who took part in the study, conducted by the University of Montreal and University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre, suffer from a condition called provoked vestibulodynia (PVD). A condition that affects 12 per cent of premenopausal women, PVD can impair sexual functioning as well as diminish sexual desire, arousal, sexual satisfaction, orgasmic capacity and frequency of intercourse.
PVD, for which there are no relevant visible findings or clinically identifiable neurologic disorder, is characterised by discomfort or a burning pain specific to the vestibule. The chronic and recurrent condition causes vulvovaginal pain that is triggered mainly through sexual contact, but also via tampon insertion and gynaecological examination.
"An overly concerned partner may lead a woman to avoid sexual intercourse or exacerbate her pain by increasing her anxiety, hyper-vigilance and negative thoughts about the pain, which can in turn increase her pain during intercourse," says lead author, Dr Natalie O. Rosen, a University of Montreal post-doctoral fellow in psychology. "If a man avoids sexual intercourse with a partner with PVD, then he may also reinforce her negative pain appraisals and that can lead to increased pain during intercourse."
At the same time, the researchers found that a more concerned attitude in partners was linked to greater sexual satisfaction in women with PVD. "It's likely that women interpret the attention from their partner as a greater sensitivity and understanding of her pain during sexual activity and that results in greater sexual satisfaction," says Rosen.
For couples affected by PVD, the key to decreasing pain and bolstering sexual satisfaction may be to shift the focus away from vaginal intercourse without avoiding sexual activity altogether. "Couples can focus on pleasurable sexual activities other than penetration, or on the emotional benefits of sexual activity such as intimacy and closeness," says Rosen.
As part of the study, 191 heterosexual couples affected by PVD completed questionnaires about the condition. Following their participation, couples received a 30-minute telephone psychological consultation about PVD.
"This study furthers our understanding of the importance of how couples communicate about PVD in predicting pain and sexual satisfaction in women," says Sophie Bergeron, a University of Montreal psychology professor. "The more the partner is overly concerned, from the perspective of the woman and her partner, the more her pain intensity may increase during intercourse. Results of our study can help in the development of targeted psychological interventions to assist couples in coping with PVD."
(Source: University of Montreal: Journal of Sexual Medicine) Article Date: 5th Oct. 2010
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Google loses the dream, falls off the wave...
ZDNet Business - Insight By Renai LeMay
ZDNet November 2nd, 2010 (6 days ago)(Credit: Google)
Hunter S. Thompson wrote in the novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that the 1960s in San Francisco was a very special time and place to be.
"There was a fantastic sense that whatever we were doing was right ... that we were winning," he wrote. "That sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean of military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail."
This is the sort of feeling you got when you walked around the offices of Google Australia in Pyrmont in the middle of this decade. There was an energy about the company. Flush with commercial and technical success from its main search product, and brandishing acclaimed new entries into the Googleverse like Gmail, Google Apps and YouTube, it seemed Google could do no wrong.
The search giant's flat structure and focus on technical prowess at all costs, and its extremely flexible staffing arrangements and reward structure — including the famous "20 per cent time" — meant that Australia's best and brightest were clamouring to get in the door.
But, as with that glorious era in San Francisco, all good things must come to an end. And so the term "Xoogler" was born.
"We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave," wrote Thompson in his book. "So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."
The departures of Vale and Rasmussen from Google Australia's ranks are one small part of that wave rolling back inside Google, the company that comes very close to being a corporate utopia and failed.
To understand this statement, we need to examine the pair's personal histories within Google and what could have forced them to leave.
Vale could most easily be described as the soul of the search giant's Australian operation. When Google entered Australia in 2002, it was Vale that was the company's first employee, and it's not hard to see why. The executive's combination of commercial acumen, online knowledge (she was formerly the NSW sales manager for dotcom failure Looksmart) and her bright bubbly personality made her the perfect choice to launch what was essentially a start-up operation in Australia and build it from the ground up.
And build she did. Although Google has not disclosed its Australian revenues, they are rumoured to be close to $1 billion. And Vale was the one that laid the commercial foundations for that extraordinary growth over the past decade, step by painful step, in an era where search engine optimisation was a black art and targeted advertising meant advertising beauty products to housewives on daytime TV.
Vale was the executive who brought the new era of internet advertising to Australia, creating a whole eco-system around Google in the process.
When the time came for Google to appoint more senior leadership in the form of Asia-Pacific chief Richard Kimber in 2006 and then local managing director Karim Temsamani in 2007, Vale stepped back a bit from the helm of the company, eventually taking a more lightweight role as the local head of Google's bright and shiny new video toy YouTube.
