Couple of computer items today, the first is that Microsoft may be on the verge of vanishing up its own operating system if Windows 7 fails, and users migrate to “cloud” computers where the OS is on a remote server not on your desktop or laptop.
As Bob D sang “the hard rain is gonna fall”
The second is the scareware scam Symantec say more than 40 million people have fallen victim to the "scareware" scam in the past 12 months.
The download is usually harmful and criminals can get the victim's credit card details into the bargain.
The firm has identified 250 versions of scareware, and criminals are thought to earn over £750,000 a year.
During the scam, warnings pop up on the computer screen telling users their computer has a virus, and directing them to a website where they can download protection for up to £60.
It is becoming so popular that the rogue software has even been franchised out.
Because the individual amounts of money stolen are so small, the scam is hard for police and other agencies to target.
I have seen this a few times, all you need to do is click on the red cross at the top right of the pop up and it will go away, if it doesn’t keep clicking until it does.
You have been warned.
First up:
So there was this guy in Melbourne, using two mobile phones while driving through the city's Eastlink Tunnel.
Victoria Police says officers in one of its unmarked cars noticed the man's vehicle swerving through the 1.6 kilometre-long tunnel.
The man told them that he was transferring information from one phone to the other and that he had one finger on the steering wheel.
Banned Numpty.
San Antonio police are investigating the wounding of a man after his elderly father allegedly opened fire when the victim refused to stop drumming. Police said the son, in his 50s, suffered a non-life threatening head wound early Friday while at the home the men share. Police said his 83-year-old father was detained on an aggravated assault charge.
Police said the son, who was grazed in the head, ran down the block to call for help.
Who does he think he is Phil Collins?
A Russian armoured-car builder is boasting that its latest vehicle has seats covered with “whale-penis leather”.
The €1 million (NZ$2 million) Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition armoured car has been developed by the same company, RussoBaltique, that built armoured vehicles for Tsar Nicholas, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.
On its official website, the company says the whale-penis leather is the same as that used by Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis on the yacht Christina O.
Onassis is rumoured to have had some of the barstools on the yacht, the world’s most expensive at the time, covered in the controversial leather.
The leather is not the only tacky accessory on the Prombron, which Dartz claims is the world’s most expensive SUV.
The bulletproof windows are gold-plated, the exhaust is made of tungsten, the gauges are encrusted with diamonds and rubies and the exterior has a Kevlar coating.
The car also comes with three bottles of the world’s most expensive Vodka, RussoBaltique, although the website does warn prospective buyers not to drink and drive.
The vehicle is being specially prepared for the ultra-exclusive Top Marques luxury motor show in Monaco next year.
Dartz’s armoured vehicles weigh roughly 4 tonnes, are powered by V8s putting out between 300kW and 400kW and are “rocket grenade-proof” according to the website.
For those wondering just how many whales may need to be harvested to outfit the special edition, the answer is not many. The penis of the Blue Whale, for example, can grow up to 2.4 metres.
Oddly enough I have written a little ditty on this subject-The Whale which puts my point of view.
The €1 million (NZ$2 million) Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition armoured car has been developed by the same company, RussoBaltique, that built armoured vehicles for Tsar Nicholas, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.
On its official website, the company says the whale-penis leather is the same as that used by Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis on the yacht Christina O.
Onassis is rumoured to have had some of the barstools on the yacht, the world’s most expensive at the time, covered in the controversial leather.
The leather is not the only tacky accessory on the Prombron, which Dartz claims is the world’s most expensive SUV.
The bulletproof windows are gold-plated, the exhaust is made of tungsten, the gauges are encrusted with diamonds and rubies and the exterior has a Kevlar coating.
The car also comes with three bottles of the world’s most expensive Vodka, RussoBaltique, although the website does warn prospective buyers not to drink and drive.
The vehicle is being specially prepared for the ultra-exclusive Top Marques luxury motor show in Monaco next year.
