This is really more of a “just ‘cuz” Kinect hack than one of those practical ones we see occasionally. Yes, hacker Shantanu Goel has rigged up his Kinect to work with its greatest enemy, the PS3. Where is your Move now?! Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : CrunchGear Discovery Date : 20/03/2011 20:39 Number of articles : 3
Continue reading …
Welcome to the CTIA 2011 show floor where the booths are guarded and all the products are kept under lock and key! Oh yes, it’s pretty impossible to see what’s going to be unveiled here tomorrow when the doors officially open, but we did spot this lovely digital sign at LG’s booth of the T-Mobile G2x. This one doesn’t come as a major surprise since we heard rumblings last month that Optimus 2X would be headed stateside under the G2x moniker, but it certainly looks like the launch is imminent now. We’ve got one more shot for you after the break, but stay tuned for plenty more tomorrow. Continue reading LG’s T-Mobile G2x spied at CTIA LG’s T-Mobile G2x spied at CTIA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Following an aggressive crackdown on protesters last week, Bahrain’s king has announced the “failure” of a foreign plot against his country, and thanked Sunni allies for sending troops into Bahrain. “An external plot has been fomented for 20 to 30 years until the ground was ripe for subversive designs,” King…
Continue reading …
Follow Up of the Day: While Nine Network’s A Current Affair was airing the first televised interview with bullying victim Casey Heynes , its Seven Network rival Today Tonight was countervailing with an exclusive sit down with Heynes’ bully Ritchard Gale, who claims Casey was actually the one doing the bullying. [ roughchop .] Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The Daily What Discovery Date : 21/03/2011 14:54 Number of articles : 3
Continue reading …Wyclef Jean was shot over the weekend in Haiti—or was he? The hip-hop star claimed he was getting out of a car in a city just outside the capital when he “heard blow, blow, blow” and looked down to see that a bullet had “grazed” his right hand. But…
Continue reading …
[video link] This eyewitness video of the March 11 tsunami striking Japan shows how, in under 10 minutes, a harbor in Oirase Town, Aomori Prefecture goes from business as usual to, well, gone. While other videos have shown massive destruction or endless floods, this one shows a huge dry area that completely fills with water, making it easy to see just how much water was being pushed around. It’s so… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Boing Boing Discovery Date : 19/03/2011 03:19 Number of articles : 4
Continue reading …
A century after Machu Picchu’s rediscovery, ancient Mayan and Moche sites are being ransacked for tourist baubles Etched into the surviving art of the Moche, one of South America’s most ancient and mysterious civilisations, is a fearsome creature dubbed the Decapitator. Also known as Ai Apaec, the octopus-type figure holds a knife in one hand and a severed head in the other in a graphic rendition of the human sacrifices the Moche practiced in northern Peru 1,500 years ago. For archaeologists, the horror here is not in Moche iconography, which you see in pottery and mural fragments, but in the hundreds of thousands of trenches scarring the landscape: a warren of man-made pillage. Gangs of looters, known as huaqueros , are ransacking Peru’s heritage to illegally sell artefacts to collectors and tourists. “They come at night to explore the ruins and dig the holes,” said Cuba Cruz de Metro, 58, a shopkeeper in the farming village of Galindo. “They don’t know the history, they’re just looking for bodies and for tombs. They’re just looking for things to sell.” A looting epidemic in Peru and other Latin American countries, notably Guatemala, has sounded alarm bells about the region’s vanishing heritage. The issue is to come under renewed scrutiny in the run-up to July’s 100th anniversary of the rediscovery of Machu Picchu, the Inca citadel in southern Peru, by US historian Hiram Bingham. He gave many artefacts to Yale university, prompting an acrimonious row with Peru’s government which ended only this year when both sides agreed to establish a joint exhibition centre. A recent report, Saving our Vanishing Heritage, by the Global Heritage Fund in San Francisco, identified nearly 200 “at risk” sites in developing nations, with South and Central America prominent. Mirador, the cradle of Mayan civilisation in Guatemala, was being devastated, it said. “The entire Peten region has been sacked in the past 20 years and every year hundreds of archaeological sites are being destroyed by organised looting crews seeking Maya antiquities for sale on the international market.” Northern Peru, home to the Moche civilisation which flourished from AD100-800, had