cows

Old-time hacktivists: Anonymous, you've crossed the line

In December 1998, a U.S.-based hacker group called Legions of the Underground declared cyberwar on Iraq and China and prepared to protest human rights abuses in those countries by disrupting their Internet access.

About a week later, a coalition of hackers from groups including Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc), L0pht, Chaos Computer Club in Germany, and hacker mags 2600 and Phrack issued a statement condemning the move. "We - the undersigned - strongly oppose any attempt to use the power of hacking to threaten to destroy the information infrastructure of a country, for any reason," … Read more

Is this the end for red light cameras?

There seems to be a strange whiff of honesty swirling around the robot policemen known as red light cameras.

In different parts of the world, authorities are wondering whether there is any real benefit in having them at all. Yes, even financial benefit.

In the home of the automobile--no, not Detroit, Los Angeles--the Police Commission is, according to MSNBC, requesting that red light cameras should be removed before the Lakers and Clippers begin their new season.

You might wonder whether these objections are based on curiously moral grounds. Well, some objectors do, indeed, believe that red light cameras are merely … Read more

The 404 652: Where we see you driving around town with the girl I love (podcast)

You know you have a hit single when Jeff gets off his antiboogie butt and dances to it; such is the case with Cee-lo Green's latest single from an upcoming album titled "The LadyKiller."

The song title described by the Washington Post as a "two-word, Anglo-Saxon, hortatory phrase whose first word is typically rendered by dashes or a string of nonsense characters from the upper levels of a keyboard," rhymes with "Cluck You" and has already racked up over 2 million YouTube hits since its release earlier this week.

The up-tempo beat is … Read more

Tipping cows down on the FarmVille

There's a silly but enduring bit of apocrypha about the alleged rural pastime of "cow tipping"--in which, supposedly, there are so few ways for mischievous young people in the boondocks to amuse themselves that they resort to knocking over cows standing in slumber. (Actually, cows don't sleep upright. Should you try to "tip" a standing cow, be forewarned: it isn't asleep.)

Fittingly, a recently launched Facebook-based game designed to make a statement about the supposed inanity of other Facebook games--like the now-antiquated "sheep throwing" of Slide's SuperPoke and the … Read more

Crave 02: While the Donald's away...(podcast)

Jasmine picks up the slack on Donald's sick day and gets fab producer Jason Howell and "huge" CNET Labs editor Eric Franklin to co-host the latest Crave podcast. We scoured Crave to bring you only the best gems, and this week, we came up with a luxurious $15K speaker from Bowers & Wilkes, some Twitter-friendly dairy cows, a gadget porn crackdown, and the latest Japanese auto innovation. Also, no Crave podcast would be complete without a little something gross to cap it off. Tune in to find out what.

Subscribe in iTunes SD Video |  Subscribe in RSS SD Video… Read more

Help kids learn about animals

Peekaboo Barn is a farm-themed educational game designed for toddlers, from which kids can learn about animal sounds and names. Fittingly for this age group, Peekaboo Barn has a very simple and satisfying schtick: a red barn bounces up and down gently as you hear a muffled animal noise. You tap the barn to open its doors, revealing the now-louder animal. Its name appears, and is also spoken aloud (charmingly, by a fellow toddler in English, or by an adult in Spanish mode).

The game cycles through 10 different farm animals in this way--everything from a cat to a cow … Read more

If you're in the mooood for coffee

As the years after my first sip of coffee have gone by, I've transitioned slowly into a full-blown coffee addict. My rushed morning cravings for the stuff on busy work days, however, haven't yet dulled the enjoyment that I get from sipping a slow cup on my days off--nothing beats a lazy late brunch with a full pot straight from the French press.

If I cook brunch for a group, then setting out coffee with a sugar bowl and creamer pitcher is a necessity, but even if I eat alone, leaving the sugar and milk separate until I'… Read more

Creative Moo a surefire way to insult girlfriend

It's called the Creative Zen Moo, folks, and it's for real. The cow-shaped line of MP3 players was unveiled this week at a technology conference showcasing a handful of Creative's upcoming products.

The Zen Moo is essentially a bovine rehash of Creative's Zen Stone MP3 player, offered in two configurations (Moo and Moo Plus), each with four color variations (white, pink, red, and yellow). Like the Zen Stone Plus, the Moo Plus (seen across the top) includes an OLED screen, integrated speaker, FM radio, and voice recorder. A tamagotchi-like game is also included on the Plus … Read more

Google Earth shows cows point north

My grandparents in England had cows on their farm so I've always had a lot of affection for them, and was delighted to read this story from the Los Angeles Times indicating a "hidden cow power." Turns out cows may have internal compasses much like birds and bees do for orienting themselves to magnetic north.

Using satellite images on Google Earth, German scientists were able to see that all over the planet, cows stand with their bodies pointing to magnetic north.

Studying photographs of 8,510 cattle in 308 herds from around the world, zoologists Sabine Begall … Read more