Schneier on Security: SHA-1 Broken

Bruce Schneier's blog reports that SHA-1 has been broken. Schneier sites a Chinese team's informally circulating paper describing work that builds on past work against SHA-0 and SHA-1. MD5 is on pretty shaky ground. So what digest function should we all be using to secure our passwords?

Fijian Methodists struggle with kava use by clergy

Cries for kava use moderation among the clergy dominated a recent meeting of Fijian Methodists. Newly elected church president Jione Langi addressed concern that kava overuse by his church leaders was driving the flock to seek spiritual fulfillment elsewhere. Yet another psychopharmaceutical faces the test of modernity. Western culture once resisted the taking of caffiene and now, while a minority still fights on for a caffeine ban, we freely give it to children on a daily basis. As Fiji contunies to modernize and integrate with the global economy, how will kava fare?

Art or blasphemy?

You do not hear of people being found guilty of blasphemy in European countries that often any more. However, an Austrian comic book artist has done just that in Greece. Following complaints from the Greek Orthodox Church, Gerhard Haderer, whose book portrays Jesus Christ as a pot smoking party animal, was sentanced to six months in jail. Haderer faces imprisonment if he enters Greece.