been reduced to a “lunar landscape” by looter trenches across hundreds of miles. “An estimated 100,000 tombs – over half the country’s known sites – have been looted,” the report said. The sight breaks the heart of archaeologists and historians piecing together the story of a society which built canals and monumental pyramid-type structures, called huacas , and made intricate ceramics and jewellery. The Moche, who pre-dated the Incas by 1,000 years, also painted murals and friezes depicting warfare, ritual beheading, blood drinking and deities such as the Decapitator, who has bulging eyes and sharp teeth. Analysis of human remains confirmed that throat-cutting was all too real but, in the absence of written records, archaeology must shed light on what happened. In villages such as Galindo that is becoming all but impossible. Crude tunnels and caves make Moche ruins resemble rabbit warrens. Deep gashes cut into walls expose the brickwork below. Millennia-old adobe bricks are torn from the ground and scattered as though in a builder’s yard. Most huaqueros are farmers supplementing meagre incomes. Montes de Oca, one of three police officers tasked with environmental protection in a region of a million people, said he was overwhelmed. “I’ve been doing this for 28 years. There are three of us and one truck. It’s insufficient but we do everything possible.” Ten miles away Huaca del Sol, one of the largest pyramids in pre-Columbus America, is an eroded, plundered shell. Here the culprits were not impoverished farmers but Spanish colonial authorities who authorised companies to mine for treasure, said Ricardo Gamarra, director of a 20-year-old conservation project. “They diverted the river to wash away two-thirds of the huaca and reveal its insides,” he said. “They mined through the walls and caused it to collapse in various places. It’s impossible to guess how much was taken because we don’t know how much was there.” Donations from businesses and foundations have helped Gamarra’s team protect what is left, drawing 120,000 visitors each year, but of 250 other sites in the region just five have been protected. “In the mountains it’s the same. It is full with archaeological sites, almost all of them have been destroyed,” said Gamarra. There has been good news from Chotuna, also in northern Peru, where archaeologists found frescoes in a 1,100-year-old temple of the Lambayeque civilisation, which flourished around the same time as the Incas. Jeff Morgan, executive director of the Global Heritage Fund, urged Peru to funnel tourists away from Machu Picchu, overrun by two million visitors a year, to lesser known sites which could then earn revenue to protect their heritage. The government should resist the temptation to pocket the money. “One of the biggest problems is the disconnect between local communities and management of the sites. We think locals should get at least 30% of revenues.” Only then, said Morgan, would cultural treasures fom the Moche and other civilisations be saved. Peru Guatemala Archaeology Rory Carroll guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Defence minister vows to stand by president after 12 senior military commanders defect from regime A military showdown is looming in Yemen after the defence minister announced that the army would defend the president against any “coup against democracy”. The statement came just hours after 12 military commanders, including a senior general, defected from the regime and promised to protect anti-government protesters in the capital. “The armed forces will stay faithful to the oath they gave before God, the nation and political leadership under the brother president, Ali Abdullah Saleh,” said the defence minister, Mohammed Nasser Ahmed. “We will not allow under any circumstances an attempt at a coup against democracy and constitutional legitimacy, or violation of the security of the nation and citizens.” Prior to the statement, Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, suffered a significant blow when General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a longtime confidant of the president and head of the Yemeni army in the north-west, announced he would support “the peaceful revolution” by sending soldiers under his command to protect the thousands of people gathered in the capital demanding that Saleh step down. “According to what I’m feeling, and according to the feelings of my partner commanders and soldiers … I announce our support and our peaceful backing to the youth revolution,” Ali Mohsen said via a video statement released before noon. Minutes after Ali Mohsen’s defection, tanks belonging to the republican guards, an elite force led by the president’s son Ahmed Ali, rolled into the streets of Sana’a, setting the stage for a standoff between defectors and loyalists. Republican guard tanks took up