News

Following a series of unconnected and unfortunate! events, a covert spy cam was discovered in the Ma Lab here at Ravensbourne. Staff came looking for a Camera, maybe they thought it had been stolen! but no the lens had been Obscured with bluetack harmless enough, as some enterprising student had wondered why there were two PIR sensors and decided to test it out. It is still unknown where this camera links to and indeed if it was wired for sound!!! This raises issues surrounding privacy, the cameras was hidden as a PIR motion sensor such as the one illustrated below

It is felt by students that honesty would have been most welcomed and an alternative camera such as the one below be used

or at least should have been told. Several amorous students are taking issue with this infringement of their privacy. Even those who may simply wanted to change their clothing.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan unveiled the first working prototype of the $100 laptop Nov. 16 at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, Tunisia.
The laptops will come with batteries that can be recharged using a simple wind-up crank and built in WiFi.

Having food allergy, or being the parent of a food allergic child is a bit like being an anesthesiologist or airplane pilot: 99% calm punctuated by 1% sheer terror. Asthma, in contrast, is much more up and down, with less explosive onset of symptoms.

GOOGLE has approached a book publisher to gauge interest in a program to allow consumers to rent online copies of new books for a week, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The proposed fee is 10 percent of the book's list price, the Journal reported, citing an unnamed publisher.

The discussion with the publisher indicates Google may move toward adding a digital book-renting service.

Google has a separate book program, the Google Print Library Project, that has attracted controversy for its aim to scan millions of books that consumers could search online.

Rootkits that hide files, directories and Registry keys can either execute in user mode by patching Windows APIs in each process that applications use to access those objects, or in kernel mode by intercepting the associated kernel-mode APIs. A common way to intercept kernel-mode application APIs is to patch the kernel’s system service table.

After nearly two weeks of stinging criticism Sony BMG Music Entertainment promised today to stop making CDs loaded with controversial copy-protection technology, which is happens to be Sony version DRM. The company has also said that it has abandoned the rootkit strategy but not, of course, the use of other forms of DRM copy protection.

First 4 Internet Ltd the company that developed the XCP software states that its advanced software XCP copy control technology is aimed at protecting the rights of Content Owners from the unauthorised and illegal copying of digital music and film on CD, DVD and on the Internet.

It's a funny way to use a virus!!!

(by christoph burgdorfer)

Timeframe: 2 to 5 years from now.

A couple of days ago, Google launched its new service "Google Reader" which is basically a RSS aggregator. I do not think, this is a coincidence. I believe that Google has realized that at some point, everybody will use his personal news feeds to get informed rather than just checking up a few news sources on a regular base. This will lead into a weakening of the current information sources' positions and support the possibility to get a wider variety and more independent opinions on topics of interest.

The way most of us read the news today has a long tradition. It originated in the 15th Century with the invention of the printing with movable letters by Johannes Gutenberg. Since then, the format has not much changed, we still get the newspapers printed out black on grey paper. At some point, there were pictures, then they became colorful, but let's face it, that doesn't make much of a difference, does it?

Harvie Branscomb, St. Louis Missouri, U.S.A. May 13 2005: Warning: this text contains opinions and observations that can not be considered objective or factual reporting. This information may be irrelevant or in some cases, toxic. Handle with care. This is also true of almost everything else you are reading elsewhere. For a completely different perspective, visit www.mediaresearch.org

St.Louis Missouri, USA is the gateway to the American West, home of Pulitzer and capital city of a state located in the center of the USA. Voters here chose Bush in the 2004 election. St Louis is the weekend home of the National Media Reform Conference.

Its the only life I know is a poster project by [insertspace] in collaboration with Hewitt & Jordan. A series of four new posters created by Dave Beech, Hewitt & Jordan, Mark Hutchinson and Oliver Ressler will be available free from a number of distribution points in Birmingham. Visit thewebsite for more information.

Poster by Oliver Ressler

Posters will be distributed free of charge from:
B'ham Voluntary Service Council - 138 Digbeth High Street, B'ham, B5 6DR
The Electric Cinema - 47-49 Station st, B'ham, B5 4DY
Central Library - Chamberlain Square, B'ham, B3 3HQ
Cafe One Fairtrade - Broad Street, Fiveways, B'ham, B15 1DU

[insertspace] is a new artist-led project based in Birmingham. Projects develop out of collaborations with artists and curators; [insertspace] aspires to challenge the relationship between art and audience by working across public sites and contexts.