China is not exactly renowned for its strict copyright law enforcement. Counterfeit watches, sneakers, DVDs, consumer electronics, you name it, have been coming out of the country for years. Rip-off search engines are an innovation, but if there’s someone to take counterfeiting to the next level, it’s the enterprising peo… (read more)
Author: Serkadis
-
Counterfeit Search Engine Ready to Take Up Where Google.cn Left Off
-
Wikileaks on Life Support, Looking For Funding
Wikileaks, a crusading web service that exposes corporate and government secrets, has announced it’s suspending operations due to a lack of funding. “To concentrate on raising the funds necessary to keep us alive into 2010, we have reluctantly suspended all other operations, but will be back soon,” reads a note on the web site. The non-profit service goes on to say that it’s received “hundreds of thousands of pages” of information relating to corrupt banks, the U.S. detainee system, the Iraq war, China, the UN and many other issues that it doesn’t have the resources to release:
Although our work produces reforms daily and is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the 2008 Economist Freedom of Expression Award as well as the 2009 Amnesty International New Media Award, these accolades do not pay the bills. Nor can we accept government or corporate funding and maintain our absolute integrity. It is your strong support alone that preserves our continued independence and strength.
Wikileaks has been described by The Guardian as “the brown paper envelope for the digital age.” In one recent case, the service published documents relating to the Trafigura scandal in Britain, documents that a corporation involved in the scandal tried to prevent newspapers from publishing. As The Guardian notes, it also recently released 500,000 pager messages relating to the 9/11 attacks in New York. At a time when many traditional media entities have been cutting back on investigative research, some believe that Wikileaks and sites like it are one of the only remaining checks on corporate and government malfeasance.
Wikileaks says that it has raised “just over $130,000 for this year,” but that it can’t continue until its costs are covered, something the service says will cost roughly $200,000. If it were to pay its staff, the site said its annual costs would be $600,000 (the site is currently run by volunteers). The site is run by The Sunshine Press, which is described as “a non-profit organization funded by human rights campaigners, investigative journalists, technologists and the general public.”
It claims to have defended itself against over 100 legal attacks to date. In 2008, a California judge forced the site to remove itself from DNS records due to a complaint by a Cayman Islands-base corporation. Although the founders of the site kept their identities secret for some time after Wikileaks was founded in 2006, it is well-known that they include Australian hacker Julian Assange and Australian broadcaster Phillip Adams.
In another attempt to generate funds, Wikileaks has applied for a Knight Foundation News Fellowship grant in the amount of $532,000. The application states that:
“Wikileaks enables whistleblowers and censored journalists to safely reveal primary-source material to the world. We have sourced thousands of stories for newspapers all over the world and helped expose both corporate and government corruption on a global scale. We seek funding from the Knight News Challenge to build the mechanisms and customizations needed to transform our successful, self-funded pilot into a powerful voice for local reform.”
As part of the submission, Wikileaks says it will create a widget for local newspapers, which would allow users to upload documents to Wikileaks directly, and anonymously. The service says it has “a list of strong partners who are eager to be beta testers of this system,” and that it plans to translate its templates into six major world languages, localize our legal information, and “increase server infrastructure around the world.”
In the video embedded below, from the 26th Chaos Communications Congress, an annual hacker conference in Berlin, the founders of Wikileaks discuss their proposal to create an information “data haven” in Iceland, or what they call a “Switzerland of bits”:
Post photo and thumbnail courtesy of Flickr user Jeremy Brooks
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
-
Episodes from Libery City: The Grand Theft Auto IV DLC heads to PS3, PC on March 30
Next stop, PlayStation Network, followed by Games for Windows Live and several threads complaining about Games for Windows LiveWhoa. Rockstar just announced that the two DLCs for Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, will be released for the PS3 and PC on March 30. That’s March 30 world-wide, mind you. The games will be sold separately (as downloads on PSN and Games for Windows Live) as well as in the familiar Episodes from Liberty City double pack.
This marks the first time that either of the DLCs will be available for anything other than the Xbox 360. (The rumor was that Microsoft gave Rockstar several sacks of money for a timed exclusivity deal.)
As far as extras go, the PS3 version looks to be pretty much a straight port of the Xbox 360 version(s). PC gamers can look forward to expanded multi-player options (such as a 32-person limit) and “an advanced video editor,” to quote the masterfully worded press release.
PC gamers are invited to complain about needing Games for Windows Live (near universally hated) and the Rockstar Social Club.
No word on price. Sorry.
