Life's Great Expectations!

Sun Nov 5, 6:43 PM ET In this undated photo released by the New Zealand Defense Force, an iceberg is observed from a New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion maritime surveillance airplane on routine fisheries patrol in the southern ocean. A maritime warning has been issued after approximately 100 icebergs were discovered near Auckland Islands, 260 kilometers (160 miles) south of the South Island of New Zealand Friday, Nov. 3, 2006. The largest iceberg about 2 kilometers by 1.5 kilometers (1.2 by 0.9 miles) and more than 130 meters (425 feet) high were found floating in a major ocean shipping lane. (AP Photo/New Zealand Defense Force,HO) Icebergs near NZ after drifting from Atlantic Wed Nov 8, 5:53 AM ET Scores of icebergs have floated to within about 300 km (186 miles) of New Zealand, with the largest measuring about 1.8 km (1.1 miles) in length and standing some 120 meters (360 feet) above w

Kelly Martin 2006-11-05 Another new zero-day exploit for Microsoft systems has appeared, capable of compromising fully patched IE 6/7 systems when a user visits a malicious website. Microsoft has issued an advisory on the ActiveX vulnerability and exploit, first discovered by Secunia and labeled as "extremely critical." All Microsoft systems except Windows Server 2003 are vulnerable. Users may fall victim just by visiting a maliciously crafted website. Deflecting responsibility for the situation, Microsoft advises users affected by the zero-day exploit to, "contact their local FBI office or post their complaint on the Internet Fraud Complaint Center Web site. Customers outside the U.S. should contact the national law enforcement agency in their country." The vulnerability affects hundreds of millions of computer systems, however. Of those vulnerable, it is not known how many users will visit malicious websites that contain the exploit before an official patc

Religious and sectarian passions have taken over and are tearing Iraq apart AMMAN - THE future of Iraq may depend little on whether Saddam Hussein hangs. The Sunni insurgency is so deeply entrenched and sectarian bloodlust so strong that the spiralling violence in Iraq seems set to continue - regardless of its former president's fate. Some fear that the Saddam verdict, by angering the Sunni minority, could intensify the violence once a curfew in Baghdad is lifted. Others say they hope the verdict gives Iraqis a chance 'to unite and build a better future', in the words of US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. But in the end, Saddam's fate is not what is driving the violence in Iraq now. Instead, religious, nationalistic and sectarian passions have taken over and are tearing the country apart. Even if it causes a spasm of violenc

Nov 8, 2006 WHEN the sun sets, the world's two most exciting countries to be in are not the United States or Britain, or even Japan. They are Italy and - surprise, surprise - Singapore, the city that only until recently was known as Dullsville. In any case, Singapore is 'hot', say more than 1,500 frequent travellers and travel experts who ranked it No. 2 for nightlife and dining in a global brand study. The Global Country Brand Index was compiled by brand consultancy FutureBrand and public relations firm Weber Shandwick. Singapore did not even make it to the top 10 last year in this category. The finding stunned nightspot operators. The manager of Clarke Quay pub Crazy Elephant, Ms Anita Lydia, said: 'It's a surprise. I guess one reason is that the Government has loosened up, and a lot of new bars and clubs have injected a lot of colour.' Besides easing restrictions to draw

On 5 Nov 2006, DOUBLE JACKPOT: The lucky winners who bought the number 2096 won two payouts - for its being both second and third prize numbers. Singapore Pools said this was the first time in 20 years that the same number has won both prizes. -- LIM WUI LIANG Same number wins both 2nd and 3rd 4-D prizes ! IT IS a one-in-a-hundred-million chance that a 4D number appears twice in a row. But it happened on Sunday, and several lucky people who bought the number 2096 won two payouts - for its being both the second and third prize number. Singapore Pools, which conducts the 4D draw, said this was the first time in 20 years that the same number had won the second and third prizes. The actual number of winners and total amount paid out cannot be disclosed, but Singapore Pools confirmed that lucky winners have already come forward to claim their extra-plump windfalls. One such lucky

What on earth is happening? Are we running out of research ideas? This is absolutely insane and outrageous! Are we trying to destroy mankind? Is this some kind of ultimatum or armageddon? By approving such experiments, we are acknowledging ourselves as terrorists of our DNA! Is this what stem cells research is all about? What are we trying to achieve? Could we handle the unimaginable outcomes? Perhaps, it's ripe to revisit some ancient medicine, explore deeper into the secrets of accupuncture...or even monitor the strange diets that we have been feeding our animals. The last thing we ever want to see is strange creatures dominating our fragile ecosystem! We should pick up some pointers from sci-fi shows. If humankind could imagine it, it's not gonna be far-fetch! Come on, earthlings! It's time we should stand firm on such controversial issue...before it's too late! We are blessed to have such a beautiful but yet fragile planet to call home. PLS DON'T LET IT BE

Part cow, part human embryo bid by British scientists LONDON - Scientists in Britain applied for permission to create part cow, part human embryos to be used in research on treating diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The procedure, which they hope will provide a plentiful supply of stem cells, involves transferring nuclei containing DNA from human cells to cows' eggs. At present, embryonic stem cells have to be obtained from unwanted early-stage human embryos left over from in-vitro fertilisation treatment. But the proposal has been questioned by some ethics campaigners, who claim it could blur the line between animals and humans. The application was submitted on Monday to Britain's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the body regulating embryo research, by the North-East England Stem Cell Institute, run by the universities of Durham and Newcastle, northern England. Dr Lyle Armstrong, a Newcastle University lecturer leading the team, said the work

Co-founders of YouTube Steven Chen (left) and Chad Hurley, beat out a vaccine and a shirt that simulates a hug to win top honours. -- REUTERS NEW YORK - YouTube, the video-sharing website recently acquired by Google for US$1.65 billion (S$2.58 billion) has grabbed top honours as Time magazine's 'Invention of the Year for 2006'. It beat out a vaccine that prevents a cancer-causing sexually transmitted disease and a shirt that simulates a hug. Time magazine, owned by media conglomerate Time Warner, wrote in an article that YouTube's scale and sudden popularity have changed the rules about how information - along with fame and embarrassment - gets distributed over the Web. It had 27.6 million unique visitors in September, according to Nielsen NetRatings. YouTube came along at just the right time, according to Time: social-networking websites were hot, camcorders were cheap and do-it-yourself media was expanding beyond text-based blogs. YouTube inherits the tiara from Snupp

REDMOND (Washington) - Microsoft Corp said it has wrapped up work on its delayed Office 2007 suite and released the code to manufacturing. The world's largest software maker announced last week that Office 2007, along with updates of its Windows operating system and Exchange server for e-mail and calendars, would be made available to large business customers on Nov 30. The products are to be offered to retail consumers in early 2007, with prices for the full standard edition starting at US$399 (S$625) and upgrades starting at US$239. In June, the company delayed its release of Office, which includes its popular Word word processing, Excel spreadsheet, and PowerPoint presentation programmes. Office 2007 had been scheduled for release to big corporate customers in October and to consumers and smaller businesses in January. But Microsoft said feedback from technical experts and its own staff during 'beta' testing raised enough concerns about quality and performance that it dec