Clipmarks | Newfman's clips

Least Competent Criminal

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:23:32 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Latest Negative-Cash-Flow Robbery: The man (dressed as a woman) got away after the attempt at Joe's Cafe, in Metairie, La., in July, but he lost money in the deal. As a ruse to get a clerk to open the cash register, he handed over a $5 bill to pay for two doughnuts, and, with the register then open for change, pulled a gun and demanded the contents. The clerk immediately became hysterical, screaming, and the robber, frightened, fled the restaurant without his $5 or his doughnuts. [Times-Picayune, 7-29-08]

Lost baby whale thinks yacht is mom

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:40:58 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Lost humpback whale calf has bonded with a yacht it thinks is its mother

One- to 2-month-old calf tried to suckle from boat

Calf appears exhausted but rescuers hope it will continue out to sea

Spray-On Condoms: Still a Hard Sell

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:57:06 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.time.com

Edison had his lightbulb, Ford had his Model T, and Jan Vinzenz Krause has his spray-on condom. Inspired by the mechanics of a drive-through car wash, the German sexual-health educator designed a custom-fitting male contraceptive using liquid latex and some materials from a hardware store. "I felt a little like MacGyver," he says of building the contraption.

U.S. condom sales have been increasing steadily over the years, according to Packaged Facts, a division of Market Research Group, and they are expected to top $444 million annually by 2010.

Access to condoms is one issue; inclination to use them is another. Which helps explain why companies are constantly looking for ways to improve the standard product — vibrating, warming, climax-delaying, even glow-in-the-dark condoms are all available on drugstore shelves.

Man avoids planes on highway, 25 years apart!

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:26:14 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.cbc.ca

A pilot who ran into trouble north of Winnipeg Friday afternoon managed to bring his light plane down safely in an emergency landing on Highway 8

Kerry Seabrook said he was driving his vehicle north of Winnipeg on Highway 8 when he noticed a plane in trouble, heading towards him.

"I had to pull my truck off into the ditch and even by the time I did that, his wing passed about five feet from my truck," Seabrook said. "I could hear his landing gear touch down right beside me. I had my window open."

Ironically this was the second close call Seabrook has had with a plane. Twenty-five years ago, Seabrook, along with two of his friends, were almost hit by an Air Canada Boeing 767, later nicknamed the Gimli Glider.

The plane's engines conked out well short of Winnipeg, the nearest major airport, and the pilots had glide the plane onto a former airbase near Gimli. Seabrook and his friends watched as the plane scraped towards them along the runway and stopped just short of running them over.

Armchair astronomer discovers unique 'cosmic ghost'

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:48:32 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Story Highlights
Using the Web, a Dutch schoolteacher has discovered a strange astronomical object
The find illustrates how more amateur astronomers are contributing to science
The Galaxy Zoo project encourages the public to join in astronomy research online
Hubble Space Telescope has agreed to take a closer look at the object next year
Next Article in Technology »

(CNN) -- Hanny van Arkel was poring over photos of galaxies on the Internet last August when she stumbled across a strange object in the night sky: a bright, gaseous mass with a gaping hole in its middle.

Van Arkel is a 25-year-old schoolteacher in Heerlen, The Netherlands, not an astrophysicist. But her startling find -- a mysterious and unique object some observers are calling a "cosmic ghost" -- has captivated astronomers and even caught the attention of the Hubble Space Telescope, which has agreed to take a closer look next year.

D.B. Cooper's cash in Canada?

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:39:47 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.cbc.ca

In 1971, infamous fugitive D.B. Cooper hijacked a plane in Seattle and demanded $200,000 in ransom and four parachutes.

With the cash in hand, he later jumped out of the plane over the U.S. Pacific Northwest and was never heard from again.

Theories about Cooper's true identity and his ultimate fate have run rampant since. Now a Washington lawyer says the notorious hijacker may have stashed his cash in a Vancouver bank before he returned to his life as a college instructor in Utah.

And Galen Cook says that money may still locked in a bank safety deposit box in the British Columbia city.

Despite hundreds of leads, no conclusive evidence of the man's true identity has ever been found. Now Cook, a lawyer in Spokane, Wash., says evidence he has collected suggests Cooper was actually William Gossett, a college instructor from Ogden, Utah, who died in 2003 at age 73.