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
-
CrunchDeals: Dented box Logitech MX 1100 cordless mouse for $37
Logitech’s popular MX 1100 cordless mouse costs $80 new, but you can get a “dented box” version for just $37 after using coupon code logi_mx1100_12910 on Logitech’s website.Even though it’s a dented box, the mouse is new and carries a full warranty. Logitech seems to have these dented box sales on a fairly regular basis, which would raises the question: Howsabout either covering all the floors in the Logitech warehouse in memory foam, covering the product boxes in a light coating of adhesive, or hiring non-clumsy workers. Amirite?!
The coupon code will work until February 4th.
MX 1100 Cordless Laser Mouse – Dented Box [Logitech via dealnews]
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
-
DIY: The Internet
When I used to go to NYU, I assisted in teaching a web class to graduate students. There was one woman in the class who was amazed that I was able to publish her information to the Web so quickly! She thought the Internet was a black box somewhere and that I had to ask permission to put stuff onto it.
Well now you can make your very own black box of Internet, courtesy of the IT Crowd. You can loan folks the Internet but remember to return it to a high tower where it can get the best reception.
Actually all this is is a box with an LED on it. However, do tell us if you’re able to convince anyone that you’ve given them the actual Internet. We’d love to hear about the resulting guffaws.
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
-
Atari-style USB joystick sports built-in emulator
At first glance, $30 may seem like a lot for a one-button old school Atari joystick with a USB connection. But this one comes with the Stella Atari 2600 and 80 games built right in and you can remove the USB controller board for use with that MAME cabinet you’ve always wanted to build. There’s even labeled solder points on the board for adding additional buttons.
As for the emulation part of it, the Stella emulator “includes TV effects such as Color Texture, Image Noise, and Color Bleed to reproduce the imperfections of a tube TV.” Of course, you can turn those effects off in favor of the boring crystal clear picture on your LCD monitor.
Included games appear to be a combination of clones and spin-offs (for legal reasons) but the product page points out that you’re free to download ROMs from elsewhere on the internet.
Clear Classic USB Joystick [Reflex Audio Systems]
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
-
Found Footage: Pee-Wee plays with an iPad! MekalekahiPad!
Filed under: Humor
I love Pee-Wee. Big Top. Big Adventure. The Playhouse. There is nothing the man (or, to be precise, the character created by actor Paul Reubens) does that he does not elevate to a fine art. And today, Pee-Wee meets the iPad. In this Found Footage from FunnyOrDie.com, Pee-Wee provides his usual impish insight on Apple’s latest device. And, as always, the humor is aimed squarely at an adult (not child) audience. If PeeWee’s not your thing, well, just scroll on down to the next post. But if you heart Pee-Wee the way that we do, you’ll get a kick out of this clever iPad review.
Full Disclosure: It’s a fake iPad, but the real Pee-Wee!
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
TUAWFound Footage: Pee-Wee plays with an iPad! MekalekahiPad! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
-
Find a Bug in Google Chrome, Earn $500-$1337
Google has just launched a new program aimed at improving security for its new web browser, Google Chrome. Developers who find a bug in either Chrome or Chromium, the open source codebase used as the testing grounds for Chrome, will receive anywhere from $500 to $1337 for reporting the issue. The amount of the reward will vary depending on the severity of the security hole discovered, says Google. Those bugs deemed “particularly severe or particularly clever” will receive the higher amount. Sponsor
Plenty of researchers have contributed to the Chromium project thus far for free, and to them Google hopes this new program will serve as a token of appreciation for their ongoing efforts. However, the introduction of monetary rewards is meant to encourage more participation in the community from external sources who have not yet pitched in.
The concept for an incentive program is not new, as Google notes in their blog post. It’s based on a similar venture created by the folks at Mozilla, the organization behind the Firefox web browser. Like Mozilla, Google’s rewards also start at $500 for most issues. The payment of $1337, the number a nod to the geeky internet slang called “leet speak,” will be reserved only for critical bugs that would have had a major impact if left unpatched.
Participating researchers are asked not to publicly disclose the bug prior to reporting to Google. According to the company, responsible disclosure is a two-way street and Google admits their job will be to fix the reported issues in a reasonable time frame.
Currently, the program only encompasses the work being done in Chromium and the Google Chrome web browser, but not in third-party plug-ins such as those found in any of the newly launched Chrome extensions. Bugs that take advantage of vulnerabilities in the base operating system of the computer running the web browser will also be ineligible.
Those interested in contributing to this new program can file their bugs using the Chromium bug tracker. Only the first researcher to report the issue will receive the reward. To kick off the program, the first developer or development team to earn the cash will receive a little notoriety for their actions – they’ll be featured on the company’s releases blog. Future contributions will be credited in the appropriate Google Chrome release notes section and some developers may even be featured in the Google Security “thank you” section of the corporate website itself.
