Intellegence Abounding

Windows Key Checker Broken
Busy little hackers, it only took them a single day. How long before Microsoft thinks of another way to get around the work around?

Chicken Immunizer Makes Resistant Bugs

The Food and Drug Administration is banning the use of the antibiotic Baytril in poultry because of concerns the drug could lead to antibiotic-resistant infections in people.

The agency's commissioner, Lester M. Crawford, on Thursday ordered that approval for use of the drug, known generically as enrofloxacin, be withdrawn effective Sept. 12. Baytril is in the same family as the popular drug Cipro, which is used in humans. Use of enrofloxacin in poultry does not eliminate campylobacter from the birds, but instead results in the development of bacteria resistant to this type of drug, Crawford said.

Cisco Security Breach

Lynn said it was important to get word out now.
If a vulnerability is exploited using the technique it would be possible for an attacker to take control of a router, he said, adding that it would also be possible for malicious code to bring down the equipment entirely. Lynn said his demonstration was stripped of any information that would lead anyone to figure out how the technique works.

He also said he decided to defy his employer because Cisco's operating system source code had been stolen and posted on a hacker Web site. Additionally, Lynn said, he has seen discussions of Cisco vulnerabilities posted on Web sites for Chinese hackers.

"The point of the talk was to demonstrate there's a problem — that you need to update all your software as soon as you can because of these types of problems," Moss said. "It wasn't a roadmap to world destruction."

Tidbits & Oddities

VIDEO FEED Soldiers read to their kids back home.

Cats can't taste Sweet

Each human taste bud is comprised of 50 to 100 receptor cells representing the five major taste sensations: salty, sour, sweet, bitter and umami, the taste of the food additive MSG and fermented soy products, among other foods. Most mammals' sweet receptors are created by two proteins, one of which cats are missing."

Stressed worms die sooner by not using coping methods

"They genetically engineered the little transparent worms to carry a jellyfish gene called green fluorescent protein, which glows green under certain light. They tagged this gene to a gene called hsp-16.2, a stress protein found in most organisms that is associated with the health of cells.The more active the hsp-16.2 gene was, the brighter the worms glowed green and, presumably, the better they coped with stress."

More Food in the News

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8436440/

The company said it is removing products containing cake batter from its stores nationwide and urged consumers who have cake-batter products at home to return them for a refund.

Well, I've already switched to Bruster's, so this news doesn't really bother me that much. Reminds me of the reason I don't eat any Swanson products anymore- they had the same thing happen in one of their milk delivery trucks that had traces of egg matter in it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8484349
I have to wonder about news that claims new species of dinosaurs. We have no idea what they looked like honestly since there is no tissue matter left over from any of those periods of time. And for all that scientists know, this is actually a baby- not a new species. It is small after all.

"You are looking at a very large, birdlike animal except it has teeth and a tail and instead of wings, it has arms," he said. A rough comparison, he said, would be a scaled-down Tyrannosaurus rex.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8587866/
Stroller touted as helping save toddler's life. A little bit of a fantastic comment, but I don't doubt that this kid is alive as a result.

Paramedic Jesus Palacious explains, “The stroller has a little pocket, you know, where the child sits. So I guess all the debris fell on top of the stroller."

Words cannot enough express how RETARDED this is to me. Sugar is fattening? Oh no's.. imagine that! The horror!

WARNING MAY MAKE YOU FAT and/or fat

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health advocacy group, is calling for warning labels on carbonated soft drinks, bans on soft drinks in schools and other measures to reduce consumption of the drinks, especially among kids.

I have more interesting stuff.. but it can all wait for another day.

McCrappy

Couple of McDonald's pieces of news:

New Uniform RumorsApparently the McPolo and McVisor aren't good enough for today's high school buger flippers. Talks are on for something more fashionable to go with the "I'm Lovin' It" gagphrase.

No more supersize. In order to keep up with the cutbacks on the 'unhealthy' part of fast food, corporate has decided to phase out the supersize, leaving only small, medium, and large. The company cites the reason is that most of the time, the supersize fries don't get eaten - so why waste the money on the product?

Outsource your drive thru?

The world's largest fast-food chain said on Thursday it is looking into using remote call centers to take customer orders in an effort to improve service at its drive-thrus. "If you're in L.A.... and you hear a person with a North Dakota accent taking your order, you'll know what we're up to." - McDonald's Chief Executive Jim Skinner

Now if they made their employees happier with the new uniforms, I'd think this woudln't be neccessary. Color me crazy, but I think this means a couple less buger flipping jobs for the teens. I don't think that would make them happy.

Hi tech Access

"...[McDonalds]Unveiled a new high-tech look to its 'flagship restaurant' in Chicago. The firm kitted the 'restaurant' out with wifi action and factored in a couple of PCs with music-downloading, CD-burning and photo-printing capabilities.

McDonalds is NOT your Walgreens. Do NOT get your photos and milkshakes together.

Overall, McDonalds is struggling to break free of the chains that the past twenty years have dragged down on the franchise's image. They were better off when they were retro and more service oriented to start with. Me personally, I haven't had McDonalds in at least two years... ever since I found out their farms stopped vaccinating their livestock. O_o That much chicken and moo-moo being processed and someone thinks this is a good idea, and not making sure that the livestock is getting grass instead of rendered feed? Count me out.

On Fast Food -cancel that order waiter because is the franchise you visit the most up to par?

10: TACO BELL
The 100 Taco Bells we sampled had the fewest total critical violations, 91, making it the best performer in our survey.

1. BURGER KING
The 100 Burger Kings we sampled rang up a whopping 241 total critical violations. Health inspectors cited a Virginia Burger King for 14 separate critical violations: employees not washing their hands, uncovered food in the fridge, grime and debris found on this ice chute, and on the drink machine at the drive-thru widow. We observed one employee scooping ice into a cup with his bare hands, an apparent critical violation.

