drosoph - Slashdot User

Thousands of Blackbirds Fall From Sky Dead 577

Posted by samzenpus on Monday January 03, 2011 @02:04AM from the silent-spring dept.

Dan East writes "In a fashion worthy of a King or Hitchcock novel, blackbirds began to fall from the sky dead in Arkansas yesterday. Somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 birds rained down on the small town of Beeb, Arkansas, with no visible trauma. Officials are making wild guesses as to what happened — lightning strike, high-altitude hail, or perhaps trauma from the sound of New Year's fireworks killed them."

Student Googles Himself, Finds He's Accused of Murder 184

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday November 30, 2010 @03:36PM from the be-careful-what-you-search-for dept.

University of Florida student Zachary Garcia was more than a little surprised to find out he was wanted for murder after Googling his name. It turns out the police were looking for a different man but had mistakenly used Garcia's photo. From the article: "Investigators originally released a driver's license photo of Zachary Garcia — spelled with an 'A' — but it was Zachery Garcia — spelled with an 'E'— who was charged in connection with the crime."

Underwear Invention Protects Privacy At Airport 325

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday November 23, 2010 @11:41AM from the protecting-the-goods dept.

Thanks to Jeff Buske you don't have to be embarrassed while going through the full body scanners at the airport. Buske has invented radiation shielding underwear for the shy traveler. From the article: "Jeff Buske says his invention uses a powdered metal that protects people's privacy when undergoing medical or security screenings. Buske of Las Vegas, Nev.-Rocky Flats Gear says the underwear's inserts are thin and conform to the body's contours, making it difficult to hide anything beneath them. The mix of tungsten and other metals do not set off metal detectors."

The Story of My As-Yet-Unverified Impact Crater 250

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 16, 2010 @04:22AM from the dent-in-the-world dept.

tetrahedrassface writes "When I was very young, my dad took me on a trip to his parents' farm. He wanted to show me 'The Crater.' We walked a long way through second generation hardwoods and finally stood on the rim of a hole that has no equal in this area. As I grew up, I became more interested in The Crater, and would always tell friends about it. It is roughly 1,200 feet across and 120 feet deep, and has a strange vibe about it. When you walk up to it, you feel like something really big happened here. Either the mother of all caves is down there, or a large object smashed into this place a long, long time ago. I bought aerial photos when I was twelve and later sent images from GIS to a geologist at a local university. He pretty much laughed me out of his office, saying that it was a sinkhole. He did wish me luck, however. It may be sinkhole. Who knows? Last week I borrowed a metal detector and went poking around, and have found the strangest shrapnel pieces I have ever seen. They are composed of a metal that reacts strongly to acids. The largest piece so far reacted with tap water and dish-washing detergent. My second trip today yielded lots of strange new pieces of metal, and hopefully, one day the truth will be known. Backyard science is so much fun. And who knows; if it is indeed a cave, maybe Cerberus resides there."

The Bomb Squad Olympiad Starts Today 43

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday October 05, 2010 @11:07AM from the explosions-for-all-ages dept.

The bomb suit relay and the robot obstacle course are just two of the events you can enjoy at the Bomb Squad Olympiad. Over the next three days squads from across South Carolina will compete and showcase their bomb defusing capabilities for the public. I hear the deep fried dynamite is especially good.

Verizon Charged Marine's Widow an Early Termination Fee 489

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday June 27, 2010 @04:46PM from the literal-charges dept.

In a decision that was reversed as soon as someone with half a brain in their PR department learned about it, Verizon charged a widow a $350 early termination fee. After the death of her marine husband, Michaela Brummund decided to move back to her home town to be with her family. Verizon doesn't offer any coverage in the small town so Michaela tried to cancel her contract, only to be hit with an early termination fee. From the article: "'I called them to cancel. I told them the situation with my husband. I even said I would provide a death certificate,' Michaela said."

Comment They don't have the database! (Score 5, Informative) 375

by drosoph on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @11:37AM (#15245817) Attached to: BlueSecurity Database Compromised?

From what I am seeing, I am now receiving 1,000s of these stupid "Because you are using the BlueSecurity Software ...." emails .... but they are all being directed to Mike, Jan, Cindy, Lucy, Bobby, and Greg@mydomain.com .... They are NOT directed to MY email address. These addresses that they are using were ONCE entered by an ignorant relative of my onto one of those online greeting card sites, (even mispelled) and those are the addresses that are being spammed. Since I ALSO registered my DOMAIN with BlueSecurity, I would ponder to guess that the spammers are using the domain list, matching it up to ANY email they have in their spam database with that domain and spamming the heck out of it. They HAVE NOT, I repeat, HAVE NOT hit ANY of my REGISTERED email addresses with BlueSecurity. They are only hitting random crap email addresses on my domain. They're shooting in the dark, they're angry, and they're running scared ... and I hope that you all keep up the good work!

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