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Space

Submission + - How astronaut reality show hit black hole (smh.com.au)

AcidAUS writes: Jonathan Nolan had plans for the world's most ambitious reality show — a global cross-continent space challenge pitting prospective astronauts against each other for the chance to win two tickets into space. He told media, partners and contestants that he had already secured two seats on Russian Soyuz rockets, had a production partner in Britain and had already obtained from foreign investors the tens of millions of dollars required to get the project, dubbed "Starwalker", off the ground. Today, the project appears to be in tatters, its website is offline and questions are being raised over the whole operation. A former employee claims Nolan has failed to pay him a significant sum of money.
Censorship

Submission + - Google baulks at Aus govt call to censor YouTube (smh.com.au)

AcidAUS writes: Google says it will not "voluntarily" comply with the Australian government's request that it censor YouTube videos in accordance with broad "refused classification" (RC) content rules. Google warns this would lead to the removal of many politically controversial, but harmless, YouTube clips. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy referred to Google's censorship on behalf of the Chinese and Thai governments in making his case for the company to impose censorship in Australia.
The Courts

Submission + - Opening salvos in landmark Australian piracy case (smh.com.au)

AcidAUS writes: In a landmark case that could stop pirates in their tracks, leading ISP iiNet has formally defended itself against claims by movie studios that it willingly permitted customers to download movies illegally. In the Federal Court today, Australia's third largest ISP — which could face millions in damages — argued the case was "like suing the electricity company for things people do with their electricity".
Google

Submission + - Rare storm crashes Google co-founder's wedding (smh.com.au)

AcidAUS writes: A rare subtropical storm has gatecrashed the lavish wedding of Google's billionaire co-founder Larry Page to PhD student Lucy Southworth, bringing with it 65km/hour winds and 15cm of rain. Rain and winds battered the wedding party during the official reception on Sunday, but by late Monday night the low pressure system developed into a "rare post-season subtropical storm", the US National Hurricane Centre said in a warning.
Books

Submission + - Condom-wearing hands show up in Google Book Search (smh.com.au)

AcidAUS writes: In its rush to digitize the corpus of human knowledge, Google inadvertently created a new type of "digital" database. Digital bookworms reading some books on Google Book Search have been surprised to find large chunks of pages blocked by manicured paws clad in pink finger condoms.
Google

Submission + - Google's infinite loop of diversification

AcidAUS writes: A year after Google chief executive Eric Schmidt vowed to rein in the "blizzard" of new product launches that was "confusing to almost everyone", the search giant continues its dizzying diversification into anything internet-related. In the past month alone, Google has expanded its reach into the mobile phone business, emerged as a competitor to Facebook and signalled it could become a de facto mobile network operator. Some say Google is losing focus but a fast-firming view is that, since the company dominates the internet advertising arena, as long as internet use keeps growing exponentially, so will Google's profits.
Security

Submission + - Police swoop on 'hacker of the year' (smh.com.au)

AcidAUS writes: The Swedish hacker, Dan Egerstad, who perpetrated the so-called hack of the year, has been arrested in a dramatic raid on his apartment, during which he was taken in for questioning and several of his computers confiscated. Egerstad broke into the global communications network used by embassies around the world in August and gained access to 1000 sensitive email accounts.
Printer

Submission + - Printer makers reject health risk claim

AcidAUS writes: Printer makers have rejected claims by Australian scientists that office laser printers emit ultra-fine particles which can infiltrate the lungs and cause lasting health problems, including cancer. In this Sydney Morning Herald story the researcher behind the claims responds to the printer makers' criticisms and stands by her findings.

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