Krakatoa's child starts to erupt:

ANAK KRAKATAU, Indonesia (AP) - Sending a boom across the bay, the offspring of the fabled Krakatau unleashes another mighty eruption, blasting smoke and red-hot rocks hundreds of meters (yards) into the sky.
This week's display by Anak Krakatau _ or the Child of Krakatau _ is impressive, yet is a mere sneeze when compared
to the blast in 1883 that obliterated its father in recorded history's most powerful explosion.
That bang was heard as far away as 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) and choked the atmosphere with ash and dust, altering weather patterns for years. Some 36,000 people were killed in the eruptions and ensuing tsunamis.
Now the 300-meter (985-foot) peak growing from the ocean where Krakatau once stood is erupting, one of several Indonesian volcanoes that have roared to life over recent weeks. They illustrate the awesome seismic forces at work deep below the surface of this island nation.
No lives have been lost in the latest round of activity, but thousands of villagers have been evacuated from the slopes of Mount Kelud on Java island. On Thursday, its alert status was dropped a level, meaning it is still dangerous, but residents can return home.
Indonesia's history is studded with seismic events. The 2004 Asian tsunami was spawned by a monster quake off the west coast, which sits at the intersection of three tectonic plates that form one border of the «Pacific Ring of Fire.
The plates _ each moving at about the speed a fingernail grows each year _ slide against or under each other, allowing molten rock from the earth's mantle to break the surface through a volcano, or create energy released in an earthquake.
The country's 17,000 islands are home to around 70 active volcanoes, the most in the world.
Twenty of them are on Java, an island roughly the same size as the U.S. state of Mississippi, and is home to more than half of the country's 235 million people.
With demand for farmable land at a premium, many people choose to live within the shadow of the volcanoes because of the rich volcanic soil that is especially good for crops.
«We have lived here for generations. The land is my life,» said Meseman, a 74-year-old papaya farmer on the slopes of Mount Kelud, who like many Indonesians uses only a single name and declined to heed the warnings to leave the area. «It is impossible for me leave. If anything, the volcanic ash will make my fields more fertile.
Krakatau _ which actually lies west of Java in the Sunda Strait, contrary to the title of the popular 1969 movie, «Krakatoa, East of Java» _ erupted cataclysmicaly after several months of gradually increasing activity.
Anak Krakatau rose from the sea in 1930 and has been growing ever since.
Visitors can reach the island in about two hours by motor boat from the northern coast of Java, which is a 2 1/2 hour drive from Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. When it is quiet, it is a short, but steep walk to the top of the sandy peak.
When it began erupting last week, officials declared a three-kilometer (1.9-mile) no-go zone. But the boat captain who took an AP team to Anak ignored the rules and briefly landed on the side of the volcano that was not erupting.
The ground was steaming hot and appeared to vibrate beneath the pumice stone, a volcanic rock that floats on water.
Despite its father's history, Anak is not considered especially dangerous _ for now.
It has settled into a pattern of gentle eruption every seven or eight years, scientists say.
«Maybe in hundreds of years it will blow, but I will be long gone by then,» said Cahya Patria, among the scientists at the Center for Vulcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation who keep watch on the mountain from a hill on the mainland.
Krakatau is only just visible from the monitoring station, so the staff observe it through a seismograph and an array of other equipment installed on its slopes, including a camera that takes photos posted on the center's Web site.
As the volcano keeps up a steady stream of thunderous explosions, scientists at the station log each eruption and its intensity.

Visitors to Anak from Jakarta normally pass through the resort towns of Anyer and Carita, which were devastated by the series of tsunamis triggered by the 1883 eruption. There are few signs these days of the horror wrought upon the coastline, aside from the foundations of a Dutch-built lighthouse that was scythed down by the sea.
The park where its replacement now stands is a popular meeting point for young lovers, who sit on benches straining to catch a glimpse of Anak Krakatau as it billows mushroom clouds of smoke into the sunset.
While most Indonesians are Muslims, many also follow pre-Islamic animist beliefs and worship ancient spirits. Often at full moons, people trek to crater rims and throw in rice, jewelry or live animals to appease the volcanoes.
«The Javanese see nature as a friend because it gives then food and life,» said Bagong Suyanto, a professor of rural sociology at the University of Surabaya. «They trust it, they do not see it as a threat like volcanologists do.
Irwan Firdaus contributed to this report from Mount Kelud.
On the Web
http://krakmon.vsi.esdm.go.id


KrakMon Online
Krakatau Monitoring Online
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The KRAKMON systems consists of a number of geophysical, gas-geochemical and environmental measuring sites on the Krakatau island complex located in the Sunda Strait. All data are acquired continuously and are transmitted to the Pasauran Observatory (Western Java) via digital radio telemetry. In Pasauran, the data are collected and transmitted to a server in Jakarta via VSAT. From here, the data are accessible through internet.

All data of the KRAKMON system can be viewed and accessed through this web-interface. A description of the various automatic processing steps and data plots can be found under Actual Data.

The "Live Plot" link starts a Java applet that shows real-time data of most of the data streams.


