TheDopp writes "The United Nations hosted the cast and crew of Battlestar Galactica Tuesday evening in New York. Clips of the show were shown as discussion points during the event, touching on the morality of Suicide Bombers in war, Abortion and the use of torture on enemies of the state. At one point during the event an attendee mentions 'the "Old Man" launched into a passionate speech about casting off the idea of race as a cultural determinant, and said we were one race, the human race. His voice echoed throughout the chamber growing louder until — I kid you not — he was yelling, "So Say We All," and the crowd answered right back. Hell, even I yelled it, I was in the fraking United Nations with Adama, the gods themselves could not have stopped this moment.' The full video of the event is located on the UN website."

Principal Donald Moten, and other staff members at South Oak Cliff High School, allegedly sent troubled students into a steel utility cage in an athletic locker room to battle out disputes with bare fists. Documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News say the "cage fights" took place between 2003 and 2005 but don't say how many fights there were. "It was gladiator-style entertainment for the staff," said Frank Hammond, a middle school counselor in Cedar Hill who was fired from South Oak Cliff High School and has filed a whistleblower lawsuit. "They were taking these boys downstairs to fight. And it was sanctioned by the principal and security." Better that our children learn the rules of Thunderdome now before the great pocsaclypse than have to learn them when they visit Barter Town.

Sometimes the fields get a bit boring.

Davis Lee Huynh will defend his title as world air hockey champion at the finals in Vegas this weekend. Davis said he decided early on that he was going to put his all into being the best at the game. "I don't want to win just one, I want to dominate for a few years because that's how people remember you," said Huynh. I'm sure you'll be able to watch the nail biting action on ESPN 4 right after the Magic tournament and the competitive eating showcase.

An anonymous reader writes "Remember that Seinfeld episode where George was unemployed and made up Vandelay Industries to be his former employer and work reference? Well, a new website is taking that idea to the Web 2.0 level, complete with faux stock options, salary and other benefits. 'Wurkers' who join Z-G-I.com are offered a variety of benefits seen at real companies, including free business cards, desktop software, a virtual desk at Starbucks, t-shirts, and even a 'subsidized' lunch program."

The Clown Ride may move slow, but it's only because The Clown Ride doesn't have to move for anybody.

Four Spanish teenagers sent a camera-operated weather balloon into the stratosphere. The boys built the electronic sensor components from scratch. Gerard Marull Paretas, Sergi Saballs Vila, Marta Gasull Morcillo and Jaume Puigmiquel Casamort attached a £56 camera to a heavy duty £43 latex balloon, and sent their science project 20-miles above the Earth. Team leader Gerard Marull, 18, said, "We were overwhelmed at our results, especially the photographs, to send our handmade craft to the edge of space is incredible."

My hologram is everywhere I can't be.

Blake needs to talk to Jack about the homepage... or at least he tries to.

A law in Pisa mandates a 2:1 holder to pusher ratio.

Manastorm writes "A man who was wheelchair bound due to a motorcycle accident twenty years ago gained the ability to walk again after being bitten by a recluse spider. 'I can't wait to start dancing,' he said as he looks forward to a full recovery after experiencing what some call a 'true miracle.'" I think we all know how this story is going to end. I hope The Sinister Six have been practicing.

You don't get more hardcore nerd than dressing up in chainmail and playing electricity.

krou writes "The BBC is reporting that an 8-year-old boy, Zohaib Ahmed, from Hampshire, UK, has set a new record for the youngest person to ever sit and pass A-level maths with an A level grade. He scored 90% for the exam, and claimed his success was down to his parents. "My parents helped me out a lot. My dad taught me some maths and my mum sorted everything out. I couldn't have done it without them." More importantly for the /. community, the mother firmly believed in good planning, and gave them plenty of leisure time — to play computer games (and watch television)."

Jesus loves everyone except base jumpers.

An anonymous reader writes "In the Cold War the so-called 'Star Wars defense system' proposed using lasers to destroy incoming Soviet missiles. In a 2007 brainstorming session aimed at combating malaria, Dr. Lowell Wood, the architect of that system, proposed modifying his original idea to kill mosquitoes. The cover of today's Wall Street Journal contains an article that highlights this initiative as well as a few others, like using a giant flashlight to disrupt mosquitoes' vision and using the insects to vaccinate, in the war against malaria. The system is intelligent enough to avoid noncombatants like humans and butterflies and can even tell the difference between females, the blood-drinkers, and males. My favorite quote: 'We'd be delighted if we destabilize the human-mosquito balance of power.'"

A 24-year-old woman admitted to police that she slipped some tranquilizers into her boss's coffee because she felt "he needed to chill out." Veteranarian John Duckett knew something was wrong shortly after drinking some of the coffee. Officers said the woman cleaned the cages at the the Reynolds Road Animal Clinic. I hope she at least had the sense to slip it in a cup of decaf.

There are a few basic rules that everyone knows: don't run around on your roof holding an antenna during a thunderstorm, don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and don't try to smash bullets in your driveway with a hammer. 21-year-old Matthew Dugger never learned the bullet rule. Dugger went to the hospital after one of the bullets he was slamming with a hammer exploded, blowing shrapnel into his leg. The hammering was witnessed by several kids belonging to Dugger's roommate, who was already under investigation for inadequate supervision of the children. "Anyone nearby could have certainly been hit by it. It's such a monumentally stupid idea," said Travis Brunson, owner of Chiquita Guns.

The memo sums it up.

An anonymous reader writes "Jerry had a motorcycle accident last May and lost a finger. When the doctor working on the artificial finger heard he is a hacker, the immediate suggestion was to embed a USB 'finger drive' to the design. Now he carries a Billix Linux distribution as part of his hand."

A school has apologized for sending a truancy letter to the mother of a boy suffering from leukemia after she asked to take him out of classes to meet the Pope before he died. Louise Yates asked for permission from St Botolph's School to take her her six-year-old son Travis on a two-day trip to the Vatican in June for a blessing with the Pope. In response she got a letter about truancy and a copy of his attendance record. The school has since apologized and released a statement saying, "We are aware of Travis' illness and have given permission for him to travel to Rome during term-time. Government guidance suggests sending attendance information out with permission letters, but we appreciate in this instance it may not have been appropriate and we would like to apologise if this has caused the family any offence."