I think I like this story because of the title more than anything else….

The Register: Proceedings in the Italian Senate were disrupted this week after hackers used a computer worm to display hardcore gay porn on computer monitors.

Computers in the Senate chamber, and Senator’s office, were affected by the attack which used variants of the Rbot worm to disseminate smut across the upper house of the Italian parliament. The Rbot family of worms includes a backdoor component which allows crackers to seize control of infected computers, steal information or in this case redirect users towards “inappropriate” content.

The world is a sick place….

BBC: A Scottish firm has been criticised by the family of John F Kennedy for producing a game which recreates the president’s assassination in Dallas.
“JFK Reloaded” was released on Monday to coincide with the 41st anniversary of the president’s assassination.

Two words: Sick f*ck.

BBC: Pupils were left in tears after a teacher told them that an asteroid was about to hit Earth and kill them all.
The spoof announcement was designed to teach 14-year-olds the importance of seizing the day but backfired after they became visibly frightened.

Keith Hogan, head teacher at St Matthew’s RC High School in Moston, Manchester, said he regretted any distress caused to the 230 pupils…He had told the year nine students that the asteroid was on a “collision course”. It is also believed that the students were told that they should go home and say “final farewells” to their families.

The teacher then admitted the story was a stunt aimed at underlining the theme of the assembly – “living each day to the full”.

Extremely bizarre but true, and I believe it goes to the real issue of the American Paradox: a society which condones, indeed promotes and normalises violence yet flinches at the slightest hint of skin or sex. The Janet Jackson scandal comes to mind…..

Wired: Internet pornography is the new crack cocaine, leading to addiction, misogyny, pedophilia, boob jobs and erectile dysfunction, according to clinicians and researchers testifying before a Senate committee Thursday.

Witnesses before the Senate Commerce Committee’s Science, Technology and Space Subcommittee spared no superlative in their description of the negative effects of pornography.

I’d think this would take about 2 1/2 hours on the cross trainer at 70 and Level 8 to burn off, but doesn’t it sound delish!

MSNBC> As many fast-food chains introduce healthier fare amid fears of being sued, Hardee?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Äû¬¢s is bucking the trend, serving up a megaburger with 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat.

St. Louis-based Hardee?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Äû¬¢s Food Systems Inc. Monday rolled out its Monster Thickburger ?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Ǩ¬ù two one-third-pound slabs of Angus beef, four strips of bacon, three slices of cheese and mayonnaise on a buttered sesame seed bun. The sandwich alone sells for $5.49 or $7.09 with a medium fries (520 calories) and soda (about 400 calories)….

…In an interview on CNBC, Hardee’s chief executive Andrew Puzder was unapologetic, saying the company’s latest sandwich is “not a burger for tree-huggers.”

“This is a burger for young hungry guys who want a really big, delicious, juicy, decadent burger,” he said. “I hope our competitors keep promoting those healthy products, and we will keep promoting our big, juicy delicious burgers.”

Only in America….

John Hostettler, the Congressman representing the 8th district of Indiana, has been convinced by local religious groups to introduce legislation in the House that would change the name of an Interstate 69 extension to a more moral sounding number.

There are plans to extend the interstate from Indianapolis through southwestern Indiana all the way through Texas into Mexico in the coming years. While most believe this highway will be good for the state?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Äû¬¢s economy, religious conservatives believe ?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?Ö‚ÄúI-69?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨? sounds too risqu?É?í?Ǭ© and want to change the interstate?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Äû¬¢s number.

Hossier Gazette

Hillarious, long but worth the read
“”I’m not sure where we went wrong,” says Ellen McCormack, nervously fondling the recycled paper cup holding her organic Kona soy latte. “It seems like only yesterday Rain was a carefree little boy at the Montessori school, playing non-competitive musical chairs with the other children and his care facilitators.”
read more>

I’m not so sure what to make of this, the Blogosphere seems to be obsessed at the moment with this picture.

Free speech or post election boredom? you be the judge.

The BBC provides some interesting tales from computer recovery firms:

One user put his hard drive in a freezer, after reading on the internet that this can fix malfunctioning hardware
When tidying up his computer folders, one user inadvertently deleted the ones he meant to keep. He only realised he’d made the mistake after emptying the recycle bin and defragging the hard drive
While a large office was being constructed, a steel beam fell on a laptop that contained the plans for the building.
A female user placed her laptop on top of her car while getting in. Forgetting about the laptop, it slid off the roof and she then reversed straight over it as she set off

I didn’t have the heart to link this from the Blog Herald as its just too bizarre

Engadget: “After the success of PostPets it was clear that Japan had a taste for having information delivered to the desktop by fluffy animals, and now the inevitable has happened: A cute RSS reader is upon us. Ageet?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Äû¬¢s Gene TrialTypeA software aims to pull in non-geek users by offering an interface that allows you to drag-and-drop feed links into it, upon which the mouselike creature called Gene (pictured right) will obligingly eat them and read you the headlines via speech bubbles or aloud. “

Be sure to check out the pic on the link. Bizarre…..