Tech Tool

XXX DOMAIN NAME TO BE REPLACED BY .FUK

Faced with opposition from conservative groups and some pornography Web sites, the Internet's key oversight agency voted Wednesday to reject a proposal to create a ".xxx" domain name for use by the adult entertainment industry.  However, a last minute compromise brokered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will allow the use of a new ".FUK top level domain on a voluntary basis.  Other compromises considered and ultimately discarded were ".ASS", ".PUS", and ".SCREW".

Related:  Internet Agency Kills .XXX Idea

NEW MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER WILL EXCLUDE GOOGLE

Microsoft Corporation is releasing a new test version of Internet Explorer, the market-leading Web browser that is facing competition from smaller players.  The new beta, available Tuesday for free download, will improve 'security' by excluding Google and any Google-related websites, according to Microsoft.  "This has nothing to do with Google as a competitor.  We have always embraced competition in the marketplace.  This is about improving service to our end-users", said a Microsoft PR Spokesman, who refused to to be identified.

Related:  Microsoft To Unveil New Internet Explorer

NASA'S GENESIS CAPSULE PROVES THEORY OF GRAVITY

NASA scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena erupted into a standing ovation Wednesday morning as the Genesis return capsule plunged downward through the air and crashed into the desert, finally putting to rest once and for all the question of whether Sir Isaac Newton's theory of gravity was, in fact, reality. "This is a tremendous moment for all involved", said one project engineer who wiped tears from his face. "Now we can move on to figuring out what happens when you fall off the edge of the world".

Related: NASA's Genesis Capsule Crashes

REPORT: BRITISH CLONES WILL STILL HAVE BAD TEETH

British scientists said on Wednesday they had been granted permission to clone human embryos for medical research, but a report from the journal Nature concluded that cloned humans from Britian would still suffer from poor dental health. Reseachers at the University of Newcastle in northern England acknowledged the problem, but asserted that at least their clones wouldn't suffer from excessive body hair like French clones.

Related: UK Scientists Say Allowed To clone Human Embryos

MICROSOFT ISSUES SECURITY UPDATE FOR 'HARMONY' HACK

Microsoft announced on Friday the availability of an urgent security patch to halt the spread of Real Networks 'Harmony' hack. Harmony, itself a newly announced technology to port non-ITunes music files to the Ipod was immediately labelled a 'hack' by Apple Computer. In announcing its new patch, Microsoft declared its full backing for any technology designed to limit the consumer's flexibility and to lock that consumer to a single vendor.

Related: Apple Likens RealPlayer IPod Move To Hacking

GATES TO SECRETLY BID ON GOOGLE IPO

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates intends to secretly buy shares in what is likely to be Silicon Valley's biggest IPO, that of search engine giant Google, Inc. While a Microsoft spokesman denied the allegation, anonymous sources inside the company's executive ranks admitted that most of the top Microsoft players
will be 'dabbling' in the Google IPO, most notably Gates himself. It is unknown how many shares the world's
richest man plans to buy, but estimates run from just a few hundred to all of them.

Related: Google IPO Ready To Go

PAXIL MAKER 'DEPRESSED' OVER NEW YORK LAWSUIT

Paxil maker GlaxoSmithKline fell into what it calls a deep 'depression' following New York's filing of a lawsuit against the British drug conglomerate alleging that the company misled U.S. doctors on the safety and effectiveness of treating children's psychiatric disorders with its drug Paxil. In a statement released Wednesday morning, the office of New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer charged Glaxo with suppressing unfavorable data from its clinical trials that showed Paxil was not only ineffective in treating children, but also that the drug might trigger suicidal tendencies in some kids and adolescents. GlaxoSmithKline declined to comment, but executives at the company were seen lining up at the local pharmacy to fill their Prozac prescriptions.

Related: Spitzer Sues Glaxo Over Pediatric Paxil

RIAA LAWYER 'BUNDLED' WITH NEW MICROSOFT DRM

Microsoft took the wraps off its latest Digital Rights Management software Monday. While the new DRM platform from Microsoft enables the protection, delivery and playback of subscription-based or on-deman digital music and video across a myriad of digital devices, its perhaps most extraordinary innovation is the 'wrapping' of each individual piece of content with a unique RIAA lawyer's name. "You can transfer this stuff to any device in your home, car, or person", a Microsoft spokesman said, "but God forbid should you violate its copyright, the name of the lawyer who will be suing you on the copyright owner's behalf will pop up on your screen, a long with a legalistic description of your offense and a single form button entitled "I Agree".

Related: Microsoft Upgrades Digital Rights Management

SCIENTISTS SPUR MOUSE THREE-SOME IN LAB

Scientists have produced a sexual tryst between three mice -- the first time the feat has been accomplished in a lab. Two of the mice were female and one was male. The mice were first shown pictures of naked mice of the opposite sex, and then all placed together. "It was really an amazing site", said lead scientist Tomiko Konoko of the Tokyo University of Fertility. "They showed me a few things I'd never thought of", he smiled. Analysts said the breakthrough could lead to new treatments for impotence.

Related: Scientists Create Mice From Two Mothers