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
-
Wikileaks Plugs the Leak While It Waits for Funding
If you woke up today thinking this would finally be the day you would leak that top secret document, you might want to hold off for another day. Wikileaks, the Internet home for whisteblowers world-wide, has temporarily shut its doors to concentrate on fundraising.“We protect the world”, it now says on the front page, “–but will you protect us?”
Sponsor
The front page now hosts a statement about the site’s current status and a plea for donations. According to the statement, the site is currently overloaded by the number of readers. It says that, while the site has raised $130,000 to date, it needs $200,000 to continue its operations, and $600,000 if it were to pay all of its staff.
“We have received hundreds of thousands of pages from corrupt banks, the US detainee system, the Iraq war, China, the UN and many others that we do not currently have the resources to release,” the statement reads.
Wikileaks has been host to a number of influential leaks, including operating procedures for Guantanamo Bay and the contents of Sarah Palin’s hacked email account during the 2008 election. Last November, it released 570,000 pager messages sent on September 11, 2001, many of which sent by police and fire officials.
The site may have first come into the general public’s eye in February 2008, when a California judge tried to shut it down, but only succeeded in pulling the DNS entry for the site in the U.S. A number of mirrors across the world quickly popped up and the judge later reversed his own decision weeks later.
In its statement today, the site makes it clear that while it has won a number of awards, they will not pay the bills and neither can it “accept government or corporate funding and maintain our absolute integrity. It is your strong support alone that preserves our continued independence and strength.”
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
-
Investors Flee En Masse From Over-Hyped BRIC Markets
There’s been a massive technical breakdown for emerging markets according to Barron’s Getting Technical blog.
Indices for Brazil, Russia, India, and China have all nose-dived in the last few weeks.
China’s reversal has been one the ugliest, but in general all emerging markets have slammed.
Barron’s: Taken together, the technical breakdowns in these leading markets bode poorly for the rest of the emerging markets across the globe. Indeed, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (EEM) suffered a false resistance breakout last month and a trendline breakdown this month.
Moreover, the U.S. hasn’t exactly had an easy run of things either. We’ll leave the full technical analysis to others, but the S&P 500 has given up substantial ground (below) just as emerging markets have. At least those who missed last year’s rally might get a chance to enter stocks at lower prices.
(First two charts via Barron’s, tip via Abnormal Returns)
Join the conversation about this story »
See Also:
- Russians Just Don’t Care If Their Economy Recovers
- Russia Is Toast
- China’s Dumping Of The Dollar Has Begun
-
Elderly driver crashes Camry into laundromat, blames unintended acceleration
Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Toyota
We knew this would happen, and it didn’t take long at all. A Pennsylvania woman has crashed her 2007 Toyota Camry into a Montgomery County laundromat on Wednesday, and she’s blaming the ordeal on unintended acceleration. It was the unruly accelerator, officer! The 68-year-old woman was attempting to park her Camry when the sedan allegedly took off all by itself. The vehicle crashed through a window into a bank of washing machines and thankfully no one was injured. The 2007 Camry is among the vehicles affected by Toyota’s recall of millions of vehicles for unintended acceleration claims.
A laundromat employee told the local CBS affiliate that the woman said she “pushed on the gas and then she tried to stop and she just went forward. She couldn’t stop.” Lt. John Weed of the Cheltenham Township Police Department told CBS 3 that the woman reported she “was shifting the car into Park, she was parking the vehicle, that’s when it suddenly accelerated.” When the CTPD arrived at the accident scene, the floor mat was reportedly on the pedal, though investigators told the CBS affiliate that it may have moved from the impact. That the floor mat was laying atop the pedal is significant, however, considering that one of Toyota’s two latest recalls (and its largest ever) involves floormats that can pin accelerators to the floor.
The minute these two Toyota recalls were announced (the second is for defective accelerator pedal mechanisms that could stick), we suspected every Tom, Jane and Harry would claim that any accidents involving Toyota and Lexus vehicles were the fault of these defective parts and not possibly the driver. Of course, we have no reason to doubt this woman’s story and the investigation is ongoing, but we’re also going to take these claims with a grain of salt going forward.
