YouTube to pay users for their content

Video-sharing site YouTube plans to pay users for their content, says the company's cofounder in a video displayed on the site.

"In terms of paying users revenue against content they're uploading, we're definitely going to move in that direction," says Chad Hurley, YouTube's cofounder and chief executive, in a video that appears to be shot during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

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Russian Army Horror and Abuse - “rule of the grandfathers”. Watch video...

Hundreds of thousands of new recruits face grossly abusive treatment at the hands of senior conscripts throughout their first year of service in the Russian armed forces, Human Rights Watch said in a report.

The 86-page report, “The Wrongs of Passage: Inhuman and Degrading Treatment of New Recruits in the Russian Armed Forces,” documents the serious human rights abuses involved in dedovshchina, or “rule of the grandfathers,” which results in the deaths of dozens of conscripts every year, and serious—and often permanent—damage to the physical and mental health of thousands others. Hundreds of conscripts commit or attempt suicide each year, and thousands run away from their units.

In the Russian army, older conscripts force new recruits to live in a year-long state of pointless servitude, punish them violently for any infractions of official or informal rules, and abuse them gratuitously - practices which clearly violate Russia’s military code of conduct. The officers’ corps and the Russian government have failed to take effective steps to stop these abuses.


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eBay Bans Sales of Virtual Items From Online Games

eBay has begun to remove all auctions for virtual items from online games ranging from "World of Warcraft" to "Neopets" because of concerns over the legal complexity around their sale.
eBay spokesperson Hani Durzy compared it to alcohol and tobacco - eBay bans the sale of those products on its site due to complex issues surrounding their sale on the Internet.

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Thailand approves copycat drugs

Thailand government said today it had approved a cheap, copycat heart disease drug, the first time a developing country has ignored an international patent for such a treatment.

As well as the "compulsory licence" of Plavix, made by US and European pharmaceutical giants Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis, Bangkok approved a generic version of Abbott Laboratories' Kaletra to treat HIV/AIDS.

"We have to do this because we don't have enough money to buy safe and necessary drugs for the people under the government's universal health scheme," Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla told reporters today.

The move, was critised by the drug industrya and praised from AIDS activists.

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CIA Now Recruiting On Social Networking Site Facebook.com

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been using Facebook.com, the social networking site, to recruit potential employees into its National Clandestine Service. It marks the first time the CIA has ventured into social networking to hire new personnel.

The CIA's Facebook page (login required) provides an overview of what the NCS is looking for in a recruit, along with a 30-second promotional YouTube video aimed at potential college-aged applicants. U.S. citizens with a GPA above 3.0 can apply.

"It's an invaluable tool when it comes to peer-to-peer marketing," says a CIA spokeswoman.

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ClickandBuy Pursues Former Bitpass Merchants

ClickandBuy has announced it will "offer its full and comprehensive suite of services to BitPass merchants. ClickandBuy’s payment platform provides all different types of payments – not only micropayments, but more lucrative payments – payments such as monthly subscriptions, yearly fees and other payment structures, that can help merchants make more money online. See Epayment solution Bitpass discontinues their operations

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Microwave Kills Germs in Kitchen Sponges

Your microwave may be a powerful weapon in protecting your family against disease-causing germs.

A new study shows zapping sponges and plastic scrubbing pads in the microwave can kill bacteria, such as E. coli, that can cause illness.

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Connecticut woman now world's oldest person

Emma Faust Tillman, born in 1892 to former slaves, earned the distinction Wednesday after the death of 115-year-old Emiliano Mercado del Toro at his home in Puerto Rico.

Tillman had been the world's third-oldest person until 115-year-old Julie Winnifred Bertrand of Canada died in her sleep last week.

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MySpace Sues Spammers

MySpace announced that it has filed suit against a number of spammers for posting millions of spam "bulletins" to MySpace users' accounts.

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NYC to Enable to Upload Images, Video to 911 Call Centers

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to equip 911 call centers to receive digital images and video from cell phones and computers, as a means of fighting crime.

"If you see a crime in progress or a dangerous building condition, you'll be able to transmit images to 911, or online to nyc.gov," Bloomberg said. "And we'll start extending the same technology to 311 to allow New Yorkers to step forward and document nonemergency quality of life concerns, holding city agencies accountable for correcting them quickly and efficiently."

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Epayment solution Bitpass discontinues their operations

Just got an email from the Bitpass stating that they discontinuing their operations

Here is the email: "Dear Valued Bitpass Merchant,

We want to thank you for your past business, however due to circumstances beyond our control, we are discontinuing our operations.

We have partnered with Digital River to provide operational support during the period prior to shut down. As of today, January 19, 2007, all Bitpass Buyers with US dollar denominated accounts are being notified that they will have seven (7) days to spend any amounts that currently exist in their Bitpass Account."

P.S. Micropayment is a tough business indeed.

Make free 411 calls. Find out how

A Boston-based company called Jingle Networks offers free alternative to expensive 411 calls via your cell phone or land line. How and why do they do what they do for free? Advertising! They run ads.

So, if you want to save money and have patience, here the number to use: 1-800-FREE411. Their website, 1-800-FREE411 web site

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Intel Capital to fund ClickandBuy

ClickandBuy, one of Europe's leading digital payments platform and E-Payments systems, has received funding from Intel Capital. ClickandBuy has more than 7 million users and 7,000 merchants using their system for the sale of goods and services online.