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Stations KM01, KM02, and KM03 are located on Anak Krakatau. Station KM04 is located on Sertung island. It consists of a short-period seismometer and a digital camera with view on Anak Krakatau.


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The stations KM01, KM02, and KM03 are equipped with seismometers (broad-band at KM01) and GPS systems for deformation monitoring. A weather station is installed at KM01, a sea-level sensor at KM02. An electro-magnetic station (KM05) is located near to station KM01. Gases are monitored at a nearby fumarole.

'Mythical Roman cave' unearthed

Italian archaeologists say they have found the long-lost underground grotto where ancient Romans believed a female wolf suckled the city's twin founders.
The cave believed to be the Lupercal was found near the ruins of Emperor Augustus' palace on the Palatine hill............

U.K. In Uproar Over Massive Data Loss

November 21, 2007

A major data breach in the United Kingdom could expose the personal data of more than 25 million people - nearly half the country’s population. The data relates to details about families with children, including names, dates of birth, addresses, bank account information and insurance records.

The information was contained on two computer discs which were lost when they were sent to an audit office by means of an internal mail service, reportedly by a junior employee of the British Revenue and Customs Office.

The loss was disclosed to the House of Commons on Monday by British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling - who leads Britain’s equivalent of the Treasury Department - who said the discs were sent via ordinary mail between government departments.

Members of Parliament, according to the Times of London, “gasped as they heard the scale of the catastrophic breach of security guidelines.....”

Early Copy of Magna Carta on Sale in NYC

In the year 1215, a group of English barons handed King John a document written on parchment. Put your royal seal on this, they said. John did, and forever changed the relationship between the monarchy and those it governed.

The document was the Magna Carta, a declaration of human rights that would set some of the guiding principles for democracy as it is known today.

While that original edict was initially ignored and John died the next year, its key ideas were included in other variations over the next few decades, most notably the right of Habeas Corpus, which protects citizens against unlawful imprisonment. More than 800 years later, about 17 copies survive, and one of those, signed by King Edward I in 1297, will go up for sale Dec. 18 at Sotheby's.

The document, which Sotheby's vice chairman David Redden calls ``the most important document in the world,'' is expected to fetch a record $20-30 million. .........

Ask.com Puts You in Control of Your Search Pr...ch of 'AskEraser'

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 11, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Ask.com(r) (www.ask.com), a leading search engine and wholly-owned business of IAC (Nasdaq:IACI), today announced the launch of AskEraser(tm), the first product to give consumers privacy control over their online searches.


When enabled by the user, AskEraser completely deletes all future search queries and associated cookie information from Ask.com servers, including IP address, User ID, Session ID, and the complete text of their queries.

An AskEraser link is featured prominently in the upper right corner of the Ask.com homepage and search results pages - clearly and constantly indicating to the user that their search activity will be 'erased' from Ask.com servers. AskEraser remains 'on' for searches conducted across Ask.com's major search verticals: Web, Images, AskCity, News, Blogs, Video, and Maps & Directions - and can be turned 'on' or 'off' by the user at anytime.

"For people who worry about their online privacy, AskEraser now gives them control of their search information," said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com. "AskEraser is simple, straightforward, and easy-to-use. It is an idea whose time has come."

Earlier this year, Ask.com also announced that it is implementing a new data retention policy to disassociate search history from IP address and User ID after 18 months. In addition, Ask.com has taken steps to further industry collaboration and dialogue on privacy issues. In July, Ask.com and Microsoft joined together in urging the online industry to develop global privacy principles for data collection, use and protection related to searching and online advertising. Since then, Ask.com has worked with other technology leaders, consumer advocacy organizations and academics to make progress toward the development of these principles, as well as disseminating best practices to provide more privacy control for consumers.

"Anonymized search data provides online companies with important information to optimize the overall search experience," said Doug Leeds, senior vice president at Ask.com. "At Ask.com, that aggregate information is already guided by strong privacy standards and policies. But for those who place greater importance on protecting their search data and their online privacy, AskEraser takes care of their concerns by putting consumers in charge."

AskEraser launches today in the United States and in the United Kingdom - and will be deployed globally in 2008.

For the AskEraser user FAQ, visit (http://sp.ask.com/en/docs/about/askeraser.shtml). Screenshots of the new Ask.com user interface showing AskEraser are available at (http://sp.ask.com/en/docs/about/askeraser/press).

About Ask.com

A leading search engine on the Web, Ask.com combines world-class search technology with one-of-a-kind search tools to help people get what they are looking for faster. Ask.com sites include Ask.com US (http://www.Ask.com), Ask.com Deutschland, Ask.com Espana, Ask.com France, Ask.com Italia, Ask.com Japan, Ask.com Nederland and Ask.com UK. Additionally, Ask.com syndicates its search technology and advertising units to a network of affiliate partners. Ask.com is a division of IAC Search & Media, a wholly-owned business of IAC (Nasdaq:IACI).

Contacts: Ask.com
Nicholas J. Graham, Spokesperson
(571) 291-2967
nicholas.graham@ask.com