EdIII writes "Despite having most, if not all, of it's arrest forms computerized, the NYPD has spent nearly $1M dollars on new typewriters for its police officers to fill out property and evidence vouchers with carbon copies. Regardless of complaints from police officers about inefficiency, lack of common sense, and slow processing, typewriters are not going to be phased out anytime soon according to officials. As one cop put it, 'We have to sneak around the rest of the precinct in search of a ribbon to steal.' According to one study by Dr. Edith Linn, outdated equipment is part of the reason for officers being averse to making arrests for less-serious crimes. However, it's not all bad news, for the typewriter companies at least."

A Florida attorney, Cheney Mason, made the mistake of offering a million dollars on a TV show to anyone who could prove that his client, Nelson Ivan Serrano, was able to travel across two states and kill four people in the time that prosecutors had alleged. Having a lot of free time, South Texas College of Law graduate Dustin Kolodziej decided to take Mason up on his dare. Dustin traveled the route prosecutors say Serrano took, completed the trip under the time allowed, and videotaped the whole process. He is now suing Mason in the federal district court — because the attorney doesn't want to pay, saying that his statement was just a joke.

Panna National Park is now officially tiger free making it the second Indian tiger sanctuary to no longer have a tiger population. A census was conducted in the park, after authorities reported no Bengal Tiger sightings for a long time. Three years ago the park had a population of 24 tigers; however, none were found this year. Forest minister Rajendra Shukla is optimistic about the news and says, "Panna is our only park which has lost on this count. Three of state's reserve forests — Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Pench — have been adjudged among the best managed tiger reserves in the country."

angry tapir writes "China has banned the use of shock therapy to treat Internet addiction after its use at one hospital sparked nationwide controversy. The hospital drew wide media coverage in recent months after Internet users claiming to have received the treatment wrote in blogs and forums about being tied down and subjected to shocks for 30 minutes at a time."

atlanticbreakers writes ""Dr. Phil Maymin is an Assistant Professor of Finance and Risk Engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. He holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Chicago, a Master's in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University, and a Bachelor's in Computer Science from Harvard University. He found a correlation between the annual average beat variance of the songs in the US Billboard Top 100 since its inception in 1958 through 2007 to the standard deviation of returns of the S&P 500 for the same year. He makes an interesting statement about Michael Jackson's songs."

An anonymous reader writes "According to this Yahoo! news article, 'Hamas suspects that Israeli intelligence services are supplying its Gaza Strip stronghold with chewing gum that boosts the sex drive in order to "corrupt the young." The story came to light after a Palestinian man filed a complaint that his daughter had experienced "dubious side effects" after chewing the offending gum, Israeli media reported.'"

boisepunk writes "OS News has reported on what some would consider an abomination. Hannah Montana Linux is reportedly a Linux Distro made specifically for fans of Hannah Montana. It is speculated that Disney may shut this down."

A 3-year-old celebrated his third birthday by taking a 2-hour trip down the Peace River atop his toy truck. The little explorer wandered away from his party and was eventually found sitting on his truck, floating down the river 7.8 miles away. Apparently he was unaware that he was in any danger and was mostly concerned that the boater who found him had also retrieved his truck.

Elgin Nathan James, the founder of FSU — which stands for "Friends Stand United" — has been arrested and charged with attempted extortion. Authorities say FSU is a gang that uses beatings and threats in an attempt to control the punk rock music scene. In addition to boots, mountains of hair products, and spiked wrist accessories, modern punk musicians seem to have money, unlike their predecessors. James is accused of trying to extort a Chicago area artist and accepting a $5,000 payoff from a club.

Some tips you can't get from Heloise.

astroengine writes "Space Disco speaks with a Californian radio DJ about his role in raising, and paying, NASA's 30-year old littering fine levied by a Western Australian town. Skylab parts fell on Esperance in 1979, but the space agency's refusal to pay $400 has resulted in an entertaining annual grudge. Now the Barstow radio DJ is guest of honor at this weekend's 30th anniversary celebrations in Oz and the two small towns at opposite ends of the Pacific will be twinned... all because Skylab had a messy re-entry..."

You can't cast charm person on yourself.

Guil Rarey writes "Neat hacks deserve our admiration. Epic kludges, though, have their own "Plan 9 from Outer Space" glory. ThereIFixedIt is dedicated to jury rigs, MacGyver wannabes, and kludges that, errr, may have needed a little more thought."

fysdt writes "A South African bank has outfitted its ATMs with pepper spray to prevent criminals from bombing or tampering with the machines. But the system still has some bugs: One of the machines released its stinging payload on three maintenance workers last week."

The Narrative Fallacy writes "We've all heard about the dangers of texting while driving, but 15-year-old Alexa Longueira from Staten Island recently learned a painful lesson about the hazards of texting while walking when, preparing to send a text, she stepped into an open manhole, scraping her arms and back as she slid into the sewer, which had some muck at the bottom. The manhole had been left open briefly by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) just as workers were grabbing some cones to cordon off the area. 'It was four or five feet, it was very painful. I kind of crawled out and the DEP guys came running and helped me,' Longueria said. 'They were just, like, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"' DEP spokeswoman Mercedes Padilla said in a statement that crews were flushing a high-pressure sewer line at the time. 'We regret that this happened and wish the young woman a speedy recovery.' After being released from Staten Island University Hospital, Longueria's parents say they are planning to file a lawsuit and displayed their daughter's injuries to a photographer from the Staten Island Advance. Longueria's mother said doctors were concerned about possible spine damage suffered in the fall and want a follow-up MRI. Her mother added that she was particularly upset about the sewage. 'Oh my God, it was putrid. One of her sneakers is still down there.'"

19061969 writes "Bucking the trend for heavy-weight SUVs, a mayor in the Philippines has commissioned a range of bamboo vehicles. According to the blurb, the taxis also run on coconut biodiesel, even have a stereo sound system and help the local economy by being largely locally produced. Is this the future of mass transportation?"

We need a fantastic weapon for a fantastic war.

The only wish that a Saudi Arabian family has is that their troublesome genie behaved better. They have filed suit against their unwanted spirit in the hopes that a court can give them some peace. The family accuses the genie of stealing cell phones, throwing stones, whispering threats and "making sounds most unpleasant." Sheikh Amr Al Salmi, head of the local Sharia court, has promised to look into the claim, saying, "We have to look into this case and verify its truthfulness despite the difficulty of its consideration. What is interesting is that the complaint has come from every member of the family, and not just one."

Extreme economic problems require extreme solutions, and Wells Fargo Bank has come up with a good one. They have decided to sue themselves. Wells Fargo holds the first and second mortgages on a condominium that is going into foreclosure. As holder of the first, they are suing all other lien holders, including the holder of the second, which is Wells Fargo. It gets better. The company has hired a lawyer to defend itself against its own lawsuit. The defense lawyer even filed this answer to the complaint, "Defendant admits that it is the owner and holder of a mortgage encumbering the subject real property. All other allegations of the complaint are denied." On the website The Consumer Warning Network, Angie Moreschi wrote: "We've apparently reached the perfect storm for complete and utter idiocy by some banks trying to foreclose on homes."

More than 10,000 competitors took part in this years Redneck Games hosted by the town of East Dublin, Georgia. Those sporting a vermilion cervical area tested their watermelon seed spitting ability, bobbing for pigs' feet prowess, and who could throw themselves into a pit of mud with the most grace, artistic beauty, and the loudest splash. The first Redneck Games was held in 1996 as a spoof on the Olympics which were held in Atlanta that year.