Malaysia car thieves steal finger. Malaysian police hunt a gang of thieves who cut off a driver's fingertip to override his car's security system. [BBC News | World | UK Edition 3/31/2005; 8:52:52 AM]
9:01:30 PM    

Scientists discover new mutant gene that may be responsible for people who wake up unsociably early. Reuters [Fark /31/2005; 3:53:05 PM] A mutant gene rather than anti social tendencies may be the cause of people going to sleep and waking up unsociably early, scientists said on Wednesday. People with earlybird syndrome sleep for the same length of time as non-sufferers but typically are wide awake and raring to go long before everyone else is up and about.
7:51:48 PM    

Video-game player stabs to death man who sold his cyber-sword. Yahoo [Fark 3/31/2005; 1:52:58 PM] Qiu Chengwei, 41, stabbed competitor Zhu Caoyuan repeatedly in the chest after he was told Zhu had sold his "dragon sabre", used in the popular online game, "Legend of Mir 3". Qiu and a friend jointly won their weapon last February, and lent it to Zhu who then sold it for 7,200 yuan (464 pounds), the newspaper said. Qui went to the police to report the "theft" but was told the weapon was not real property protected by law. "Zhu promised to hand over the cash but an angry Qui lost patience and attacked Zhu at his home, stabbing him in the left chest with great force and killing him," the court was told.
7:36:54 PM    

The TurboTax defense: IRS lets taxpayer off the hook because he used the software to prepare his tax return and it sucked. (TaxProf) [Fark 3/31/2005; 1:52:58 PM]
7:32:30 PM    

Passport Chip Could Attract High-Tech Muggers [Slashdot: 3/31/2005; 12:54:02 PM] Wired.com reports that 'business travel groups, security experts and privacy advocates are looking to derail a government plan to insert remotely readable chips in American passports, calling the chips homing devices for high-tech muggers, identity thieves and even terrorists.' and that 'The 64-KB chips will include the information from the photo page of the passport, including name, date of birth and a digitized form of the passport picture.
7:30:41 PM    

Just the facts for Canadian TV fans [The Globe And Mail: National 3/31/2005; 1:52:08 PM] Canadian television viewers are spending more time on the headlines and less time on the sidelines, a new Statistics Canada survey suggested Thursday.
7:26:19 PM    

Owners of new baseball stadium recruit 103 Little Leaguers to flush every toilet in the place at once to test worst-case scenario. [Fark 3/31/2005; 12:53:55 PM] Young boys like to flush toilets for whatever reason," said Shawn Smith, president and general manager of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The Super Flush is advised in order to clear any impurities out of the system. The Fisher Cats' front office staff will coordinate the exact timing via radio. Rather that one gush, it will take place in sequence, Smith said. Kind of like doing the wave — the restroom wave, he said. Smith stressed that the Little League players are only needed to flush handles — not to make any additions to the water already in the toilets. Afterward, they will be given a tour of the ballpark.

7:24:28 PM    

Microsoft Files John Doe Lawsuits Against Phishing Operators. Microsoft filed 117 "John Doe" lawsuits against phishing site operators in an effort to curtail the identity theft scams. [Redmond | The Latest News from Redmondmag.com 3/31/2005; 11:53:09 AM]
12:20:57 PM    

95% of IT Projects Not Delivered On Time [Slashdot: 3/31/2005; 11:52:11 AM] The Globe and Mail reports that 'A new report conducted by market research firm Info-Tech Research Group says 95 per cent of information technology groups are not delivering some number of projects on time or to the full satisfaction of the business executive.' The article goes on to discuss the reasons for this pervasive (perceived?) problem. The article mentions Info-Tech's reasons: unrealistic time frames, staff shortages, and poorly defined project scope. However, the article's author lays the blame with vendors.
12:19:29 PM    

Economic growth misses mark [The Globe And Mail: Business 3/31/2005; 10:53:43 AM]
12:16:47 PM    

SearchEnterpriseLinux: SMB Space Could be a Win for Novell. [Linux Today 3/31/2005; 8:52:22 AM] "Even after a much debated report on NetWare migration was issued by Boston-based Yankee Group, Novell continued to push Linux on all fronts, specifically its Linux Small Business Suite 9..."
9:12:23 AM    

Sony PSP stars in South Park episode. [Boing Boing 3/31/2005; 1:53:51 AM] Xeni Jardin: Tonight's new episode of South Park stars the mobile gaming gadget as a tool sent by God to separate good souls from evil, and vanquish the forces of hell. Kenny also enters a persistent vegetative state, and a feeding tube plays a supporting role.
9:09:37 AM