In 2007, ClickandBuy plans further expansion in both Asia and Latin America. Details of the deal were not disclosed.

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Woman dies after drinking Water

Jennifer Lea Strange, 28, mother of three, died late Friday after drinking over two litres of water in station KDND 107.9's "Hold your Wee for a Wii" contest, the Sacramento Bee reported.

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New Bird Flu Outbreaks Raise Alarm in Asia

Rising numbers of human bird flu deaths in Indonesia and avian flu outbreaks among poultry in several Asian countries have put the region on alert. The World Health Organization says Asia, Africa, even Europe, need to be prepared for the worse.

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Napster Exclusive Music Subscription Service for AOL

AOL announced on Friday that it has named Napster as the exclusive music subscription service provider for its AOL Music site, replacing AOL Music Now, which claimed 350,000 paid subscribers.

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Giant rabbits solves hunger in North Korea

Karl Szmolinsky, a 67 year old, East German pensioner that have breds rabbits the size of dogs for 47 years was asked by North Korea's ambassador whether he might be willing to sell some rabbits to set up a breeding farm in North Korea. Each of his German Grey Rabbits can feed 8 people and will possible reduce if not stop solve the food shortage crisis in North Korea.

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Michael Jackson Sued for Not Paying for His Meds

Beverly Hills pharmacy claims Michael Jackson ran up a $100000 tab for prescription meds, but never paid. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, by drugstore to the stars Mickey Fine Pharmacy.

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ATT Replaces Cingular Brand

As a result of a series of mergers and acquisitions, the AT&T brand on a wireless service was recently killed off, only to now be revived.

ATT Wireless was once an independent company that had been spun off from AT&T. Cingular bought the wireless operator and eliminated the AT&T Wireless brand. Then SBC, one of the owners of Cingular, bought AT&T, adopting the AT&T brand for its landline services. More recently, AT&T bought BellSouth, the other owner of Cingular, spurring the switch back to the AT&T brand for the wireless service.

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Online Music Stores Select ClickandBuy for ePayment Methods

Three independent online music stores have selected ClickandBuy for its international digital payments platform. The merchants are Icarus Music Store, Gambit Music Group and BeatRecords.

ClickandBuy’s international digital payments platform is available in 13 European countries and the U.S.

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David Beckham will play for L.A. Galaxy

David Beckham, former England soccer captain, agreed to a deal to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, turning down a 2 contract extension from Real Madrid. He's going to be earning an estimated $250 million for the five years of his contract.

P.S. For this kind of a money LA better win! ;)

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KickApps Names Internet Technology and Media Veteran Alex Blum as CEO

KickApps Corporation announced today that Alex Blum will join the company as CEO beginning February 1. Backed by Spark Capital and Prism Ventures, KickApps offers a hosted platform that provides major media and high traffic websites with a full range of user-generated video, social networking and media management functionality.

"Alex has a proven track record of identifying important technologies and Internet trends," said Eric Alterman, KickApps founder and chairman. "He has a deep understanding of the needs of Internet properties looking to establish enduring relationships with their website visitors. Alex and I share a common vision and his presence will create an immediate impact."

Blum was previously the president and COO of JumpTV, Inc. (AIM, TSX: JTV), the world's top multi-cultural Internet Protocol Television Network. Prior to JumpTV, Blum spent eight years with AOL, most recently as vice president of product marketing for AOL's Audience Business. Blum's team oversaw the re-launch of the AOL.com web portal, the development of AOL's media products (including AOL Video and streaming advertising platform), and the development of AOL's AIMPages social networking initiatives.

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Cisco Sues Apple Over Use of iPhone Name

Cisco Systems sued Apple Inc. in federal court on Wednesday, claiming that Cisco owns the iPhone trademark. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled the long awaited Apple iPhone at the MacWorld trade show in San Francisco on Tuesday, but Cisco claims that Apple does not have the right to use the name 'iPhone'.

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Blood Test Predicts Heart Attack Risk

Blood Test, which measures blood levels of a protein called NT-proBNP, was found to be highly predictive of cardiovascular risks according to a study involving almost 1,000 heart patients thought to have stable coronary heart disease.

Patients with the highest levels of the protein in their blood were eight times as likely as patients with the lowest levels to die or suffer a heart attack, stroke, or heart failure during the study.

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Whitney Houston auctions her gear

To cover her debt, Whitney Houston had to auction her designer clothes along with some other stuff typically seen on the curb after a yard sale: water-damaged vinyl records and a battered coffee maker.

The auction brought about 200 people to a warehouse about 15 miles west of New York.


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How much exercise adults require to stay fit

Based on the most-current data, the government and the American Heart Association both recommend that adults get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on most days of the week. A moderate level of physical activity is that which burns 150 calories in a day, or 1000 calories in a week. These moderate activities can either be performed all at once or spread throughout the day.

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Mystery object falls from the Sky

A mysterious metallic object crashed through the roof of a house in eastern New Jersey and nobody sure what it is.

Approximately 20 to 50 rock-like objects fall every day over the entire planet, said a professor of astronomy at Rutgers University.

"It's not all that uncommon to have rocks rain down from heaven," he said, "These are usually rocky or a mixture of rock and metal."

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