News Briefs

Cameron wrong about ‘Jesus Tomb’

Stephan Pfann, a scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, has recently come forward and claimed that James Cameron’s “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” was wrong when it translated text on an ossuary purportedly belonging to Mary Magdalene. The film suggests that the text found, which was read as “Mariamene e Mara,” which translates into “Mary the master” or “Mary the teacher,” is the final resting place of Mary Magdalene since Mariamene was a rare name. Pfann analyzed the inscription and reportst that the ossuary doesn’t read “Mariamene.” It instead is composed of two names in two different forms of hand writing. He feels that it says “Mariame kai Mara,” which translates to Mary and Martha. This implies that more bones were added to the ossuary later. Pfann also said that Cameron’s documentary “fiddled” with facts to make their story work.



Google to change privacy standards

On Thursday, Google Inc. announced that it will be implementing new privacy measures to makes its searches more anonymous. The company plans to remove important identifying data information from its system every 18 to 24 months. This time period is meant to comply with laws around the world that order how long search engines must keep their search information. Authorities will still be able to force Google to keep data beyond its set length of time. Privacy experts are very happy with the company’s precautions and others are glad that the search engine is the first to mention how long it will retain data. The reason for the privacy announcement is based on a subpoena by the U.S. Justice Department the company received and fought against which requested search information of its users.



End of analog T.V. date announced

Mark your calendars for midnight on February 17, 2009. That is the date that all owners of analog televisions that received signals through antennas will no longer receive a signal. The only way to continue receiving a signal is by purchasing a digital converter box for which the price is currently unknown. Every household, whether it needs a converter or not, will be eligible to receive two $40 coupons towards the purchase of two converter boxes from the government. Registration for the coupons will be between January 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009. Coupons will be distributed until the $1.5 billion set aside for them runs out.