"Chinese people should soon find it easier to browse the web as domain names written in Chinese win approval. Net address overseer Icann has approved the creation of domains that use only Chinese characters. The decision builds on earlier work to create internationalised domain names (IDNs) using with non-Latin characters."

Internet Domains With Chinese Characters Approved

"While the process is not yet complete, .xxx now looks closer to a reality than ever before... The decision would come despite outcry from some members of the adult industry, which turned out in Belgium this week to lobby against the proposal, and enormous letter-writing campaigns orchestrated by elements of the American religious right... ICM plans to sell .xxx domains regulated by content policies set by IFFOR, the International Foundation for Online Responsibility."

Registrar Set to Okay DNS Sex Ghetto

Inspired by an article in The New York Times Magazine, the Gender Genie uses a simplified version of an algorithm developed by Moshe Koppel, Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and Shlomo Argamon, Illinois Institute of Technology, to predict the gender of an author. Read more at nature.com.

Simply type or paste your text in the box below. Click submit for the results.

See if you write like a bitch or a dick.

Wow, I love it! After several tests with e-mails from both males and females, this algorithm is amazingly accurate! This is definitely the best web tool I've seen all week.

The Gender Genie

"A family is calling for more research into sudden death among young people as they claim a mobile phone ring may have sparked their daughter's death." ... Quote: "She was absolutely beautiful, so bubbly and full of fun."

They should make a horror movie about it, they could call it "The Ring"

Grim Reaper Goes Hi-Tech

"A secretive U.S. air force facility in Colorado Springs, Colo., tested a radio frequency this past week that it would use to communicate with first responders in the event of a homeland security threat. But the frequency also controls an estimated 50 million garage door openers, and hundreds of residents in the surrounding area found their garage doors had suddenly stopped working."

The Government pisses off everyone in different ways. If it hasn't gotten to you yet, just wait. It's planning something big just for you.

Secret Goverment Plan to Keep Everybody Home

"Police and prosecutors are worried that a Web site claiming to identify more than 4,000 informants and undercover agents will cripple investigations and hang targets on witnesses."

"The Web site, www.WhosaRat.com, first caught the attention of authorities after a Massachusetts man put it online and named a few dozen people as turncoats in 2004. Since then, it has grown into a clearinghouse for mug shots, court papers and rumors."

So much for the witness protection program, welcome to the internet!

You Dirty Rat!

A woman slammed with creepy come-ons from sexually deviant men after someone posted her cell phone number to Craigslist is going to court to track down the culprit behind the sleazy stunt.

They Were Hot and They Were Ready to Go

Anderson County's Internet camera feed could be the only one in the country, or maybe even the world, that streams live from behind bars. A Google search turns up no other live jail cameras.

Internet Peek at Jail Life

The video clip of a Canadian known around the world as the "Star Wars Kid" has become the most-shared footage on the Internet, a British net-tracking firm has determined. The once-private tape of Ghyslain Raza faking a light-sabre fight, using a golf-ball retriever in place of the traditional Jedi weapon, has been seen online by about 900 million people.

'Star Wars Kid' Most Seen Video on the Net

Care to register a .mil Web site of your own for free? The DoD has gone out of its way to make it a snap. An unbelievably badly-protected admin interface welcomes you to register whatever domain you please, or edit anything they've already got. The interface is so ludicrously unprotected that it's been cached by Google and fails to mention that you must be authorized to muck about with it. Incredibly, default passwords are cheerfully provided on the page.

Create your own .mil domain