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In the animal world, squid are masters of disguise. Pigmented skin cells enable them to camouflage themselves—almost instantaneously—from predators. Squid also produce polarized skin patterns by regulating the iridescence of their skin, possibly creating a “hidden communication channel” visible only to animals that are sensitive to polarized light.

In research published today in the journal Biology Letters, MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) researchers Lydia Mäthger and Roger Hanlon present evidence that the polarized aspect of the skin of the longfin inshore squid, Loligo pealeii, is maintained after passing through the pigment cells responsible for camouflage.

While the notion that a few animals produce polarization signals and use them in communication is not new, Mäthger and Hanlon’s findings present the first anatomical evidence for a “hidden communication channel” that can remain masked by typical camouflage patterns. Their results suggest that it might be possible for squid to send concealed polarized signals to one another while staying camouflaged to fish or mammalian predators, most of which do not have polarization vision.

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LOUISVILLE, KY—According to sources at the corporate headquarters of fast food giant KFC, a young boy believed to be the third reincarnation of the chain’s regional manager for eastern Georgia was discovered in Chatfield, MN Tuesday following an exhaustive five-year search.

The Chosen One, kindergartner Brian Thorson, was located by a special council of seven High Branch Managers selected from the most profitable KFC restaurants nationwide. In accordance with tradition, the boy will henceforth be known as Roger Purcell, the ceremonial title given to all who have previously overseen operations in eastern Georgia.

His Eminence Dan Orman, who supervises the Wilshire Boulevard franchise in downtown Los Angeles, told reporters the search for the reborn manager began Jan. 23, 2005, when the previous Roger Purcell died of a massive heart attack.

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Daniel Phelps just reminded me that today is 23 October, the date that James Ussher, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, determined to be the very first day of creation in 4004 BCE. That makes the world 6013 years old today, in his chronology (if you’re adding it up at home, remember that there is no year 0).

Keep in mind that you now have excuses to party almost all week. Tomorrow, you should celebrate the creation of heaven and Space Water. You knew the earth was a floaty in a watery universe, right? I think the appropriate celebration is to drink.

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It’s clear from those inspections that while most of the data is fragmentary, in some instances entire emails and URLs were captured, as well as passwords. We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and I would like to apologize again for the fact that we collected it in the first place. We are mortified by what happened, but confident that these changes to our processes and structure will significantly improve our internal privacy and security practices for the benefit of all our users.

Don’t be evil.

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The members of the Normandy Park Baptist Church want everyone to know how they feel about the person who stole three of their air conditioning units. All you have to do is read their sign.

The sign in front of their church now says, "To whoever stole my air conditioners, you are going to need them, – God."

"Really just disappointed, disappointed somebody would do that and take the time to come and steal from a church," said pastor Troy Dixon.

I can understand your disappointment, I would be pretty angry as well. But my response would not be “I’m going to torture you for all eternity.”

But then again, I’m not Christian.

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Wild dolphins in Australia are naturally learning to “walk” on water.

Six dolphins have now been seen mastering the technique – furiously paddling their tail fluke, forcing their body out and across the water.

The dolphins seem to walk on water for fun, as it has no other obvious benefit, say scientists working for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

That makes the behaviour a rare example of animals “culturally transmitting” a playful rather than foraging behaviour.

Only a few species are known to create their own culture – defined as the sharing or transmitting of specific novel behaviours or traditions between a community of animals.

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First it was the lawyers. Then it was the politicians. Now debt collectors may be coming after people accused of film piracy, even before they have their day in court.

A group calling itself the Copyright Enforcement Group (CEG), which according to its Web site specializes in media rights enforcement, appears to advocate the use of debt collectors even before the courts have rendered a judgment against accused copyright violators. CNET has obtained a copy of CEG’s “service contract,” which specifies the terms the group offers to client copyright owners.

“In the event that the opposing parties fail to pay in full, the client grants power of attorney to and instructs the debt collection agencies and [legal office] to proceed with the further recovery and enforcement of claims for payment by means of debt collection procedures and legal proceedings.”

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Of the thousands of complaints that have saturated NPR in the wake of Juan Williams’s firing earlier this week, some of the most telling have been from callers describing themselves as long-time “viewers” of NPR who warn that they are going to “stop watching.”

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Well, George W. Bush has finally come up with an answer for John Dickerson. Six years after W. hemmed and hawed when Dickerson asked him if he could think of a mistake he had made in office, he told an audience in Chicago that "his greatest failure in office was not passing Social Security reform."

From his point of view he’s correct. If he would have privatized SS prior to the crash, it would have re-inflated the wall street bubble, thereby delaying the crash until after his term. He would then be revered like Reagan.

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“Hundreds of the leaked war logs reflect the fertile imagination of the torturer faced with the entirely helpless victim – bound, gagged, blindfolded and isolated – who is whipped by men in uniforms using wire cables, metal rods, rubber hoses, wooden stakes, TV antennae, plastic water pipes, engine fan belts or chains.”

Today, WikiLeaks released hundreds of thousands of documents that give insight into what coalition forces experienced from 2004 to 2009.

From the official leak site, WikiLeaks claims the logs account for “109,032 deaths in Iraq, comprised of 66,081 ‘civilians’; 23,984 ‘enemy’ (those labeled as insurgents); 15,196 ‘host nation’ (Iraqi government forces) and 3,771 ‘friendly’ (coalition forces).”

A standing order, known as Frago 242, directed coalition military personnel that no investigations were necessary if an Iraqi citizen was being tortured by an Iraqi official. Though coalition troops in many cases tried to persuade Iraqi officials to reprimand their security forces for torture, often times the Iraqis simply covered it up, and in one log were heard to say, “keep quiet because the Americans might hear his screams”.

Coverage at:

The Guardian
Al Jazeera
New York Times

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In the past month alone, Microsoft noted that users of the OS have opened the Start menu more than 14 billion times, used Aero Snap more than 150 million times, used Aero Shake more than 20 million times, employed jumplists over 339 million times, and pinned 12,643 unique apps to the taskbar and menu.

How the hell do they know this if the OS isn’t a tattle tale about your habits?