Family shares home with 80 exotic animals

Alan and Heather Hewitt live with an amazing menagerie of 80 exotic creatures, reports The Sun.

The family runs a sanctuary and a rescue home and there are about 20 snakes, 15 reptiles, 25 mammals - plus assorted birds and invertebrates living in the house.

The couple boasts a 'collection' comprising 35 different species.
They include two monitor lizards, six bearded dragons, four boa constrictors, two pythons, two giant tortoises, a cane toad, four tarantula spiders, various rodents, an African grey parrot, two meerkats, two racoons and a Skunk, according to the daily.

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MySpace seeks mojo with a new design and new features

MySpace hаѕ hаԁ trουbƖе staying relevant аѕ Facebook’s user base continues tο grow. Bυt wіth іtѕ latest update, thе News Corp.-owned social network іѕ trying tο see іf іt саn regain аt Ɩеаѕt ѕοmе οf іtѕ past glory wіth social entertainment targeted toward Generation Y.

MySpace’s nеw site design іѕ intended tο hеƖр Gen Y users find a “broad array οf programming, including originals, exclusives, аnԁ content frοm around thе Web.” Thе company іѕ аƖѕο encouraging users tο share thеіr interests οn thеіr profiles, аѕ well аѕ “connect” tο others whο share those interests.

MySpace Mojo

Once users log іn tο thеіr accounts, thе nеw MySpace welcome page wіƖƖ ԁіѕрƖау entertainment content thеу mіɡht Ɩіkе based οn thе site’s understanding οf thеіr interests. Thе goal, MySpace ѕаіԁ, іѕ tο “сrеаtе a unique, contextually relevant discovery experience.”

Tο achieve thаt goal, thе company hаѕ released several “products” tο ɡеt people tο thе content thеу really care аbουt.

One οf those products, called Topics, connects MySpace users tο over 20,000 “entertainment-focused, dynamic pages.” Those pages feature content οn entertainment topics frοm a number sites, including MTV, Thе Village Voice, аnԁ Thе Nеw York Times. In addition, MySpace hаѕ сrеаtеԁ “Content Hubs” thаt zero іn οn movies, television shows, οr celebrities. Each hub wіƖƖ feature articles аnԁ related content tο thе hub’s focus. Thе company plans tο offer games, comedy, sports, аnԁ fashion hubs “іn thе coming months.”

Tο keep users connected whіƖе οn thе ɡο, MySpace аƖѕο plans tο launch a mobile version οf thе site іn thе near future. A MySpace app fοr thе iPhone аnԁ Android handsets wіƖƖ bе released “later thіѕ year.”

MySpace nеw features

In аn attempt tο tailor thе MySpace experience tο thе user, thе site wіƖƖ now feature a personalized stream thаt displays content frοm асrοѕѕ thе site thаt thе user іѕ mοѕt ƖіkеƖу tο care аbουt based οn thеіr habits whіƖе using MySpace. In addition, MySpace іѕ adding a Recommendations feature, whісh lists ѕοmе topics users mіɡht want tο consider delving іntο οr fans thеу mіɡht want tο connect wіth. MySpace ѕаіԁ thаt іtѕ recommendations engine іѕ powered bу “algorithms thаt learn thе type οf content a user views, listens tο, οr watches, аnԁ frοm whοm οr whеrе thеу discovered іt.”

Finally, MySpace hаѕ added a trending topics feature tο hеƖр users find out whаt music аnԁ videos wеrе recently added tο thе site. A “Mу Stuff” tab іn thе user’s profile wіƖƖ ԁіѕрƖау аƖƖ thе content thе respective person personally uploaded tο thе site.

In addition tο a complete site overhaul, MySpace hаѕ changed іtѕ logo. Thе logo now includes a bracket thаt, according tο MySpace, “represents a space whеrе people саn express themselves, enabling users tο personalize thе logo аnԁ mаkе іt thеіr οwn–јυѕt аѕ thеу саn throughout MySpace.”

Thе nеw MySpace, whісh іѕ currently іn beta, іѕ rolled out from October 27th. It wіƖƖ bе available tο еνеrу user bу thе еnԁ οf November.

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Google To Test 1Gbps Internet At Stanford's Campus

Earlier in the year, Google made clear that they wanted to get in the business of providing Internet service, not just service search on the Internet. A ton of cities made their case to Google in order to be selected for one of the first rollouts, but Google has still yet to make their decision on that. In fact, an update today provided by the company states that they're hoping to have that community or communities selected by the end of the year.