Hungry yet?

More Ranting Infos

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7843137/
This article is so full of it... putting not sleeping down to rebellion and lack of sense rather than normal teenage function.

As to why your son is fighting you, the answer is simple: He's a teenager! At his age, sleep seems to be a waste of time because there are so many more “important” things to do (talk on the phone, play computer games, or catch another show on TV). His being reticent to hit the sack is normal, as is your insistence that he gets to bed at a decent hour!Your son is at an age when you cannot expect him to use good judgment and reasoning when it comes to health matters.

What a control freak thing to say. I now present my refuting statements.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A633098

Although the rest of us operate on a 24-hour cycle or circadian rhythm, the internal clock of the typical teenager runs much slower, on a cycle of 26 to 30 hours. It's no use telling them to go to bed at 11pm because their internal clock is showing only 8pm. When the alarm goes off at 7am, their body tells them it's 4am.

http://www.apollolight.com/new_content/circadian%20rhythms_disorders/sleep/teen_sleep.html

As teenagers mature, their body clocks over produce melatonin and other sleep hormones to help their bodies recover from growth spurts and rapid changes. This is often at odds with their school schedule, as high school starts an hour before Jr. high. Teens get up earlier, stay up late doing homework or playing on weekends, and sleep in late on weekends. This late schedule, combined with an increase in melatonin can severely delay the sleep cycle and make it extremely difficult to wake up on time.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?retryCount=3&id=CC00019

After age 16, the nightly release of melatonin takes place about 30 minutes later than it does in early adolescence, making it harder to fall asleep until later in the night.

Unfortunately, this change occurs just when a child's need for sleep increases. Though eight hours of sleep is usually enough for younger children, most adolescents need 8 1/2 hours to 9 1/4 hours each night. This increased need for sleep conflicts with the teenage body's delayed sleep-wake cycle — and with the early start times of most high schools. Despite having to get up before 7 a.m., more than half of teenagers polled in a survey by the National Sleep Foundation said they went to sleep after 10 p.m., and nearly a quarter said they're normally up past 11 p.m. As a result, most teens only manage to squeeze in seven hours of sleep a night, and more than a quarter of adolescents regularly sleep 6 1/2 hours or less.

Because teens have a significantly delayed circadian rhythm, many sleep specialists recommend that they reset their sleep schedules by significantly delaying their sleep patterns until they are again in sync with daily clock. This is done by letting the teen stay up as late as he wants to as well as couple of additional hours before letting him/her fall asleep. This usually means he/she will stay awake until the wee hours of the morning.

Please, I hope no one argues with the Mayo clinic.

Actors and How They Act

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8293770/
-- I love Juliet... she's a hoot.
Since 1999, she’s been displaying a darker side as the witch Tabitha Lenox in NBC’s daytime soap “Passions.” “The whole story line was so bizarre. You can’t think about these things too much because they don’t make a lot of sense,” says Mills, who’s 63. “But now I have a beautiful little girl to work with.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8285915/
--How very interesting...and chilling. It's like he's a cult leader acting the part of being calm and public on the surface, but hidden rage and violence hidden beneath. CReepy. Damn Scientology. Or maybe he thinks he's Lestat again.

The 42-year-old actor was outside a movie theater in central London’s Leicester Square doing press interviews Sunday when a man squirted Cruise with a water pistol disguised as a microphone, London’s Metropolitan Police said.
Cruise appeared to laugh at the incident but then asked the prankster:
“Why would you do that?”
As the man gave a barely audible excuse, Cruise said: “Do you like thinking less of people, is that it?” The prankster tried to walk away but Cruise reached across the metal barrier, held his arm and said: “Don’t run away. That’s incredibly rude. I’m here giving you an interview and you do that ... it’s incredibly rude.”
The actor grew increasingly irritated and told the man: “You’re a jerk.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7888563/

The partying heiress was at a dinner party in L.A., where she took off her engagement ring and passed it around to her friends to let them admire it and try it on for size- a 24-carat yellow diamond, one carat for each of her 24 years.
“Paris was told, ‘That’s a very expensive ring to be passing around like that. Besides, taking off your engagement ring is bad luck,’” according to a source, who says that Paris replied simply, “I don’t have bad luck.”

-- Jinx?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8133745/
--Mebbe she ain't as dumb as I thought.

Nicole Kidman
When asked if she saw Cruise’s declaration of love for Holmes on Oprah Winfrey’s show, Kidman told the Sunday Herald Sun: “I saw a little bit of it, but I would never discuss any of that — I have two children whose lives are affected greatly by anything that is done or said. I never have discussed it and I never will.”
“Smart lady,” said one Kidman watcher. “Maybe she was advising Tom more than we thought.”

Ok Maybe Lohan is Cracked and not Cracked Out

During the making of "Herbie," Lohan, a self-described workaholic, recorded her first album at night while acting during the day. She succumbed to exhaustion and caused production to be shut down for a week. What was she thinking?
"I wasn't!" Lohan says. "I know it was crazy. But I was just excited to be making an album. It was a lot of pressure, but I just went with it and ended up not taking care of myself."
"The most dramatic thing I've done was in the video for my song 'Over,'" Lohan says. "I did this scene where I was breaking things and kicking the window in and they were like, 'Don't do that!' and my ankle was bleeding and people were freaking out and I kept going, and I ended up hysterically crying on the floor and everything. That felt so good for me because when you put yourself into that mode, it releases a lot of stress and anger that you may have. That's what I want to find more of."

----- oh... and I was wondering why she said she admired Marilyn Monroe.. now I know.. jeez. BTW- it's called THERAPY. Therapy is better than her acting like she's on meth.