http://www.inforaptor.com Read, Submit, Vote and Comment News. Fri, 18 May 2012 13:49:52 MST en http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=chessbase-com-chess-news-world-championship-game-6-a-sixth-draw-kasparov-comments Fri, 18 May 2012 13:49:52 MST infox1 Chess 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=chessbase-com-chess-news-world-championship-game-6-a-sixth-draw-kasparov-comments http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=chessbase-com-chess-news-world-championship-game-5-sveshnikov-drawn-in-27-moves-1 Fri, 18 May 2012 13:45:58 MST infox1 Chess 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=chessbase-com-chess-news-world-championship-game-5-sveshnikov-drawn-in-27-moves-1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=romney-is-a-vampire-%7C-weekly-world-news Thu, 17 May 2012 13:30:45 MST infox1 Funny 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=romney-is-a-vampire-%7C-weekly-world-news http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=the-local-vintage-wine-sells-for-49000-in-geneva
An anonymous internet buyer purchased the "Vin Jaune" which hails from Arbois in the eastern Jura region.

Sellers Christie's said the wine had been stored for generations in a vaulted underground cellar by the Vercel family..

Christie's said a bottle from the same batch was tasted by wine experts in 1994 who deemed the vintage, with notes of cinnamon, curry and vanilla, "excellent."

"Nicknamed 'the wine of kings and the king of wines,' this extraordinary bottle is probably the oldest unfortified example of what is to be still an astonishing wine and another true rarity for wine lovers and connoisseurs," said the auction house ahead of the sale. ]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 00:51:13 MST ben Weird 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=the-local-vintage-wine-sells-for-49000-in-geneva http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=swedish-supreme-court-mulls-manga-child-porn-appeal-the-local
“To me personally this might mean that I am finally cleared. For me as an intelligent human being it would be very interesting to see this absurd law finally being tested in the highest instance,” said Lundström to news agency TT before the negotiations started.

The auditorium was filled to the rafters and several expert witnesses were heard when the final appeal of the case was made.

“These are not real people. The prosecution has a tendency to view these drawings as camouflaged photos, but these are animated fantasies," said one of the expert witnesses, Johan Höjer, a researcher in comics from the University of Gävle.

Höjer also said that it is not unusual that erotic drawings come up when doing a Google search for manga.

Lundström, described by Swedish media as a top manga expert, was found guilty by two lower courts of having 39 drawings portraying figures in sexual poses stored on the hard drive of his computer.

The hearing was concluded shortly after 1pm on Wednesday and the verdict will be given “in a few weeks”, according to the court. ]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 00:44:19 MST ben World News 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=swedish-supreme-court-mulls-manga-child-porn-appeal-the-local http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=vw-sweden-hit-by-fiat-google-photo-bomb-the-local
A search on Google Maps for Volkswagen's office in Södertälje, south of Stockholm, brings up a picture of a non-descript gray building featuring "Volkswagen" emblazoned over the main entrance. But what really catches the eye is the compact gleaming red car parked just outside.

While one might at first expect to see a Volkswagen Golf or Beetle, the car hogging the limelight in the Google Street View image is actually a Fiat 500.

The eye-catching juxtaposition of the rival auto brands, first described on Tuesday by Swedish media trade publication Resumé, was quickly praised by Jalopnik, a major US automotive blog.

"Fiat zinged their rival good," the blog hailed. "Volkswagen will likely have to deal with that damn Fiat in front of their building for a year or more. The question is, how did Fiat know?"

However, a spokesman for VW had a different view: "My guess is that the owner [of the Fiat] was in such a hurry to run in and look at some of the new Volkswagen models inside that they left the car parked in sort of an odd place," he quipped.
]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 00:34:53 MST ben Funny 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=vw-sweden-hit-by-fiat-google-photo-bomb-the-local http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=greeks-and-spanish-flee-to-germany-in-job-hunt-the-local-1
There were 90 percent more immigrants to Germany from Greece last year than in 2010 and 52 percent more from Spain in the same time period, the office said.

Overall nearly a million people moved to Germany last year – some 958,000 – which accounts for a 20 percent increase over 2010. With 679,000 people leaving, there was a net influx of 279,000 immigrants – the highest level since 1996, the office said.

Apart from immigrants from crisis-plagued European Union countries, many immigrants came from countries that have recently joined the EU, such as Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.

Most immigrants settled in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse, the data office reported. ]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 00:28:31 MST ben World News 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=greeks-and-spanish-flee-to-germany-in-job-hunt-the-local-1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=ten-essential-german-etiquette-tips-the-local
You may be surprised to hear that Germany has etiquette rules at all. To many expats and travelers in this beautiful country, Teutonic politeness seems - how to put it - generally below the surface.

