Magic Lantern Info

Its been more than six months since the news broke about the FBIs new high tech spying device named "Magic Lantern." The government, understandably, wants to keep the Magic Lantern technology under wraps. But that didnt stop "CyberCrime" from getting the inside scoop on this high tech surveillance device from experts, which well show you on this weeks episode. The Magic Lantern technology began as part of a broad FBI project called "Cyber Knight" -- the same project that spawned the notorious Carnivore email monitoring device. Magic Lantern goes much farther than Carnivore, though. If initial reports are correct, it will allow investigators to secretly install software that records every keystroke on a persons computer, steal passwords, and read encrypted messages. With many encryption programs available on the Internet, the FBI has been frustrated in efforts to break open encrypted messages, and officials are increasingly concerned about their ability to read encrypted messages in criminal or terrorist investigations. Magic Lantern also resolves another important problem with the FBIs existing computer monitoring technology -- the "key logger system." In the past, investigators had to break into a targets residence armed with a warrant and physically attach a device to a computer. Magic Lantern, however, can be installed over the Internet by tricking a person into opening an email attachment. It is unclear whether Magic Lantern would transmit keystrokes it records back to the FBI over the Internet or store the information to be seized later in a raid. Once up and running, it can reportably records all keystrokes, peer into file, and even translate encrypted words into readable text.

http://www.techtv.com/cybercrime/privacy/story/0,23008,3386018,00.html

Hilarious: He-Man Vehicles

Of course, cars look a lot different in Eternia. The add-ons arent as mundane as what we see. These guys arent debating on paying extra for four-wheel drive or turbo-lock breaks - rather assorted missile launchers and slide-out wings. Automobiles like this probably cost a lot more than what we pay for our Fords and Toyotas, but fuck me if a little extra dough isnt worth driving around in a car that looks like a big red shark.
http://x-entertainment.com/messages/657.html

Huge Chunk Of Frozen Methane Found Off Vancouver Coast

It doesnt look much like fuel, but a glacier of frozen gas at the bottom of the ocean off British Columbia could one day provide Canada with a major source of energy. The deposit of methane hydrate, or frozen gas, came to light early last month when a fishing crew pulled up a chunk of the material in their nets. Scientists using a mini-submersible later found the deposit, about 75 kilometres off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Large chunks of the material are sitting in about 850 metres of water. "Theres likely enough methane and natural gas out there to satisfy energy reserves in Canada for about 40 years," said Dr. Ross Chapman, of the University of Victoria.
http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/09/09/methane020909

EU Users Online Now Outnumber NA

For the first time, Europe has more internet users than the US. According to Irish-based industry monitor Nua.com, Europe has almost 186 million users, while Canada and the US register 182 million. The difference may not seem substantial, but Europe is still a growing market."Internet penetration rate in the US is now close to saturation," says Nua.com editor Charlie Taylor. "However, the number of Europeans going online is increasing at a fast rate - they now account for 32% of the global internet population."
http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,7558,788334,00.html

Ion Engine Still Kicking

A team led by Anita Sengupta, engineer and member of JPLs advanced propulsion technology group, has kept the Deep Space 1 flight spare ion engine running for 24,750 hours. If it had been an automobile engine instead of an ion engine, and it was driven for 24,750 hours at 80.5 kilometers per hour (50 mph), it would have traveled 1.93 million kilometers (1.2 million miles) without an oil change or tune up. The purpose of the test is to understand how an ion engine wears, and what phenomena contribute to its eventual end of life. With this information, NASA scientists can plan missions better and design improved ion engines.
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=9186

Speed of Gravity To Be Measured

Astronomers at the worlds largest radio telescopes are gearing up to measure the speed of gravity.It is the first attempt to verify a key prediction of Einsteins theory of general relativity, which says that nothing, not even the influence of gravity itself, can travel faster than light.No one has ever tested this prediction, even though the assumption that gravity travels in waves or gravitons with a finite speed underpins much of theoretical physics. The difficulty is that if light and gravity travel at the same speed, how can you hope to see evidence of gravitys speed?The answer, says Sergei Kopeikin of the University of Missouri, Columbia, is by watching a distant quasar as the planet Jupiter moves in front of it and its gravity bends radio waves from the quasar. This event is due to happen over the weekend of September 7 and 8. "When I first gave a talk about the idea everybody got excited and said we have to do this," says Kopeikin.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992763

Inteview With The Creator Of Pitfall

One week before Pitfall! was to be released, I only gave you one life to play the whole game. I was experimenting with that concept as sort of the ultimate challenge. Thats right, fall in one pit and start over from the beginning! Well, thankfully my buddies practically tied me to my chair until I put in extra lives and Im glad they did. But most of the help came in much smaller details - things so small that taken individually you would never notice. It was the sum total of all the feedback and suggestions that polished the games to a fine edge.
http://www.gooddealgames.com/interviews/int_David_Crane.html