superapecommando writes "A British scientist claims to have become the first human to be infected by a computer virus, in an experiment he says has important implications for the future of implantable technology. Dr Mark Gasson from the University of Reading infected a computer chip with the virus, then implanted it in his hand and transmitted the virus to a PC to prove that malware can move between human and computer."

The Bulgarian mobile phone company Mobitel has discontinued the number 0888 888 888 because everybody who has had it has died. The number's first owner, Vladimir Grashnov, died of cancer. Then Bulgarian mafia boss Konstantin Dimitrov was killed by an assassin. Finally, cocaine trafficker Konstantin Dishliev took over the number. He was shot outside an Indian restaurant. From the article: "Since then, the number is understood to have been dormant while police maintained an open file on Dishliev's killing and his smuggling ring. Now phone bosses are said to have suspended the number for good. Callers now get a recorded message saying the phone is 'outside network coverage.' A Mobitel spokesman would only say, 'We have no comment to make. We won't discuss individual numbers.'"

The Parents Television Council says the "$#*!" in the title of the upcoming CBS show $#*! my dad says is indecent. From the article: "'CBS intentionally chose to insert an expletive into the actual name of a show, and, despite its claim that the word will be bleeped, it is just CBS's latest demonstration of its contempt for families and the public,' declared PTC President Tim Winter. 'There are an infinite number of alternatives that CBS could have chosen, but its desire to shock and offend is crystal clear in this decision.'" By this logic Qbert was the filthiest game ever made.

An anonymous reader writes "While Douglas Adams continues his attempt to set a new record for the longest extended lunch break, geeks all over the universe pay tribute to the beloved author by celebrating the tenth edition of Towel Day. Towel Day is more alive than ever. This year Richard Dawkins, one of Adams' best friends, has tweeted a Towel Day reminder to his numerous followers. The CERN Bulletin has published an article on Towel Day. There has been TV coverage and there will be a radio interview. The Military Republic of the Deltan Imperium, a newly formed micronation, has recognized Towel Day as an official holiday. In Hungary several hundreds of hitchhiker fans want to have a picnic together in a park. And there's a concert, a free downloadable nerdrap album, a free game being released, the list goes on and on."

It will come as no surprise to anyone who's ever talked to my grandpa, but a recent study has shown that standing up to a bully is good for you. Although being bullied can be stressful and lead to depression, children who returned hostility were found more likely to develop healthy social and emotional skills. From the article: "In a study of American children aged 11 and 12, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, compared those who stood up to aggressors with those who did not. Children who returned hostility with hostility appeared to be the most mature, the researchers found. Boys who stood up to bullies and schoolyard enemies were judged more socially competent by their teachers. Girls who did the same were more popular and more admired by teachers and peers, the researchers found."

Many people try to climb up Mt. Everest, but Lewis Gordon Pugh saw a niche in the market and has become the first to swim under it. The endurance swimmer is the only person to successfully swim across the 1km glacial lake next to the Khumbu Glacier. From the article: "He came close to drowning during test swims for the event amid bouts of altitude sickness on the Pumori Lake, which sits 17,000 feet above sea level. But an adapted approach saw him through to complete the swim in a time of 22 minutes and 51 seconds."

62-year-old Johanne Krogh lost her right to operate in Norway due to 29 cases of malpractice, so she did what any bumbling doctor would. She got a job in Sweden. Managers at her new hospital were apparently unaware of her infamous past. From the article: "In one case, she stormed out on a bleeding patient in the middle of a surgical procedure after losing her temper with a colleague in the operating theater. The incident necessitated two further corrective operations for the patient, who later died after a wound became infected. Also, several of her hip patients reported her to the authorities after emerging from the operating room with legs differing in length by up to four centimeters. Krogh’s errors have so far cost the Norwegian patient insurance system 13 million kronor ($1.7 million)."

Anders writes "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the largest animal rights organization in the world, endorse a new FLOSS license. From the article: 'The Harm-Less Permissive License (HPL) is a permissive, non copyleft, software license. It is based on the FreeBSD license but with one additional restriction; the "harm-less" clause. It prevents software, licensed under the HPL, to be used for harming humans or animals.'" I guess this leaves the bunny-fueled power plant in Stockholm out in the cold.

Some native New Yorkers' dream came true on the Fifth Avenue sidewalk between East 22nd and 23rd streets yesterday. An unknown person had divided the sidewalk with a white line: one side for tourists and the other marked "New Yorkers." Receptionist Bianca Smith said she liked the idea. "New York tourists are annoying. They stop, look around, take pictures, and hold me up. I don't know if the lanes could be enforced, but it would be nice. For now, I'll just keep walking around them," she said.

kevin7kal writes "The Apple iPad is the ideal automotive communications and entertainment device. It is sized perfectly to mount using the iPad Steering Wheel Mount without obscuring the driver's view. 'I don't think that I am exaggerating when I say that the iPad Steering Wheel Mount probably has saved my life...'"