This is because Germans do not share the self-effacement and conflict-avoidance instincts of, for instance, the British. While Brits prefer to apologise when someone treads on their foot, Germans subscribe more to the "exaggerated sigh and black look" school of etiquette.

But this directness actually makes things easier for the potential holidaymaker/traveller/expat. Since Germans find it very hard to hide their disapproval when you break their social rules, it doesn't take long to find out what rules there are.

Here are some of the things we have discovered. Have you got a faux pas to report as a warning to fellow Anglo-Saxons?
]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 00:24:38 MST ben Funny 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=ten-essential-german-etiquette-tips-the-local http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=merkel-gives-self-and-ministers-pay-rise-the-local
Merkel, her ministers and their parliamentary secretaries of state will see their wages rise in three stages between now and August 2013, until they all get 5.7 percent more. It is the first pay raise that the German cabinet has taken in twelve years.

The chancellor's total pay is set to rise from €16,152 per month before tax to around €17,016. This does not include her €1,022 “special duties” allowance.

Ministers' pay will rise by €750 euros to around €13,795 a month. This will amount to a bump of around €9,000 over a year.

Until now, ministers’ wages have been set relative to those of civil servants. And despite considerable protest about the idea of separating them, particularly over the past two years, the cabinet decided to go ahead with the change.

Merkel, recently named the world's most powerful woman by Forbes Magazine, is famously down-to-earth and was snapped earlier this month shopping on her own for groceries.
]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 00:11:55 MST ben World News 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=merkel-gives-self-and-ministers-pay-rise-the-local http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=merkel-kicks-out-minister-after-election-disaster-the-local
The 46-year-old, who had been seen by many as Merkel’s “crown prince” within her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led a lack-lustre campaign in the western state, taking the party to its worst ever result there at just over 26 percent.

“I spoke with the federal president this morning and asked him... to release Norbert Röttgen from his work as minister to enable a personnel new start,” said Merkel on Wednesday afternoon.

She did not even mention North Rhine-Westphalia, or offer any other reason for his departure, but briefly praised his work as environment minister.

Although he resigned as head of the regional party on Sunday evening once the terrible results were in, Röttgen initially appeared determined to hang onto his ministerial job.

But Merkel got rid of him on Wednesday, replacing him with the chief whip of her parliamentary party, Peter Altmaier.
]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 00:09:09 MST ben World News 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=merkel-kicks-out-minister-after-election-disaster-the-local http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=hope-for-frech-family-who-want-to-keep-fox-as-pet-1
Bamby the boar was taken in by Yvan Blaise in February 2011. He said he would rather die than be separated from his adored pet.

In France, raising a wild animal without special authorisation is illegal.

On Monday, authorities said they would find a "humane solution" to allow the two to stay together.

The news about Bamby has given hope to the Delanes family in the south-western town of Bergerac.

The Delanes took in a young fox in April 2010 after finding him lying by his dead mother on the side of the road. She had been run over by a car.

The fox, who they named Zouzou, was raised like a family pet, eating dog food and drinking water from a dish.

The family has two children and cats, but say they had no problems with Zouzou.
]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 00:06:09 MST ben Weird 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=hope-for-frech-family-who-want-to-keep-fox-as-pet-1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=at-least-30-injured-in-sao-paulo-subway-collision-buenosairesherald-com
The crash occurred around 9.30 am, local time between the stations of Carrao and Tatuape eastern Sao Paulo Capital. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals. ]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 00:01:27 MST ben World News 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=at-least-30-injured-in-sao-paulo-subway-collision-buenosairesherald-com http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=bits-pics-kodaks-1975-model-digital-camera-nytimes-com
To view the filmless photo, the cassette had to be removed from the camera and placed in a customized reader that could display the image on an old black and white television.

When the team of technicians presented the camera to Kodak audiences they of course heard a barrage of curious questions: Why would anyone ever want to view his or her pictures on a TV? How would you store these images? What does an electronic photo album look like?...

]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 23:53:26 MST ben Sci-Tech 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=bits-pics-kodaks-1975-model-digital-camera-nytimes-com http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=whites-account-for-under-half-of-births-in-u-s-nytimes-com Wed, 16 May 2012 23:47:44 MST ben Others 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=whites-account-for-under-half-of-births-in-u-s-nytimes-com http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=did-you-know-kodak-park-had-a-nuclear-reactor
It wasn’t a power plant, and carried no risk of explosion. Nothing ever leaked. Eastman Kodak Co. officials say the research device was perfectly safe.

Still, the reactor was locked down, remotely surveilled and tightly regulated — mainly because it contained 3½ pounds of highly enriched uranium.

