Whirlpool Forums user Wireless has a microwave access point on their back fence in a weatherproof box. This is aparently a scary thing.

Got home in the arvo today with four cops outside my unit.

Apparently it was due to a black box which I’ve placed on the fence. Some neighbours got so alert (but of course, not alarmed) that they called 1800123400, thinking it was a bomb.

…

I’ve cut the wire to the weatherproof box (hosting an access point) and opened it up and showed it to them - it’s a very deadly 2.4Ghz microwave radiation weapon.

I can see itthe headlines now Al Qaeda sleeper operative buys house in the suburbs, lives there for years then blows his house up for no apparent reason. Apparently the police were really rude too. That’s not too bright, I mean if he was a terrorist, wouldn’t he be a bit touchy.

Bible Gateway has released a beta for its new site. There are a few new features, including a simplified search interface. But the best new feature is that they have finally jumped on the RSS bandwagon (GNP did it first), and are offering a Verse of the Day feed (it defaults to the NIV, but if you change your default version on the preferences page, it also changes the RSS feed. The version seems to be selected by a numeric query string variable on the feed url. The NIV is 31, so the URL for it is http://beta.biblegateway.com/usage/votd/rss/votd.rdf?31.

However at the moment, no matter what preference you select, the RSS feed always returns the NIV version even though it changes the text on the homepage of the beta site. I imagine this will change in the coming days/weeks. (I have left a comment about this on their feedback form just in case it wasn’t a known bug)For those interested, I’ve got some further information about this.

Also they have released a SOAP web service, along with a tutorial & full documentation.

All in all, very good stuff.

Cyberkinetics has begun testing a nural implant that allows people to control electronic devices with their thoughts.

The goal of the BrainGate^tm Neural Interface System development program is to create a product that can potentially allow quadriplegic patients to recover a host of abilities that normally rely on the hands. The system could be used in the individual’s home environment or even be mobile with the patient.

Such a system could someday potentially restore the ability to interface with a computer and other devices at a level of speed, accuracy and precision that is comparable to the use of hands by a non-disabled person.

If this works it will radically change the way we do things, and not just for disabled people I think. Could you imagine playing computer games with this? Or how about the ability to write documents in a word processor by thinking it. I know that’s a fair way off compared to what they’re doing now, but it brings it all one step closer.

[via Forever Geek]

Being an AFL mad Victorian (is there any other kind?) stuck up in Sydney, I get precious little news about ALF unless it’s the swannies playing. And seeing as my poor doggies aren’t exactly top of the ladder at the moment, I can’t remember the last time they were mentioned in the news. So all my news has to come from the ALF site (and a few sporting blogs).

Long story short, I’ve scraped the Bulldogs news site to generate an RSS feed*of all the news items. If you have Feed Demon, or some other aggregator that understands the feed:// protocol just click on this link: feed://feeds.slaven.net.au/westernbulldogs.rss, otherwise copy this link into your aggregator: http://feeds.slaven.net.au/westernbulldogs.rss.

If you don’t have an aggregator I highly recommend Nick Bradbury’s Feed Demon. And if you get it from here, you help me out too!

And for those poor un-enlightened souls who don’t support the Bulldogs, if you ask me nicely I might be persuaded to give your team a feed too. Bribery works too.

* If you don’t know what RSS is, I’ve got a brief intro to the topic.

Family First have been called many names in the Australian media in the last few months, ranging from Political newcomer and right-wing conservative to a conspiratorial setup and the lunatic Right. To these colourful titles we can now add Simon Hayes and Jennifer Foreshew’s bogeyman for the IT industry.

CONSERVATIVE Christian party Family First has emerged as a new bogeyman for the IT industry, which is worried a reinvigorated Howard Government will trade the full sale of Telstra for a package of measures including mandatory internet filtering.

…

Internet Industry Association chief executive Peter Coroneos is promising to speak to Family First on the "realities of internet governance" in an effort to stymie the filter plans.

"We are highly concerned about statements that this party has made regarding the internet and we think it is particularly unhelpful and uninformed," he said.

Being a conservative Christian myself, I thought I’d have a bit of a look at this policy _{(pdf, 211KB)}, and see if it wasn’t just a bit more media beatup. The answer is: no, it’s not.

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DRUDGE REPORT is reporting that Christopher Reeve is dead.

12:30:02 ET: Veteran Hollywood reporter Nikki Finke has learned that actor Christopher Reeve is dead, according to sources close to the actor. He died suddenly Sunday. News of his death has not been reported publicly yet. His family will make an announcement Monday at the earliest.

Reeve was just mentioned Friday in the second live presidential debate by John Kerry. Noting he was a friend of the paralysed Reeve, Kerry said he was in favor of further stem cell research because Reeve could walk again one day thanks to such science.

No confirmation anywhere else yet. XFM in London announced it, but their source was Drudge. Dead or Alive is also reporting, but no source or info listed there, so one would guess that it’s just from Drudge too.

UPDATE: Major news sources now reporting the story.

CNN reports:

Reeve fell into a coma Saturday after going into cardiac arrest while at his New York home, his publicist, Wesley Combs, told The Associated Press by phone from Washington, D.C., on Sunday night.

Reeve was being treated at Northern Westchester Hospital for a pressure wound that he developed, a common complication for people living with paralysis. In the past week, the wound had become severely infected, resulting in a serious systemic infection.

Story also being reported by the Daily Telegraph & SMH.

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