Dartz’s armoured vehicles weigh roughly 4 tonnes, are powered by V8s putting out between 300kW and 400kW and are “rocket grenade-proof” according to the website.
For those wondering just how many whales may need to be harvested to outfit the special edition, the answer is not many. The penis of the Blue Whale, for example, can grow up to 2.4 metres.
Oddly enough I have written a little ditty on this subject-The Whale which puts my point of view.
From down under and right a bit.
A south Waikato family's cat has survived 19 hours in a freezer.
The cat, Krillen, was found by owner Sarah Crombie, 27, lying stiff and semi-conscious on a bag of dog food when she went to get a loaf of bread out of the freezer.
"I was looking in there and I heard this funny noise," the Te Kuiti mother-of-two told the Herald on Sunday.
"It was sort of a 'miaow' but he was so half-frozen he couldn't get the noise out properly, poor thing. So I look down and I see this grey fluffy thing sitting on top of the bag of dog food under a rack."
Her partner Sid Sisson had shut the top-loading freezer the night before, not realising the cat was inside.
Fortunately, Mr Sisson, 28, knew it was essential to raise the body temperature of hypothermia sufferers slowly. So he put the cat under his shirt and got into bed with him.
The dairy farmer kept Krillen under blankets and against his bare chest for three hours until he thawed out.
Dr Nick Cave, senior lecturer at Massey University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital, said the cat's survival was impressive and probably down to Mr Sisson warming him up slowly.
Cheaper than Beef I suppose.
A south Waikato family's cat has survived 19 hours in a freezer.
The cat, Krillen, was found by owner Sarah Crombie, 27, lying stiff and semi-conscious on a bag of dog food when she went to get a loaf of bread out of the freezer.
"I was looking in there and I heard this funny noise," the Te Kuiti mother-of-two told the Herald on Sunday.
"It was sort of a 'miaow' but he was so half-frozen he couldn't get the noise out properly, poor thing. So I look down and I see this grey fluffy thing sitting on top of the bag of dog food under a rack."
Her partner Sid Sisson had shut the top-loading freezer the night before, not realising the cat was inside.
Fortunately, Mr Sisson, 28, knew it was essential to raise the body temperature of hypothermia sufferers slowly. So he put the cat under his shirt and got into bed with him.
The dairy farmer kept Krillen under blankets and against his bare chest for three hours until he thawed out.
Dr Nick Cave, senior lecturer at Massey University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital, said the cat's survival was impressive and probably down to Mr Sisson warming him up slowly.
Cheaper than Beef I suppose.
And finally:
One of Madonna's New York neighbours says the superstar's loud music and frequent dance sessions are causing a commotion.
Karen George, of Manhattan, lives above Madonna in a building on Central Park.
She said in a lawsuit filed Friday against the building's co-op board that the Material Girl is using her apartment as a rehearsal studio, forcing neighbours to endure "blaring music, stomping and shaking walls," for up to three hours each day.
George complained about "unreasonably high-decibel, amplified music" and vibrations pouring through walls, ceilings and radiators.
Madonna's representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The building's board says it has already threatened to evict Madonna.
Maybe another trip to Africa is called for; she probably needs a bigger family to get a bigger place.
Angus
AnglishLit
Angus Dei-NHS-THE OTHER SIDE
Angus Dei politico
Karen George, of Manhattan, lives above Madonna in a building on Central Park.
She said in a lawsuit filed Friday against the building's co-op board that the Material Girl is using her apartment as a rehearsal studio, forcing neighbours to endure "blaring music, stomping and shaking walls," for up to three hours each day.
George complained about "unreasonably high-decibel, amplified music" and vibrations pouring through walls, ceilings and radiators.
Madonna's representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The building's board says it has already threatened to evict Madonna.
Maybe another trip to Africa is called for; she probably needs a bigger family to get a bigger place.
Angus
AnglishLit
Angus Dei-NHS-THE OTHER SIDE
Angus Dei politico