That’s the material that nuclear bombs are made of. Terrorists covet it. ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 23:44:29 MST ben Weird 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=did-you-know-kodak-park-had-a-nuclear-reactor http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=fishermans-hook-snags-human-remains-at-lake-in-new-jersey-
New Jersey State Police and the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating the discovery of what they only described as “partial human remains." The reservoir, part of a state park, is mainly in Clinton Township, touching Lebanon.

“The partial remains were recovered by a fisherman who reported his hooks snagged the remains. Authorities were contacted and retrieved the remains when the fisherman returned to shore,” said the press release announcing the discovery.

The Hunterdon County medical examiner took custody of the remains.

“This is an active investigation. It is early to determine if the remains are those of a person that had gone missing over the years at the reservoir, or the remains of a victim of foul play,” said the a prosecutor.
]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 23:32:11 MST ben Weird 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=fishermans-hook-snags-human-remains-at-lake-in-new-jersey- http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=kodak-had-a-secret-weapons-grade-nuclear-reactor-hidden-in-a-basement-%7C-gizmodo-australia-1
Kodak has gone bankrupt, but in its halcyon days made cameras and brought dreams to life with Kodak moments.

Little did we know the company also had the power to obliterate entire cities.

Gizmodo.com reports that in the basement of Kodak's New York property lay 3.5 pounds of enriched uranium. Which means they had enough to build an atomic bomb.

No-one knew about it - not cops, firies, New York officials - except for a few top Kodak execs and White House types.

"It's such an odd situation because private companies just don’t have this material," said Miles Pomper from Washington's centre for Nonproliferation Studies.

Apparently Kodak acquired the reactor in 1974 to check for impurities and other assorted testing. It was dismantled in 2006. ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 23:26:04 MST ben Weird 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=kodak-had-a-secret-weapons-grade-nuclear-reactor-hidden-in-a-basement-%7C-gizmodo-australia-1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=ex-miss-world-aishwarya-rais-post-baby-body-uproar-in-india-%7C-thetelegraph-com-au-1
SHE is a former Miss World, a successful Bollywood star and married to the son of one of India's best-loved stars. Julia Roberts billed her as the world's most beautiful woman.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has become one of the most admired and revered women in India, and indeed the world. But such fame has come at a cost.

Since the birth of her daughter in November last year, she has been open about the fact that she is in no hurry to lose the few extra kilos she gained during her pregnancy, saying she wanted simply to 'enjoy motherhood.'

Commentators have been unkind, lambasting the star for letting her fans down. And many have gone a step further, suggesting the star has a 'duty' to her fans to regain her pre-pregnancy figure.

One website posted a video of the star looking less than her usual svelte self, flicking between photographs of her pre-birth, and photos now. The clip, which came accompanied by elephant sound

Dozens more videos in a similar vein have been posted, each with viewing figures in the tens or hundreds of thousands. Comments left after the video prove that many of those watching have little sympathy for Aishwarya.

A debate has opened up in the country, and beyond, about the attitudes held towards women in the public eye. ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 23:00:26 MST ben Funny 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=ex-miss-world-aishwarya-rais-post-baby-body-uproar-in-india-%7C-thetelegraph-com-au-1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=fatal-bomb-attack-in-bogota-targeted-ex-official-nytimes-com-1
The bombing, in a commercial district, stunned residents in a city that has prided itself on recovering from years of violence fueled by the government’s war against drug cartels and an armed insurgency. ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 22:52:47 MST ben World News 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=fatal-bomb-attack-in-bogota-targeted-ex-official-nytimes-com-1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=brazil%E2%80%99s-president-faces-defining-decision-over-forest-bill-nytimes-com
She is facing one of the defining moments of her presidency as pressure builds on her to veto a bill that would open vast protected areas of forests to ranching and farming, potentially reversing Brazil’s major gains in slowing Amazon deforestation.

The Forest Code, which Congress approved in April at the urging of powerful agricultural groups, is an effort to overhaul Brazil’s 47-year-old legislation providing forest protection. The bill has emerged as a very delicate issue for Ms. Rousseff ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, scheduled to be held here next month.

The bill would effectively give amnesty to landowners who illegally deforested areas before 2008, drawing the ire of environmentalists. If the legislation goes into effect, it could allow landowners in the Amazon to reduce obligatory forest cover to 50 percent from 80 percent, and could lead to the loss of as much as 190 million acres of forest. ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 22:47:52 MST ben World News 1 http://www.inforaptor.com/story.php?title=brazil%E2%80%99s-president-faces-defining-decision-over-forest-bill-nytimes-com