May 29, 2003

Scientist floats $10B proposal to probe core An ambitious scientist wants to crack open the Earth and send a grapefruit-sized probe on a seven-day journey to the core, a plan that would require US$10-billion, a copious amount of iron and perhaps even a nuclear explosion.  11:56:38 PM

Key to male pill? National Post, Canada - They had a theory that removing the gene, Fkbp6, would unlock the secret of preventing heart disease. Instead, it prevented sperm. Now, a team of University of Toronto scientists is wondering if it has stumbled on the world's first effective birth control pill for males. 11:17:07 PM

BC has two new suspected cases of SARS, says health planning ... Canada East, Eastern Canada - British Columbia has two new suspected cases of SARS, Health Planning Minister Sindi Hawkins said Thursday. Both people are in quarantine - one in hospital in stable condition and the other at home. Health authorities would not reveal their locations. "One case is in hospital because I think she has some illness that requires medical attention and further investigation," said Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C. chief medical officer of health. "The other one is at home. 11:07:51 PM

I have not been doing a lot of posting with regards to SARS, mostly because I was very sure it would go away really quickly.   I was seriously wrong.  Then again I am not being paid to evaluate these things.  I am going to jump (late) on the band wagon and start posting SARS news as well.  Starting with: More than 7000 in quarantine from SARS Toronto Star, Canada -  Altogether, 7,026 people are in quarantine after having been exposed to someone with the disease, including 396 health-care workers. "A slew" of other health-care workers are on working quarantine, said Dr. Colin D'Cunha, Ontario's chief medical officer of health. That means they are asked to continue working but to isolate themselves from their families in their off hours. 10:53:52 PM

Novell Douses 'Smoking Gun' Against SCO eWeek - Some members of the open-source community thought they had found a "smoking gun" against the SCO Group and its claims to ownership of the intellectual property rights to the Unix operating system, but Novell Inc. on Thursday poured cold water on that. 10:45:38 PM

Microsoft, AOL Seek to Bury the Hatchet With Settlement. NEW YORK -- Looking to bury the hatchet, the leaders of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, news) and AOL Time Warner Inc. (AOL, news) see opportunities of cooperation ahead as their firms settled an antitrust suit that dated back to the "browser wars" of the 1990s. [news.google.com / Business] 8:05:31 PM

Muslim woman fights to keep on veil for driver's license photo CNN - Experts in Islamic law are being called to testify in the lawsuit of a Muslim woman fighting a state order to take off her veil for her driver's license photo. Sultanna Freeman, 35, says Florida's insistence on photographing her face violates her religious rights. "I don't unveil ... because it would be disobeying my Lord," Freeman testified Tuesday at the start of her non-jury trial. CNN includes a list of Driver’s identification rules in Muslim nations: Saudi Arabia:  Women aren't allowed to drive Iran: Women wear a traditional chador, which does not cover the face. Egypt: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures United Arab Emirates: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures Oman: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures Kuwait: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures Qatar: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures Bahrain: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures Jordan: Women can drive if their faces are covered but do not cover their face in I.D. pictures   UPDATE Judge: Woman Can't Wear Veil in ID Photo 6:48:12 PM

Matrix sequel pirated online BBC, UK - Pirate copies of blockbuster hit The Matrix Reloaded were available to download online, less than two weeks after the film went on release around the world, BBC News Online has learned. A high-quality copy of the film was being downloaded by hundreds of people each day via a website which uses the file-sharing computer program BitTorrent. 8:25:12 AM

Credit card firms sued by online merchants Miami Herald, FL - A lawsuit filed by three Internet merchants against Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express contends the credit card companies do little to stop credit card fraud. 7:09:41 AM

Wireless credit card in development ZDNet.co.uk - Royal Philips Electronics and Visa announced on Wednesday an alliance to promote and develop a contactless chip technology, a short-range wireless technology that would allow people to pay for goods by waving a smart card in front of a sensor. 7:04:10 AM

Unix Generates Cash for SCO Salt Lake Tribune - The SCO Group Inc. generated $8.8 million in cash licensing its Unix operating system during the quarter ended April 30, revenue that helped the Lindon-based company report a positive net income for the first time in its history. 6:58:25 AM

Apple iTunes update irritates fans BBC - Apple is clamping down on piracy by imposing restrictions on the way that music downloaded from its iTunes service can be shared. 6:57:06 AM

The Schools in Basra Expel 'Papa Saddam' Headlines From The NY Times - Students across Iraq are now being asked to disregard the leader they learned so much about, and that seems to be coming easily to many. By Marc Lacey. 12:38:34 AM

Instapundit is back up. He was down all day because of a fire at the site that holds his DNS.   Now what is my excuse? 12:31:16 AM