But you won't have to wait that long to start hearing reports about how great (or not so great) Google's fiber-based ISP is. That's because the company has landed a deal with Stanford University that will make it available to the university’s Residential Subdivision, a group of approximately 850 faculty- and staff-owned homes on campus. Through the trial, Google plans to offer Internet at speeds of up to 1Gbps, with plans to start breaking ground early next year.

Google's goal is to build to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people, but this trial will help them ensure that they're actually ready to take it outside of beta. Stanford's campus is close to Google's campus, and that was a big part of the choice. Google will be able to receive feedback from just across town and tweak things quickly in order to make improvements.

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The Most Disgusting iPhone Charger Ever

Want to lay eyes on the most disgusting iPhone charger you’ve ever seen in your life? Don’t take my word for it, hit play on the video above and behold the Umbilical Cord iPhone Charger. Note how the cord pulsates and moves as the charger delivers nutrients, er, I mean power to your iPhone.

Credit for this piece of double-take gadgetry goes to Japanese artist Mio I-zawa. Quite honestly, I’m not sure whether to ask him ‘WHY!?’, or just leave this as is, and tell myself I’ll never look at that video again.

Unfortunately I can’t tell you if this is available for purchase or not, as I was turned-off just enough to not want to know much more about the darn thing. However, if you’re curious as a cat, you can check out Mio’s website for some more, shall we say, ‘interesting’ works.




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Hackers Break Microsoft's Kinect Security

A few days after Microsoft launched its Kinect motion-sensing game system, hackers seem to have broken the security behind Kinect.

On the day Kinect went on sale, Adafruit Industries, an open source hardware developer, announced a $1,000 bounty for the first person or group to develop an open source driver for Microsoft's Kinect. One of Adaruit's leaders, Make magazine Senior Editor Phillip Torrone, told CNET, "Adafruit is hoping someone will figure out how to use Kinect in education, robotics, or 'fun outside the Xbox.' We think First Robotics could use this. We think educators could use this. Look at all the cool stuff people did with the Wii remote." Adafruit is also led by MIT Media lab alumni Limor Fried, but it was Torrone who told CNET, "It's amazing hardware that shouldn't just be locked up for Xbox 360. Its 'radar camera' being able to get video and distance as a sensor input from commodity hardware is huge."

Kinect allows gamers to play motion-sensing games without any game controller. It has a $149 price tag as an add-on for the Xbox 360 video game. It is rumored that Microsoft plans to use Kinect-like technology, such as motion sensing capabilities, in a future Windows release. Microsoft was not even slightly pleased about the bounty offer.

The Big M emailed CNET this response. "Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products. With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant."

That answer from Microsoft prompted Adafruit to jump the bounty to $2,000 for an open source driver for Kinect. All of this happened on November 4th, but today, November 7th, Gizmodo reports that Microsoft Kinect has allegedly already been hacked.

AlexP at NUI Group forums posted, "First test of controlling the Kinect from a PC. Outlook looks good for other sensors of the device." Here is the video of "The Kinect Robot aka Johnny 5 is alive!"



The video seems to show that the hacker has taken control of the security behind Kinect, moving it up and down via PC control. This may be the first step toward building a complete driver for Kinect. The poster seemed optimistic about getting the other sensors, such as body recognition said, to work.

Besides Kinect's security seeming to have been compromised, Kinect users are sharing some their silly experiences. One day after Kinect went on sale, writer Phil Villarreal posted, "A public service announcement: Do not under any circumstances play Kinect Sports Volleyball at 1:30 a.m. while standing under a ceiling fan with a dangling chain for a light switch. You could conceivably spike it into your year-old amazing TV, causing it to die with a rainbow LCD teardrop dripping down from the impact wound."

From a privacy standpoint, one gamer discovered the drawbacks to oversharing via naked gaming and Kinect's ability to take pictures during the game. GamePron reported on a gamer who had rude awakening while playing Kinect-enabled Dance Central.

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Live Crab Vending Machine in China

Yes, it's true: an entrepreneur in Nanjing, China, has stocked a vending machine with Shanghai Hairy Crabs. The delicacy (if anything with "hairy" in its name could be a delicacy) is kept at 5° Celsius, where it hibernates until it is sold for ¥120-600 (between $1.40 and $7.30), which is apparently a thirty percent markdown from retail. Even the Japanese media seem to find this one peculiar -- and this is a country that sells liquor, pornography, and Maine lobsters in its vending machines. See it for yourself in the video after the break.

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Village asks to be wiped from Google's map

A day after a small town became the first in Germany to welcome Google's controversial Street View service with open arms and cake, a tiny northern village responded Wednesday with a resounding Nein.