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but there is a finite number of social networking or selling websites that the world needs. Here is a collection of the eight kinds of websites that absolutely don't need to be made anymore. I'd add dating sites and anybody who uses pop-up ads myself, but I think that would eliminate half the Web.

You can't say Austrian highway authorities haven't tried everything to make travel safer. It has been revealed that they have had a team of druids on the payroll for the past two years working to drain "negative energy" from areas prone to accidents. Chief engineer Harald Dirnbacher from Austria's motorway authority says, "We were really skeptical at first and certainly didn't want people to know what we were doing, so we kept it secret." Apparently results so far have been so impressive that officials are hiring the druids nationwide. One area's fatal accident rate went from an average of six per year to zero after the druids worked their magic. I assume a few well-placed creeping doom spells can keep the motorway free of road-kill as well.

A group of Ridgefield Park high schoolers got a surprise field trip to Six Flags Great Adventure thanks to a mixup with their bus driver. The driver ignored students who told her they weren't supposed to go on a trip and should be in class. Some even called their parents, worried that they were being abducted. From the article: "When the driver got on the turnpike, the students tried to tell her that she was going the wrong way, said Little Ferry Superintendent Frank Scarafile. One of the kids said, 'Where are you going?' Scarafile recounted. The bus driver said, 'We're going to Great Adventure,' an amusement park in Jackson. The students pulled out their cellphones and started calling their parents and the school. They asked the bus driver to speak with school administrators, but the driver refused because she is not permitted to talk on the phone while driving, Scarafile said."

A group of assailants got a little more than they bargained for when an entire ninja school came to their victim's rescue. A 27-year-old German exchange student was being mugged in an alley near Ninja Senshi Ryu, when a ninja student noticed the commotion. The sensei along with the rest of the students rushed out to help. "You should have seen their faces when they saw us in ninja gear coming towards them," the school's sensei, Kaylan Soto, told the Herald. It's good to see ninjas working on their brand. When I was a kid they were mostly shurikens, smoke, and attitude.

bennyboy64 writes "Two prominent women in the Australian IT industry are in a bitter dispute over the ownership of the trademark 'geekgirl.' A woman attempting to use 'geekgirl' on Twitter told ZDNet that women had been advised by the trademark owner to stop doing so since she owned the trademark for the word. 'She noted her trademark and asked me to stop calling myself a "geekgirl" in general conversation and to cease using the hashtag "#geekgirl" on Twitter,' IT consultant Kate Carruthers said."

RedmondChris writes "A team of scientists from Joseph Fourier University in France have successfully implanted biofuel cells into rats, generating 6.5 microwatts by harnessing the power of glucose. From the article: 'The device uses enzymes to harvest energy from glucose and oxygen found naturally in the body. Past attempts at using such a device in animals have failed because the enzymes have required acidic conditions or were inhibited by charged particles in the fluid surrounding cells. But Philippe Cinquin and his team from Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France, overcame these obstacles by confining selected enzymes inside graphite discs that were placed into dialysis bags. Glucose and oxygen flowed into the device, but enzymes stayed in place and catalyzed the oxidation of glucose to generate electrical energy.'"

The Nirvana Memorial Garden columbarium is done with boring old traditional Buddhist funeral ceremonies. They offer a funeral with recorded voices and chants, machine-generated smoke, a $2 million sound and light system, a Buddha statue with pulsating LED lights, and a ray of bright white light that shines on the urn of the deceased symbolizing the ascent to heaven. "This is just 60 percent of what we can offer," said Jessie Ong, who works for Nirvana Memorial, the company that runs the columbarium. "We are still fine-tuning the laser lights."

You might not consider edible panties food, but San Antonio's Sanitarian Services Manager, Stephen Barschewski, disagrees. The Shades of Love lingerie store was recently told that it needed a food permit to sell edible novelties. The permit costs $230 a year, and makes the store subject to regular health inspections. From the article: "Rosemary Benitez thought it was a joke at first. She was told her store was going to need a food permit in order to stay in business. But Benitez doesn't own a restaurant. She owns the Shades of Love lingerie store on West Bitters road. Shades of Love sells racy lingerie, high heel shoes, adult toys, and items meant to enhance a couple's sex life. However, some of those items are edible. That's why the health department ruled the store needed a food permit."

pinkstuff writes "The Navy unveiled its terror-fighting marine mammals at a two-day homeland security and disaster preparedness exercise in California this week. From the article: 'A Navy seal — actually a sea lion — took less than a minute to find a fake mine under a pier near San Francisco's AT&T Park. A dolphin quickly located a terrorist lurking in the black water before another sea lion, using a device carried in its mouth, cuffed the pretend saboteur's ankle so authorities could reel him in.' Queue the 'frickin lasers' jokes."

NotSoHeavyD3 writes "I doubt this is much of a surprise but apparently Cornell University did a study that seems to show you're more likely to get convicted if you're ugly. From the article: 'According to a Cornell University study, unattractive defendants are 22 percent more likely to be convicted than good-looking ones. And the unattractive also get slapped with harsher sentences — an average of 22 months longer in prison.'"