Brazilian tribe is neither a new discovery nor a hoax
June 25, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
In late May to early June of 2008, news broke that a previously undiscovered indigenous tribe had been discovered near the border between Brazil and Peru. Worldwide media was quick to publish the story and the accompanying photographs taken by José Carlos Meirelles. The photos showed people in full body paint aiming bows at the overhead aircraft from which the pictures were taken. Wikinews covered the story as well.
In its Sunday edition, British newspaper The Observer had a story called “Secret of the ‘lost’ tribe that wasn’t” which was about this “discovery” and revealed that the tribe had in fact been known to scientists, including Fundação Nacional do Ãndio (FUNAI), the Brazilian protection agency for Indian interests.
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Posted by casiragh at 6:50am
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State of Florida agrees to purchase U.S. Sugar to restore the Everglades
June 25, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The State of Florida entered an agreement on June 24, 2008 to purchase U.S. Sugar, the largest manufacturer of cane sugar in the U.S. in an effort to restore the Everglades. Terms of the agreement stated that the purchase would be completed within 75 days, but that U.S. Sugar would be able to operate for another six years. After that, the State of Florida will retain ownership of U.S. Sugar’s manufacturing facilities in Clewiston, Florida, and 187,000 acres of fields that have grown sugarcane since the 1960s would be allowed to return to their natural state.
U.S. Sugar and the State of Florida have been in legal disputes since the Everglades Forever Act was passed in 1994. The act was an attempt to clean up water tainted with phosphorus runoff leaving sugarcane fields and pumped into the Everglades. Phosphorus is a fertilizer that alters Everglades ecosystems, allowing invasive and exotic cattails to replace sawgrass when levels rise above 50 parts per billion. Tests in the 1980s in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge directly south of sugarcane fields indicated water had 500 ppb of phosphorus.
Posted by casiragh at 6:49am
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Associated Press goes after bloggers for copyright violation
June 25, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The Associated Press (AP) news agency has come under fire from the blogging community after issuing a number of DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notices against bloggers who have used extracts from AP articles.
Quoting from correspondence surrounding the takedown notices, a Drudge Retort contributor claims in his personal blog that not only is AP asserting that the quotes are a copyright violation, but that they also constitute ‘”hot news” misappropriation’.
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Posted by casiragh at 6:45am
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We’ll always have .paris: ICANN votes for top level domain registration in 2009
June 24, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organisation based in California, United States to regulate internet domain names, will vote on Thursday for a proposal to allow the open registration of top-level domains (TLDs) for Internet addresses. If the proposal succeeds, then as soon as next year any entity with sufficient funds may be able to apply for ownership of a relevant TLD, so that, for example, web sites could have addresses ending in .paris, .ebay or .love.
The range of TLDs has traditionally been heavily restricted by ICANN, with most being country codes (such as .uk for the United Kingdom, or .jp for Japan) or related to the purpose of a website (like .com for commercial websites, .edu for educational sites, and .org for non-profit organisations).
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Posted by casiragh at 6:21pm
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City to sue owner of partially collapsed 19th century livery in Buffalo, New York
June 24, 2008
June 24, 2008
Buffalo, New York – Two weeks after a 19th century stable and livery on Jersey Street partially collapsed and caused 15 homes to be evacuated in Buffalo, New York, residents still do not have answers from the city despite a court order to work with them and come to an agreement on a way to save some or all of the building, Wikinews has learned. Despite the frustration from residents, the city is planning on suing the building’s owner. A rally was held at the stable’s site where residents are hoping to bring more awareness to the situation and gain more support to save the building.
On June 11, a significant portion of the stable’s right side wall collapsed into the yard of a resident’s home. Authorities, including the Buffalo Fire Department were called to the scene to evaluate the collapse and evacuate 15 homes of residents surrounding the stable as a precautionary measure.
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Posted by casiragh at 6:42am
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Bodies retrieved from Philippine ferry capsized in typhoon
June 24, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Divers from the combined teams of the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard were able to penetrate the interior of the submerged sections of the MV Princess of the Stars.
Spokesman for the Navy confirmed fears that there were several passengers of the ill-fated passenger ferry who were trapped when the ferry listed and over turned at around noon of June 22.
Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo of the Navy said that there could have been survivors initially, passengers who were trapped within a pocket of air but the rescue team were only able to reach and enter the ferry, almost three days since it capsized. The length of time for any survivor trapped inside the capsized ship to have breathable air would be limited.
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Posted by casiragh at 6:40am
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Mugabe: There will be an election in Zimbabwe
June 24, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Robert Mugabe, the current head of state in Zimbabwe has said that the scheduled elections will take place in Zimbabwe, despite the fact that there have been calls from many influential organisations, including the United Nations, to cancel the elections due to the fact that the opposition candidate has pulled out. “The election will take place on Friday in accordance with our laws and constitution,” said a spokesperson for the Mugabe regime, talking to AFP.
Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations yesterday called for the election to be postponed. He said that he “strongly supports the statement of the Chairman of SADC (Southern African Development Community) that conditions do not exist for a run-off election to be held at this time and that they should be postponed.” He also said that he was disappointed that a free and fair election could not take place.
Posted by casiragh at 6:38am
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Technology giants battle for USB 3.0 standards
June 24, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Even though the USB 3.0 standard, with transmission speeds nearing 5GB/s, has not yet matured and is not expected until 2009 or 2010, technology leaders Intel, AMD, and nVidia are battling to take the lead on the USB 3.0 specifications.
The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) was founded in 1995 by Intel, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, NEC, and NXP Semiconductors. These companies are also promoting the new standard of USB 3.0. But AMD, nVidia, and VIA Technologies have jointly made an attempt to develop another “USB 3.0″ standard to compete with Intel. The opportunity arose because Intel has yet to release their standard for USB 3.0.
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Posted by casiragh at 6:18am
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