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Wednesday, February 6, 2008

David S. Touretzky, prominent free speech activist and critic of Scientology, discussed his opinions on the recent Internet backlash against the Church of Scientology in an interview with former Scientologist and Wikinews reporter Nicholas Turnbull. The recent conflict on the Internet between critics of Scientology and the Church has been spurred on in declarations by a nebulous Internet entity using the name Anonymous that the Church of Scientology “will be destroyed”. Anonymous has directed recent protests at Scientology centres across the world, which have attracted significant numbers of individuals supporting the cause. In recent e-mail correspondence with Wikinews, a representative of the Church of Scientology declared that the Church considers the activities of Anonymous to be illegal, and that Anonymous “will be handled and stopped”.

Touretzky, a research professor in artificial intelligence and computational neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon University, has been a prominent critic of the Church of Scientology since mid-1995, and has been protesting against Scientology vociferously since then; he has also run websites that publish material that Scientology wishes to keep suppressed from the public eye, such as extracts from Scientology’s formerly-confidential Operating Thetan (OT) materials. Touretzky views the actions of the Church of Scientology as being “a threat to free speech”, and has endured harassment by the Church of Scientology for his activities.

The Church of Scientology continues to suffer damage to its public reputation through increased exposure on the Internet and vocal protests by Scientology critics such as Prof. Touretzky. A recent event that focused intense attention on Scientology’s totalitarian attitude was the leak of an internal Church of Scientology propaganda video to the Internet video sharing site YouTube, in which celebrity Scientologist Tom Cruise spoke heavily in Scientology’s jargon and stated that that “we [Scientology] are the authorities” on resolving the difficulties of humanity. The declaration of war by Anonymous followed shortly after this leak, in the form of a video posted to the Internet.

The ongoing dispute, cast by some as Scientology versus the Internet, brought Scientology terms such as “SP” (Suppressive Person, an enemy of Scientology) and “KSW” (Keeping Scientology Working) into general usage by non-Scientologists from the late 1990s onwards; increased attention has been drawn to Scientology by the release of the Cruise video in addition to media coverage. This focus has caused an even greater propagation of these terms across the outside world, as Touretzky comments in the interview.

Wikinews asked Prof. Touretzky about the impact that the activities of Anonymous will have on Scientology, the public relations effect of the Tom Cruise video, the recent departure of individuals from the Church of Scientology’s executive management, the strategies that Anonymous will employ and Touretzky’s experiences of picketing the Church.

Monday, August 27, 2012

London, England — As Paralympians ready for the Games which are set to open later this week, they have access to a world class fitness center inside the Paralympic Village which is designed to maximise their pre-Game preparations.

According to volunteers staffing the center, instead of being a single large room, as in Beijing, the building has numerous rooms. It, along with the adjacent Village Services Centre, is designed to be converted into a school after the games conclude. Rooms have been structured as a gym, an auditorium, and science laboratories.

Gym equipment is supplied by Technogym, an Italian firm that has supplied gym equipment for the Olympics since 2000. Equipment has been provided not just for for the Fitness Centre, but for gyms at all the Olympic venues. The newest equipment is oriented toward maximum flexibility, allowing athletes to exercise the particular muscles that they most require for their sport.

In addition to the equipment, the Fitness Centre also provides instructors trained in the use of the equipment, the likes of which athletes from many countries have never seen before. There are also a number of instructors available to provide motivational training.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

40 families have been evacuated from their homes in the Guardia Civil barracks in Calahorra, La Rioja, today after a car bomb exploded, because of the damage done to the building. There were only some slight cuts and bruises caused by the blast which happened around 2pm. Among the injured is a Civil Guard who suffered a neck injury when he threw himself to the ground. National Radio says that eight people were treated in the local hospital, and all had been allowed home after treatment.

The device was placed by the Basque terrorist group ETA. A warning was given in the form of a phone call to the DYA road assistance association in Vizcaya in the name of ETA half an hour before it went off. The bomb was placed in a blue Honda Civic which was blown across the street by the force of the explosion. The owners of the vehicle where found later this afternoon, tied up in a building in a mountainous region some 100kms away. They have told the police that their car was taken from at gunpoint during the morning.

