] The Wollemi Pine, a plant from the Jurassic age which
] survived in a single isolated Australian grove, is set
] for an amazing comeback.
]
] It was once thought to be extinct, but in 2005 small
] plants cultivated from the pines will go on sale.

While the story for this is neat. I just love the title of the article.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Jurassic pot plants on sale soon

] Czech scientist Jaroslav Flegr of Charles University in
] Prague told Reuters his research showed a parasite called
] toxoplasma gondii in cats, rabbits or raw meat, may make
] women reckless and friendly while making men jealous and
] morose.
]
] Just contracting the bug might not be life-threatening
] but infected women behind the wheel can be fatal, and
] those out for a stroll in busy traffic may be a hazard,
] he said.

Scientist says moggie malaise makes men morose.

Read on for the interesting conclusion :)

...

Scientists have discovered a one-celled protozoan parasite called Toxoplasma gondii that frequently lives in the brains of wild brown rats. It is a normally harmless parasite commonly found in most mammals, including man.

But T. gondii can only reproduce in the guts of cats.

Researchers at the University of Oxford in the past couple of years have been studying the parasite and now have found it appears to be influencing the behavior of rats.

Scientists say it makes infected rats unafraid of cats, their natural enemy.

But the Oxford researchers found that when infected, normally super-cautious rats not only are significantly less fearful of cats, but they also are actually drawn to them.

No one knows how it happens, but they do know why.

The parasites need to be eaten by cats in order to get into their digestive system and reproduce. Somehow, they are changing the behavior of rats to make that more likely to happen.

Of Cats and Rats

] An old battery stalwart is hoping to ride the wave of a
] new portable power technology with an investment in a
] young, upstart company.
] Gillette Co. is betting that fuel cells running on
] alcohol will give batteries and rechargers a run for
] their money. The Boston company has formed a strategic
] alliance with MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. to develop fuel
] cells for consumers.

I wasn't aware that Gilette owns owns Duracell.

BostonHerald.com - Business: Battery maker becomes investor: Gillette bets future brings fuel cell use

Safe AND Fun! The best way to encourage your children to splatter hard to clean mustard all over the place while simultanously desensitizing them to the raw calamari you will expect them to eat when they are old enough to come with you to the sushi restaurant. Order yours today!

Octodog's Frankfurter Converter,The fun, simple and safer way to turn ordinary hotdogs into exciting to cook and super fun to eat... Octodogs

Stealth Disco started as a prank between employees at an advertising agency in Chicago. Try it at your place of business, but you might think twice about stealthing an exec :)
Try the "best of" link... it's hilarious.

Stealth Disco

I was reading my weblogs earlier today, and noticed this webpage linking to my Projector webpage. It claimed to have the solution technique for Sanborn's decade-old Cyrillic Projector, though it didn't have any English plaintext or any kind of contact information.

I've seen anonymous "solutions" before with no basis in reality, so treated it with skepticism at first, but, several hours and a flurry of IMs, emails, and Excel spreadsheets later, I can confirm -- somebody's cracked it! More details will be coming soon, as I try to find out *who* did it so that they can be congratulated properly, and post the full English plaintext. In the meantime, anyone who wants to see the Russian plaintext, email or IM me privately and I'll show you what I've verified so far. I need help translating!

Elonka :)

Cyrillic Projector Code - Cracked!

] On Tuesday, Sun researchers plan to report that they have
] discovered a way to transmit data inside a computer much
] more quickly than current techniques allow. By placing
] the edge of one chip directly in contact with its
] neighbor, it may be possible to move data 60 to 100 times
] as fast as the present top speeds.

New Sun Microsystems Chip May Unseat the Circuit Board

] Which is to say I have become the expert on the origins
] of Murphy's Law. This happened by accident and
] if I'd known what the consequences would be of
] sticking my nose into it - how I'd draw the
] wrath of Chuck Yeager, get caught in the middle of a
] nasty 20-year feud, and nearly wind up in a hospital bed
] - I probably wouldn't have bothered.

The history of Murphy's Law

] U.S. regulators will make sure Internet domain-name
] seller VeriSign Inc provides refunds or free
] service to consumers it signed up in a controversial
] marketing campaign last year, according to court
] documents filed late last week.

How ironic. This went over Reuters today.

For those who don't remember.. VeriSign had a scam going on awhile back where they were sending fake "renewal" notices to people who's domain's they didn't host. It was an effort to con people in to switching their domain's from other registrars.

] VeriSign agreed to provide refunds or a year of free
] service to thousands of customers under a class-action
] settlement reached earlier this year in a California court.
] Friday's FTC settlement, in which the company did not
] admit or deny guilt, means that it could face steep fines
] if it resorts to such marketing tactics again.

] VeriSign must also allow the FTC to monitor its marketing
] efforts for the next five years.

Good. I hope they are paying attention to today's events.

Reuters | Verisign already under FTC watch