Powerful earthquake shakes Hawaii
Rocked by a powerful force of nature, the islands manage to take no casualties
Rocked by a powerful force of nature, the islands manage to take no casualties
Reports indicate that the earthquake that rocked Hawaii on Sunday, October 15, was a magnitude of 6.5-6.6 on the Richter Earthquake Scale. Linda Lingle, the governor of Hawaii, declared the incident to be a disaster, as the combined power of the quakes and the aftershocks caused buildings to rock, ceilings to collapse, and a major highway to be blocked by a landslide.“I was pretty scared," Anne LaVasseur said in an interview with MSNBC. "We were swaying back and forth, like King Kong’s pushing your house back and forth.” LaVasseur was on the second floor of a building when the quake struck the main island.
Other reported incidences include, damage to water pipes, communication difficulties, and interruptions in power supplies. With possible damage to Hawaiian infrastructure, such as bridges and roads, the government is working to assess such damage and have it repaired quickly.
The epicenter (or the origin point) of the quake was determined as being located on the northwest edge of the main island. But despite the power of the quake, and the nearly equally powerful aftershocks, no deaths have been reported.
Who is Ron Bruise?
Gaia's newest NPC randomly posts in the forums
Gaia's newest NPC randomly posts in the forums
Established on September 11th of this year, NPC Ron Bruise has done what no other NPC has done with his avatar, let alone any of Gaia's millions of members. He has a nose.
But that's beside the main point. Why was this NPC established, and what is his purpose. He was pointed out by rival reporter [NPC] Cindy Donovinh in a recent newsletter release. Looking at his profile serves only to confuse further. His "About" section states, "YEAH! Hey guys! AWESOME site! This is great! Yeah! WHOOOO! I'm just so happy right now, you know? I'm excited about the FUTURE. And I do mean the FUTURE. The future of HUMANITY. The future of everything. I love my wife! Yeah! I just want to JUMP AROUND! Yes! This is just an amazing time in my life. Can I just pick you up and SHAKE you? YEAH!" The NPC has also been known to post in random threads around Gaia.In the GD, he posted, "Some people comment on the fact that I have a nose whereas many people don't. YEAH! I feel so fortunate to have this nose." In GCD, he denies a caffeine addiction. He claims not to know who Tom Cruise is in the Chatterbox, and also repetedly states that he loves his wife.
Though no one truly knows who that might be.
The Gaian Record International Staff will continue to monitor this odd new NPC and give you updates as they become available.
Pluto's no planet
Arguments are over; The solar system is offically composed of eight
Arguments are over; The solar system is offically composed of eight
MediaCorp Press - the Today newspaper, Singapore
Published on Friday, August 25 2006 ( GMT+8 )
PRAGUE - Pluto yesterday lost its seven-decade status as the ninth and outermost planet of the solar system, the world's top astronomical body decided.
The decision was made at an assembly of the International Astronomical Union in a raised-hands vote after what, by the discreet standards of the astronomical community, was a story debate. The body agreed to create two categories of planets, demoting Pluto with the label "dwarf planet".
Pluto's status had been contested for many years by astronomers who said its tiny size and highly eccentric orbit precluded it from joing the other acknowledged planets.
PRAGUE - Pluto yesterday lost its seven-decade status as the ninth and outermost planet of the solar system, the world's top astronomical body decided.
The decision was made at an assembly of the International Astronomical Union in a raised-hands vote after what, by the discreet standards of the astronomical community, was a story debate. The body agreed to create two categories of planets, demoting Pluto with the label "dwarf planet".
Pluto's status had been contested for many years by astronomers who said its tiny size and highly eccentric orbit precluded it from joing the other acknowledged planets.
If Pluto's lost its rank, will the same happen to Mercury? What of Xena's fate; will this planet become the newest member of the official nine?
We can only wait and see, folks; we can only wait and see.
MediaCorpPress - the Today newspaper, Singapore
Published on Tuesday, August 29 2006 ( GMT+8 )
DEMOTION CEREMONY: With Pluto booted out of the planet league and classified as a dwarf planet as of Thursday, the Singapore Science Center held a short ceremony yesterday afternoon to mark the symbolic change in its status.
Dr. Chew Tuan Chiong, executive of the Science Center, removed an existing exhibition panel of Pluto to include newly-released information from the Internation Astronomical Union.
Dr. Chew said that based on new evidence, astronomers have reclassified the heavenly bodies in our solar system, which now has eight planets and three "dwarf planets": Ceres, Pluto and 2003 UB313 ( a.k.a. Xena ).
-Written by Zafar Anjum
Such is one of the more current results of Pluto's fateful demotion from the rank of eight.
Following Pluto's reclassification as a dwarf planet, there has been much talk among those who have lived their lives in the acknowledgement of Pluto as one of the nine planets of our solar system.
