siliconbits writes "You can now buy officially branded Julian Assange T-Shirts, cups, netbook sleeves or bags and contribute financially to the Wikileaks fight. From the article: 'Wikileaks is looking to generate more revenue by launching an online shop that is run by Spreadshirt AG. Supporters of Julian Assange and the Wikileaks cause will be able to buy a variety of products like shirts, messenger bags, hats, buttons, scarves etc.'"

An anonymous reader writes "Blogger Jonathan W. Stokes used algebra to map famous chess games onto a piano, and then outputted the results as MP3s. The tunes created are surprisingly listenable."

Texas State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst has proposed a measure that would allow any law enforcement agency that has custody of an illegal immigrant to take the illegal to "the office of a U.S. Senator or Representative" and leaving them there. From the article: "The measure doesn't specify what the Senator or Congressman is supposed to do with the illegal immigrant, but calls on the law enforcement agency to 'maintain a record of each illegal immigrant released or discharged who is not transferred to the custody of the Untied States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.'" I'm not sure Kolkhorst understands what might happen if the bill passes. Illegals have already taken over our much sought after picking vegetables for a pittance jobs. What if they start doing staffer work for $20 a day?

West Virginia Police were able to stop a criminal junk food empire before it got out of hand by arresting a pair of beef jerky bandits. Michael Allen Graham, 37, and John Edward Barry, 35 were stopped by police who noticed a large amount of boxed and packaged beef jerky. From the article: "Police interviewed the two men. Graham admitted the jerky and socket sets were stolen from various auto parts stores and gas stations in West Virginia, according to court documents. Graham said both men participated in stealing the items. He explained that Barry’s sister and husband had been visiting them in Milton and called them for help when their car broke down in New Stanton on their way back to eastern Pennsylvania. The pair began stealing the items from auto parts stores and gas stations, then attempted to sell the merchandise to cover travel expenses."

It's not as crazy as the Naked Snow Angel Grand Prix but the Naked Sledding World Championships are still pretty extreme. 17,000 spectators watched 30 brave souls strip down to their underwear and race for the £1,000 prize. "It's a very closely fought contest which is good for us because we're all very keen on studying the photo finishes," said one judge.

An anonymous reader writes "An Egyptian man has decided to show his appreciation towards Facebook for its role during the revolution in his country by naming his firstborn daughter Facebook. From the article: 'Egyptian dictator Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak was in power from 1981 until February 11, 2011, when he resigned after 18 days of protests. Facebook has been credited for helping organize regime-ending protests in the country. Although the Egyptian revolution saw some planning done via Twitter, direct text messages, and other forms of electronic communication, Facebook has come to symbolize all the forms of social media that people used to organize the revolutions in the Middle East.'"

An anonymous reader writes "Can't say I've seen many things that are more geeky than this: 4 floppy drives on a computer playing Toccata & Fugue based on MIDI input. It's a YouTube only video at the moment, but due to great response, the author is going to create a website detailing how he got it to work."

abhatt writes "From the article: 'A man in China complaining of headaches and strange taste in his mouth was found to have a 4-inch knife buried in his brain. Doctors examining Li Fu realized the blade had been in his head for four years without him realizing it. The 37-year-old from Yunnan Province suffered a stabbing during a robbery in 2006 while he worked as a cab driver.'"

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., proposed eliminating funding for president's Teleprompter but ultimately changed his mind. Womack says he pulled his amendment because he was unable to determine exactly how much the president's teleprompter costs. Evidently electricity remains a luxury in Womak's district. "I think we made our point," Womack said. "We're asking people to do more with less. And I think the president ought to lead by example. He is already a very gifted speaker. And I think that's one platform he could do without."

You don't have to be best friends with your co-workers but you should probably notice when one of them dies. Authorities say 51-year-old Rebecca Wells died in her cubicle sometime on Friday at the L.A. County Department of Internal Services, but nobody noticed until Saturday afternoon.