strategic locations across the city, at Saleh’s residence, the ministry of defence and at the central bank. Meanwhile, tanks of Ali Mohsen’s 1st armoured division took up positions elsewhere in the city. Ali Mohsen’s pledge opened the floodgates to a stream of defections from the regime. Scores of ambassadors, regional governors, editors of government newspapers, prominent businessmen and senior members of the ruling party are among those who have either quit or announced their allegiance to protesters in the past few hours. Within hours, seven Yemeni ambassadors – to Japan, Syria, the Czech Republic, Jordan, China, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait – announced they were standing down, too. “The regime is crumbling. There is very little support left for the president now,” said Mohammed al-Naqeeb, head of the ruling party in Aden, now resigned. At first, protesters gathered at Sana’a University were unsure what to make of the general’s pledge, with many fearing an increased military presence might mean further attacks. But confusion soon gave way to jubilation as hundreds of soldiers from the 1st armoured division arrived on foot, greeted by protesters, who kissed them and hoisted them on to their shoulders. The soldiers were soon mingling with protesters as small entourages of Ali Mohsen’s men picked their way through the tent-filled streets, cheered on by young men waving placards carrying pictures of the general. Soon a line of policemen, soldiers, and businessmen had formed, each waiting their turn to step up on to a huge stage and announce their resignations to a roaring crowd of thousands. “We’ve bought you a birthday present, Ali – it’s a plane ticket to Saudi,” shouted Haeman Saeed, a leading Yemeni businessman after announcing his resignation from the ruling party. “The army are with you,” roared Abdallah al-Qahdi, a senior military general from Aden who was fired from his position last week for refusing to put down a peaceful demonstration. Qahdi said many regime insiders had been waiting for someone like Ali Mohsen to lead the way, and he expected most of the army to have defected by nightfall. But for the time being, the outcome remained unclear. Analysts said there may soon be a violent standoff within the military between those who have defected and the significant portions of the army still under the president’s control. Yemeni political analyst Abdul Irayani said: “Unfortunately, the president and his sons still have control over powerful sections of the military, including the republican guard and the air force. “We are all praying that Saleh leaves quickly and quietly to prevent the situation deteriorating rapidly.” Others suggest the resignations may have been negotiated behind the scenes. “I believe this is a step towards a transitional military government in Yemen,” said Abdullah al-Faqih, a professor at Sana’a University. The army split followed Saleh’s decision to sack his entire government after tens of thousands of mourners flooded the streets of the Yemeni capital on Sunday in a mass funeral for the 52 protesters killed on Friday in a sniper attack by loyalists. The president asked the cabinet to serve as a caretaker government until he forms a new administration. Piling further pressure on Saleh, the country’s most powerful tribal confederation also called on him to step down. Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, the leader of Hashed, which includes Saleh’s tribe, issued a statement on Sunday asking the president to respond to the people’s demands and leave peacefully; several religious leaders co-signed it. Ali Mohsen is between 50 and 60 years old, and is generally perceived to be the second most powerful man in Yemen. Most reports indicate he is the cousin of Saleh’s two half-brothers, although there is much confusion on this matter, with some claims that he is himself a half-brother to Saleh. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar’s name is mentioned in hushed tones among most Yemenis, and he rarely appears in public. Those who know him say he is charming and gregarious. But as commander of the north-east region and the 1st armoured division, Ali Mohsen acted as Saleh’s iron fist. The area he controls includes the governorates of Sa’ada, Hodeidah, Hajja, Amran, and Mahwit, and he is more powerful than any governor. Ali Mohsen was instrumental in the north’s victory in the 1994 civil war and in crushing the recent Sa’ada uprising. It is estimated that he controls more than half of all military resources and assets. Yemen Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The hammer comes down at last on those far-right ‘Liberty Dollars’ promoters