The hamlet of Parum, population 70, has come together to sign a petition addressed to Federal Data Protection Officer Peter Schaar to get the village wiped off the Street View map, due to be rolled out by the end of the year.

If this does not work, all 25 households intend to apply individually to Google to have their houses pixellated, a special concession the US Internet giant made in Germany, sensitive to privacy issues for historical reasons.

"Parum is a no-Google village," retired teacher Wilhelm Meier, who lives in the tiny farming community, told news agency AFP.

Street View, which allows users to "walk" through towns and cities using photos taken by specially equipped vehicles, is already online in around 20 countries but ran into fevered opposition in Germany.

As a special concession to these concerns, Google allowed people to "opt out" of the service, promising to pixellate their house. The firm announced on October 21 that nearly a quarter of a million Germans had done this.

Although Germans are avid users of Street View images from other countries, the planned roll-out here caused alarm in a country especially sensitive to privacy concerns due to the gross abuses under the Nazi and communist regimes.

On Tuesday, Google launched its disputed Street View service in the small town of Oberstaufen in Bavaria, southern Germany.

Delighted their tourist-dependent town was the first in Germany to be visible on the navigation service, the townsfolk even baked a brightly coloured cake proclaiming "Welcome Google."

Google plans to roll out the service for Germany's 20 largest cities later this year, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg.

thelocal.de

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Harry Potter blamed for India's disappearing owls

Harry Potter has been blamed for the dwindling number of wild owls in India, according to the country’s Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh.

Mr Ramesh said the craze for Harry Potter in India had led to an increase in people buying owls from illegal bird traders.

"Following Harry Potter, there seems to be a strange fascination even among the urban middle classes for presenting their children with owls," Mr Ramesh told the BBC.

A report by conservation group Traffic suggested tough measures should be put in place to protect owls from an upcoming Hindu festival – Diwali - because thousands of owls are sacrificed on Hindu "auspicious occasions".

The author of the report, Abrar Ahmed, decided to investigate the owl trade after being asked to get a white owl for a boy's Harry Potter-themed 10th birthday.

"This was probably one of the strangest demands made to me as an ornithologist," he wrote.

Mr Ahmed found that endangered owls are being caught, traded or sacrificed in black magic rituals, while others are killed for medicine.

"The sacrifice of owls on auspicious occasions appears to be a regular practice and [there could be] a possible increase in trade and sacrifices around Diwali," the Imperilled Custodians of the Night report says.

Harry Potter publishers Bloomsbury declined to comment on the BBC report.

telegraph.co.uk

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Biggest GoldFish In The World Found

Yes its looks like a giant goldfish, but in fact it is a 30 pound koi carp. The fish was caught in a lake in France by angler Raphael Biagini, surprisingly it only took him 10 minutes to get the fish out of the water. The fish weighs the equivalent of your average 3 year old child, the fish is the biggest of its type ever caught in the wild.

At the moment a picture of the fish is being viewed across the world on You Tube. The fish was caught a few months ago.

Many people believe the picture to be a hoax, they have been quick to point out that the angler is holding the fish in the same manner you would hold a 10 pound fish not a 30 pound fish. They also said that the fish looks to big just to weigh only 30 pounds. They all believe that the photo was enhanced using computer software. The experts have said that the color and size would not be exceeding normal limits for the breed of fish.

Maybe it is just another fishy story, whether the fish is a hoax or not whatever the outcome it has brought a few smiles to the world, and especially to the world of angling.

After the picture was taken Biagini, returned the World’s Biggest Goldfish to the Lake.

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Husband Finds Photos of Wife Having Sex With the Family Dog

We can all agree that Cornelia Gragg possesses the looks and the raw sexuality that could burn a hole in the atmosphere. Though she's married, surely she could find legions of frisky suitors around her home in Greenwood, Arkansas. But she's too much woman for mere man...

Which is why she expanded her carnality to other species, namely her dog. And just to have some keepsakes of her venture into canine love, she decided to take pictures that she could keep on her computer.

Though they may have provided Cornelia with fond memories, her husband wasn't too pleased when he discovered them on their home computer. They indicated she'd been having sex with the family dog over a four-month period, from April to July, when hubby made his alarming discovery.

There's no word if he confronted his wife over her preference for four-legged lovers. But there is word that he took the pictures to police, seeing as how he now found himself married to a degenerate.

But by the time police came looking, Cornelia had taken it on the lam. She's now wanted for misdemeanor bestiality and defiling Arkansas state statutes by not sexing up her cousin instead.

truecrimereport.com

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