Thursday, July 10, 2003

Hacker Plot Hijacks PC's for Sex Sites. More than a thousand unsuspecting Internet users have had their computers recently hijacked by hackers, who are using them to display pornographic Web sites. By John Schwartz. [New York Times: Technology] 10:16:41 PM

Summer's big catfight. While the rest of the networks' reality fare wilts in the heat, a mix of Bible thumping, boa constrictors and the evil genius of Tyra "Tyrant" Banks makes "America's Next Top Model" a refreshing surprise. [Salon.com] 8:56:45 AM

Turning against the "liberators". As they roast in the Baghdad summer, Iraqis who had learned to survive under Saddam find the American juggernaut incomprehensible -- and increasingly oppressive. [Salon.com] 8:56:17 AM

"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl". Shiver me timbers! Johnny Depp's outrageously coiffed buccaneer steals the show in an awkward pirate epic that's jampacked with energy, ambition and spectacular effects. [Salon.com] 8:56:00 AM

Camera Phones Incite Bad Behavior. Cell phones with digital cameras have spread throughout Asia, and with them have come reports of people snapping shots of books and magazines in lieu of buying them, and others sneaking photos up women's skirts and down into bathroom stalls. [Wired News] 8:55:42 AM

A User's Guide to Time Travel. All it takes is a grasp of theoretical physics, control of the space-time continuum and maybe a ball of cosmic string. By Michio Kaku from Wired magazine. [Wired News] 8:55:30 AM

Porn Purveyors Getting Squeezed. Operators of adult entertainment sites are fuming over threats from a hacker who says he'll bombard them with denial-of-service attacks if they don't pay a ransom. Several have been hit by DoS shutdowns in the last 10 days. By Noah Shachtman. [Wired News] 8:55:16 AM

California Postpones Exit Exam. Fearing that thousands of students might not graduate, California is postponing the use of its high school exit exam for two years. By Greg Winter. [New York Times: NYT HomePage] 8:54:59 AM