Eideard

A nine-year-old girl whose parents named her Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii was put into court guardianship in New Zealand so that her name could be changed.

A family court judge, Rob Murfitt, gave the order after hearing that the child was embarrassed about her name and had refused to reveal it to friends. “She told people her name was K because she feared being mocked and teased,” the child’s lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.

The judge criticised parents who give their offspring bizarre names, saying it exposed children to ridicule among their peers.

He said the child had a better insight about the situation than her parents, who had apparently not given any thought to the implications of their actions.

In his written ruling, he said names such as Stallion, Yeah Detroit, Fish and Chips, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit were prohibited by registration officials. Others that were permitted included twins called Benson and Hedges, other children called Midnight Chardonnay, Number 16 Bus Shelter and, the judge added, “tragically, Violence”.

More dimwit parents who treat their offspring like a pet instead of a human being. Kids are not a fashion statement.

NSFW – click photo for cover shot

A naked model photographed using Peru’s flag as a saddle while mounted on a horse will face charges that could put her in jail for up to four years for offending patriotic symbols.

The suggestive shot of Leysi Suarez, whose main job is dancing for the band Alma Bella, or Beautiful Soul, was splashed on the cover of DFarandula magazine and has caused a political uproar as Peru prepares to celebrate the 187th anniversary of its independence from Spain on Monday…

Suarez said it was patriotic to pose for the photo. “I haven’t committed a crime. I love Peru and show it with my body and soul,” the dancer said.

Sounds good to me.

A University of Washington study of top-selling laundry products and air fresheners found the products emitted dozens of different chemicals. All six products tested gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, but none of those chemicals was listed on the product labels.

“I first got interested in this topic because people were telling me that the air fresheners in public restrooms and the scent from laundry products vented outdoors were making them sick,” said Anne Steinemann, a UW professor of civil and environmental engineering and of public affairs. “And I wanted to know, ‘What’s in these products that is causing these effects?’”

“I was surprised by both the number and the potential toxicity of the chemicals that were found,” Steinemann said. Chemicals included acetone, the active ingredient in paint thinner and nail-polish remover; limonene, a molecule with a citrus scent; and acetaldehyde, chloromethane and 1,4-dioxane.

“Nearly 100 volatile organic compounds were emitted from these six products, and none were listed on any product label. Plus, five of the six products emitted one or more carcinogenic ‘hazardous air pollutants,’ which are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to have no safe exposure level,” Steinemann said…

The European Union recently enacted legislation requiring products to list 26 fragrance chemicals when they are present above a certain concentration in cosmetic products and detergents. No similar laws exist in the United States.

Gee, what a surprise! To think that our government cares less about the health of citizens using household products – than potential profit margins for the manufacturers of those products. Who’da thunk it?

DNA tests in Guatemala have proven for the first time that a child put up for adoption through the state system was stolen from her mother.

Ana Escobar reported her daughter Esther Sulamita stolen last year and during her search saw the baby with a US woman who was adopting her…

The baby had a false birth certificate but DNA tests proved the parentage and Esther is now back with Ms Escobar…

Ms Escobar searched hospitals and orphanages and while at the National Adoption Council’s offices in May saw a toddler she was convinced was Esther.

A Guatemalan judge allowed Ms Escobar to care for Esther while the new DNA tests were performed.

Bravo! A small victory – but worthwhile – over corruption and gangs rooted in the “undocumentado” culture of the United States and Mexico.

Why should Christians have all the delight of food-revealed messages from beyond?

Diners have been flocking to a restaurant in northern Nigeria to see pieces of meat which the owner says are inscribed with the name of Allah.

What looks like the Arabic word for God and the name of the prophet Muhammad were discovered in pieces of beef by a diner in Birnin Kebbi.

He was about to eat it, when he suddenly noticed the words in the gristle, the restaurant owner said.

A search of the kitchen’s meat revealed three more pieces which bore the names.

“When the writings were discovered there were some Islamic scholars who come and eat here and they all commented that it was a sign to show that Islam is the only true religion for mankind,” he said.

Uh-huh.

Thanks, Mr. Justin

Google has opened its website Knol to the public allowing people to write about their areas of expertise under their bylines in a twist on encyclopedia Wikipedia, which allows anonymity…

The name of the service is a play on an individual unit of knowledge, Cedric DuPont said, and entries on the public website, knol.google.com, are called “knols”. Google conducted a limited test of the site beginning in December.

Knol has publishing tools similar to single blog pages. But unlike blogs, Knol encourages writers to reduce what they know about a topic to a single page that is not chronologically updated.

“What we want to get away from is ‘this last voice wins’ model which is very difficult if you are a busy professional,” DuPont said.

Google will allow Knol writers to run ads on their entries and will share income with them.

Hey, it could be interesting. Just as I wander through www.edge.org when looking for someone authoritative on scientific methods, I can picture certain categories – and writers – developing a reputation at www.knol.com.

AT&T, the biggest telecommunications company in the United States, has a problem: analysts say consumers are dropping traditional landlines faster than expected. The company, which still gets 32 percent of its revenue from its landline business, is reporting its second-quarter financial results and is expected to talk about how its traditional phone service is contracting.

AT&T is not the only company facing a changing environment in the communications business. All of the major U.S. telecommunications companies – AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel – are figuring out how to make more money from customers as they spend more time sending text messages or browsing the Web on their cellphones, rather than talking.

At the same time, as the U.S. cellphone market gets saturated – about 85 percent of American consumers already own a cellphone – phone companies are finding that growth is slowing…

AT&T has been losing landline subscribers each quarter at an accelerated rate since 2006. It dropped 7.4 percent in 2007. Analysts said the economic downturn could also have an effect on the landline business. They say consumers looking to cut expenses will drop their landline – which can cost up to $60 a month – before they drop their wireless phone plan.

Wait till I stop laughing. The Death Star hasn’t paid serious attention to client and customer needs since Alexander Graham Bell.

We have cell phones and VOIP connecting our family to the rest of the world. We need a landline for exactly nothing. The result of careful analysis and shopping is that we have a communications bill that is a small fraction of what it once was.

Yes, there’s still a power cord somewhere

Sony, Samsung and other consumer-electronics heavyweights are uniting to support a technology that could send high-definition video signals wirelessly from a single set-top box to screens around the home.

What the consortium announced is an important development in the race to create a definitive way to replace tangles of video cables, but doesn’t end it — both Sony and Samsung also are supporting a competing technology.

Of course. The article gives you details on the competing technologies to reflect upon if you think this is something that floats your boat.

As a long-time home entertainment geek, I see nothing of value here except the possibility of replacing one cable. Whoop-de-doo!