As she did with Google Australia as a whole, Vale appears to have achieved remarkable success with the introduction of YouTube into the local commercial advertising and publishing market. When she first took on the role, the site had poor advertising integration with the Australian population. It's now common to see Australian pre-roll advertisements on the site. Vale can't take all the credit for that shift, but she can take some.
The departure of Rasmussen is also significant for the company.
The fact that the engineer was recruited personally by Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg should give onlookers some indication of the respect with which Rasmussen is held in the global Web 2.0 scene.
The driving force behind Google Maps, Rasmussen was the public face of the search giant's Australian engineering operation since his company was acquired by Google in 2004. And, like Vale, Rasmussen has been instrumental in growing Google in Australia. He has persuaded the company's chiefs in Mountain View to invest in Australian engineers and hiring technical talent, particularly in Sydney, in droves.
Like Vale, Rasmussen stepped back from that role a little in 2007, when Google appointed serial entrepreneur Alan Noble as the head of its engineering operations locally.
And, again, like his colleague, Rasmussen appears to have stepped back from higher level management duties to get his hands dirty. He was one of the chief driving forces behind Google's next-generation Wave product, which eventually failed: a fate he does not appear to be too happy about. However, the development of Wave still brought significant prestige to Australia because of Rasmussen's efforts.
Ultimately, if you were speaking to Google in Australia for most of the past decade, it meant you were speaking to either Vale or Rasmussen. It was common for the pair to attend press conferences together — Vale to present for the commercial side of the business, and Rasmussen to explain the expansion of the company's local engineering talent and products.
The Sydney Morning Herald is using a photo this week which perfectly illustrates the dynamic between the two. They are standing in what appears to be the kitchen of Google's Darling Harbour HQ, or maybe the Pyrmont office. They are laughing, Vale's stance open, Rasmussen more reserved, as many technical people are. There is a link there that is only built up between colleagues who have worked, and fought, together for several years.
That link remains. In fact, Vale said she had dined with Rasmussen just last week. Their professional relationship appears to have epitomised the classic marriage between the technical and the commercial, which is so fruitful when it works well and so disastrous when it tears apart.
Restless souls like Vale and Rasmussen joined Google Australia to start with because it was a start-up. The company offered them something that few other companies could — the chance to make a difference. As Google grew larger and that potential shrunk, both found their niche in an attempt to keep that dream alive.
But their departures signal that they've both had enough.
In short, Google is no longer a start-up. It is now a company like any other, and one with a sizable headcount: more than 400 in Australia and 25,000 globally. It is struggling to get new products to market, or even to keep up-to-date with its existing product set. Look at the poor adoption of Google Apps in corporate Australia, for example (because of its lack of local hosting), or the delays pushing its netbook operating system, Chrome OS, into irrelevance.
Because of this fact, the company is no longer attractive to entrepreneurial change agent types like Vale and Rasmussen. There is simply too much management inertia.
This can be seen in the pair's comments to the Sydney Morning Herald. "The energy there is just amazing, whereas it can be very challenging to be working in a company the size of Google," Rasmussen said of Facebook.
"I think Google has become more corporate over the years," Vale said, noting small companies were easier to shape. "As a company grows it becomes harder to do that ... things get slow."
How far back the wave has rolled, indeed — those comments would have been unimaginable just half a decade ago.
ZDNet November 2nd, 2010 (6 days ago)(Credit: Google)
Hunter S. Thompson wrote in the novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that the 1960s in San Francisco was a very special time and place to be.
"There was a fantastic sense that whatever we were doing was right ... that we were winning," he wrote. "That sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean of military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail."
This is the sort of feeling you got when you walked around the offices of Google Australia in Pyrmont in the middle of this decade. There was an energy about the company. Flush with commercial and technical success from its main search product, and brandishing acclaimed new entries into the Googleverse like Gmail, Google Apps and YouTube, it seemed Google could do no wrong.
The search giant's flat structure and focus on technical prowess at all costs, and its extremely flexible staffing arrangements and reward structure — including the famous "20 per cent time" — meant that Australia's best and brightest were clamouring to get in the door.
But, as with that glorious era in San Francisco, all good things must come to an end. And so the term "Xoogler" was born.
"We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave," wrote Thompson in his book. "So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."
The departures of Vale and Rasmussen from Google Australia's ranks are one small part of that wave rolling back inside Google, the company that comes very close to being a corporate utopia and failed.
