All Star Metals now owns the historic USS Forrestal and will tow the 1,067-foot ship to its facility in Brownsville, Texas, where it will be scrapped. Though the ship has a long history—launched in 1954, it was the Navy's first supercarrier, and was the site of a Vietnam War tragedy—the Navy got no "viable applications" during its attempt to hand it to a museum or have it made into a memorial, Fox News reports.

In the end, maintenance on the ship, which cost $217 million to build (more like $2 billion in today's dollars) and was decommissioned in 1993, became just too costly. The Navy was "caught between a rock and a hard place," says a USS Forrestal Association historian and survivor of the 1967 incident, which saw an A-4 Skyhawk struck by an accidentally-launched rocket, causing a chain reaction of blasts and blazes that killed 134 and injured hundreds more. A high-profile survivor? The man in the cockpit of that A-4 Skyhawk, one John McCain.

| Fox News #end.

Very important lesson for drug traffickers: Do not store your half-ton of weed in the backseat of your car. A Brazilian drug smuggler did just that, police say, and the man was killed when he crashed into a tree while being chased by police ... because the 1,100 pounds of weed came barreling forward and crushed him against the steering wheel.

Federal police started the chase when the man didn't stop at a road block, Jalopnik reports, citing local media. The chase went on for three miles before the as-yet-unidentified man lost control of his car; he was killed instantly.



| Newser#end.

In its latest experiment with live coverage of mundane events, Norway's public broadcasting network plans to dedicate five hours of air-time to an attempt to break the knitting world record. The NRK network says the Nov. 1 broadcast will be preceded by a four-hour knitting documentary.

"It's kind of ordinary TV but very slow, although they'll be knitting as fast as they can," says a producer. The Norwegians hope to break the non-stop knitting record of 4 hours 50 minutes. Live TV in Norway has already enticed viewers with minute-by-minute salmon fishing, a five-day broadcast from a cruise ship, and several hours of watching a fire burn itself out.

| Newser/BBC #end.

The future is always unknown, especially the distant future, but that shouldn’t stop us from making educated guesses. That’s exactly what artist and researcher Nickolay Lamm did with help from Dr. Alan Kwan, who has a doctorate in computational genomics from Washington University. Their starting point was the question: “What do you think the human face might look like in 100,000 years and why?”

From there, they reasoned out how humanity with advanced genetic engineeringtechnology might reshape itself over time, taking over the role played by natural selection so far. Lamm then created a series of images of what he thinks the human face might look like 20,000 years, 60,000 years and 100,000 years in the future (Note: He said that we shouldn’t read too much into the fact that the man and woman are Caucasian because those were just the best models he could find).

Image: Today

| MNN / Photo: Courtesy of Nickolay Lamm#end.

Don Bailey and Matthew Solnik, researchers at iSEC Partners presented their work at the Black Hat 2011 security conference in Las Vegas, explaining how they can use an Android phone to carry out a technique they've dubbed "war-texting". The new technique relies on intercepting text messages, which many devices use to send commands or even firmware (permanent software programmed into a read-only memory) updates.

By setting up a local GSM network in the vicinity of a Subaru Outback, the team were able to intercept password authentication messages sent between the electronic key fob and the vehicle. What happens next is not exactly known, because the researchers haven't divulged all their secrets as a courtesy to the manufacturer.

However, what we do know is that intercepting those authentication messages allowed the team to understand the basic commands required to communicate with the security system of the car. Once they knew those details, they were able to send their own messages to the system in order to reverse-engineer the firmware - effectively learning how the entire device works.

From there, they could work out which commands were useful, and write their own messages to send that could unlock - and even start the engine of - the car. The whole process took them just a matter of hours. The team haven't gone into detail about which other cars might share these vulnerabilities, but the communication devices built into the vehicle are generic items - so the chances are that the problem could be widespread.

More worryingly, their technique could be used to attack other systems. Any device that routinely recieves firmware updates via text message, such as traffic control systems and security cameras, could be fair game. Perhaps worst of all, it could also attack SCADA sensors, which are used to monitor industrial systems such as the power grid and water supplies. "I could care less if I could unlock a car door," Don Bailey told CNN. "It's cool. It's sexy. But the same system is used to control phone, power, traffic systems. I think that's the real threat."

Though there has been no formal statement made by Subaru, Bailey has notified the manufacturer, and they are apparently taking steps to remedy the situation.

| newscientist #end.

搬砖 (ban1 zhuan1) – “to move bricks”, describes the kind of jobs that working class and lower class people tend to do

This year, the phrase 吊丝 (diao4 si1) has come to be used as a self-deprecating term for the average poor young person in contrast to the “tall, rich, and handsome”高富帅 (gao1 fu4 shuai4). Young Chinese netizens are quite conscious of class distinction online, and with people like Guo Meimei and members of the “rich second generation” 富二代 (fu4 er4 dai4) flaunting their wealth, 吊丝 apparently think their position means that they fight harder to get through life. Because many migrant worker and blue collar workers do labor intensive jobs like construction, the term 搬砖 has come to represent the work conditions of the average 吊丝. Also, 搬砖 has been used as slang for playing mah jong, since mah jong games begin with shuffling the tiles around.

