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Tech News‘Fake News’ About Covid-19 in Malaysia Can Now Get You Three Years in Prison
The Malaysian government instituted an ordinance against “fake news” on Friday in an effort to crack down on misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, according to multiple news outlets in the region. Anyone prosecuted for spreading fake news faces a maximum fine of 100,000 ringgit (roughly $24,000 US) and up to three years in prison. The … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsAlleged Drug Dealer Sentenced to Death by Hanging Via Zoom in Singapore
Singapore’s Supreme Court sentenced a man to death via Zoom video chat on Friday, according to a report from the Strait Times. It’s believed to be the second time that a death sentence has been handed down this year over the video service, which has seen a dramatic increase in use since the global coronavirus … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityKim Jong Un’s Half Brother Kim Jong Nam, Killed With VX Nerve Agent, Was Reportedly CIA Informant
Kim Jong Un’s half brother Kim Jong Nam was an informant for the Central Intelligence Agency who met more than once with unspecified “agency operatives” before he was killed with VX nerve toxin in a Malaysian airport in February 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday—albeit citing a “person knowledgeable with the matter.” The … Continued
By Tom McKay -
EartherConservationMalaysia Is Shipping 3,300 Tons of Garbage Back to the Countries It Came From
We, humans, do love our plastic. From our morning yogurt to our evening takeout, all this plastic feels impossible to avoid. The thing is, well, this plastic needs to go somewhere. Malaysia, a major plastics importer, is one of those somewheres. But now, the country is shipping thousands of tons of the world’s plastic back … Continued
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io9MoviesA Grim Reaper Is Haunted by Someone Else’s Life in This Beautiful Short Film
We often imagine the Grim Reaper as this cloaked, hooded figure who carries a scythe and beckons you to the beyond—or maybe it’s Nicolas Cage. But what if the Grim Reaper was just a desk job? Grim Film’s The Last 7 is a beautiful Malaysian horror short that centers around a Grim Reaper named Michael, … Continued
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Tech NewsMalaysian CEO’s Death Reportedly Caused by Exploding Phone
Nazrin Hassan, the CEO of a Malaysian venture capital fund, died after one of his cellphones reportedly caught fire while it was charging in his bedroom. Conflicting reports have attributed his cause of death to blunt force trauma and smoke inhalation, but authorities say that they need more time to investigate exactly what happened. Hassan … Continued
By Rhett Jones -
Tech News
First Person Charged Under Malaysia’s ‘Anti-Fake News’ Law Gets Month in Prison for YouTube Video
The first person charged under Malaysia’s Anti-Fake News Act has been found guilty after posting a YouTube video in which he said police took nearly an hour to respond to the shooting of a Palestinian lecturer—a claim the police refute. Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman, 46, posted a YouTube video claiming Malaysian police took 50 minutes … Continued
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Tech News
Plane Debris Found in Africa Could Be the Second Recovered Piece of MH370
CNN reports that a piece of plane wreckage found off Mozambique in southeastern Africa likely belongs to lost plane Malaysia Airlines 370. Over the weekend, a piece of a Boeing 777 was found washed ashore Mozambique, and it’s already on its way to Malaysia for examination. As CNN points out, aviation experts say this debris … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
io9Books & Comics
They Said Malaysian Audiences Weren’t Ready For Science Fiction Books
Aspiring science fiction author Kushairi Zuradi got tired of publishers telling him that there was no market for science fiction in Malaysia. So the medical-school grad started his own publishing company, Simptomatik Press. Not only did Kushairi publish his own book of stories about micro-organisms, called Biohazard (pictured above), but he also started publishing books … Continued
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Tech News
Malaysia Admits to Censoring the Internet
In 2011, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak promised that Malaysia would never censor the Internet. Speaking at the first Malaysian—ASEAN Regional Bloggers Conference, Najib said: “I have no doubts whatsoever that Malaysia has one of the liveliest blogospheres in the world. And definitely one of the freest if not the most free…[former Prime Minister Dr. … Continued
Jeremy Malcolm and Sarah Myers West -
io9
In Honor Of Lunar New Year, Here’s An Underwater Lion Dance
Happy Year of the Sheep! Here’s something you don’t see every day: divers performing a Chinese lion dance … underwater. With a big ol’ reptilian buddy providing some verrrry slow backup moves. This shot was taken at the Lunar New Year celebration February 19 at the Aquaria KLCC underwater park in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (AP … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
Tech News
How Drones Are Being Used To Track Malaria
America’s got pretty good at using drones to hunt and kill big tangible things, but Hellfire missiles and Reapers aren’t all that good at tracking little insects. But that hasn’t stopped researchers from using (smaller, less deadly) drones to help fight the spread of infectious disease. Live Science has a great write-up on the work … Continued
By Chris Mills -
Tech News
Your Electronics Are Probably the Product of Forced Labor
The internet keeps a close eye on what companies like Apple, Samsung, and Sony import out of Southeast Asia, since those components hint at products coming down the pipeline. The Department of Labor keeps a close watch too, but for a very different reason: Uncovering “modern-day slavery” by the factories that make electronics. This year, … Continued
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Tech News
The Largest Legoland Water Park Ever Will Have 50 Million Bricks
Ever been to Legoland, man? Ever been to Legoland on waterslides? Visitors to Legoland Malaysia will soon be able to, once the largest such waterpark on Earth opens in mid-October. Spanning more than three million square feet, the new water park consists of more than 50 million individual bricks throughout its 70 display models and … Continued
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io9Fish that can survive out of water for 7 hours jumps down boy’s throat, gets stuck there for 14
Here’s a fish story that’s almost as bad as tales of the legendary candirú. The climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) is a small fish that possesses an organ that allows it to breathe atmospheric oxygen for several hours at a time. Its musculature also allows the fish to move terrestrially. (Watch a tidbit of the above … Continued
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io9Oily magical prowlers haunt Malaysian town
In the Malaysian town of Kampung Laksamana, reports of a supernatural creature known as the orang minyak (or “oily man”) have caused residents to form neighborhood watches. According to legend, this slippery being — who was immortalized in such films as 1976’s The Oily Maniac (above) and 1958’s Sumpah Orang Minyak — is a human … Continued
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io9
Frog the size of a child reportedly found (and eaten) in Malaysia
When you’ve discovered a 20-kilogram frog with the legs the length of a seven-year-old child’s, do you A.) keep it for posterity; B.) donate it to science; or C.) eat the sonofagun before it eats you? For one giant-frog-finder, the answer was clearly “C.” A man from the town of Gemencheh in the Malaysian state … Continued
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io9
Rainbow toad rediscovered after 87 years
This is one of the first-ever photos of the Bornean rainbow toad, which hasn’t been seen since 1924. Ansonia latidisca was rediscovered in Malaysia by Indraneil Das of the University of Malaysia, Sarawak. Last year Das found the Old World’s smallest frog, about the size of a pea, in the same area. The toad is … Continued
Michael Marshall - New Scientist -
Tech News
Court Sentences Man to 100 Apologetic Tweets
In the modern-day equivalent (I guess?) of scrawling your apologies on a chalkboard, a Malaysian court has ordered social activist Fahmi Fadzil to say he’s sorry 100 times on Twitter. Hope no one told him how to copy and paste. Fadzil’s crime? Tweeting in January that one of his friends had been mistreated by her … Continued
