moonbuggy

This prompt used to annoy the crap out of me. Not anymore, hopefully. :)

‘Police helped a Boston man find his lost 3-year-old son at South Shore Plaza, then charged the father with stealing

Officers arrested Jonathan Williams because of what they said he was doing when his boy wandered away, Deputy Police Chief Russell Jenkins said. [..]

Stolen clothing was found in a bag that Williams had left at a customer service desk while looking for his son, Deputy Jenkins said.

He was arrested and charged with larceny.’

This is a video made in 1994 by Digital talking about the wonders of the internet.

I remember those days. All I needed was a bash shell and telnet. :)

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‘Kate Penland said she was glad to board the plane in Houston after an 11-hour delay to visit her father in Oklahoma. But she said a rude and aggressive flight attendant caused her to get to Oklahoma a day late. [..]

“As we started taxiing, he started saying ‘Bye, bye plane,’ said Penland. “At the end of her speech, she leaned over the gentleman beside me and said, ‘It’s not funny anymore. You need to shut your baby up.’

In disbelief, Penland asked the woman if she was kidding. It was then, Penland said, the flight attendant went too far.

“She then said, ‘You know, it’s called baby Benadryl. And I said, ‘Well, I’m not going to drug my child so you have a pleasant flight.”

‘A 75 year old woman from Karlstad in central Sweden has been thrust into the IT history books – with the world’s fastest internet connection.

Sigbritt Löthberg’s home has been supplied with a blistering 40 Gigabits per second connection, many thousands of times faster than the average residential link and the first time ever that a home user has experienced such a high speed.

But Sigbritt, who had never had a computer until now, is no ordinary 75 year old. She is the mother of Swedish internet legend Peter Löthberg who, along with Karlstad Stadsnät, the local council’s network arm, has arranged the connection.’

‘At my store, searching and copying files was not a common practice at all. We were the good guys of the district. One day, however, a gorgeous woman walked in with her computer complaining of her PC locking up when she went to use her webcam. She refused to give us her website so we knew something was up. She authorized us to do a tune-up to remove unneeded files and update her to SP2. During the cleanup process, we saw that her Norton Protected Recycle Bin was consuming 12gigs of files. [..]

So how about that? Not only did the techs steal porn from a customer…they forfeited the revenue from a new computer AND from an on-site visit for the sole purpose of getting more porn.’

‘Jennings Police Department employee, Eleanor Beal was just crossing the street to go to work when something dropped from the sky.

The sky wasn’t falling. She says it was worms, large tangled clumps of them.

Beal says, “When I saw that they were crawling, I said, ‘It’s worms! Get out of the way!'” [..]

Where they came from is a mystery, but some believe that a water spout spotted less than five miles away at that same time near Lacassine Bayou could have something to do with it.’

‘Thieves have stolen nearly $US300 million ($347m) from a bank in Baghdad, police and a bank official said today, in what is probably one of the biggest thefts in Iraq since the 2003 war to topple Saddam Hussein.

Police said the thieves were three guards who worked at the private Dar Es Salaam bank in Baghdad’s Karrada district.

They said that when bank employees arrived for work yesterday they found the front door open and the money gone.

The guards, who normally slept at the bank, had also disappeared, they said.’

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‘Scientists say they have seen one of the fastest evolutionary changes ever observed in a species of butterfly.

The tropical Blue Moon butterfly has developed a way of fighting back against parasitic bacteria.

Six years ago, males accounted for just 1% of the Blue Moon population on two islands in the South Pacific.

But by last year, the butterflies had developed a gene to keep the bacteria in check and male numbers were up to about 40% of the population.’

‘US investigators posing as businessmen were easily able to obtain a licence to buy enough nuclear material to make a small “dirty bomb”, Congress has heard.

The team, who set up a bogus company, said the operation exposed serious flaws in the way the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approves licences.

It took only four weeks and some phone calls and faxes to get the document.

The NRC says it has already taken steps to address the problem. The sting was carried out at the request of Congress.

Investigators from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said they had not even had to leave their desks to acquire the licence.’

‘A landmark discovery by researchers at McMaster University could radically alter the way scientists can use embryonic stem cells to grow replacement tissues and treat cancer.

In a surprise revelation, a McMaster study found that human embryonic stem cells – “the great grandmothers” of all the other cells in our bodies – build themselves a nurturing cocoon that feeds them and directs their ability to transform into other types of tissues.

And by manipulating the products of this tiny, cellular placenta, it may be possible for scientists to prompt the stem cells to grow into desired tissues and organs, or to switch off tumour growth in cancers, says Mickie Bhatia, the lead study author.

The study will appear in an upcoming issue of the leading scientific journal Nature.’

‘Air travelers in Canada who make comments about bombs and guns will from now on only be arrested if it is clear they are making a serious threat, officials said on Wednesday.

The Canadian Air Transport Safety Authority, trying to clamp down on screeners who alert police every time they hear alarming words, has issued a bulletin urging staff to show more discretion. [..]

Brigitte Caron, a spokeswoman for the authority, compared the new system to handing out yellow warning cards in soccer. A player can receive one yellow card and still stay in the game.’

If you’re drunk enough, your friends face is a suitable substitute for the baseball.

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‘Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said.

The report, aired late Wednesday on China Central Television, highlights the country’s problems with food safety despite government efforts to improve the situation.

Countless small, often illegally run operations exist across China and make money cutting corners by using inexpensive ingredients or unsavory substitutes. They are almost impossible to regulate.’

‘The first signs of trouble, according to the cable, emerged when the kitchen staff tried to cook the inaugural meal in the new guard base on May 15. Some appliances did not work. Workers began to get electric shocks. Then a burning smell enveloped the kitchen as the wiring began to melt.

All the food from the old guard camp — a collection of tents — had been carted to the new facility, in the expectation that the 1,200 guards would begin moving in the next day. But according to the cable, the electrical meltdown was just the first problem in a series of construction mistakes that soon left the base uninhabitable, including wiring problems, fuel leaks and noxious fumes in the sleeping trailers.’

‘A sports car enthusiast who suffered a mini stroke while restoring a Lotus Esprit was amazed when online friends finished the work for him in secret.

Simon Pritchard, 36, from Abergavenny, had been in the process of rebuilding the 25-year-old car when he fell ill.

When members of the Lotus Esprit online forum website heard, they donated money and time to fix it. [..]

“I was so overwhelmed, I cried like a baby and then passed out. [..]’

Hilarity in a bumper sticker. :)

‘Prison overcrowding is contributing to a sharp rise in inmate suicides in jails in England and Wales, the Chief Inspector of Prisons said today.

So far this year, some 50 prisoners have taken their own lives, compared to 67 in the whole of last year.

If deaths continue at the same rate, it would reverse a trend which has seen prison suicides fall from levels such as 95 in 2002, 94 in 2003 and 95 in 2004 to 78 in 2005 and 67 in 2006.

Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, said that the recent overcrowding crisis had seen newly-convicted prisoners housed in police and courthouse cells, where they do not have access to the support proper jails offer at their time of greatest vulnerability.’

‘Teacher Dave Barclay flew thousands of miles across the Atlantic to Wales to attend his friend’s wedding, only to discover he was a year early.

Barclay, 34, was told about the wedding earlier in the year and assumed it was to take place in 2007.

It was only when he had flown into Cardiff from Toronto, Canada, and rang the bridegroom seeking details of the venue that he discovered the wedding was in 2008.

“I am a year early — yeah, my mates are loving it, aren’t they,” he told BBC Radio Wales.’

‘The virtual communities created by online games have provided us with a new medium for social interaction and communication. Avatar Machine is a system which replicates the aesthetics and visuals of third person gaming, allowing the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space via a head mounted interface. The system potentially allows for a diminished sense of social responsibility, and could lead the user to demonstrate behaviors normally reserved for the gaming environment.’

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‘A Cape Cod man who claimed he was homophobic, racist and a habitual liar to avoid jury duty earned an angry rebuke from a judge on Monday, who referred the case to prosecutors for possible charges. [..]

On a questionnaire that all potential jurors fill out, Ellis wrote that he didn’t like homosexuals and blacks. He then echoed those sentiments in an interview with Nickerson.

“You say on your form that you’re not a fan of homosexuals,” Nickerson said.

“That I’m a racist,” Ellis interrupted.

“I’m frequently found to be a liar, too. I can’t really help it,” Ellis added.

“I’m sorry?” Nickerson said.

“I said I’m frequently found to be a liar,” Ellis replied.

“So, are you lying to me now?” Nickerson asked.

“Well, I don’t know. I might be,” was the response.’

A tip for burglars: do the Google search for “how to open a safe” _before_ you begin your robbery.

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‘Two people are expected to be charged Wednesday in connection with the bizarre 2003 case in which a pizza deliveryman died after a collar bomb attached to him exploded, CNN has learned.

Brian Wells died August 28, 2003, in Erie, Pennsylvania, after he claimed gunmen grabbed him, locked the bomb around his neck and ordered him to rob a bank. Police detained him after the robbery, and the device exploded as he waited on the pavement. A bomb squad was en route to the scene but did not arrive in time.’

The Smoking Gun has more.

‘A man making a trip from Puerto Rico to South Florida to raise money for his religious education remains hospitalized Monday after he was struck down by a bolt of lightning which flew from clear blue sky on Sunday. He was selling religious materials when he was hit.

Hailu Kidane Marian was working with members of his religious group, selling religious materials door-to-door in a Northwest Miami-Dade neighborhood, when the bolt from the blue struck him down.

“I heard a boom, and I looked and the guy jumped back, and he just laid there, stiff,” said witness Maria Martinez. [..]

“He’s unconscious, he’s in a coma,” said Francisco Perez, leader of the Puerto Rico-based group. “It’s difficult what happened, you know, but what can we do? Things happen in life, but we still believe in God.”‘

‘A man who wanted to bail his friend out of the Marion County jail is behind bars after a high speed chase.

Deputies said he drove to the sheriff’s office with a trunk full of drugs and no ID. The 100 mile-per-hour chase began when deputies tried to check Eugene Allen’s ID at the front gate of the jail. Allen didn’t have any ID, so he sped off, hitting a sergeant’s car and an SUV before flipping over.

Allen faces charges for driving on a suspended license and having cocaine and methamphetamines.’

‘A man armed with a gun has been detained in Tasmania after he attempted to buy an airline ticket, saying he needed to visit Prime Minister John Howard.

The incident this morning came as Mr Howard toured northern Tasmania campaigning.

It is understood the man walked into Launceston Airport this morning and demanded a ticket to Sydney, saying he needed to visit Mr Howard.

He was found to be in possession of a gun and police were immediately called by airline staff.’

Seems you start off with a clove hitch and then modify it slightly.

I’ll have to try this out and see how well it works.

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‘A Nova Scotia man has brought the term “raining on the parade” to a whole new level.

Eighteen-year-old Corey Rondelet appeared in a Pictou court yesterday on a charge of urinating from an upper window onto spectators watching the annual Lobster Carnival parade on Saturday.

Horrified parade-goers told the Mounties a half-naked man was exposing himself and peeing from the window.’