Another example is an article on CNN.com, posted at 1:12 p.m. EDT, August 27, 2006
Quote:
Pluto's demotion not a cause for classroom panic
Science teachers consider Pluto's flunking out of planet status a plus rather than a minus.
"It's exciting. It's a chance to teach kids that this is the nature of science. Things are always changing," said Rich Hogen, who taught fourth grade for 32 years in the Arizona school system.
Science teachers consider Pluto's flunking out of planet status a plus rather than a minus.
"It's exciting. It's a chance to teach kids that this is the nature of science. Things are always changing," said Rich Hogen, who taught fourth grade for 32 years in the Arizona school system.
John Whitsett
The solar system right now is exactly like it was 24 hours ago... Nothing's changed in that time period -- just the name by which we define each of these things.
Well folks, after all that fuss over Pluto's status rank, we finally return to something of more earthly origin - something that many a songwriter has considered a problem for years.
Just in today, we hear what goes on in the latest on the battle against media piracy.
MediaCorpPress - Todayonline.com
Posted on Thursday, August 30 2006, 03:25 hours ( GMT+8 )
Microsoft admits music hack, promises fix
The Microsoft office in Herndon, Virginia in December 2005. Microsoft Corp. has acknowledged the existence of a program circulating on the Internet that could circumvent its copy protection for online music, but said it was working on a fix.
The program called "fairUse4WM" enables users to strip out the so-called digital rights management ( DRM ) in downloaded songs that limits the number of copies that can be made.
A Microsoft spokesman said a patch was being developed with the software giant's online music partners, those who use the Windows media format for online music sales.
The program could undermine efforts to limit illicit copies of music circulated on the Web but some anaylsts minimized the impact.
-AFP
Microsoft admits music hack, promises fix
The Microsoft office in Herndon, Virginia in December 2005. Microsoft Corp. has acknowledged the existence of a program circulating on the Internet that could circumvent its copy protection for online music, but said it was working on a fix.
The program called "fairUse4WM" enables users to strip out the so-called digital rights management ( DRM ) in downloaded songs that limits the number of copies that can be made.
A Microsoft spokesman said a patch was being developed with the software giant's online music partners, those who use the Windows media format for online music sales.
The program could undermine efforts to limit illicit copies of music circulated on the Web but some anaylsts minimized the impact.
Mark Mulligan at Jupiter Research
...it exposes a vulnerability that technically means that rights protected content downloaded from the likes of Napster can have its rights management circumvented. But in practice it actually doesn't mean much...
... This is big news in the weird and wonderful world of hackers and developers, but not really that big a deal for the digital music world.
Hackers will always crack technology. That is their raison d'etre.
... This is big news in the weird and wonderful world of hackers and developers, but not really that big a deal for the digital music world.
Hackers will always crack technology. That is their raison d'etre.
-AFP
Word out to ye who carries the device known as the mobile phone:
Your secrets aren't as safe as they look.
They won't be looking that way much longer anyhow, considering the revelations from Trust Digital.
MediaCorpPress - the Today newspaper, Singapore
Published on Friday, September 1 2006 ( GMT+8 )
Secrets your mobile phone just cannot hide
WASHINGTON - Don't tell your cell phone any secrets. It might not keep them. Second-hand phones bought over the Internet surrendered credit card numbers, bank account passwords, business secrets, and even evidence of adultery.
A company - Trust Digital of McLean, Virginia - bought 10 phones on eBay to test phone-security tools it sells that are meant for businesses, and its software experts managed to resurrect information on nearly all the used phones, including racy exchanges between guarded lovers.
The phones contained an array of information including one company's plans to win a multimillion-dollar federal transportation contract, bank accounts and passwords.
One phone surrendered the secrets of a chief executive at a small technology company in Silicon Valley. It included details of a pending deal with Adobe Systems Inc, and email proposals from a potential Japanese partner.
Trust Digital surmised that the United States chief executive gave his old phone to a former roommate, who used it briefly then sold it for $400 on eBay.
Researchers found emails covering different periods for both men, who used the same address until recently.
Experts said giving away an old phone is commonplace. Consumers upgrade their cell phones on an average of about 18 months.
All the phones stored information on "flash" memory chips - the same technology found in digital cameras and some music players.
While the flash memory is durable, it is slow to erase information in ways that make it impossible to recover. So manufacturers compensate with methods that erase data but are easier to recover. These methods, however, don't make a phone seem as sluggish.
Phone manufacturers usually provide instructions for safely deleting a customer's information, but it is not always convenient or easy to find.
Research in Motion Ltd has built an easy-to-use wipe programme into newer Blackberry phones.
Palm Inc, which makes the popular Treo phones, puts directions deep within its website for waht it calls a "zero out reset". It involves holding down three buttons simultaneously, while pressing a fourth tiny button on the back of the phone. But it is so awkward to reset that even Palm says it may take two people to complete the process.
While security companies try to come up with foolproof technology, the experst say that it is best that mobile phone owners leave out the personal information.
