Source: dailymail.co.uk
This amazing X-ray picture shows the skeleton of a kitten inside a python’s stomach after being devoured in one gulp by the predator.
Eight-week-old tabby Kohl was seized by the slithering assassin while in the garden of her owner’s home in Australia’s tropical Northern Territory.
The snake was found with a “bulging belly” by 14-year-old Taara McLaren after she ventured out to feed her pets at 7am yesterday.
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X-ray: The picture clearly shows the kitten, Kohl, inside the python’s stomach
Despite Kohl having a skull three times the size of the 5ft-long python, the reptile was able to dislocate its jaw to swallow the kitten after wrapping itself around and strangling its prey.
Three other kittens from the same litter and five adult cats were unable to stop the savage attack in Darwin suburb of Tiwi.
Cat owner Asha McLaren told The Australian newspaper: “It wasn’t a very nice feeling to think that this happened in our back yard.
“My daughter went out to feed the cats and they normally all come running at the sound of the dish, but Kohl was missing.
“She then looked around and saw the snake. She called out to me, saying there was a big snake and that she thought it had eaten Kohl.
“When I went out I couldn’t believe it. It had a bulging belly and when we couldn’t find Kohl anywhere it was obvious he’d been eaten.
“It was very sad as he was my favourite. He was just gorgeous.”
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Bulging: Handler Gordon Canning holds the snake who will take a week to digest its prey
Ms McLaren said they quickly put their other cats in the house and snake catcher Gordon Canning was called out to collect the python.
He said it was unusual for a python to target a cat, but the kitten did not have a chance against the reptile.
He said pythons usually strike at their prey and squeeze it to death before devouring it whole.
“The cat would have been suffocated within minutes,” he explained.
“The snake did well – usually it is the other way around with snakes falling victim to cats.”
Mr Canning said the snake would be kept at the Ark Animal Hospital in Yarrawonga until it digested its feed.
“At the moment it cannot move very quickly so it could easily be targeted by predators,” Mr Canning said.
“Once it has finished digesting the cat, which will probably take about a week, we will release it back into the wild.”
Mr Canning urged people to be cautious in their back yards as snakes were on the move as the breeding season nears.
He has been called out to catch more than 100 snakes since becoming Darwin’s first 24-hour snake catcher three weeks ago.
Source: divinecaroline.com
The subprime mortgage crisis has hit. America is homeless, broke, foreclosed, and in the midst of a financial crisis. Similar to when there were rumors of the draft resurfacing, many of us are saying, “I’m moving to Canada.” However, I urge you to look beyond our friendly northern neighbor to a more majestic and—dare I say—regal era. From the rolling green pastures of France, to the sparkling coastline of Mexico, why live in a cramped, rat-infested junior one-bedroom when you can reign high in your very own castle?
South Africa v. San Francisco – $500,000
In South Africa, for half a million dollars, you can purchase a genuine castle complete with armor, high security, and a golf course. Stradford Castle, nestled in South Africa’s most gorgeous lake, is engraved with words of wisdom from ancient dukes and holds precious hand-crafted stained glass.
In San Francisco, for 500K you’ll afford a junior one bedroom with a spacious sleeping alcove. If you crane your neck out the bathroom window, you may even get a “peek-a-boo view” of the Bay Bridge.
France v. Los Angeles – $500,000
Half a million dollars in France will get you five-bedrooms, or one quarter, of a nineteenth century chateau. This chateau is encircled with a rushing river, lush landscape, gardens, sauna, and swimming pool.
In the concrete jungle suburb of Los Angeles, Downey, your half a mil will buy this lovely four bedroom two-point-five bathroom home. It is encircled with growing weeds, a dead tree, and your own garden hose.
Ukraine v. New York – $1,800,000
In Ukraine, you can buy a Medieval Castle for just $1,800,000. This majestic palace is reminiscent of a luxury hotel and boasts an impressive European patrimony.
If you prefer, you can take your 1.8 million dollars and dump it into a converted two bedroom loft in Chelsea, New York. At least this apartment will provide easy access to the subway.
Dominican Republic v. Boston – $1,150,000
In the Dominican Republic, $1,150,000 will get you a Caribbean mountaintop castle with glittering pastoral views on a fifty-acre lot. Your humble abode will include thirty-three archways, a turret leading to the observation room, a twenty-four foot galleria, two living rooms, and service wing. Don’t forget the 1,500 square foot guest house (a short walk away) and the personal well.
In Boston, the same $1,150,000 will get you three-bedroom, two-point-five bath suburban colonial. This house includes grass, a sprinkler system, and a microwave oven.
Italy v. New York – Just Under $1 Million
In Sabina Hill, Italy, $927,600 will buy you the Castle of Stimigliano. This antique piece of art has been blessed by the Italian society of preservation and bestowed with the name “Belle Arte.” It is restored, yet maintains of the aura of pastimes.