To understand this statement, we need to examine the pair's personal histories within Google and what could have forced them to leave.
Vale could most easily be described as the soul of the search giant's Australian operation. When Google entered Australia in 2002, it was Vale that was the company's first employee, and it's not hard to see why. The executive's combination of commercial acumen, online knowledge (she was formerly the NSW sales manager for dotcom failure Looksmart) and her bright bubbly personality made her the perfect choice to launch what was essentially a start-up operation in Australia and build it from the ground up.
And build she did. Although Google has not disclosed its Australian revenues, they are rumoured to be close to $1 billion. And Vale was the one that laid the commercial foundations for that extraordinary growth over the past decade, step by painful step, in an era where search engine optimisation was a black art and targeted advertising meant advertising beauty products to housewives on daytime TV.
Vale was the executive who brought the new era of internet advertising to Australia, creating a whole eco-system around Google in the process.
When the time came for Google to appoint more senior leadership in the form of Asia-Pacific chief Richard Kimber in 2006 and then local managing director Karim Temsamani in 2007, Vale stepped back a bit from the helm of the company, eventually taking a more lightweight role as the local head of Google's bright and shiny new video toy YouTube.
As she did with Google Australia as a whole, Vale appears to have achieved remarkable success with the introduction of YouTube into the local commercial advertising and publishing market. When she first took on the role, the site had poor advertising integration with the Australian population. It's now common to see Australian pre-roll advertisements on the site. Vale can't take all the credit for that shift, but she can take some.
The departure of Rasmussen is also significant for the company.
The fact that the engineer was recruited personally by Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg should give onlookers some indication of the respect with which Rasmussen is held in the global Web 2.0 scene.
The driving force behind Google Maps, Rasmussen was the public face of the search giant's Australian engineering operation since his company was acquired by Google in 2004. And, like Vale, Rasmussen has been instrumental in growing Google in Australia. He has persuaded the company's chiefs in Mountain View to invest in Australian engineers and hiring technical talent, particularly in Sydney, in droves.
Like Vale, Rasmussen stepped back from that role a little in 2007, when Google appointed serial entrepreneur Alan Noble as the head of its engineering operations locally.
And, again, like his colleague, Rasmussen appears to have stepped back from higher level management duties to get his hands dirty. He was one of the chief driving forces behind Google's next-generation Wave product, which eventually failed: a fate he does not appear to be too happy about. However, the development of Wave still brought significant prestige to Australia because of Rasmussen's efforts.
Ultimately, if you were speaking to Google in Australia for most of the past decade, it meant you were speaking to either Vale or Rasmussen. It was common for the pair to attend press conferences together — Vale to present for the commercial side of the business, and Rasmussen to explain the expansion of the company's local engineering talent and products.
The Sydney Morning Herald is using a photo this week which perfectly illustrates the dynamic between the two. They are standing in what appears to be the kitchen of Google's Darling Harbour HQ, or maybe the Pyrmont office. They are laughing, Vale's stance open, Rasmussen more reserved, as many technical people are. There is a link there that is only built up between colleagues who have worked, and fought, together for several years.
That link remains. In fact, Vale said she had dined with Rasmussen just last week. Their professional relationship appears to have epitomised the classic marriage between the technical and the commercial, which is so fruitful when it works well and so disastrous when it tears apart.
Restless souls like Vale and Rasmussen joined Google Australia to start with because it was a start-up. The company offered them something that few other companies could — the chance to make a difference. As Google grew larger and that potential shrunk, both found their niche in an attempt to keep that dream alive.
But their departures signal that they've both had enough.
In short, Google is no longer a start-up. It is now a company like any other, and one with a sizable headcount: more than 400 in Australia and 25,000 globally. It is struggling to get new products to market, or even to keep up-to-date with its existing product set. Look at the poor adoption of Google Apps in corporate Australia, for example (because of its lack of local hosting), or the delays pushing its netbook operating system, Chrome OS, into irrelevance.
Because of this fact, the company is no longer attractive to entrepreneurial change agent types like Vale and Rasmussen. There is simply too much management inertia.
This can be seen in the pair's comments to the Sydney Morning Herald. "The energy there is just amazing, whereas it can be very challenging to be working in a company the size of Google," Rasmussen said of Facebook.
"I think Google has become more corporate over the years," Vale said, noting small companies were easier to shape. "As a company grows it becomes harder to do that ... things get slow."
How far back the wave has rolled, indeed — those comments would have been unimaginable just half a decade ago.
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