crimeandpunishment writes "The Catholic church of France isn't looking for friends on Facebook, it's looking for priests. The church has turned to Facebook as part of a campaign to attract young people to the priesthood, in an effort to combat its drastically dwindling number of priests. It may be working. The Facebook page attracted more than 1,200 fans in one week."

unixfan writes "Georg Greve, developer of Open Document Format and active FOSS developer, has received a knighthood in Germany for his work. From the article: 'Some weeks ago I received news that the embassy in Berne had unsuccessfully been trying to contact me under FSFE's old office address in Zurich. This was a bit odd and unexpected. So you can probably understand my surprise to be told by the embassy upon contacting them that on 18 December 2009 I had been awarded the Cross of Merit on ribbon (Verdienstkreuz am Bande) by the Federal Republic of Germany. As you might expect, my first reaction was one of disbelief. I was, in fact, rather shaken. You could also say shocked. Quick Wikipedia research revealed this to be part of the orders of knighthood, making this a Knight's Cross.'"

An anonymous reader writes "A California steel contractor spent 2,200 total hours over the last three years racking up a high score in Bejeweled 2. He exceeded the 2^31-1 maximum score programmed for the score display, proving that there is, in fact, an end to the game. I suppose congratulations or condolences are in order."

virgilp writes "It appears that even fake Steve Jobs has a strong opinion on Flash. Loved the ending — 'That is all for now. For a longer explanation of why these changes make sense, stay tuned to John Gruber.' So true"

Lanxon writes "In 1977, Scott Weaver decided to replicate the Golden Gate Bridge with toothpicks and glue. When the 17-year-old finished that project, he just kept going, and his hobby became an all-consuming quest to, as he puts it, 'blow people's minds' with toothpicks. Mission accomplished, then. Ripley's Believe It or Not offered Weaver $40,000 for his 100,000-toothpick town, but he turned it down without hesitation. 'Other than my wife and my son, this is the most important thing in my life,' he says. 'I just regret that my mother wasn't able to see it while she was alive.'"

Humunculus writes "Of more worldly issues, NASA's latest multimillion-dollar stratosphere-bound balloon launch has gone horribly wrong and crashed into a car, turning it over and narrowly missing two elderly people who were observing the launch. The payload fared worse, reportedly being smashed into a 'thousand pieces.'"

Hugh Pickens writes "Fox News reports that the Boy Scouts of America — a group founded on the principles of building character and improving physical fitness — have introduced merit pins for academic achievement in video gaming, a move that has child health experts atwitter. 'It could be quite visionary and exciting or it could be a complete sellout,' says Dr. Vic Strasburger. 'I don't see anything wrong with that as long as they're not playing first-person shooter games, violent games, games with a lot of sexual or drug content. The question is, who's going to supervise the scouts?' Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts can earn their pins by spending an hour a day playing games, teaching others how to play better, and researching the best price for games they'd like to buy."

kkleiner writes "It was only two months ago that we saw Mike Dobson's Cube Stormer Lego robot that could solve any 3x3 Rubik's cube in less than 12 seconds. You would think that there was only one person in the world crazy enough and talented enough to pull this off, but now we have found someone else that is just as amazing. The latest Rubik's cube-solving Lego monstrosity is called the MultiCuber, and although it's constructed out of nothing but Mindstorms components and a laptop, it can solve 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, and 5×5 cubes all in the same build! As if that weren't enough, a larger version solves the dreaded 6×6 Rubik's. We discovered the MultiCuber when its creator, David Gilday (IAssemble), wrote us an email to brag about its puzzle-solving might. Consider us impressed, sir."

The Melbourne city council learned the hard way that one man's art is another man's crap on a wall that needs to be painted over. The council hired a cleanup crew to get rid of graffiti on Hosier Lane, a street renowned for its street art. While there, the crew got rid of the graffiti, as well as a piece by Banksy, who is regarded as one of the world's greatest street artists. From the article: "The reclusive Banksy ... painted several stencils in Melbourne during a 2003 visit. His satirical and distinctive art is often directed at anti-war, cultural, and anti-capitalist themes. Banksy in 2005 painted nine images on Israel's West Bank barrier, including a ladder going over the wall and an image of children breaking through to a tropical island. In 2008, a London wall bearing one of his stencils was said to have sold on eBay for almost $500,000."

If you like to pass the time playing minesweeper, or checking your Facebook updates while piloting a 900,000-pound aircraft 400 mph, you won't like the latest FAA decision. The agency has asked airlines to create policies to minimize cockpit distractions, including pilots' use of personal electronic devices. "There is no room for distraction when your job is to get people safely to their destinations," said DOT Secretary Ray LaHood. "The traveling public expects professional pilots to focus on flying and on safety at all times."