An anonymous reader writes "Hiring a hitman can cost a pretty penny these days. Why buy an ad in the classifieds section when you can simply use Facebook? Of course, you may end up having to face 11 to 22 years in prison, but that's worth the risk, right? That's what happened to 19-year-old Corey C. Adams of Pennsylvania. Last June, Adams' 20-year-old victim said after she left a party, he jumped into her car and raped her. She went to police. He went to Facebook. Specifically, his status update read: 'I got 500 on a girls head who wants that bread? Hit me up anyway possible.'"

Police in Rochester Hills, Michigan caught one of the state's biggest and worst driving shoplifters this week. 400-pound Jerrie Perkins was caught with more than $600 of merchandise after getting her mobility scooter stuck while trying to make a getaway. From the article: "A sheriff’s deputy arrived and asked Perkins to put her hands behind her back, but she 'cursed at the deputy, balled her right hand into a fist and took a fighting stance,' according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office. The deputy pulled his Taser and told Perkins to put her hands behind her back, but Perkins brought her fist up over her head and looked directly at the deputy. The deputy Tasered Perkins, who then complied with the deputy’s commands and was taken to jail."

An anonymous reader writes "Enigma machines (the machine Germans used to encrypt messages during World War II) are cool, both from the perspective of the technology behind them and the effort that went into cracking them. This project shows how to convert a toy from a second-hand store into an Enigma machine."

A group of teenage burglars appear to have mistaken Doctor Dolittle for a documentary. After breaking into an apartment and stealing various items, one of the thieves decided to kill the goldfish so they couldn't be identified. “According to the police report, he looked at the fish tank and said ‘We can’t leave any witnesses.’” From the article: "When the residents returned home they also found hot sauce, mustard, ketchup and spices had been poured into their fish tank and three goldfish floating at the top, police said."

An anonymous reader writes "Glenn Beck has told his viewers to do research, but to not use Google, because 'Google is pretty deeply in bed with the government.' He points to the fact that Google is having some problems overseas, as well as Jared Cohen. Cohen is Director of Google Ideas, has worked with the State Department, and has played a role in the 2009 unrest in Iran. He also mentions social networking in sinister undertones, asking if it's government propaganda."

Hugh Pickens writes writes "The Daily Mail reports that a 'super pack' of 400 wolves has been terrifying the remote town of Verkhoyansk (population 1,300) in Northern Russia leaving more than 30 horses dead in just four days as twenty four teams of hunters have been put together with a bounty of $335 for every wolf skin brought to officials. 'To protect the town we are creating 24 teams of armed hunters, who will patrol the neighborhood on snowmobiles and set wolf traps' says district official Stepan Rozhin. 'But we need more people. Once the daylight increases, the hunters will start shooting predators from helicopters.' Dr Valerius Geist, a wildlife behavior expert, says the harsh Siberian winter — where temperatures plummet to minus 49C — is the problem with the cold killing off the animal's usual prey. 'Wolves are very careful to choose the most nutritious food source easiest obtained without danger — which in this case happens to be horses,' opines Geist. 'They will start tackling dangerous prey when they run out of non-dangerous prey.'"

Stoobalou writes "Internet auction site eBay has banned a UK man from selling a decommissioned Harrier jump jet. The seller, former RAF mechanic Chris Wilson said, 'It's a perfectly legitimate item to sell. It's not capable of "delivering weapons," it's not even capable of delivering a pizza.'"

carusoj writes "Just in time for Valentine's Day, here's a collection of marriage proposals done in true geek fashion — from hacked video games, to an iPhone app, to CmdrTaco's own 2002 proposal here on Slashdot."

The only thing cooler than a man putting out a house fire with a snowblower is listening to a man with a yooper accent tell the story. Steve Liubakka of Diorite, Michigan managed to contain his neighbors house fire with his quick thinking and his snowblower. "The fire chief told us, well if it wasn't for the snow blower, you wouldn't have a house. The snow blower isn't a $550,000 fire truck, but it did the job," Liubakka says.

An anonymous reader writes "Some historical figures are just too interesting to leave alone, even when they're supposed to be moldering in the grave. That's why medical researchers dug up Tycho Brahe, bombarded Napoleon's hair with neutrons in a nuclear reactor, and did everything they could think of to King Tut. Discover Magazine has 8 stories of delayed diagnoses and extreme postmortems."