News & Happenings In My World: 10/26/11

No Friends In Ireland: Probe Begins Into Facebook Privacy Issues | Fox News

No Friends In Ireland: Probe Begins Into Facebook Privacy Issues | Fox News:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick

A Facebook user edits privacy settings.
Privacy watchdogs began an on-site investigation Tuesday of Facebook's regional office in Ireland, FoxNews.com has learned, following sensational accusations that the company is creating extensive "shadow profiles" of non-users.
The eye-popping assertion came in a complaint filed in August by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner, which alleges that users are encouraged to hand over the personal data of others. That includes "sensitive data such as political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation and so forth" -- and Facebook is storing it all up in its databases.

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Life-saving captain stops plane plunging nose-first into the tarmac after he lands without a front landing gear | Mail Online

Life-saving captain stops plane plunging nose-first into the tarmac after he lands without a front landing gear This is the incredible moment a pilot stops his plane plunging nose-first into the tarmac despite not having any front landing gear.
Captain Hooshang Shahbazi brought in the IranAir 727 at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport knowing if he got it wrong almost 120 people could die.
The flight, travelling from Moscow to Iran, held 94 passengers and 19 crew members but none were injured despite the testing landing.

Safe: The plane comes to a halt with its nose almost resting on the runway but incredibly nobody is hurt

Planet where year lasts just 18 hours is found to be waterworld twice the size of Earth | Mail Online

Planet where year lasts just 18 hours is found to be waterworld twice the size of Earth A planet where a year lasts just 18 hours is a waterworld with a radius around twice the size of Earth, a team of astronomers have discovered.
55 Cancri E is the innermost planet in orbit around a sun-like star known as 55 Cancri A that is around 40 light years from Earth.
Now a team from The University of Liege in Belgium have revealed further details about the planet after conducting a new study.

Out of this waterworld: Scientists have found that a planet known as 55 Cancri E is made up of around 20% water after finding its radius is twice the radius of Earth.

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Schengen Travel Insurance

Schengen Travel Insurance
Schengen visa now requires travel insurance covering pre-existing conditions of 30,000 Euros. We have designed specialised cover that meets this requirement. Please note that this is the only cover for leisure travellers that has pre-existing conditions for 30,000 Euros.
The cover is designed for travellers up to the age of 65 inclusive.
One adult can add 3 financially dependent children to their cover absolutely free provided the children are under 21 years old and financially dependent.

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Austrian student takes on Facebook over privacy - Yahoo! News

Austrian student takes on Facebook over privacy

By MELISSA EDDY, Associated Press

VIENNA – Max Schrems wasn't sure what he would get when he asked Facebook to send him a record of his personal data from three years of using the site.

What the 24-year-old Austrian law student didn't expect, though, was 1,222 pages of data on a CD. It included chats he had deleted more than a year ago, "pokes" dating back to 2008, invitations to which he had never responded, let alone attended, and hundreds of other details.

Time for an "aha" moment.

In response, Schrems has launched an online campaign aimed at forcing the social media behemoth that has 800 million users to abide by European data privacy laws — something the Palo Alto, California-based company insists it already does.

Yet since Schrems launched his "Europe vs. Facebook" website in August, Facebook has increasingly been making overtures not only to Schrems, but to other Europeans concerned about data privacy, including Germany's data security watchdogs.

"Have we done enough in the past to deal with you? No," Facebook's director of European public policy, Richard Allan, testified Tuesday before a German parliamentary committee on new media. "Will we do more now? Yes."

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ANCYL march

Planned protests are expected to take place between Pretoria and Johannesburg on Thursday, 27 October and Friday, 28 October.

Protestors are expected to gather at Beyers Naude Square in the Johannesburg CBD after which they will proceed to the Chamber of Mines Building. The protest will continue to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton, and end at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

Everyone is requested to consider alternate travel routes if travelling in this direction and monitor your local radio station for updates during the day.

Areas affected by the protest march:

• The Johannesburg CBD area, Sandton area, Oxford and Rivonia Roads (between Illovo and Sandton) should be avoided from around 9h00 on Thursday, 27 October until the protesters have dispersed.

• Caution should be exercised when travelling along the M1 highway in the vicinity of the Johannesburg CBD as it is possible that some protesters could seek to disrupt traffic along the M1.

• Caution should be exercised in the vicinity of Wits University, St Andrews Road, and Parktown in the vicinity of Victoria and Oxford Roads.

• Dr ivers should be vigilant throughout the Sandton area and be alert for taxis that will be transporting protesters from Sandton to Pretoria.
• From approximately 13h00 onwards, caution should be exercised along the M1, N1 and N14 highways leading from Sandton to Pretoria. The Old Pretoria Road should be avoided.

• It is advised that the Pretoria CBD, especially in the vicinity of the Union Buildings, should be avoided from 14h00 onwards.

• Where feasible, meetings scheduled in Johannesburg, Sandton and Pretoria should be moved to an alternative date or venue.