New Zealand Geek - news page 57Geek - a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.
Eavesdropping laws met with email bombSTOCKHOLM - A public outcry against Sweden's eavesdropping law reached new heights with protesters sending more than 1 million emails to politicians, parliamentary officials said.
The contentious bill, narrowly passed by legislators two weeks ago, allows officials to eavesdrop on all cross-border email and telephone traffic. The government plans to implement it in January.
July 01, 2008
Cyberbullying becomes a crime after MySpace suicideMISSOURI - Missouri Governor Matt Blunt has signed a bill outlawing cyberbullying, just miles from where 13-year-old girl committed suicide nearly two years ago after being harassed on the internet.
The bill updates state laws against harassment by removing the requirement that the communication be written or over the telephone. Supporters say the bill now covers harassment from computers, text messages and other electronic devices.
July 01, 2008
Man convicted after using World of Warcraft to lure teen girlA man who convinced a 15-year-old girl he met while playing the multi-player online game World of Warcraft to fly and meet him has been convicted of child stealing.
Anthony Taylor, 31, of Horsham, sent sexual messages to the Tasmanian girl while they engaged in World of Warcraft game play.
July 01, 2008
Public humiliation the key for RottenNeighbor.comCOLUMBUS - Just outside his bedroom window, beyond the chain-link fence that surrounds his next-door neighbour's yard, sit the reasons David Adams says he can't sleep: two bushy-tailed dogs that bark and howl all night.
The Magnolia, Mississippi, resident plugged up his ears and even took his neighbour to court alleging a noise violation. But the barking went on. Finally he discovered a website seemingly tailor-made for such suburban woes: RottenNeighbor.com
July 01, 2008
eBay to pay up for designer knock-off product auctionsPARIS - A French court has ordered eBay to pay more than $61 million (NZ$80 million) to luxury group LVMH for letting counterfeit goods and its branded perfumes be sold on the auction site.
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, home to prestigious brands such as Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Fendi, Emilio Pucci and Marc Jacobs, hailed the Paris commercial court's decision as "precedent-setting."
July 01, 2008
Yahoo bigwigs move to defend Microsoft rejectionNEW YORK - Yahoo began pressing a case to major shareholders that its board and management deserve a chance to prove they made the right move when they rejected a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft.
The missed opportunity to sell to Microsoft infuriated many Yahoo shareholders, prompting activist investor Carl Icahn to agitate for replacing Yahoo's nine directors and reviving negotiations with Microsoft. If he gains control of the board, Icahn intends to fire Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang as chief executive.
July 01, 2008
Aussie disappointed with price after selling life on eBayPERTH - A Perth man says he's committed to moving on and trying something new, after selling his life and belongings for just under A$400,000 ($510,000) on eBay.
Ian Usher offered his home in the southern suburb of Wellard, vehicles, furniture, job and access to his friends in a seven-day auction on eBay, selling the lot for A$399,300.
June 30, 2008
Vodafone bridges gap between landline and mobileVodafone has rung up another new phone offer with a phone that is halfway between a mobile and a landline service.
The phone giant will be marketing the service to target niches such as tradesmen and people who work at home, as it pushes ahead with its own fixed line services - like the new Red Network - and prepares for more competition in the mobile market.
June 30, 2008
Better protection promised for online bank usersBetter protection for users of internet banking services is expected under revisions to the banking industry's Code of Banking Practice.
InternetNZ (Internet Society of New Zealand) deputy executive director Jordan Carter said his organisation had been concerned that the code put an unfair burden of responsibility on internet banking users, tilting the playing field in favour of the banks to an excessive degree.
June 30, 2008
The bell tolls for Windows XPREDMOND - Microsoft is scheduled to stop selling its Windows XP operating system to retailers and major computer makers Monday (US time), despite protests from a slice of PC users who do not want to be forced into using XP's successor, Vista.
Once computers loaded with XP have been cleared from the inventory of PC makers such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, consumers who can't live without the old operating system on their new machine will have to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and then legally "downgrade" to XP.
June 30, 2008
Nintendo in class? Tokyo rulesTOKYO - Nintendo is banned everywhere but the classroom at Tokyo Joshi Gakuen school in Japan as the ubiquitous DS consoles become the latest tool in English instruction.
Junior high school teacher Motoko Okubo has used the handheld DS and textbook software since May in weekly sessions focusing on vocabulary, penmanship and audio comprehension.
June 30, 2008
Video: Copycat teens blame GTA IVA group of American teenagers went on a crime spree and then blamed their action on the controversial video game Grand Theft Auto IV.
The six Long Island teens were arrested in relation to a spree of break-ins, a mugging, an assault and a carjacking.
June 30, 2008
Ballmer finally gets the flash corner officeSEATTLE - Steve Ballmer has been CEO at Microsoft Corp for eight years, but he will finally get to move into the corner office vacated by Bill Gates, the college friend who brought him to the company nearly three decades ago.
The pressure of leading the world's largest software maker will only escalate in the wake of a bungled attempt to acquire Yahoo Inc, a move that forced the Web pioneer into the waiting arms of Microsoft's archrival, Google Inc.
June 30, 2008
Bitter wife's YouTube revenge 'mortifies and violates'NEW YORK - A Broadway producer whose wife found YouTube fame after posting monologues about their failed, high-society marriage described himself in court as "mortified" and "violated" by the experience.
Philip Smith, 76, president of the Shubert Organisation, is suing his wife, British actress Tricia Walsh Smith, 49, for divorce on the grounds that the videos, which have been viewed more than four million times, constitute spousal abuse.
June 30, 2008
Facebook poses prickly sex questionSAN FRANCISCO - Social network site Facebook will press members to declare whether they are male or female, seeking to end the grammatical device that leads the site to refer to individual users as "they" or "themself."
The internet phenomenon, which boasts 80 million users worldwide, exploded in popularity over the past year as a convenient way for web users to communicate and share personal details with selected groups of friends or acquaintances.
June 30, 2008
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