8 Hump Day news bites for June 29

Hello and welcome to the humpiest of Hump Days. But don’t worry about all that mid-week stuff. Not now anyway. We’ve got the news and stuff you’ll need to get you going this morning. Take the rest from there!

1. Federal Police finalising list to be blocked under Internet filter

It’s coming, soon. The mandatory Internet filter is being checked and double checked with the Australian Federal Police drawing up the censorship notices that will see websites blocked. The program, proposed by the Labor Government, is aimed at preventing child pedophile rings from spreading online although critics claim the plan will ensnare harmless websites and not do what it was built to. Those with enough know-how can bypass websites altogether and thrive on peer-to-peer networks which the filter would not cover.

2. Greens want the mining tax strengthened

Greens leader Bob Brown doesn’t think the mining tax is tax-y enough, and wants it to reap more money from the $50 billion he says will be sent off shore to foreign interests over the coming years. The ‘Minerals Resource Rent Tax’ will take in $40 billion over the next decade starting next year, but this is is $60 billion less than the original proposal which was watered down after Julia Gillard took control from Kevin Rudd.

3. Islam billboards not discriminatory

Billboards erected by an Islamic faith group that said things like ‘Jesus: a prophet of Islam’ have been found not to have vilified or discriminated Christians. The Advertising Standards Bureau said the billboards were, in fact, a statement of belief. The billboards were located in Fairfield.

4. Insight into notorious hacker group LulzSec

Apparently these hackers caused mischief just for the fun of it – the ‘Lulz – but transcripts of chat room conversations they had showed they were serious, publicity hungry and messing with big targets. Not least of all the FBI and the CIA. But they, err, have apparently been disbanded now because the heat got turned on. Still, this is a fascinating insight into the super-computer skilled world of hackers and why they like messing with stuff on the net.

5. Mathematicians want to replace the number ‘Pi’ with ‘Tau’.

I actually didn’t understand any of this, but thought you may want to know. Pi (3.14) is the number traditionally associated with a circle, but some renegade mathematicians reckon the new number ‘Tau’ is a better ambassador for the circle, being twice Pi at 6.28. Well, who are we to argue right? Go for it. Nobody wants to mess with the mathematicians.

6. More than 1000 new species discovered in Papua New Guinea

Sadly, no dinosaurs. But some of the species – discovered at a rate of two a week from 1998 to 2008 and confirmed as new by scientists – are spectacular in their own right. They include a frog with vampire like fangs (awesome), a 2.5m long river shark that has since also been found in Northern Australia and another frog named after a Lord of the Rings character because it had red eyes like the evil Sauron. Scientists are so cool like that. The World Wildlife Fund says many more will be discovered … assuming we halt the destruction of natural habitats in PNG.

7. Channel 9 defends decision to show dying man’s last breath.

The science show Inside the Human Body screening on Channel 9 this week shows Gerald, who has lung and liver cancer, struggling to breathe before dying on national television. It’s already caused alarm in Britain. So, the question is, is it for the greater good? Channel 9 says television sometimes has to be confronting.

8. Evening fog in Melbourne makes for spectacular pictures

It was fog. In the evening. And as some people reckoned, it looked a little like Armageddon. Very cool pictures though. The Bureau said the fog at been out in the bay but breezes pushed it back into the city as the sun was setting. Oh Melbourne, always struggling to be so different…

Right, so, what do you think?