Near miss in Adelaide for quantas

THE Victorian cricket team and Australian band the John Butler Trio were involved in a tense near-miss in Adelaide when the landing gear of their plane appeared to fail

Cricket Victoria spokeswoman Jessica Cook said the entire squad of 17 - including Australian team members Cameron White and Peter Siddle - and sports staff were on the plane from Darwin to Adelaide last night.

Ms Cook, who was travelling with the team, said after circling the airport several times, the Qantas crew advised passengers a cockpit light indicated a problem with the landing gear, particularly the front wheel.

After a tense 45 minutes, passengers were advised to prepare for a crash landing and get into a brace position.

"Every big name that we have was on the plane," she told AAP.

"There was certainly a bit of angst and we were very happy to get off the plane."



Ms Cook said the John Butler Trio was at the front of the plane and, like everyone else on board, was shaken by the ordeal.

Despite a "bumpy" touchdown, the plane landed safely, she said.

Apple can take your photo and shut down your jailbroken iPhone, iPad

APPLE has been accused of creating "traitorware" for trying to patent security software that tracks down people who jailbreak their iPhones and iPads and locks them out of their devices.
Jailbreaking allows users to access software and features for their devices that have not been sanctioned by Apple.
The process was declared legitimate by a US court earlier this month, but Apple said any such interference in their device will void its warranty.
Apple's patent, which went before the US Patent and Trademark Office earlier this week, is for "systems and methods for identifying unauthorised users of an electronic device".
Using the software, Apple can remotely access your sensitive information and data, ostensibly to determine if you are an “authorised user”.

Among the information they can access, the system can take a flashless, undetectable photo of the users' face (with the iPhone 4's front-facing camera) and multiple photos of the surrounding location.
It can also record the users' voice regardless of whether they are making a phone call, monitor their internet usage and record the heartbeat and “vibration signature” of the user.
According to the patent application, if these identifiers do not match the "authorised" user, the system then determines if there is "suspicious behaviour".
Suspicious behaviour, says the application "comprises one or more of hacking the electronic device, jailbreaking the electronic device, unlocking the electronic device, removing a SIM card from the electronic device, and moving at least a predetermined distance away from a synced device".
If Apple decides that all this adds up to unauthorised use they will remotely lock or shut down the offending iPhone or iPad, making it unusable.
It's been labelled by watchdog organisations as dangerous spyware. They even invented a new word for it – “traitorware”.
US civil liberties group, Electronic Frontier Foundation, has called the patent "downright creepy and invasive" and overkill for technology that is to track down a lost or stolen phone - something already possible with the "Mobile Me" app.
"This patented process could be used to retaliate against you if you jailbreak or tinker with your device in ways that Apple views as 'unauthorised' even if it is perfectly legal," it said.
There are obvious financial incentives for Apple putting an end to the legal process and the Electronic Frontier Foundation believe this could be the greater motive behind the software.
“This patent application does nothing short of providing a roadmap for how Apple can - and presumably will - spy on its customers and control the way its customers use Apple products.”
Electronic Frontiers Australia shares their concerns.

“There are huge privacy implications.” Colin Jacobs, chair of EFA told news.com.au
“It raises the risk of what happens if someone gains unauthorised access to the information… if this information is stored then it's pretty clear that someone will come looking for it.”

US military's top secret X-37B shuttle 'disappears' for two weeks, changes orbit

AMATEUR astronomers are enjoying a cat-and-mouse game with the US military in keeping track of its secret space plane, the X-37B.
The X-37B was launched in April amid much publicity, but scant detail about its true use.
Built by Boeing's Phantom Works division, the X-37B program was originally headed by NASA.
It was later turned over to the Pentagon's research and development arm and then to a secretive Air Force unit.

Only a very select few in the US military know what it's for, but observers on Earth believe they're putting together the puzzle piece by piece.
Several sources claim quote arms control advocates who say it's clearly the beginning of the "weaponisation of space".
In May, avid skywatcher Ted Molczan studied the X-37B's orbit from his home in Toronto and said its behaviour suggested it was testing sensors for a range of new spy satellites.
Since then, the X-37B been arguably the least-secret secret project on the planet, as fellow backyard astronomers joined in the scrutiny, aided by how-to video guides and apps such as the Simple Satellite Tracker.
That is, they did until July 29, when the shuttle disappeared, causing all kinds of consternation and conspiracy theories about its fate.
It took amateur skywatcher Greg Roberts of Cape Town, South Africa, who noticed that it failed to appear as scheduled above his base on August 14, another five days to find it.
When he did, he noticed it was some 30km higher and on a different trajectory, according to calculations from other colleagues in Rome and Oklahoma.
The X-37B's new track means it takes six days to pass the same spot on Earth, as opposed to its original four-day track.
Mr Molczan believes this may be another small piece to the puzzle about what role the shuttle may play in US military operations.
"This small change of orbit may have been a test of OTV-1's manoeuvring system, or a requirement of whatever payload may be aboard, or both," he said in a release paper about Roberts' X-37B find.
The shuttle has been in orbit now for 124 days. It uses a solar array once in space for power, which theoretically will allow it to stay airborne for up to 270 days.
But the additional presence of large fuel tanks and a rocket motor allows it to change orbit, as evidenced by the latest sudden change of course.
According to the The Register, this is a key component of its surveillance-related capabilities, along with the fact it can land in a much more versatile fashion than other shuttles.
Using its "cross-range" wings, it can duck off elsewhere once its entered the Earth's atmosphere rather than follow its oribital track to a pre-specified landing pad.
This means the X-37B can get up and down from space in one orbit, as its wings allow it to compensate for the slight turn in the Earth and bend it back to its original launch pad.
The Register says that capability would make it difficult to track, as it would only pass over a region once.
Theoretically, it could drop a spy satellite on one run, then pick it up on the next without the satellite having ever been detected.
Other observers claim the X-37B can carry a payload roughly the size of a medium-sized truck bed, or enough to hold a spy satellite.
According to the Pentagon, a second X-37B is under construction, so expect the guessing game to continue for some time about what the US military is really up to in space.
Until now, all that remains known about the X-37B is that is it has at least one trick - the ability to hide from skywatchers for two weeks

