Internet crime story of the day is a little warning to those internet pranksters. A couple of Russian guys who were posing as Soviet military officers planning on launching a nuclear attack on their own country got nabbed. They didnt just get a slap on the wrist either, they got 1 year of jail time each.

The hoax triggered the alarm of the U.S. FBI and police in Austria, who both asked Russia to investigate, Tass said. Tass said a court in the provincial city of Kaluga had handed down the sentence after the FSB security police uncovered the pranksters. They were convicted under a statute that outlaws alarmist hoaxes causing material damage or danger to the public.

There is an interesting article up on Wired (Thanks Goddimus) discussing the future of Napster and the company possibly striking a deal with the RIAA. It then continues with the (obvious) notion that there really is no stopping the "idea" and if they do take down Napster there are several programs waiting to take its place. With Napster recently cooperating with Metallica by banning users it looks like those guys are at least "playing ball" with them and RIAA. I dont know about "selling out" or anything though.

It's really going to be interesting to see what the reaction in the hacker community will be if Napster is forced to sign a deal with the recording industry,"  [snip] "Regardless of the future of Napster, file-trading applications will continue to exist on the Web"

Oh yeah, and -sKunK- dug up this article with a prediction of jail terms by a senior official for end users downloading MP3s.

By the way, it's the last chance to call your moms for Mother's Day. Just letting you know. :)

Just letting you know. Went out and saw it today (my friend Andy forced me), I really shouldn't have. It's two hours of my life that I'll never get back, and just thought I should make this public service annoucement for you guys.

David Van Meter sent in this yahoo story which you can point people to in case you're accused of being a gaming dork. It looks like nearly 60% of videogame players are 'social'

Most American computer and video game users play with their friends and family, according to a survey by the industry this week that seeks to confound the picture of isolated teenagers playing alone in their bedrooms.

Of course, if someone calls you a dork and you point them to a website to prove otherwise...

The Seattle Times has an interesting article up saying that the gender gap on the Internet is basically closed, and has become part of American culture at an unprecedented rate. Of course, by the Killcreek thread you wouldn't know it :)

Well, today is May 11th and should be when Killcreek's pictures debut in the Playboy Cyber Club according to their newsletter a week ago. Since my work frowns upon me browsing porn sites at work, I won't be able to check on this. Plus, I beleive it will be in a pay section of the site called the Cyber Club. So just let us know when the pictures are up for everyone in the comments, ok guys?

update 12:30pm - debaser in the comments got this letter from someone at Playboy about the pictures:

Barring any unforeseen difficulties (server problems, acts of god, etc.), the Stevie Case pictorial is still scheduled to appear in the Playboy Cyber Club later this afternoon. Thanks for your patience!

Best wishes,
Missy Grant
Playboy.com Customer Service

update 3:23pm - A lot of the, errr, astute people in the Comments noticed that the KC pictures are now out at the Playboy Cyber Club.

Hey kids, I suppose Maarten and Steve are having a good time. From what I hear, Steve and Maarten are going to try to talk Jason Hall into a threesome today - guess we'll hear how that goes!

On server stuff, the new network card went in yesterday and things seem to be running smoothly. Of course, the time hiccupped an hour back and everyone PANICKED! :-) As for the new threading stuff, that should go in whenever. I really wouldn't expect it before the weekend right now though.

By the by, most of the news today is being gotten from other pages as I don't get emailed news, so I may as well give credit to Blue's, Stomped, and AGN3D all right now.

Here's one of them neato comment surveys to keep you guys busy. As most everybody's probably heard, I didn't win $366 million yesterday. Instead two other jerks did. So what would you guys do with that kind of money? Answer, as always, in the comments.

Just letting you know that while Maarten and Steve are out in L.A. doing circle-jerks, most of the rest of the industry is as well except for me. So game news'll be a little lite over the next few days. I'll try to keep you guys entertained though.

Oh my, get this story on CNET. It looks like Metallica is making more waves in the MP3/Napster community. The lawsuit they filed (and some follow-up) a little while ago just got a bunch of people banned from the Napster service. (Until they reconnect with a new accounts/IPs, heh) Thanks andrew young.

Music software company Napster said today it has blocked 317,377 user screen names that have been identified by Metallica as allegedly infringing on the rock band's copyrights. Last week, the band delivered 13 boxes full of legal documents identifying user names of people who allegedly had made Metallica songs available online and demanded that they be blocked from the MP3 music-swapping service.

