XPost: alt.cult-movies.zombies, alt.politics.green, can.politics
From: keon14@rogers.com
Chom Noamsky wrote:
> "Eric Gisin" wrote in message:
> > [life imitates really bad art for a change]
>
> A clear case of habitat encroachment. What would you do if you were a
> grizzly bear foraging about and a walking kabob just happened by? Too bad
> the guy didn't see it coming, if he'd had a can of pepper spray he could
> have defended himself. Pepper spray is a lot more effective than a firearm.
> The bear would also have been made more wary of humans in the future.
>
>
>
You sould read about the ant invasion in Texas!
'Crazy' Ant Invasion Frying Computer Equipment
By Andrew R Hickey, ChannelWeb
1:29 PM EDT Thu. May. 15, 2008
There's a new bug crawling around that can wreak real havoc on computer
equipment. And this bug isn't the kind you get through an email or an
infected instant message, but an actual, physical insect. To battle this bug,
it's more likely that the Orkin man is the one you'll call instead of
McAfee,Symantec (NSDQ: SYMC) or some other computer security specialist.
Dubbed the 'crazy rasberry ant,' the flea-sized pests have been causing power
surges and frying computers and other electronics around Houston for days. By
some estimates billions of ants have swarmed the area.
Along with crippling computers at some homes and business, this infestation
of exoskeleton-bearing annoyances has ruined pumps at sewage pumping
stations, destroyed gas meters and caused fire alarms to malfunction,
according to the Associated Press. And while no major problems have been
reported, the crazy critters have also been spotted at NASA's Johnson Space
Center and close to the Hobby Airport.
The crazy rasberry ants, called crazy because of their affinity for moving
erratically in search for food as opposed to in orderly lines like normal
ants, are a new species believed to have arrived in Houston via a cargo ship
possibly from South Africa or the Caribbean.
And these ants, which get the rasberry moniker because it is the last name of
the first exterminator to combat them, are also atypical in that it appears
over the counter sprays and other pest control mechanisms are futile to
thwart them.
Along with their craziness, the hairy, reddish-brown creepy crawlies also
have a bizarre love for electronics, invading them in droves and in some
cases causing power surges that can render a computer useless. They've been
found inside hard drives and caught burrowing into laptops, in some cases
making them not work at all.
It's not incredibly clear why these nutty buggers favor electronics, but
researchers have said that ants have been known to gnaw through cable
insulation on power lines and have been congregating on metal conductors,
ultimately causing shorts in electrical lines, junction boxes and traffic and
street lights. In the Texas heat, air conditioners have also become a prime
target.
And while it's not entirely known where this electric attraction arises from,
a study performed by the University of Texas has said that ants, of both the
crazy rasberry and other varieties, tend to prefer DC currents to AC
currents, though it's unclear exactly why. Other theories indicate that while
some ants may be naturally attracted to electricity, others may find crumbs
that have fallen near or into a computer or crawling inside to build a nest
in a warm, protect spot.
While Houston-based solution provider Reality Works has yet to hear from any
clients that have come down with rasberry ant fever, CEO and chief engineer
Jamal Thompson said ants fouling up computer equipment and electronics isn't
wholly uncommon.
"It's just like with rats," he said. "The ants eat that inner lining of the
cable because it's sweet."
Thompson said ants typically go after regular Cat 5 cable that runs on the
ground to computers and can also build nests in walls and other areas where
cable runs.
"Once they get through the cable they can short it out and kill the
computer," he said.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