[Source: CBS | Image: Google Maps]
Elderly driver crashes Camry into laundromat, blames unintended acceleration originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Ford Genuine Parts Better than Copies
It seems that sometimes we all get tempted to buy copy parts for our cars instead of genuine parts because genuine parts are more expensive. But a study conducted by the independent Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) is here to teach us better.MIRA decided to compare Ford replacement body panels against copies, and the results showed that the copies are rarely produced to the same specification and tolerances as Ford’s genuine parts. So they are unlikely to last as long and will prob… (read more)
-
Week Supply
Week Supply
[phpbay]Week Supply, 25[/phpbay]
[phpzon]Week Supply, 20[/phpzon]Week Supply is a post from the Vegetarian Vitamins Guide blog where you can find suggestions and advice from vegetarians and vegans on vegetarian diets, supplements, vitamins and overall nutrition.
Related Vegetarian Vitamins Posts:
- Kayak For Sale – Find Best Discount Kayak For Sale Prices Review Searching for the best discount kayak for sale? Good thing…
- How Many Eggs Per Week For A 16 Year-old Vegetarian? my daughter has been a vegetarian for 8 years, she…
- Starting The Vegan Diet? I’m thinking about starting the Vegan diet. I need a…
- Why Do Carnivores Think We Vegans Don’t Get Enough Protein? The very staple of our diet, the soybean is chock-full…
- Blowout Sale Blowout Sale [phpbay]Blowout Sale, 25[/phpbay] [phpzon]Blowout Sale, 20[/phpzon] …
-
Wikileaks Goes Down Temporarily Due to Lack of Funding
The Internet has been a real liberator but even online some of the harsh realities of life are as present as ever. Making information available is the cheapest it has ever been but it’s not free. Wikipedia knows this, which is why it struggles every year to raise the money needed to operate. A wiki of another nature is finding this out the … (read more) -
The CC Weekly Weight In: If Smiles Were Dollars
What will make you feel like this?
It’s sad but true, but when it comes to jobs there is often a big disparity between what will make us rich and what will make us happy. Just ask all those recent grads making six figures at their finance jobs; I can guarantee most of them are not all smiles after 90-hour work weeks.
The problem (especially in this economy) is that people are more concerned with the ching ching than those warm fuzzies they get when they’re doing something they love. I totally get it; money is a great thing and I know from experience how crappy life is when you’re makin’ nothing. (I swear, I was about 2 quarters away from being homeless on the streets of NY at my first post-college job!) But what about your happiness? Does that count for anything?
This week I asked my writers – many of whom will be off looking for real jobs in the near future – to take a break from the bustle of their lives and think a little bit about their futures.
If happiness were the nationals currency, what job would make you rich?
Makes you think, doesn’t it?
What’s your answer? And how different is it from the path you’re actually on? Let us know in the comments!Carly – Grinnell: Children’s book author. I’m close to getting there!!!!!
Norah – Drake University: Working for an organization for young women – something like Girl Scouts or Girls Inc.
Brittany – University of Saint Thomas: If happiness were my dollar bill, I would be a horse trainer. If I could spend countless hours with horses AND be getting paid via happy vibes, my life would be complete. I wouldn’t complain being a fashion designer either; if only I could sew a button on my own jacket….
Zahra – Northwestern University: Being a professional book reader (not editor, reader) or salsa dancer.
Jasmin – University of Missouri: I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut.
Alex – Lakehead University: Traveling! Going all over the world, staying in beautiful hotels and villas, eating the most decadent foods and seeing all the wonderful sights. I love traveling but it’s just so darn expensive!
Katie – Michigan State University: Fashion designer, hands-down. A close second is exactly what I studied for: photography.
Lauren – University of Michigan: Telling jokes on stage. But only if people don’t heckle me.
Jessica – FIT: Dancing would make me a billionaire
Noa – CU Boulder: Beer pong coach?
Elizabeth – UC Berkeley: A food critic. Who wouldn’t want to eat for a living?
Ricki – University of Michigan: Celebrity party planner
Sarabeth – University of Texas: If I were a writer for SNL, I’d be Oprah rich.
Jessica – Delaware: A kindergarten teacher. I absolutely love kids, and I don’t think teachers get paid enough for what they do!
Cristina – Michigan State University: Somewhere between being a make-up artist, the editor of Nylon Magazine, a DJ (like Leigh Lezark), and the girl who moans in rap songs. Possibly all four at once.
Amy – University of Iowa: Trampoline Tester (One that tests how fun they are, not how safe; I just want to jump, not get hurt!)
Samantha – UC Santa Barbara: My summer job as a team leader at Camp Galileo working with an amazing staff and to-be kindergarteners.
Emmy- Loyola University Chicago: If there are any jobs where you just read all day, I would be so rich from doing them!
Charlsie – Hollins University: If I could write freelance and make cupcakes on the side, I would be rolling in the dough!