A mountain bike changed my life

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:34:47 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Story Highlights
CNN Hero's nonprofit Pedals for Progress gives new life to used bicycles
Dave Schweidenback saw transformative effects of bikes while in the Peace Corps
More than 115,000 used bikes have been sent to 32 developing countries since '91
Low-cost bikes help local residents gain access to jobs, health care and schools
Next Article in Living »

HIGH BRIDGE, New Jersey (CNN) -- "The thought that I can reach out and permanently improve someone's life for the better is addictive," says Dave Schweidenback.

Several times a year, the 55-year-old can be found prepping large shipments of used bicycles bound for a developing country. For Schweidenback, gathering and breaking down these bikes is a labor of love -- one that is helping to keep the bikes out of landfills and give them new life.

"Used bicycles can transform the economic and social condition of families," says Schweidenback. "[They] give people access to jobs, health care and education that is too distant for walking."

Italian outrage over Gypsy drowning photos

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:25:12 GMT

clipped by: Newfman
clipper's remarks: Wow.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Italian sunbathers stay on beach after two Gypsy girls drown in the sea

Photos show girls' bodies lying on sand covered in beach towels

Newspapers report beach goers eating lunch, sun bathing as bodies carried away

Incident occurred amid heightened tensions between authorities, Roma minority

(CNN) -- Italian newspapers expressed shock and revulsion on Monday after photographs were published of sunbathers apparently enjoying a day at the beach just meters from where the bodies of two drowned Gypsy girls were laid out on the sand.

Photographs show sunbathers in bikinis and swimming trunks sitting close to where the girls' feet can be seen poking out from under the towels concealing their bodies.

"The most shocking aspect of all this is the attitude of the people on the beach," the statement said. "No one appears the slightest upset at the sight and presence of the children's dead bodies on the beach: they carry on swimming, sunbathing, sipping soft drinks and chatting."

Say goodbye to the computer mouse

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:37:01 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

It's nearly 40 years old but one leading research company says the days of the computer mouse are numbered.

A Gartner analyst predicts the demise of the computer mouse in the next three to five years.

"The mouse works fine in the desktop environment but for home entertainment or working on a notebook it's over," declared analyst Steve Prentice.

He told BBC News that his prediction is driven by the efforts of consumer electronics firm which are making products with new interactive interfaces inspired by the world of gaming .

"You've got Panasonic showing forward facing video in the home entertainment environment. Instead of using a conventional remote control you hold up your hand and it recognises you have done that," he said.

"It also recognises your face and that you are you and it will display on your TV screen your menu. You can move your hand to move around and select what you want," he added.

"This" Mr Prentice said, "is all about using computer power to do things smarter."

Two in a Million: Twins Born - One Black, One White

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:21:01 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Twins with different skin colors — one black and the other white — have been born in Berlin, Germany.

Doctors say it is an extremely rare occurrence, but it is possible if genes combine in a certain way.

The twin boys, named Ryan and Leo, are the offspring of a mixed-race couple.

The mother, Florence, hails from Ghana in western Africa, and dad, Stephan, is from Potsdam in Germany.

"Ryan came first, and everything was as usual," said the hospital's doctor, Birgit Weber. "But when Leo was born, I couldn't believe my eyes."

"Both kids have definitely the same father," the doctor added.

Scientists: Humans and machines will merge in future

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:31:38 GMT

clipped by: Newfman
clipper's remarks: The end result would be a new form of "posthuman" life with beings that possess qualities and skills so exceedingly advanced they no longer can be classified simply as humans.
Bostrom declined to predict an exact time frame when this revolutionary biotechnological metamorphosis might occur. "Maybe it will take eight years or 200 years," he said. "It is very hard to predict."

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Story Highlights
Nick Bostrom says technology will let humans manipulate their own biology
Ray Kurzweil predicts humans will be mostly non-biological by around 2030
Biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics could merge mankind with machines
Next Article in Technology »

Bostrom is a philosopher and a leading thinker of transhumanism, a movement that advocates not only the study of the potential threats and promises that future technologies could pose to human life but also the ways in which emergent technologies could be used to make the very act of living better.

