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Wednesday, December 3, 2008


Lake wanderer: An artist’s impression of the large pterosaur

. A new species of pterosaur with a wingspan the size of a family car has been uncovered

.It would have been able to stretch out 5m (16ft) as it flew above Brazil 115million years ago
The species is the first toothless pterosaur found outside China, said Portsmouth University researcher Mark Witton

It is called Lacusovagus – lake wanderer – as its remains were found in a lake in north-east Brazil

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Wednesday, December 3, 2008


Cash cuts: The £10 and £20 banknotes which Graham Hill found in a litter bin in Lincoln

A street cleaner who found £10,000 in cut-up banknotes has been told he can keep the money – all he has to do now is put the pieces back together

. Graham Hill, 43, unearthed the £10 and £20 notes as he emptied litter bins
He handed the bundle to police who held it for six months. But, when no one claimed the cash, they returned it to Mr Hill. The Bank of England will give him a new note for each one he can put back together

Mr Hill, of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, remains tight-lipped about the task facing him. But he did say: 'I was gutted when I looked in the bin and saw the money cut up.'
Det Con Nick Cobb said: 'How the money came to be in the bin remains a mystery. There was no evidence it was stolen or linked to any criminal activity.'
The cash, and a second bundle of cut-up notes, were found in separate bins in Lincoln's central market in May

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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Shocked: Martin Venner and his wife Deborah with the ‘sub’ and the blade

. A customer has told how he bought a sandwich from Subway – and found a 18cm (7in) knife inside

Martin Venner, 52, said the kitchen knife fell out as he took his foot-long sweet chilli chicken 'sub' out of its paper wrapping.
'There it was, staring back at me,' he said. 'I was shocked and thrown back

When he rang up the Subway outlet, which promises 'no surprises' in its advertising, staff denied the knife was theirs.
'They said all their knives were accounted for,' said Mr Venner's wife Deborah, 49.
'Then she said, “Can you tell me what colour the handle is?'' Then she asked for it back. It's disgusting. If there was a hair in the food you could miss it, but a knife?'
The Venners, of St Stephen, Cornwall, complained and were offered a refund, free meals and £50.
But owner Andy Charalambous said there was no proof the knife came from his store in St Austell and health officers found everything in order.
The couple, who often take their grandchildren to Subway – slogan 'Eat Fresh' – said they wanted a written apology

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Tuesday, December 2, 2008

On the pull: Ivana with model John David Dery

What do you when you find out your toyboy husband has been cosying up to a younger woman while out partying? Well, if you're Ivana Trump, you split up with him and go one better yourself

Shortly after confirming her marriage to 36-year-old Rossano Rubicondi (her fourth husband) was over, the 59-year-old went out on the pull and bagged herself a model aged just 22. Yes, that's right, 22.
And she made sure the paparazzi were there to record every moment she shared with John David Dery at The Best Awards in Paris – wrapping her arms around her prey and nuzzling into his ear

The Czech socialite had been hitched to Rubicondi for just seven months. What will her famous ex, Donald Trump, make of it all?
On the pull: Ivana with model John David Dery, and 'those' pics of husband Rossano Rubicondi

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Google has started warning users if they are about to visit a web page that could harm their computer

The warning will pop up if users click on a link to a page known to host spyware or other malicious programs.

The initiative comes out of a larger project cataloguing programs that plague people with unwanted ads, spy on web habits or steal personal data.

Google is one of several companies trying to act as an "in-flight adviser" to ensure people stay safe online.

Web watch

The warnings will be seen by anyone using the search engine who clicks on a link to a site identified as harmful by the Stop Badware coalition.

Google, PC maker Lenovo and Sun set up this initiative in January 2006 to identify dangerous software and the websites that try to trick people into installing these malicious programs.
Initially the warnings seen via the search site will be generic and simply alert people to the fact that a site has been flagged as dangerous. Eventually the warnings will become more detailed as Stop Badware researchers visit harmful sites and analyse how they try to subvert users' machines.

The warning suggests that people try a different site but if they want to continue to the potentially dangerous webpage Google will not stop them.

A research report released in May 2006 looked at the safety of the results returned by a search and found that, on average, 4-6% of the sites had harmful content on them.

For some keywords, such as "free screensavers" the number of potentially dangerous sites leapt to 64%.

The keywords are used to entice people to access the website.

The research report was partly sponsored by McAfee's SiteAdvisor which also warns people when they are about to visit potentially harmful sites.

Another company ScanSafe has also created the Scandoo search engine which overlays its warnings on results produced via Google and MSN.

"Most dodgy websites that have spyware or are infected with viruses come through search," said Eldar Tuvey, chief executive of ScanSafe. "Because they are the ones that people do not know as well and find through searching." l

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Yahoo is introducing new technology to its search engine which will warn users if they are about to click on a website that hosts viruses, spyware and spam

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SearchScan uses security firm McAfee's SiteAdvisor technology to warn users about "potentially risky sites".