不能我一个人瞎! (bu4 neng2 wo3 yi1 ge4 ren2 xia1) “I can’t go blind by myself!” – indicates excitement that you want to share with others

When internet users find something so amazing they can’t keep it to just themselves, they might share it using this phrase, like when a user found an old video of a classic drama and shared in on Tianya, saying, “不能我一个人瞎！！！“

打开方式不对 (da3 kai1 fang1 shi4 bu4 dui4) “The way I opened it wasn’t right” – the results are disappointingly not what was expected

When someone tried to watch a video that wouldn’t load on Internet Explorer, they said 一定是我 打开方式不对，meaning, “It must be (definitely is) the way I opened it that wasn’t right.” Since then the phrase has caught on to express a shocking disappointment at anything something thinks is wrong. When Wuhan’s air quality was listed as fourth worst in the country for the day of January 23, a popular Weibo message read, “I definitely opened it wrong. Today Wuhan’s air pollution index is the fourth worst in the country, severe pollution.” (“一定是我打开的方式不对，武汉今天的空气污染指数全国排名第四，属重度污染。“)

梗 (geng4) – indicates a funny expression

梗 is a variant of 哏, which indicates something humorous or interesting. For example, you can say, “這相聲多哏兒啊,”to say, “This crosstalk is very funny.”

毁三观 (hui3 san1 guan1) – describes something that topples your expectations

毁三观 means “to topple three viewpoints.” Those three viewpoints or ideologies refer to a worldview (世界观), system of values (价值观), and life viewpoint (人生观). One person on Weibo, upon seeing a mural of Lei Feng, said, “雷人的雷锋，雷锋在我印象中不是这样子的，毁三观啊，有木有？” (“Shocking Lei Feng. My impression of Lei Feng was not like this. 毁三观啊， yes, or no?”)

觉累不爱 (jue2 lei4 bu4 ai4) – “I’m too tired to love!”

This phrase originated when a 13-year-old girl posted, “很累，感觉自己不会再爱了.”(“I’m very tired, I don’t think I can love again.”) Netizens thought it was funny because a 13-year-old girl is too young to love, not too tired, and 13-year-olds have very easy lives compared to their brothers and sisters who are working and leading their own lives.

快到碗里来 (kuai4 dao4 wan3 li3 lai2) – “Get in the bowl quickly.”

In an M&M’s commercial, a girl tells her boyfriend she wants to eat chocolate, so the boy gets a bowl and opens the cabinet. Inside the cabinet, two of the M&M characters start throwing food at the boy. The boy tells them “Get in the bowl quickly,” (“快到碗里来”), but the M&M’s respond, “You get in the bowl.” (“你才到碗里去！“)

绳命 (sheng2 ming4) – an alternative way to say 生命

When a Buddhist master from Hebei was interviewed with monkeys climbing all over him, he spoke in a thick Hebei accent, making 生命 (sheng1 ming4) sound like 绳命. While he said, “Life is so splendid,” (“生命，是多么的辉煌，“）netizens thought he got his tones wrong and thought he sounded like he was saying,, “绳命，是剁么的回晃,”which is a bunch of gibberish.. Now netizens can simply say 绳命 where you want to say 生命, just like they sometimes replace 木 for 没 in phrases like 有木有.

十动然拒 (shi2 dong4 ran2 ju4) – “You really move me, but I must reject you.”

When a man made a very special gesture toward a girl he liked asking for her love, although she was very moved, she rejected him. The phrase “十分感动，然后拒绝了他” (Very moved, but then rejected him) has since become used to describe situations where a boy does something moving for a girl but nonetheless gets rejected.
| ChinaHush #end.

The equivalent of a head nod or wink, the 'poke' in its old form is rarely used today as the site has become more advanced, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

It has now been reinvented to be called 'Facebook Poke' and allows users to send fleeting messages, pokes, photos and 10-second videos to friends.

The messages expire after a set period of time, from 1 to 10 seconds, and cannot be retrieved by either party again, making it perfect for sending salacious images without leaving a trail.

"With the Poke app, you can poke or send a message, photo, or video to Facebook friends to share what you're up to in a lightweight way," said the site in a blog post announcing the new app.

When you open the app, you can choose from a set of icons at the bottom of the screen to send a poke, type a 120-character message, open the camera to snap a picture - you cannot choose an existing photo - or shoot a 10-second video.

You then decide how long you want the recipient to see the message for.

It is said the new facility is similar to Snapchat, an app which is popular with younger age users, and which has gained a reputation as a tool for sending risque images.

Facebook is encouraging users to report inappropriate messages.

"If you ever see something you're uncomfortable with, you can click the gear menu and report it," the paper quoted the company as saying.
| MB #end.

Steve Thurber says he was walking along Schooner’s Cove in Tofino on Monday when he found the old bottle lying in the sand. It was in an area recently excavated as part of a Parks Canada invasive species restoration project.

The bottle was sealed and had a note inside.

Thurber did not want to open or break the bottle for fear of damaging the letter inside, but he was able to make out through the glass that the note was dated September 29, 1906 and was signed by Earl Willard, who was sailing from San Francisco to Bellingham aboard the Steamer Rainier when he threw the bottle into the ocean, 76 hours into the voyage.

It even lists Willard’s address in Bellingham, which is now the Railway museum.

“Maybe there was only one [bottle] that the guy sent out and I found it. It is like one in a billion chances,” says Thurber.

After researching online records, Thurber says his message in a bottle may be the oldest in the world – with the next oldest dating back to 1914.

“I guess it is a chance thing that you find something that somebody sent out into the water. I mean, even if it was a year later or ten years later, but a hundred years later is just unreal,” says Thurber. | Global News #end.