ContextPlus, an adware company implicated in a large number of stealth rootkit infections, has stopped distributing its software, citing concerns over the practices of some distribution partners.
In a brief note posted on its home page, ContextPlus said it is “no longer able to ensure the highest standards of quality and customer care” and will stop [...]

Jill Carroll, the American reporter who was kidnapped in Baghdad nearly three months ago, was freed today, and said she had been mostly confined to a small room during her captivity but had been treated well by her captors.
Full Story: New York Times
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More company in the good news world: Good News Network is back.
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Rob Brezsny’s Pronoia here for a while. I haven’t read the book yet, but he had some great stuff to say in his appearance on the R.U. Sirius show (episodes here and here). On it he talks at length about the need for good news outlets. I think Rob would dig this [...]

The UN is launching an emergency fund designed to speed up the handout of money for humanitarian disasters.
The initiative, put forward by the UK, is being launched by Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York.
Mr Annan wants cash from the fund to immediately help millions in the Horn of Africa threatened with starvation.
Full Story: BBC.
These [...]

Oops, the scientist dropped his clothespin. Not to worry a wobbly toddler raced to help, eagerly handing it back. The simple experiment shows the capacity for altruism emerges as early as 18 months of age.
Full Story: ABC News.
(via Great News Network).
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Dean Kamen, the engineer who invented the Segway, is puzzling over a new equation these days. An estimated 1.1 billion people in the world don’t have access to clean drinking water, and an estimated 1.6 billion don’t have electricity. Those figures add up to a big problem for the world—and an equally big opportunity for [...]

Only 15 percent of respondants said they were “not too happy.” The bad news is that Republicans tend to be happier than Democrats and independents. But oh well, at least most people aren’t feelin’ too bad.
Full Story: Pew Research.
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Pirate Papa: A Journal of Green Parenting.
My friend, the esteemed Sky Cosby, has started a anarchist/green/alternative/whatever father blog. He has this to say:

When my twin daughters Lyli & Scarleht were born 6.1.04 some talk flew about our belfrys concerning a papa ‘zine & its dire societal necessity. i had never seen one at the [...]

Alexandra Munroe, who resigned as vice president of arts and culture at Japan Society in New York last summer, has been hired as the Guggenheim Museum’s first full-time curator of Asian art.
The Guggenheim has been seeking to open a branch in Asia, exploring partnerships in Hong Kong and Singapore, among other possibilities, and the creation [...]