In New York’s West Village, for just $41,400 more, at $969,000 you can purchase a two-bedroom apartment. Not even a house—an apartment—in a building, with other people who live in their own apartment (not in your maid’s quarters).
Mexico v. San Francisco – $1.5 Million
In Mexico 1.5 mil will get you an eleven-bedroom hacienda, complete with maids’ quarters and a fruit orchard with orange, tangerine, and lime trees. This castle also includes an expansive swimming pool, a well for water, and of course, a private chapel.
In San Francisco, that same 1.5 mil will get you a two-bedroom home with an attic, dryer, and breakfast nook.
Sweden v. Orange County – $830,000
In Motala, Sweden, $830,000 will make you the owner of Castle Sjoskum, a famous white palace, custom-built by an affluent Swedish sea captain and crafted by the hands of renowned British architects. With 6,500 square feet and three stories, this palatial estate will make you sleep like Queen Elizabeth.
In Orange County, California, just $19,000 more, or $849,900 will buy you a three-bedroom, two bath, one-story home. There’s even a spot to park your RV.
Source: current.com
Microsoft gauged Facebook’s interest in a possible acquisition after the software giant’s failed takeover attempt of Yahoo Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The newspaper reported on its Web site that Microsoft’s bankers put out subtle signals to Facebook, the social networking Web site, to see if it would be open to a full acquisition.
In October, Microsoft took a $240 million stake in Facebook, which valued the start-up at $15 billion. Citing an unnamed source, the report said there are no active discussions between the two companies.
Source: current.com
Scientists have deciphered the genetic blueprint of the duck-billed platypus, one of the oddest creatures on Earth.
The animal comes from an early branch of the mammal family, and like mammals it is covered in fur and produces milk. However, it lays eggs like a reptile.
Researchers say this unique mixture of features is reflected in its DNA.
Source: news.com
News of DRM’s death has been greatly exaggerated, according to an executive with the Recording Industry Association of America.
At a time when the top recording companies appear to be phasing out digital rights management (DRM), the RIAA is predicting that the highly controversial software will make a comeback.
“(Recently) I made a list of the 22 ways to sell music, and 20 of them still require DRM,” said David Hughes, who heads up the RIAA’s technology unit, during a panel discussion at the Digital Hollywood conference. “Any form of subscription service or limited play-per-view or advertising offer still requires DRM. So DRM is not dead.”
Hughes just stated the obvious. DRM still exists; one can find it at iTunes, RealNetworks’ Rhapsody, and at free-music service SpiralFrog just to name a few. But his statement was startling because the top four music labels have seemingly been warming up to unprotected music files.
Last January, when Sony BMG became the last major recording company to sell DRM-free tracks at Amazon, plenty of observers considered the technology buried. Since then, a growing number of online stores have begun offering at least some open MP3s, including Walmart.com, Zune’s Marketplace, Amazon, as well as iTunes.
Not so fast, said Hughes, who predicted that DRM would reemerge in a big way. “I think there is going to be a shift,” he told the audience. “I think there will be a movement towards subscription services, and (that) will eventually mean the return of DRM.”
Hughes also said that DRM must change so that the public sees it less as a sort of policeman that locks music a way. He would prefer a mode where consumers don’t notice DRM at all. “People just want music when they want it,” he said. “It’s about access. If they get that then they don’t care about DRM.”
Not everybody on the panel agreed. Rajan Samtani, director of business development at Digimarc Corp., a company that provides watermarking technology, said he worked for ContentGuard, a company that tries to help find less obtrusive ways to implement DRM.
“I think it’s time to throw in the towel,” Samtani said. “These kids have too many ways to get around DRM.”
Fritz Attaway, executive vice president at the Motion Picture Association of America said: “We need DRM to show our customers the limits of the license they have entered into with us.”
Hey, look, Matt Drudge did something nice for the entire country: He ended the Democratic primary, even though it was supposed to continue until eternity. See the picture and headline at left, which ran atop Drudge Report tonight. Drudge’s link went to a video of Meet The Press anchor Tim Russert calmly explaining to America that “we now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be” and that Hillary Clinton is probably about to quit (she cancelled her TV appearances and everything!). Then David Gergen, the Bill Clinton aide turned talking head, said on CNN the election is over, partly because Chelsea looked sad during Hillary’s last speech. “You could see the anguish on her face,” Gergen said. “I think the Clinton people know the game is almost up.” Remaining voters, politely thank your media overlords for deciding the election on your behalf. Clips of Russert and Gergen, and a bigger pic of the Drudge page, after the jump.