"We want to preserve the best of what it is to be human and maybe even amplify that," Bostrom said.

Transhumanists, according to Bostrom, anticipate an era in which biotechnology, molecular nanotechnologies, artificial intelligence and other new types of cognitive tools will be used to amplify our intellectual capacity, improve our physical capabilities and even enhance our emotional well-being.

Date set for Mars sample mission

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:46:20 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Space officials have set a date of 2018 for launching an unmanned international mission designed to return samples of Martian rock and soil to Earth.

Mars Sample Return is billed as the most complex and costliest exploration of Mars ever conceived.

Once samples are on Earth, laboratories will be able to extract more data than by remote control using, for example, a robotic rover on the Martian surface.

A working group has come up with a mission profile and flight design.

The report's authors said that, regardless of the start date, it would take five years for the precious 500g (1.1lb) sample to be returned to Earth, and the world's major space powers had to pool resources to achieve the extraordinary goal.

Four-hundred-year-old Shakespeare book recovered

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:57:35 GMT

clipped by: Newfman
clipper's remarks: The university hoped to recover the other stolen works, which include a 15th-century manuscript containing a fragment of a poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer, author of "The Canterbury Tales''; an edition of "Beowulf'' printed in 1812; and a book of maps and poetry dating from 1612.

Clip Source: www.ctv.ca

LONDON -- A 400-year-old volume of Shakespeare stolen in England a decade ago and valued US$30 million has been recovered after a man walked into a library in Washington and asked to have it authenticated.

Police in Durham, northeast England, said Friday they had arrested a 51-year-old man over the theft of the First Folio edition of 1623, which scholars consider one of the most important printed books in the English language.

It was among seven centuries-old books and manuscripts stolen in December 1998 from a display case at the Durham University library.

The university said at the time it would be virtually impossible to sell the books to legitimate buyers, and for almost a decade police found no trace of them.

"Like Shakespeare himself, this book is a national treasure giving a rare and beautiful snapshot of Britain's incredible literary heritage,'' said Bryson, whose books include "Shakespeare: the World as a Stage.''

Mother Loses Kids After Sending Daughter to School With Swastika Drawn on Arm

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:36:14 GMT

clipped by: Newfman
clipper's remarks: "I'm willing to jump through their hoops," the woman told the CBC. "If they want me to deny my beliefs, I'll tell them that, but at the same time, I'm not a traitor to my politics, my beliefs. I just want my kids back."

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

A Canadian woman who describes herself as a white nationalist lost custody of her children after sending her daughter to school twice with a swastika drawn on her arm, the CBC reported.

The Winnipeg mother told the CBC she regrets redrawing the Nazi symbol after a teacher scrubbed it off. She is fighting the child welfare system to regain custody of her daughter, 7, and son, 2, who were removed from her home four months ago.

"It was one of the stupidest things I've done in my life but it's no reason to take my kids," the unidentified woman told CBC News. She is currently allowed to see her kids for two hours a week.

Child and Family Services workers were alerted after the second swastika incident at school, the CBC reported. When they arrived at the family home they found neo-Nazi symbols and flags, and proceeded to seize the kids.

The case has sparked a debate over whether the police and child welfare authorities can take children away because of their parents’ beliefs.

Tick Blamed for Death of North Carolina Woman

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:54:30 GMT

clipped by: Newfman
clipper's remarks: Initial symptoms of the disease may include fever, nausea, vomiting, severe headache, muscle pain, lack of appetite. A rash on the forearms, wrists and ankles usually appears within two to five days. More serious, life-threatening symptoms can develop if the disease goes untreated.

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A tick is to blame for the recent death of a Wilkes County woman, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Health officials said the woman, who was not identified, died June 26 from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, myfoxwghp.com reported Thursday.

"North Carolina leads the nation in Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever cases," said Parker Whitt, an environmental specialist, adding that the state has anywhere from 500 to 800 cases a year.

Rocky Mountain is a serious, life-threatening condition caused by Rickettsia rickettsii, a species of bacteria that is spread to humans by ticks, according to the Web site of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite its name, the disease is not confined to the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S. Between 1981 and 1996, the disease was reported from every U.S. state except Hawaii, Vermont, Maine and Alaska.