It looks like it's a crime to love guys. ZDNet is reporting that they tracked down the guy who wrote that ILOVEYOU virus that was causing havoc all over the net. The funny thing is when they raided the guys house and confiscated stuff, he didnt even have a computer at home. They tracked it to another computer (his girlfriends)

"It was only (her) computer used to launch the virus that was traced, but anybody could use that computer," an official said. "The user here is invisible; it could be anybody. The difference is that the person we have identified is the registered owner of that computer."

Here's one of those CNN.COM strange stories for ya'll. It's not enough that they take up two parking spots, mow over people in small cars, cause the American gas crisis, and don't bother to signal on the highway. Now the SUV's have to go after our houses....

The weirdos at Brokenpixel have a new article, submitting a Ratpad mouse pad to a 25lb Sledgehammer and fire (AVI included). The results are pretty bad yeah heh.

Been seeing a lot of email come in about this story that originally showed up on /. It looks like we are 'one stop closer' to merging the print media with the online world. This article talks about a new technology that is already showing up on a couple of major newspapers and looks to be getting pretty widespread in the near future. It's actually two technologies, one is 'Digimarks' which basically embed web page URLs into paper that you can actually scan with your webcam, scanner, or a free handheld device that is going to be distributed. Another is very similar using miniature barcodes also scanned in by a small handheld device. Of course who gets attracted to this stuff? The advertisers:

Anything that increases the possibility of impulse buying is bound to attract advertisers. Ford Motor Company, for example, is preparing to include Digimarc's technology in full-page advertisements in both Wired and Popular Mechanics. At least 10 other advertisers, including Visa and Sony, are also planning to test the technology.

I think its pretty cute and all but unless they make the scanners absolutely and incredibly retard proof its gonna bomb.

Oh no get this: "Parents and critics are pressing publisher Simon & Schuster to reconsider releasing "Panty Raider," in which participants find models to strip them down to their underwear to satisfy space aliens threatening to destroy Earth." Amazingly they even worked in a reference to Columbine in their whining about the game. (Here is a snapshot from the game cinematics) Thanks vedder.

Jacobson said she wanted her children to "grow up to be sexually healthy people but I also don't want them constantly bombarded with these kinds of images that locate their gender roles in only these very narrow ways."

Got even more follow-up to the whole Metallica/Napster lawsuit that is going on. NoFaDz.com actually has a chat log from a chat that went down yesterday with members of the band. Here is a quote from one of the band members:

'We're suing Napster for one reason and one reason only. Because they exist to pirate music, nothing more, nothing less. It's not just about the money at the end of the day."

Oh yeah, and you can actually make donations to Metallica if you are so inclined (smirk)

You may remember that AMD's Celeron competitor will be called the Duron. The guys at The Register (thanks Marek Kuzminski) came across something on the website of Durex (condom company, as if I needed to explain that)

The site states: "New technology has considerably improved the condom and enabled the production of far more sophisticated versions than our ancestors were used to. The latest development is DUREX Avanti made from a unique polyurethane material, DURON, which is twice as strong as latex enabling a thinner, more sensitive film."

So you know with AMD, you'll be safe and comfortable.

Keeping with the religious theme today here is another story which you guys should find amusing. A young couple went to church, and being a man the husband had a 'wandering eye' and was checking out one of the other female church folk. So being a woman the wife got upset. But she took it a step further. She hopped in the family car and tried to run him over in the church parking lot. When she missed him (he dodged out of the way) once she wheeled the car around and took another try at it. Here's how it ended:

``But her third try was the charm,'' Hartman said. He said Thompson stood his ground in the middle of the road, convinced that his wife would turn at the last minute. ``She didn't, and the front of the vehicle collided with his upper legs and midsection, throwing him 20 feet into a ditch,'' the spokesman said.

God bless America eh?

Our internet law lesson of the day. A few years back someone hopped on Prodigy and impersonated a boyscout and emailed the scout leader saying he was gonna kill the guy etc. Well the kid that was impersonated happened to have a father who was a lawyer. As you can imagine they went after Prodigy. Prodigy being the technical geniuses could not track down any kind of information on who exactly sent the fake emails. The case made it all the way to Supreme Court where it was shot down. Prodigy could not be held responsible.

What is strange though is you pair up this ruling with that ruling a while ago that Yahoo was held responsible for a posting on their messageboards and things get a little confusing.