March 21, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media A federal jury in North Carolina finally is bringing the hammer down on the NORFED “Liberty Dollars” scam artists for trying to undermine U.S. currency: The leader of a group that marketed a fake currency called Liberty Dollars in the Asheville area and elsewhere has been found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy against the government in a case of “domestic terrorism.” Bernard von NotHaus was convicted Friday at the conclusion of an eight-day trial in U.S. District Court in Statesville. The jury deliberated less than two hours, according to the Department of Justice. Charges remain pending against William Kevin Innes, an Asheville man who authorities said recruited merchants in Western North Carolina willing to accept the “barter” currency, according to court records. Innes was indicted along with von NotHaus in 2009. “Attempts to undermine the legitimate currency of this country are simply a unique form of domestic terrorism,” U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins said. “While these forms of anti-government activities do not involve violence, they are every bit as insidious and represent a clear and present danger to the economic stability of this country.” The case was investigated by the FBI, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Secret Service with help from the U.S. Mint. “We are determined to meet these threats through infiltration, disruption and dismantling of organizations which seek to challenge the legitimacy of our democratic form of government,” Tompkins said. Von NotHaus, 67, faces up to 25 years in prison during sentencing, which hasn’t been scheduled. Back when the feds first raided von NotHaus’ operations in 2007, CNBC’s Lawrence Kudlow invited him on for an interview that was remarkably congenial, if notably ill-informed: KUDLOW: I don’t understand why people aren’t free to choose. If they want to circulate your coins or your paper, they should be free to do that. I do think it is against the law, but I think in a perfect world they should be free to choose. Von NotHaus’ outfit called itself NORFED — the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act & Internal Revenue Code. Among the coins it minted just before it was busted were Ron Paul dollars. On CNBC, Von NotHaus went on to claim that the NORFED currency was perfectly legal. Just for the record, minting coins to be used as currency in fact is illegal, under 18 USC 486 : Whoever, except as authorized by law, makes or utters or passes, or attempts to utter or pass, any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. NORFED and its defenders liked to claim that there was nothing illegal about minting your own coins if you choose — though of course others this is true only if you don’t make them look like legal tender. It’s also somewhat irrelevant if you’re selling them as part of a pyramid scheme, and using the business for illegal money laundering — which is what NORFED was doing. As the original affidavit explained: The marketing system NORFED operates to sell the currency is a multi-level marketing scheme. The scheme gives NORFED, RCOs, and Associates a profit for selling the ALDs into circulation. When the ALD reached the point of being unprofitable, NORFED conducted a “move up” of the currency. In 1998, the ALD currency was minted using a $10.00 base, meaning that a $10.000 ALD coin, eDollar, or warehouse receipt was backed by one troy ounce of silver. In November of 2005, the thirty (30) day moving average of the spot price of silver reached the “move up point” set by the NORFED. NORFED recalled all of the $10.00 base coins and warehouse receipts and “re-minted” the currency as a $20.00 base currency. This change made what the day prior had been a $10.00 denomination ALD coin, warehouse receipt, or eDollar backed by one troy ounce of silver, a re-minted re-issued $20 denomination coin. This instantly doubled the value of the currency. The “move up” left the silver and gold holdings at the same level as they were at the $10.00 base. Thus the value of the entire currency was doubled without changing the holdings at all. The other effect of the “move up” was a tremendous increase in profits for NORFED, RCOs and Associates. The U.S. attorney’s description of NORFED’s activities as “domestic terrorism” has raised some eyebrows — Ben Smith at Politico calls it a “novel expansion” of the word’s definition, while the usual suspects of the wingnutosphere have been squawking. But there’s nothing particularly novel about it at all: “terrorism” has long been used to include crimes where the intent and motive involved attacking and undermining the government of the United States. And that’s abundantly self-evident in this case.
Continue reading …
by Lennox Samuels Info Lennox Samuels is a Newsweek/Daily Beast editor based in Bangkok. He covered the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. text –> – + print
Continue reading …