The place where the bomb exploded is a busy one, not least because one of Spain’s famous Holy Week processions had only just finished. The same barracks suffered another ETA attack, again without victims, back in 1983. The Civil Guard feared that a second device may have been placed in the same area today.

A demonstration against the outrage has been called for outside the Calahorra Town Hall at 8pm tonight. The President of the La Rioja regional government, Pedro Sanz, will visit the scene and take part in the demonstration. He said that a massacre could have taken place had the area not been cleared.

Today’s attack comes just two weeks after the last ETA victim, the ex Socialist councillor, Isaías Carrasco, was shot out his home in Mondragón.

? July 18, 2010

July 20, 2010 ?

July 19

Pages in category “July 19, 2010”

Friday, June 13, 2008

Almost all the prisoners kept in Kandahar jail have escaped after the building was attacked by Taliban militants. Police have reported that “a suicide attacker drove his way into the main gate of the prison, it was very strong and destroyed the gate and two sides of the surrounding wall.” About 350 militants participated in the attack, and 15 guards were killed, while about 1,000 prisoners escaped.

The Taliban used a combination of two suicide bombers and roughly 30 other militants on motorcycles with rockets and small-arms to attack the prison. The suicide bombers destroyed the main gate to the prison, as well as a wall. Afterwards, the other militants engaged in a massive gun attack on the prison guards, allowing prisoners to escape.

A state of emergency has been declared throughout Kandahar province, as large numbers of both Afghan and NATO forces have been deployed to track down the escaped prisoners.

This exclusive interview features first-hand journalism by a Wikinews reporter. See the collaboration page for more details.

Friday, November 3, 2006

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Don Valley West (Ward 26). Four candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include Muhammad Alam, Bahar Aminvaziri, Orhan Aybars, Michele Carroll-Smith, Mohamed Dhanani, Abdul Ingar, Geoff Kettel, Debbie Lechter, Natalie Maniates, John Masterson, John Parker, David Thomas, Csaba Vegh, and Fred Williams.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.

1 Geoff Kettel
2 Natalie Maniates
3 John Parker
4 Csaba Vegh

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Randall Munroe is the writer of the popular webcomic xkcd. The comic is known for its geeky humor and minimalist drawing style that generally uses stick figures. Munroe worked as a contractor for NASA before writing xkcd full time in 2006.

Wikinews reporter Joshua Zelinsky interviewed Munroe at Vericon, Harvard’s annual science fiction convention.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Until a patch is issued, Microsoft recommends that users close or block TCP port 3389, the port opened when the Remote Assistance service of its Microsoft Windows operating system (OS) is enabled. The Remote Assistance feature is a service of the OS that allows Internet Technology administrators of corporate workgroups remote access to other desktops to perform maintenance and other configuration tasks from their own computer. It can also be used by on-line tech support sites. A support assistant can go into a user’s machine, if the service is enabled, and themself make changes directly to another person’s computer to resolve an issue.

To initialize the remote assistance feature, the user of the helper computer must first make a request of the user of the target computer. Compliance must be granted by the user of the target machine, which then fully opens the communication port of the target machine to the helper computer. The operator of the helper computer then has control of target computer to make changes at will. The user of the target machine can watch in a separate window the actions of the helper, and either party to the session can end it at any time.

In a telephone conversation with a Microsoft representative Tuesday, it was learned that work to develop a security patch is underway, but when it will be available is unclear. It was cited that a patch must work consistently across multiple platform versions of the OS.

The vulnerability, thought at first to affect only Windows XP SP2, is now believed to affect all current Windows editions, including Windows 2000, Windows XP SP1, Windows XP Professional x64, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 SP1, and Windows Server x64.