-AP
Secrets your mobile phone just cannot hide
WASHINGTON - Don't tell your cell phone any secrets. It might not keep them. Second-hand phones bought over the Internet surrendered credit card numbers, bank account passwords, business secrets, and even evidence of adultery.
A company - Trust Digital of McLean, Virginia - bought 10 phones on eBay to test phone-security tools it sells that are meant for businesses, and its software experts managed to resurrect information on nearly all the used phones, including racy exchanges between guarded lovers.
The phones contained an array of information including one company's plans to win a multimillion-dollar federal transportation contract, bank accounts and passwords.
Nick Magliato, Trust Digital's chief executive,
We found just a mountain of personal and corporate data.
One phone surrendered the secrets of a chief executive at a small technology company in Silicon Valley. It included details of a pending deal with Adobe Systems Inc, and email proposals from a potential Japanese partner.
Trust Digital surmised that the United States chief executive gave his old phone to a former roommate, who used it briefly then sold it for $400 on eBay.
Researchers found emails covering different periods for both men, who used the same address until recently.
Experts said giving away an old phone is commonplace. Consumers upgrade their cell phones on an average of about 18 months.
Miro Kazakoff, a researcher at Compete Inc of Boston, who folows mobile phone sales and trends,
Most people toss their phones after they're done; a lot of them give their old phones to family members or friends.
All the phones stored information on "flash" memory chips - the same technology found in digital cameras and some music players.
While the flash memory is durable, it is slow to erase information in ways that make it impossible to recover. So manufacturers compensate with methods that erase data but are easier to recover. These methods, however, don't make a phone seem as sluggish.
Phone manufacturers usually provide instructions for safely deleting a customer's information, but it is not always convenient or easy to find.
Research in Motion Ltd has built an easy-to-use wipe programme into newer Blackberry phones.
Palm Inc, which makes the popular Treo phones, puts directions deep within its website for waht it calls a "zero out reset". It involves holding down three buttons simultaneously, while pressing a fourth tiny button on the back of the phone. But it is so awkward to reset that even Palm says it may take two people to complete the process.
While security companies try to come up with foolproof technology, the experst say that it is best that mobile phone owners leave out the personal information.
Norm Laudermilch, Trust Digital's chief technology officer,
The tools are out there [for hackers and thieves to rummage through deleted data on used phones].
It definitely does not take a PhD.
It definitely does not take a PhD.
-AP
Hostage Situation in Colorado School
MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 27 September 2006, 1445 hrs, CST.
BAILEY, Colo. - An adult gunman took at least four people hostage at the high school in this tiny mountain town Wednesday and several shots were reported fired, authorities said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Few details were immediately available, but the Jefferson County sheriff's office said several shots were fired at the Platte Canyon High School and the adjoining Fitzsimmons Middle School.
The two schools share a wall between them.
U.S. Highway 285 was reportedly closed as crews rushed to the scene.
Jan Howard, a secretary to the superintendent of schools, said students were being taken to a safe location.
Bailey is 35 miles southwest of Denver. Platte Canyon High School had 467 students enrolled during the 2005-2006 school year, according to its Web site. Fitzsimmons Middle School has about 350 students.
“I’m just terrified. I’m terrified,” said Sherry Husen, whose son plays on the high school football team and was told not to return to school from his part-time job. “I know so many kids in that school.”
770 students enrolled
The schools are in a narrow, winding canyon carved by the South Platte River about 35 miles southwest of Denver. They have an enrollment of about 770 students, with 460 in the high school.
Husen’s family moved to Bailey from suburban Denver about 14 years ago.
“We moved up here for the mountain solitude, and I just never thought this would happen in this school, but it happens everywhere,” she said.
Other schools in the area were put in lockdown, meaning students would not be allowed to leave until administrators determined it was safe.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Few details were immediately available, but the Jefferson County sheriff's office said several shots were fired at the Platte Canyon High School and the adjoining Fitzsimmons Middle School.
The two schools share a wall between them.
U.S. Highway 285 was reportedly closed as crews rushed to the scene.
Jan Howard, a secretary to the superintendent of schools, said students were being taken to a safe location.
Bailey is 35 miles southwest of Denver. Platte Canyon High School had 467 students enrolled during the 2005-2006 school year, according to its Web site. Fitzsimmons Middle School has about 350 students.
“I’m just terrified. I’m terrified,” said Sherry Husen, whose son plays on the high school football team and was told not to return to school from his part-time job. “I know so many kids in that school.”
770 students enrolled
The schools are in a narrow, winding canyon carved by the South Platte River about 35 miles southwest of Denver. They have an enrollment of about 770 students, with 460 in the high school.
Husen’s family moved to Bailey from suburban Denver about 14 years ago.
“We moved up here for the mountain solitude, and I just never thought this would happen in this school, but it happens everywhere,” she said.
Other schools in the area were put in lockdown, meaning students would not be allowed to leave until administrators determined it was safe.
