17507818
submission
Robotron23 writes:
The BBC reports that a robot named Geminoid-F has made it's acting debut in Japan. The short play in which it appeared was a sellout with the Japanese public who were curious to see the robot's performance. However an actress who co-starred pointed out that the lack of human presence made the droid difficult to act alongside.
16817684
submission
Robotron23 writes:
In one of the first cases of its kind, 19 year old Oliver Drage of Liverpool, UK has been jailed for 18 weeks for refusing to give up a password to his computer. Police who made the arrest were tackling child sexual exploitation. Drage worked in fast-food service and had no prior criminal record. Police are still attempting to crack his sophisticated 50 character password. A detective on the case termed his sentence the 'ultimate sanction'.
16309436
submission
Robotron23 writes:
Pope Benedict XVI, who is on a UK visit, received heavy criticism following his remarks comparing followers of atheism with Nazi extremists. The Pope's £75,000 bulletproof Mercedes, the 'PopeMobile', transports Benedict from place to place. A British commentator remarked that only a missile could pierce the car's chassis, and that if it did atheists could be blamed.
16093644
submission
Robotron23 writes:
Ed Yong of the popular British science magazine Discover has revealed results of his long-awaited custard research. Yong, an award-winning science writer, said he'd journeyed to the sprawling Amazonian rainforests to discover the origins of the popular dessert sauce. The results, to quote a certain sci-fi character, were "Fascinating..."
15308416
submission
Robotron23 writes:
Dramatic scenes erupted in Manhattan this evening as veteran actor Robert De Niro achieved a world record. The feat took 8 hours, 48 minutes and 51 seconds. Fellow Hollywood auteurs were keen to praise De Niro, whose endurance is now officially unmatched by any actor. The record concluded with a brave attempt to set another — 'Loudest sound made whilst drinking' — this narrowly failed, leaving the actor with mild intestinal problems.
14626668
submission
Robotron23 writes:
In an unexpected twist of events in the Wikileaks scandal, it emerged this evening that Patrick Stewart had interviewed Isaiah Mustafa, famous recently for his Old Spice endorsements. One of the 91,000 leaked files had apparently contained a letter and photo alluding to Mustafa as a 'special operative' in Afghanistan. It was spotted by fans of the sports star and has proliferated online since; Sir Patrick obtained a copy this morning and used his connections to gain an interview with Isaiah himself.
14541630
submission
Robotron23 writes:
The BBC among many other British sources is reporting that a police office who violently shoved Ian Tomlinson to the ground during the London G20 conference protests will not face charges, despite the man collapsing with a fatal heart attack minutes later. The incident was captured by an American businessman who was present to film the assault. Filming or photographing a police officer is now illegal in Britain, meaning the story was technically published using an illegal source; police sources were later suspected of fabricating falsehood in relation to what occurred, with numerous evidence contrary to London Metropolitan Police's statements.
12854916
submission
Robotron23 writes:
The Daily Telegraph reports on the ongoing grim situation with Apple's manufacturing workforce in the wake of the iPad's European launch. Twelve suicides this year have occurred from employees jumping off of Foxconn factory buildings. Accounts of life working for Foxconn have emerged from within China including this translated report from an undercover reporter. Two deaths and further attempts have occurred over the past ten days.
12086764
submission
Robotron23 writes:
The BBC has a first-hand account of the ILOVEYOU e-mail virus from a worker at Star Labs who observed the phenomena as it happened. A decade ago, two students based in the Phillipines wrote the virus as a part of an undergraduate thesis; the virus was renowned less for its technical intricacy than its method of presentation which took advantage of human psychology. The virus itself cost firms millions in productivity losses, badly affecting businesses in Asia as well in Europe and the US. Server overloads, a lack of experience, and the absence of backups are cited as reasons for the severity of the e-mail infection — a fix was released quickly, but the magnitude of demand meant that initially it was available only to a fortunate few.