New Kindle 3 'everything the iPad isn't'

EARLY reviews for the new Kindle 3 are calling the e-reader "everything the iPad will never be".
Amazon's new device was this week shipped out to North American and UK customers who had been among the first to order the device.
Amazon has been offering its Kindle devices since 2007 and has managed to hold onto a large portion of the e-reader market despite increasing competition.
On the day it began shipping the newest devices, Amazon announced that the Kindle 3 was its fastest-selling device yet - a feat likely due in part to a rise in digital reading driven mainly by the Kindle itself.
The third-generation Kindle is smaller, lighter, and available in both Wi-Fi/3G and Wi-Fi-only versions.
Among reviews, PC World calls it "the first e-reader in months that's left me wanting to read more" and "a winner that shoots to the head of the pack", while PC Advisor says its set of upgrades "vaults it to the top of the e-book reader category".

While the Kindle is competing with a variety of other readers, including major contenders such as the Nook, Kobo, and Sony e-readers, the device's stiffest competition may come in the form of the iPad, Apple's tablet computer.
Wired, however, remarked that Kindle's "continued popularity bodes well for the future of single-purpose long-form reading devices," while The New York Times says "(The Kindle 3) is ingeniously designed to be everything the iPad will never be: small, light and inexpensive."
Among negative points, CNET notes the device's lack of support for ePub files.
All books in the Kindle Store are available exclusively in Amazon's proprietary format, a feature that is frequently cited by reviewers as one of its biggest drawbacks.
The Kindle 3 has a 6-inch-size reading area, measures 7.5 by 4.8 by 0.3 inches and weighs about 245g.
Other small, lightweight e-reading devices include dedicated readers such as the Sony Reader Pocket Edition and the COOL-ER e-reader, as well multi-fictional devices such as the Blackberry, Android phones, iPhone, and iPod Touch.

Motorcyclist Michael Wiles fined after nabbed carrying a barbecue on freeway

A MOTORCYCLIST who was photographed on a freeway with a barbecue strapped to his body has hit a snag.
A magistrate has described Michael Wiles' behaviour as ridiculous and fined him $800 for careless riding.
Mr Wiles, 29, has pleaded guilty to the charge.
The court heard the rider was heading home on the Eastern Freeway in January 2008, when he was spotted carrying a barbecue that had been put out for hard waste collection.
He was effectively “wearing” the barbecue in order to carry it home, and his vision was partly obscured by a steel grate.
Police investigated the bizarre incident after the Herald Sun published a photo of Mr Wiles was taken by a passing motorist.

Mr Wiles' barrister Paul McClure told the Melbourne Magistrates Court today that his client's excuse was “lack of thought processes'' and poverty.
“He was financially a bit under the pump,'' he said.
“It turned out the barbecue was a dud and did not work and that's probably why it was at the side of the road.
“This is stupid behaviour and nobody should do it.''
Mr McClure said that Mr Wiles suffered ridicule from friends and work mates when his identity was revealed in a follow-up article and he was approached by Barbeques Galore to do an ad.
But he refused to glorify his behaviour and instead used the media to promote a road safety message.
Magistrate Lionel Winton-Smith said he couldn't recall seeing anything like it in his years on the bench.
However, he downgraded the charge from dangerous to careless driving.
Mr Wiles also lost his licence for a month.

Man shot in head notices five years later

A MAN living in Germany was shot in the back of his head, but it took him five years to realise it, police say.
The 35-year-old man was hit by a .22-calibre bullet in the town of Herne as he was out in the street partying and drunk on New Year's Eve five years ago, police said overnight.
They say the man recalled receiving a blow to the head, but told them he didn't seek medical assistance at the time.
The bullet did not penetrate the skull, and police say the Polish man only went to see a doctor recently when he felt a lump on the back of his head.
An X-ray showed an object under his skin, and doctors operated and found the projectile.
Police say it may have been a stray bullet fired by a reveller in celebration.

the stig's identity revealed

NEW evidence has reportedly unmasked the mystery racing driver known as The Stig who appears in "Top Gear" disguised in a white helmet and black visor.
Documents naming a former Formula Three driver called Ben Collins, 35, point to his being the famous anonymous figure, NewsCore reports.
Though his name has been suggested before, this is the first time evidence has apparently linked Collins to the arrival of the white-clad Stig on Top Gear in 2003 - replacing the previous “black” Stig.
The accounts of the driver's company, Collins Autosport, show he established an important commercial relationship with Top Gear just as the new Stig appeared.
In December 2003, a month after the new Stig’s first appearance, the firm recorded a “cornerstone year".

This was partly down to "driving services provided for the BBC, mainly in the Top Gear program".

Reader's Comments: The Stig finally unmasked - The Daily Telegraph
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The directors described it as offering “good long-term prospects for continuing income”. The only convincing explanation for such a view is that Collins had become The Stig, NewsCore reports.
On Saturday, Collins was racing in Hungary. Contacted by telephone, he said: “I can’t speak to you. I’m going into a tunnel.”
The news comes only days after it was revealed The Stig was in dispute with the BBC over a planned autobiography. The broadcaster's lawyers are opposing the book because it would necessarily reveal his identity.
Top Gear, currently presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, is estimated to have 350 million viewers worldwide.