Free Republic

Burmese python invasive to Everglades. The Burmese python, one of the largest snakes in the world, is running amok in Florida. Well, more like slithering amok. So much so that on Saturday, state officials kick off a month-long competition designed to remove as many of the colossal constrictors from the Everglades as possible. More than 600 people have signed up for the Python Challenge, according to Carli Segelson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which organized the event. A cash prize goes to the hunter who captures -- dead or alive -- the most Burmese pythons,...

PORTLAND, Ore. — A snake thief smuggled a 2-foot-long python from a Portland pet store by stuffing it down his pants. Sgt. Greg Stewart said no arrests have been made in Friday’s theft. But Christin Bjugan, an owner of A to Z pet store, said video surveillance has helped viewers and police detectives identify a suspect, and she expects to have the snake returned soon. “We know who did it,” she said Monday. “We know where he lives, we know where he works, we know all about him and his girlfriend. We’re just waiting to get our snake back.”

By Brad SeraphinAs one of the leading IT recruiting firms in the nation, CyberCoders has accumulated a wealth of data relating to the most in-demand development skills for job seekers.As a follow up to last year's article, 3 years of data (2013, 2014, and 2015) has been analyzed to yield 10 trends that provide skill demand insight for software engineers in 2016.1. Java remains atop the list as the most demanded skill companies were looking for in 2015. This trend proceeds Java's 2014 dethroning of C++, the most demanded skill of 2013.2. SQL consistently remains in the top 3...

The Python Programming Language is rising in popularity in Tiobe's monthly language index, reaching an all-time high of fourth place this month, up from fifth place last month. The language now has a rating of 4.429 percent, an increase of more than 2 percent from a year ago, when it was ranked eighth. "[Python is] easy to learn, available everywhere, and embraced by industry. Python is the current standard in scripting," a report accompanying the index said. Tiobe uses a formula involving searches on popular search engines to gauge language popularity. In an email, Paul Jansen, managing director at Tiobe,...

Does ANYONE know anything about extracting log messages and calling the STIX library to create STIX objects?

<p>NEWPORT, Ky. – The owner of a northern Kentucky reptile store is recovering after police officers pried off a 20-foot python that was crushing the man.</p> <p>Newport police tell local news outlets that owner Terry Wilkens was feeding the snake Monday morning when the 125-pound python attacked.</p>

Students on campus at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University got a firsthand look at what happens when big, dangerous snakes clash. This being the Internet era, they also documented it on video. Channel News Asia reported on a half-hour battle between a king cobra and a python, just off the curb of a busy street on the university's grounds. Students told Channel News Asia that the python seemed to have been winning, having gotten a constricting grip on the cobra's head. But, as shown about half-way through the video clip above, the cobra somehow wriggled free and headed off for a...

It’s a reptilian battle between the creepy crawlies. A video of two deadly snakes – a python and a king cobra – on a street in Singapore has been making the rounds online. Passersby looked on as the two snakes twisted around one another, the Telegraph reports.

Ever wonder what might happen if a python ate a porcupine? Well, wonder no more. One of these giant snakes — which kill prey by suffocating it and then consuming it whole — recently dined on a porcupine and didn't live to brag about it. On June 14, a cyclist riding along one of the mountain bike trails at the Lake Eland Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, spotted a very engorged snake. The cyclist snapped a few photos of the gluttonous python and posted them to social media, where they quickly attracted the attention of locals who wanted to...

This python, captured in Shark Valley, in Everglades National Park, may be the second-largest python ever caught in Florida. USGS ======================================================================================================================== A python researcher working in Everglades National Park has captured what may be the second-largest Burmese python in the state of Florida, CBS Miami reports. The snake was captured on July 9 in the park's Shark Valley and was documented at 18 feet 3 inches long. It's just 4 inches shy of the state's record 18 foot 7 inch python caught in Miami-Dade, CBS notes. Whether it's indeed the second-largest, officially, remains unclear, due to differences in record-keeping in...

Ever wonder what might happen if a python ate a porcupine? Well, wonder no more. One of these giant snakes — which kill prey by suffocating it and then consuming it whole — recently dined on a porcupine and didn't live to brag about it. On June 14, a cyclist riding along one of the mountain bike trails at the Lake Eland Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, spotted a very engorged snake. The cyclist snapped a few photos of the gluttonous python and posted them to social media, where they quickly attracted the attention of locals who wanted to...

SUMMERDALE, Ala.,- A pair of young identical twins visiting an Alabama attraction were caught on camera with a large python tangled in their hair. The video shows 5-year-old identical twins Scarlet and Fiona Mallory with a python tangled through both girls' hair at Alligator Alley in Summerdale. One of the girls is quickly freed and the other remains still while a trainer threads the snake out of her locks. The video was shot Sunday by the girls' mother, Stephanie Mallory.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls.... I need some input on a handgun. I was gifted a Colt Python (.357 magnum) from my father. I'd like to know what this thing is worth.

Everglades National Park, a world-renowned wetland in southern Florida, once abounded with rabbits, raccoons, muskrats, and other small mammals. But roughly 15 years ago, these species started to become scarce. About the same time, biologists noticed a boom in the population of a predator that had invaded the 64,238-hectare park: the Burmese python. Now, an experiment adds to the evidence that the pythons, which grow up to 5 meters long, are to blame for the collapse of the mammals' populations. “There’s no question that this is an environmental disaster,” says J. D. Willson of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, who...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Cats have been disappearing in one Port St. Lucie neighborhood so when Sergeant John Holman was called to the 600 block of SE Faith Terrace Friday morning for a report of another deceased cat, he made a startling discovery. Hiding in some brush, Sgt. Holman spotted a 12-foot long 120-pound Burmese Python. Neighbors believe the large snake has been feasting on their felines. The Sergeant called for backup to help get the large predator from the brush. Cops say the snake belongs to a person who lives near by. No charges have been filed as...

Everybody expects the Spanish Inquisition. And as with all things Monty Python, fans need to expect the unexpected, too. Next month the surviving Monty Python members reunite onstage for the first time in almost 35 years — and, they say, the last time ever. Fans understandably want to see the anarchic comedy troupe's classic skits. They're hoping for Spam, lumberjacks, dead parrots and of course the red-robed cardinals who burst in to proclaim: "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

A Texas homeowner got a shock when she walked into the bathroom of her College Station home to find a 12ft python wrapped around her toilet bowl. Veronica Rodriguez, 50, discovered the huge African python slithering across the bathroom floor earlier this month. It is believed that the python got in through the back door to Ms Rodriguez's home, which she shares her teenage daughter Kelsie.

With the news about the Mozilla Foundation and the desire of many FReepers to drop the Firefox browser, there are some viable (IMHO) alternatives, both of which are character-based:Links is text WWW browser with tables and frames. It runs on Linux, Unix, OS/2 and Windows. Lynx is a text browser for the World Wide Web. Lynx 2.8.7 runs on Un*x, MacOS, VMS, Windows 95/98/NT, DOS386+ (but not 3.1, 3.11), as well as OS/2 EMX.

An Australian woman discovered her pet dog had been eaten by a snake in the most gruesome possible way after finding a bloated python lying curled in its kennel with the end of the dog's chain still dangling from its mouth. Amazingly, the wildlife-lover had only chained her Chihuahua-Maltese cross overnight to stop it disturbing native animals near her Caniaba home in northern NSW, but it meant there was no escaping the 2.5-metre python that slithered into the kennel. When the woman went outside to let the dog off its chain the following morning, she discovered the bloated snake curled...