The service, which is switched on by default, produces an on-screen alert.

"Our goal is to protect users by allowing them to make a more informed decision about the sites they visit," said Yahoo's Priyank Garg.

Rival firm Google introduced similar technology in 2006.

Yahoo's service will warn users about three types of risk:

* Browser exploits: Sites that can harm a user's computer or install malware simply by visiting the site. Any such sites or pages included in McAfee's data will be removed from search results automatically.
* Dangerous downloads: SearchScan will display warnings next to search results for sites that offer potentially dangerous software, such as viruses, spyware or adware.
* Unsolicited e-mail: SearchScan will alert users to scanned sites that send unsolicited e-mails or inappropriately share e-mail addresses with third parties.

Viruses, spyware and adware programs are often "hidden" inside innocuous-looking programs such as screensavers and toolbars.

Industry analysts IDC estimate that 67% of all computers have some form of spyware installed without a user's knowledge. l

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Hi-tech firms are setting up a project to help users spot if downloads are infested with spyware and adware

Funded by Google and Sun the Stop Badware project will expose the hidden extras that popular software, such as file-sharing programs, often has inside it.

These extras can bombard users with unwanted adverts, slow down PCs and sometimes steal personal information.

Eventually the project hopes to make tools to help clean up infested PCs.

Name and shame

Although the numbers of computer viruses are growing every day, many makers of malicious programs have started putting their energy into creating so-called spyware and adware programs.

Some of these nuisances sneak on to PCs by exploiting loopholes in Microsoft Windows but many are simply bundled in with other programs that users do want to install.

Also some unscrupulous companies produce fake programs that claim to help users get rid of spyware or block spam but which make sure they receive only ads and spam from the software maker's partners.

The project aims to make clear what users will get when they download and install software.

Although funded by Google, Sun and Chinese computer firm Lenovo, the research will be carried out by the Oxford Internet Institute and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Advice will also be provided by Consumer Reports WebWatch.

"We do have companies in mind but we are not going to name names off the bat," said John Palfrey, co-director of the Stop Badware Coalition and director of Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

"The key message here is that we are putting every company on notice," he said.

The project aims to produce its first reports in February.

To some extent the Stop Badware project will repeat work done by some anti-spyware campaigners such as Suzi Turner and Eric Howes who maintain a list of fake products that users should be wary of.

There are also many informal efforts that produce utility programs to remove particular sorts of spyware and adware.l

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Sunday, December 7, 2008

Increases in courts fees are deterring councils from helping vulnerable children such as Baby P

Increases in courts fees are deterring councils from helping vulnerable children such as Baby P, a leading barrister claims

There has been a sharp fall in the number of cases going before judges since the charges rose, .according to Desmond Browne QC
In his inaugural speech tonight as chairman of the Bar Council, he will also warn against cuts to legal aid for the family courts

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Sunday, December 7, 2008

? Sandwich made from spam and marmalade anyone

Sandwiches made from a mixture of Spam and marmalade and a wedding breakfast of cream cheese and chips are just some of the strange things ordered at hotels, it has been revealed

False teeth, breast milk and incontinence pads have also been requested, a survey by Best Western Hotels found
One manager was asked to measure the size of the hotel's carpet pattern before a guest would book accommodation

And the manager of a hotel in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was asked to give a guest a salt rubdown to get rid of a botched fake tan.
The Spam-and-marmalade sandwich request came from an enthusiastic walker at a hotel in the Highlands, while one hotel reported being asked to prepare a three-course meal at 4am.
The strange wedding breakfast fare of cream cheese, crackers and chips was ordered at a hotel in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands.
Best Western concierge Ray Mortlock said: "There are few demands that are too much for us and we like to think we can handle anything - so long as it's legal

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Tuesday, December 2, 2008

When you think of the connection between 'popular music' and 'walruses', the chances are you'll come up with The Beatles' 'I Am The Walrus,' and not much more

But that's because you've never seen Sara, the incredible saxophone-playing walrus of Istanbul. A star of the show at the newly-opened Istanbul Dolphinarium, Sara – prompted by her Russian trainer, Sergiy – clasps a saxophone in her flippers and rocks out to a powerful sax solo.
However, we have terrible news for any potential fans of the supposedly talented creature - because Sara is not actually playing the saxophone. She's just miming, the big faker. She's actually the Milli Vanilli of the musical-walrus world

However, pretend-saxophone-playing is not the limit of Sara's skills. She can also dress up as a train conductor and blow a whistle, for some reason.
However, given that the popularity of the LOLrus is only slightly less than that of the LOLcat in the online meme stakes, you can probably expect amusingly photoshopped pictures of Sara to start popping up in your inbox soon.
In the meantime, here's a video of Sara in action, from YouTuber