Hannah – Assumption College: Definitely a personal trainer, Jillian Michaels’ style.
Kelly – University of Iowa: Daydreaming about drinking sangria on the beach with my cute Spanish teacher. If only.
Sara C – Fordham: I’d be a pro runner, or someone who trains runners. Unfortunately in the real world, those jobs usually go to people who can run 4 minute miles, or used to be able to in their prime. But if I could live off happiness alone, I’d run all the time!
Brithny – Duke: Any kind of job that would make me famous. Currently in the process of pitching my own reality TV show to MTV: Shanghai Shore.
-
Oilgear Type “C” Pumps
Oilgear Type “C” Constant Delivery One way Pumps are radial rolling piston fixed stroke units for pressure up to 3000 PSI.
Guided by the ingenuity and courage of those who pioneered and developed Oilgear Fluid Power transmission since 1921, the “C” Pump has a reputation for long, dependable service. They keep rolling along quietly.
To best meet the diversified use of fluid power, each Oilgear type C Pump is available with different capacity radial piston assemblies having continuous and peak ratings ranging from 1100 to 3000 psi.
-
Microwave Synthesizer Modules – standard applications
Giga-tronics offers two series of standard synthesizer modules covering 2 to 24 GHz. These synthesizers are YIG oscillator based having low phase noise and spurious in compact modules.
The wideband, low noise synthesizer module series, SNY-510, covers the 2 to 10 GHz frequency range with modules having octave plus operating frequency bandwidths. This series is designed to provide reliable and cost effective performance where the key parameters are size, phase noise and bandwidth coverage. Mechanically this series was designed to fit into a single PXI or VXI chassis.
When phase noise is a key microwave system requirement, the SNP 520 series will meet your requirements. Covering 6 to 24 GHz in bands up to 4 GHz, these synthesizers offer the best phase noise performance given the package size and operating frequency.
Both series feature new architectures that simplify the internal electronics, providing not only excellent electrical performance but also enhanced reliability. These synthesizer modules are ideally suited for applications for converter systems used in test equipment and communication systems.
Being modular in design, both of our standard synthesizer modules lend themselves to custom designs for both military and commercial applications. If you have applications for broadband microwave synthesizers that require specifications different from that described below, please contact us to discuss your particular requirements.
-
ZIRCAR Refractory Sheet Type RS-100
ZIRCAR Refractory Sheet Type RS-100 is a ceramic fiber reinforced structural alumina composite material with useful properties to 1260°C (2300°F). It has exceptional flexural and compressive strengths in the range of high temperature reinforced plastics such as G-7 and G-10 laminates and retains strength and utility to levels far exceeding maximum use temperatures of plastics. Mechanical properties of Type RS-100 sheet far exceed those of TransiteTM and other asbestos-cement materials and is an excellent replacement for these rigid asbestos-containing products. Type RS-100 can also be employed at much higher temperatures than these types of products.
Type RS-100 is 100% inorganic, non-flammable and contains no asbestos. Its high Al2O3 content makes it highly resistant to many environments, including molten aluminum. It undergoes little or no outgassing on heating. It is not brittle and has high impact properties. Type RS-100 may be cut and machined with standard tooling. Type 100 sheet is used both as a full-size panel and as a source for precision-cut fabricated components.
Refractory Sheet Material is available in Cylinder form as Refractory Sheet Type RS-101 Cylinders
You can check out our web site (www.zrci.com) for more information on this material as well as many other products we offer.
For more information please contact ZIRCAR Refractory Composites, Inc., P.O. Box 489 Florida, NY 10921 via telephone (845) 651-2200, fax (845) 651-1515 or e-mail at [email protected]. -
A Message About the Apple iPad, From the iPhone [Humor]
Our friend the iPhone is back, and he’s got some opinions about the iPad and the various complains people have about it. Look out, kids! He’s got a pretty foul mouth.
-
Fire Rated Buildings
If you need a Fire Rated Building (fully certificated) then the The Phoenix Range of Fire Rated Buildings can meet your needs.
Fire Rated Buildings can be manufactured with a choice of flat sided or corrugated steel side walls and all windows have a neat and tidy fire curtain installed that will automatically drop in the event of a fire, thus preventing fire spreading from the windows.
The Phoenix Range of Fire Rated Buildings covers all unit sizes from 16ft x 10ft up to and including 32ft x 10ft.
Electrical & Plumbing fit
Electrics to IEE 17th Edition with all distribution boards with MCB’s and RCD. All Gas fitting CORGI approved.Locking systems
All accommodation units have High Security Multi-Locking System doors as standard
