Under the plan, the music and movie industries would have been empowered to analyze the downloads of individual Internet users to root out instances of piracy, and to report violations to a newly created agency. The agency was to send warning letters to violators; after the third letter, the Internet service provider would have been required to sever service.

The voting down of the bill is seen as a big loss for President Sarkozy, who promises to have a revised version of the bill ready in the coming weeks. [NY Times]

The meters create magnetic fields capable of registering the metal mass of vehicles. They have a direct computer link to a police station.

Under a mechanism adopted by towns such as Issy-les-Moulineaux on the outskirts of Paris, cars are allowed 20 minutes of free parking. If they stay longer, the smart meter sends a message to a police control room, which alerts officers through their mobile telephones a quarter of an hour later.

To make matters worse, Claude Zandona, the man behind the manufacturer of these smart meters, envisions a system where users would pay using an identification number stored within their cellphone. The system would first send you a text message warning and then follow up with a notice that you have been fined. Tickets could be sent directly to your door—making the whole idea of meter maids obsolete. [Times Online via CNET]

The train had to make an emergency stop for two hours while rescue workers tried to get the man out. They ended up having to remove the entire toilet from the train with the man's arm still stuck in it.

Benoit Gigou, a witness to the man-eating toilet, said that "He came out on a stretcher, with his hand still jammed in the toilet bowl, which they had to saw clean off."

Let this be a lesson to us all. Don't mess with train toilets. [BBC]

But looks aside, this thing puts all of its interactive electronics and LED display into the black square portion of the box, leaving the rest relatively unscathed. It even comes with a remote control that matches the black and white motif. Call me crazy, but I wouldn't mind moving to France just to have this in my living room. Le Cube will be available for Canal+ subscribers around November 4. [Design Boom via Unplggd]

The phone isn't really, as one suit in the video notes, "A very nice... a very nice PIECE OF ART," but when the big innovation is bringing the stunning features of wristwatches to mobile phones (that's right, the Meridiist has a built-in clock!), you can't blame them for reaching a bit. The phone's selling points: made from the finest rubber (?) and alligator skin, creating a "sensual experience," and to top it off, it is "in some way the first pocket watch of the 21st century!" Never mind that it looks like the obese offspring of my first Nokia candybar from 1998 and an HTC Touch Diamond, conceived in a French executive's board room— it's expensive and so you must want one. [Thanks, Nebosja!]

Waves pass along the radial corridors, interacting with the pillars and producing forces that pull the water away from the innermost ring. The water is then pushed out of the cloaking area as if it had not encountered anything at all. The circular formation could be used to protect anything from oil rigs to islands, though very few islands can probably afford the amount of pillars needed to make this effect work. [New Scientist via Dvice]

The researcher says that after first alerting Apple to the issue, "I got the same answer each time, our skate launcher warning: 'Our engineers are working on the problem.'" (I'm assuming "skate launcher" is a Google Translate cock-up. Giz France editor says "Skate Launcher warning = the guy from the CNRS lab who tried to warn Apple.") Since publishing the report, Apple has promised "to resolve the problem in eight days."

I wouldn't chuck your Mac Pro out the window yet, but if you're particularly digging that new car smell, I'd probably cut back on huffing it, until this is sorted out. [Liberation via Giz France]

Though a Fresnel sensor has the same sharpness as a glass lens, it only collects about 10% of the light. That's why the sheet has to be really really big, like the 30-meter one mentioned above. Even worse, the Fresnel lens brings light to focus far away from its own surface. A 30-meter panel may require a spaceship with secondary lens and camera located several kilometers away to line up within a few millimeters to capture the image precisely on camera. That's some tricky flying, and would require a lot of energy, especially when the panel itself is constantly tilting to look at new, wondrous things. [New Scientist via Kurzweil AI]

As Bernard entered the pool on his way to making history, Rattay managed to capture one of a kind images and beamed them around the world in minutes thanks to a custom set up that combines a Canon EOS 1D Mark 2N with a 15mm fish-eye lens, waterproof cable and a transmitter sends everything to a waiting laptop. From there, the images were worldwide in minutes, which is far faster than any of Rattay's soggy bottomed competitors. "I don't need to wait for a couple of hours for the competition to end before jumping into the pool to retrieve my CF card, as do the other photographers," he said. What's the fun in that, Rattay? You afraid of a few cannonballs? [Reuters]

The addition isn't permanent — don't worry, purists — but will be simply bolted in place and easily removed later. It's pretty amazing looking, a really interesting way of blending the past with the future. I like it. What say you? [Dwell via io9]

The AGV—translated, it means "high-speed, self-propelled carriage" was unveiled by Nicolas Sarkozy (who, given his recent marriage to former supermodel Carla Bruni, is probably no stranger to le petit train pulling into the station at regular intervals) at a ceremony in La Rochelle today. Italy has already bought a stack of AGVs and plans to run them on its own rail network from 2011. [BBC News and Railway Gazette]

Zazzo says his hovering shocker will be raining down the pain sometime next year, and could even find its way to these shores. Pushbutton Tasering from a distance? Sounds like an insane idea. This whole Taser concept has gone way too far, but we suppose it's better than mass murdering crowds of people. [Danger Room]