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Source: Gizmodo
mocoNews reports talks are going on between Helio and Virgin Mobile USA about a possible merger between the two wireless phone carriers. Helio has had some finanical issues over the past year, and it’s owner, SK Telecom, has been looking to make a splash in US markets. Current talks include SK Telecom buying out Virgin Mobile USA, infusing it with cash, and having Virgin Mobile buy out the Helio via stock purchase. Seeing as both carriers operate on Sprint’s network, technical logistics won’t be a huge hurdle, which leaves financials to deal with. But this is still very much in the early stages.
Windows/Mac/Linux (all platforms): OpenOffice.org, the free office application suite, has released a beta of its 3.0 version to the public with a few key features rolled in. The biggest update is native support for Mac OS X platforms, meaning no need to install X11 packages on older Macs or switch to NeoOffice for a smoother experience (although NeoOffice plans to release a 3.0 of its own, so stay tuned). OpenOffice also adds built-in conversion filters for Office 2007/Mac Office 2008 files, a new “solver” function for spreadsheets, enhanced notes and viewing options in Writer, and other enticements for those willing to risk a few bugs. OpenOffice.org 3.0 beta is a free download for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux systems.
Source: wired.com
Mozilla, the maker of the open source Firefox browser, is redoubling its efforts to check user created add-ons for viruses and Trojans after it discovered that a language pack on its official add-on page had been infected for months with rogue code, the organization reported Wednesday.
Starting in mid-Feburary, Vietnamese users of Mozilla’s open source Firefox browser were at risk of infection from malicious Trojan Horse code seemingly accidentally embedded in a language pack available on its Add-ons site.
The virus’s signature was unknown at the time, and thus passed Mozilla’s testing of add-ons.
The glitch isn’t the first time that seemingly trusted software included rogue code, but such occurences are surprisingly rare given the amount of open-source and shareware programs that net users install based on blind trust. That’s not even mentioning the huge selection of pirated software available on file sharing networks that could easily be infected with malware.
In response to the later discovery of the latent Trojan code by anti-virus software, Mozilla pulled the language pack and announced it would begin scanning all add-ons whenever they update their virus signatures, not just when add-ons are originally posted, according to a entry on the Mozilla security blog.
Mozilla had no exact statistics on the number of users who had installed the infected Vietnamese language add-on since it was uploaded on February 18, but said that 16,667 people had downloaded the add-on since November 2007.
On Tuesday, a user named Hai-Nam Nguyen reported that anti-virus programs detected the Xorer Trojan inside the add-on. Firefox admins quickly confirmed the presence of the Trojan’s code and removed the file the same day.
Mozilla ran an anti-virus check on the most recent version in February when it was added to the official Firefox add-ons site, but the Trojan’s virus signature was not known until April.
The add-on’s author is not suspected of intentionally booby-trapping the file, but instead had his own system infected. That Trojan inserted a banner-ad displaying script into any html file on his system, which included the help files for the language pack.
That meant that anyone installing the language pack would have malicious ad displaying code inside their browser — which could be used for other exploits.
The Vietnamese language pack has been pulled until a clean replacement is uploaded. Existing users should uninstall the add-on in the meantime.
Source: wired.com
Melodeo has added a new feature to its nuTsie iTunes streaming application that lets you embed up to five iTunes playlists in your Facebook profile.
According to Melodeo VP of business development (and former Presidents of the United States of America guitarist) Dave Dederer, every other Facebook music application out there pretty much sucks.
“NuTsie is about the music. There are over 1,200 music apps on Facebook and not one of them delivers,” Dederer said in a press release Wednesday. “In fact, this just in — findings from a study released last week noted that most Facebook apps are silly and pointless. Blow off the goofy apps that will just drive you crazy and go nuTsie for music with us.”
Those are fighting words, Dave. I downloaded nuTsie to see if it lives up to Dederer’s claims. As the application analyzed my music, I was able add nuTsie playlists to my Facebook profile without a problem. Once nuTsie knew what was in my iTunes library, I was able to stream much of it from my account.
And sure enough, all of my iTunes playlists were available within the nuTsie app for embedding in my Facebook profile page (see image, right). In other words, it works.
The music Melodeo puts on your Facebook page doesn’t stream from your computer. Instead, nuTsie identifies the songs in your iTunes collection and then streams them from its own servers (the same feature that got MP3.com in so much trouble back in the day). The advantages of this system are that you don’t need to leave your computer on or consume upstream bandwidth in order to play music for people. The downside is that rare or weirdly titled songs tend not to be playable, because nuTsie doesn’t recognize them.
To use the service, you don’t even need to install nuTsie on your computer. Using the site’s web interface, you can upload your iTunes library to the site by first exporting it from iTunes as an XML file (File > Export Library).
If you add a new playlist, there’s no need to export and upload your entire iTunes collection again. Go to File > Export in iTunes, choose Export as XML and then click Upload Playlist on the nuTsie website. By doing this regularly, you can let your Facebook friends hear what you’ve been digging.
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