The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is not enabled by default, however if the service is enabled, a Denial of Service attack could cause the OS to restart unexpectedly according to Microsoft, or experience buffer overflows according to Symantec. The RDP is enabled by default on Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Microsoft suggests users block TCP port 3389 (the port used by RDP) on their firewall, or disable Terminal Services or Remote Desktop if not required by the user. The remote desktop connections could also be secured using either Internet Protocol Security or a virtual private network connection until a patch is ready.

To disable Remote Assistance on a Windows XP Edition, the steps are:

click ‘Start’, right-click ‘My Computer’, select ‘Properties’
select ‘Remote’ tab on top of the ‘Systems Properties’ window, clear checkbox that says “Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer.”
click ‘Apply’ button

The group, Internet Storm Center, detected spikes in scanning for port 3389 beginning July 6. Larger numbers of systems scanned were reported on July 13. Crackers may be scanning for vulnerable machines, the group said.

“It’s a kernel vulnerability,” said VP of engineering for Symantec Alfred Huger, “so it will be difficult to exploit reliably. But he [the original discoverer] found the vulnerability with a commonly-used tool, so if he can find it, so can others. I don’t think it will turn it into a large-scale worm, but then, some kernel vulnerabilities have ended up as just that, like the Witty worm.”

[edit]

Saturday, June 11, 2005

Wrangling between musician Michael Jackson‘s legal and public relation teams may have yielded its first casualty. Jackson’s official website, www.mjjsource.com, reports that Jackson’s MJJ Productions has terminated spokeswoman Raymone Bain and public relations firm Davis, Bain, and Associates. On Wednesday, Bain held a press conference amidst a court-issued gag order which she implied was sanctioned by the Jackson legal team. The same day, Jackson’s attorney Thomas Mesereau, Jr. released a court-approved terse message: “I have not authorized anyone to speak or hold any press conferences on behalf of Michael Jackson or his family.”

Despite the www.mjjsource.com announcement, late Friday the Associated Press quotes Bain responding, “I have not been fired by Michael Jackson.” Bain says she works directly for Jackson himself, not MJJ Productions.

The controversy occurs as Michael Jackson awaits a verdict on charges that he molested a teenage boy in 2003. On Friday, the jury completed its sixth day of deliberations. The twelve jurors will reconvene on Monday.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The FBI is investigating 26 firms and 1,400 individuals involved in the US financial crisis for fraud and “sub-prime lending practices”. Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and AIG are among the firms being scrutinized after recently receiving federal bailouts.

Investigators, who are cooperating with the IRS, Postal Office, and other federal offices to complete their investigation, are concerned that major corporations may have also forced or bribed ratings agencies to favor them.

The probe, which is in early stages, began eight months ago when the FBI began taking a close look at the mortgage industry and widespread irresponsible loaning practices. At least one corporation has been raided, but so far no evidence of fraud has been found.

The FBI has questioned executives of each of the firms closely, and arrested two in June. An anonymous source told The Times that the firms had been ordered to “hold all papers and e-mails under lock and key” as the FBI scours the finances of each firm.

Many of the companies and individuals being investigated are at the center of the nationwide financial crisis and controversial bailout plans, and have been widely blamed for the country’s financial crisis. The investigation has come at a time when the eyes of many in the US and around the world are turned towards the financial markets, as Congress and politicians scramble to fix the crisis while the election date looms closer.

Officials told CNN that it would be a long time before the investigations were finished, adding a warning: “Don’t expect indictments tomorrow or next week or next month”.

justdanceitoff.com

Categories

David S. Touretzky discusses Scientology, Anonymous and Tom Cruise

Athletes prepare for 2012 Summer Paralympics at the Paralympic Fitness Centre

ETA set off car bomb in La Rioja, Spain

Category:July 19, 2010

Pages in category “July 19, 2010”

Prisoners escape from Afghan jail after Taliban attack

Canada’s Don Valley West (Ward 26) city council candidates speak

Contents

Randall Munroe, writer of xkcd, talks about the comic, politics and the internet

Remote Assistance service of Windows OS vulnerable to attack

[edit]

Firing of Michael Jackson spokeswoman disputed

FBI begins widespread financial probe of 26 firms