A futile search for self in an ocean of indifference.

An anonymous reader writes "Purdue Senior Jennifer McCreight asked 30 of her friends to dress immodestly Monday to test a claim by an Iranian cleric that immodest women cause earthquakes. Now, over 200,000 women have joined the cause."

ISoldat53 writes "The Consumerist has awarded Comcast the Golden Poo award for the worst company in America. From the article: 'After four rounds of bloody battle against some of the most publicly reviled businesses in America, Comcast can now run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and hold its hands high in victory — it has bested everyone else to earn the title of Worst Company In America for 2010.'"

Geoffrey.landis writes "Terry Southgate discovered that his wife Wendy appears on the Google Street View of his neighborhood not once or twice but a whopping 43 times. From the article: 'It seems as if the Street View car simply followed the same route as Wendy and Trixie. However, Wendy was a little suspicious that the car was doing something on the "tricksie" side. Several of the Street View shots show Wendy looking with some concern towards the car that was, well, to put it politely, crawling along the curb. "I didn't know what it was doing. It was just driving round very, very slowly," Wendy told the Sun.' The next best thing to being a movie star — a Street View star!"

Do you love to hear crying babies but wish you could somehow mix in some Sumo wrestler with each wail? Then the annual Naki Sumo (crying baby contest) in Japan might be for you. From the article: "Eager mothers bring the babies to the event where Sumo wrestlers and high priests are on hand to coax babies into a maddened state of wailing. The event, which marks the high point of spring, is held each year at the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo. The baby to cry loudest and longest wins the contest. The competition is also intended to generate good health for the babies. This year Sumo wrestlers coaxed 80 babies, all less than a year old, to cry.

What happens when a staff member of your restaurant thinks that a "guide dog" is a "gay dog" and refuses service to a blind man because of his dog's sexual preference? You give the man a written apology, attend an Equal Opportunity education course, pay him $1,500, and end up in the Idle section. From the article: "A statement given by restaurant owners Hong Hoa Thi To and Anh Hoang Le said one of the waiters had understood Mr. Jolly's partner Chris Lawrence 'to be saying she wanted to bring a gay dog into the restaurant. The staff genuinely believed that Nudge was an ordinary pet dog which had been desexed to become a gay dog,' the statement said. Mr. Jolly and Ms. Lawrence were refused entry to the restaurant — which displays a 'guide dogs welcome' sign — even after providing staff with a guide dogs fact card."

Police found Amanda Pogany's stolen 1996 Honda in a chop shop and were able to return it to her. While in the custody of the thieves, the car got a few upgrades, including a new V-8 engine, manual transmission, leather interior, tinted windows, and oversize tires. Unfortunately Amanda won't be able to play The Fast and the Furious around the neighborhood with her new souped up car. She doesn't know how to drive a stick.

harrymcc writes "In 1981, tiny Nintendo of America was getting ready to release Donkey Kong. When the company's landlord, Mario Segale, demanded back rent, Nintendo staffers named the game's barrel-jumping protagonist after him. Almost thirty years later, neither Nintendo — which continues to crank out Mario games — nor Segale — now a wealthy, secretive Washington State real estate developer — like to talk about how one of video games' iconic characters got his name and Italian heritage. Technologizer's Benj Edwards has researched the story for years and provides the most detailed account to date."

If you have had your penis enlarged, don't try to join the Papua police force. Papua police chief Bekto says an applicant "will be asked whether or not his vital organ has been enlarged. If he has, he will be considered unfit to join the police or the military." A police spokesperson says that an enlarged organ causes a "hindrance during training." The best part of this story is the method Indonesians have been using to enhance themselves. From the article: "Papuans use a local technique to achieve the enlargement, according to a sexologist quoted by local newspaper Jakarta Globe, wrapping the penis with leaves from the 'gatal-gatal' (itchy) tree so that it swells up 'like it has been stung by a bee,' the expert said." Apparently the force has all the dicks it can handle already.

An unnamed man flying from Nigeria to New York City found out he was added to a no-fly list somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean, when the plane stopped to refuel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Officials won't say what he did or why he was added to the list after he had already boarded a flight. He was not immediately charged with a crime and Customs and Border Protection will only say that he is a "potential person of interest." From the article: "The man, a citizen of Gambia, was not on the no-fly list when he boarded the aircraft in Dakar, Senegal, said a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly."