SmashTech

TAIPEI — A dead sperm whale being transported through Tainan City suddenly exploded yesterday, splattering cars and shops with blood and guts.

The 17m, 45-tonne carcass was being taken on a flat-bed trailer-truck for an autopsy.

“Because of the natural decomposing process, a lot of gases accumulated, and when the pressure build-up was too great, the whales belly just exploded,” marine biologist Professor Wang Chien-ping said.

(from /. and CNN)

Microsoft has settled with Mike Rowe, who was faced with legal action earlier this month because of his domain, MikeRoweSoft.com. Microsoft will pay for new domain registration and the costs of moving the site to a new domain. In addition, Mike Rowe will be receiving an Xbox, Microsoft training classes, and an invitation to a technology festival at the Microsoft campus.

“We wanted to do this in a way thats going to foster his interest in technology,” MS spokesman Jim Desler said.

Nintendo has announced its next portable system, the Nintendo DS, or Dual Screen. It features dual processors, dual 3″ LCD screens, and possibly wireless integration. In a press release, the company states that this is not designed to replace the GameCube or Gameboy Advance. No word if the screens will be backlit or not.

This is already being called the next Virtual Boy by many pundits, and Im tempted to agree with them. Why buy a new system that cant play your old games? We’re now spoiled by the backwards compatability that the PS2 and GBA gave us. This will flop. Big time.

Mike Rowe, 17, of Victoria, Canada, got a package last week from Microsoft. In it, a 25 page document threatened legal action if the teen did not shut down www.mikerowesoft.com. Mike was debating on what to do when his story hit the AP and was soon on CNN, Fox, and other news outlets.

Now, MikeRoweSoft.com has been shutdown. Not due to M$s threats. but because of the sudden influx of traffic (over 20,000 hits per hour). Looks like Microsoft won without having to take this to court.

All hail the Drudge Report, who feeds us with this news: Al Gore, fabled tree hugger and creator of the Internet, is giving a speech preaching the evils of global warming today. In New York City. Where the tempreture is a chilling 14� (-2� w/ wind chill). It is being described by many as one of the biggest political gaffes in years.

He is planning to blame Bushs policies for causing global warming, and says that this extreme cold is an effect of global warming. Someone, please find the logic in this…

WFTV has a bit about a drunk driver not only driving into a house, but completely thru it. The vehicle finally came to a stop in the family pool. No injuries resulted from this.

“FHP (Florida Highway Patrol) says, upon arrival, the female passenger was incoherent and topless, while Todd was apparently under the influence of alcohol.” When a neighbor asked the driver if he was alright, he replied “Yeah, were fine, were fine.”

(newsflash from the holy Drudge Report)

The Dean campaign managers threatened ABC News that they would be kicked off the campaign plane if they ran with a story about Deans Chief of Security being a wife abuser.

“In his presidential campaign, and as governor of Vermont before that, Howard Dean has taken a tough, zero-tolerance stand on domestic violence, accusing the Bush administration of not being committed to the issue. Yet Dean said he had no idea that one of the men closest to him was repeatedly abusing his wife.”

ABC News has the rest of the writeup, all 4 pages worth.