spoonfork

Alas, via BBC:

One of Australia's largest agricultural shows has been engulfed in scandal after four people were disqualified for "udder-tampering". Two cattle owners and two groomers were excluded from the Royal Queensland Show for injecting an unknown substance into their cows' udders to make them larger.

In Australia's competitive agricultural shows, dairy cows are judged on the size and shape of their udders, as well as their general appearance. The scandal came to light on Sunday night, when security guards at the show observed a "suspicious act" being performed on the udders of a cow due to be exhibited the following morning, according to the Royal National Association (RNA).

"It's beyond my comprehension that anyone would do this, but it's to enhance the performance, to make the udders bigger and more beautiful, and that's a plus in the judging criteria," said RNA president Vivian Edwards. Mr Edwards said that although this was the first time any participant had been banned from the show, rumours of udder tampering had been rife for years. Some farmers are also suspected of gluing their cows' teats shut, to stop milk leakage. The four offenders, and their cows, have been sent home in disgrace.

Police have also charged one of the farmers with failing to properly dispose of a syringe, which breaches Australia's strict hygiene laws.

Listening to: Ger Strokes

Lotso commented: Wow.. man.. changing venue to The Westin and the Pricing.. all I can say is.. Out of my price range. Waaayyy out man.. . This is one thing that I don't understand. At RM450 to attend just the conference only, this price is the cheapest in the region for a security conference. How much was last year's BlackHat briefings in Singapore? Also, compare that price to SyScAN '04, to be held in December this year in Singapore. For registration before 1st October, the fee is a whopping USD 1200 per person, and that is only the fee for the conference - no training whatsoever. Compare that with HITBSecConf2004 training plus conference fee, which is only roughly USD 500 per person, USD 100 shy of half of what SyScAN is charging. And yeah, they have Theo speaking as well.



We bring the best speakers to the conference - Theo, Captain Crunch, The Gugq, Adam Gowdiak (LSD), Ollie Whitehouse (@stake), Jose Nazario (deadly.org), and yet people are still complaining that the fees are too high.



And no, the speakers are not flying here with free airfare. If we could scp'ed them over it would be great, but unfortunately there's no technology to transfer people over UTP cables. There are costs to organized a big event like HITBSecConf2004: marketing costs, accomodation fees, hotel fees, airfares, logistics, tea breaks, etc etc. You know what would be cheap though? A security event with no international speakers. That would be well damn cheap.



And the venue change was not because we want to charge more, in fact the fee is the same as before. The reason for the venue change is because we add an additional track! 3 tracks instead of two - with no additional fee.



I hope people would appreciate what Dhillon and the HITB crew are doing to the security scene in Malaysia: bringing top-notch speakers and the cheapest price for a security conference in the region.



Listening to: Kraftwerk - La Forme

Addiction addiction addiction addiction! here.

I AM BORED

Via BERNAMA:

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 (Bernama) -- The Hack In The Box Security Conference 2004, which will be held here from Oct 4-7, aims to enable the dissemination, discussion and sharing of network security information.



Organised by Hack In The Box (M) Sdn Bhd, a company dedicated to providing latest anti-computer hacking data security related information and resources online, the conference promises to deliver a look at several new attack methods that have not been seen or discussed in public before. It would also feature presentations on advanced computer and network security topics.



In a statement Wednesday, Hack In The Box said that it believed that the conference would be an ideal opportunity for vendors from within the industry to meet with not only the experts but to share their own expertise and technology with the public.



Along with that, Hack In The Box, whose web site provides access to security links and resources, including news, books, mailing lists, tools, products and security services, is also organising a hacking competition called, "Capture The Flag".



Those requiring further information on event registration and enquiries can log on to www.hackinthebox.org.

Alphademon si be l33t!