210 teams from around the world converged on the outskirts of Tokyo Sunday to compete for the title of champion digger and win the coveted golden shovel prize. From the article: "'There are a lot of families and groups of friends,' said Manabu Saito, a public relations officer at the Narita Dream Dairy Farm, just east of Tokyo, where the contest took place. 'However, the most numerous are those who are "professionals" who dig for a living, such as gas company workers or those who deal with the water supply.'" The winning hole this year measuring 3.26 meters (10 ft 8 in) deep; not bad for 30 mins of shoveling

The problem with overcrowding in Swedish hospitals has gotten so bad that one recently ran out of emergency buzzers for patients. Children were given pans and spoons to bang together in case of emergency, while adult patients got bells from a local hardware store to summon help. From the article: "All nine hospitals with emergency rooms in western Sweden are desperately overcrowded, a report by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare said. Maria Tenggren, a union official and employee at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, said the hospitals 'long ago passed the limit of what is acceptable. We have for years nagged about the problem of overcrowding, but nothing happens,' she said."

another similar writes "This article teaches us that if you happen to have a bad break up with someone who's reasonably tech-savvy, your descriptively captioned photos might end up all over the internet. From the article: 'Upset boyfriends and girlfriends are nothing new. There are plenty of stories of girlfriends getting back at their ex-boyfriends for mistreatment and visa versa. But in the age where Google ranks supreme, you do not want to mess with a girl who knows how to manipulate Google.'"

Famous shoe designer Kenneth Cole stuck his fabulously shod foot into his mouth by tweeting, "Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online..." After an uproar from people who don't think revolution jokes are funny, he issued the following tweet: "we weren't intending to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment."

An anonymous reader writes "An activist group calling themselves the Food Liberation Army has kidnapped Ronald McDonald from one of McDonalds' restaurants in Helsinki. The group managed to kidnap the statue after presenting false documents for servicing Ronald. Food Liberation army will execute Ronald McDonald on the 11th of February 2011 at 6:30PM if their demands are not met."

Israeli scientists have created an explosive detector using specially trained mice. Researchers claim the mice are more accurate than dogs or x-ray machines and best of all, they work for peanuts. From the article: "The device was tested last year on 1,000 shoppers in a Tel Aviv shopping mall when the mice successfully picked out 22 people carrying mock explosives."

An anonymous reader writes "Concentrated solar power has the potential to generate immense amounts of energy — but it can also be amazingly destructive. American student Eric Jacqmain has assembled over 5,800 mirrors into his own parabolic 'solar Death Ray'."

itwbennett writes "The organizers of the Cyber Foundations program have some lofty goals. In addition to identifying a new generation of security experts, they want to make cybergeeks as cool as sports stars, said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a sponsor of the competition. The competition includes tests in computer networking, operating systems and systems administration. Registration is open until Feb. 18. and prizes include four full-ride college scholarships sponsored by the U.S. Navy, gift certificates, and letters of recognition from governors and members of the U.S. Congress."

A British immigration officer has been fired after admitting to adding his wife's name to a no-fly list to be rid of her. The officer's wife was unable to return from Pakistan for three years as a result. From the article: "The tampering went undetected until the immigration officer was selected for promotion and his wife's name was found on the suspects' list during a vetting inquiry."

Voulnet writes "A recently opened Benihana branch in Kuwait sued 248am.com, a well known Kuwaiti blog, for posting a bad restaurant review about its food, asking for the blog to be shut and more than $17,500 in damages (5000 KD). Kuwaiti bloggers everywhere have announced their support for the reviewing blogger; even though it is highly unlikely the restaurant will get anything from the court, since journalists are almost always favored in libel cases in Kuwaiti courts. It seems Benihana hasn't heard of Cooks source magazine."

kkleiner writes "In a hilarious video segment from January 24th 1994, The Today Show morning anchors Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric stumble over the identity and jargon of the internet technology that has come to define the past decade. Gumbel is unclear how you pronounce "@", Katie Couric suggests "about", and no one wants to say "dot" when they read ".com". Confusion with lingo aside, The Today Show cast has to ask a crew member to clarify how the internet works. Do you write to it like mail? Is it just in Universities? Does it require a phone line? This was less than two decades ago, and it's a wonderful reminder of how unprepared the mainstream media was for the innovation that was about to sweep the globe. As the crew member says of the internet, "it's getting bigger and bigger all the time." What a delightful understatement."

36-year-old Adam Potter is either the luckiest man alive or the subject of the next M.Night Shyamalan movie. Adam fell approximately 1,000 feet down Sgurr Choinnich Mor suffering only minor injuries. From the article: "The crew found him standing up and reading his map when they reached the scene. Lieutenant Tim Barker, the crew's observer, said: 'We began to hover-taxi down the slope and spotted a man at the bottom, standing up. We honestly thought it couldn't have been him, as he was on his feet, reading a map. Above him was a series of three high craggy outcrops. It seemed impossible. So we retraced our path back up the mountain and, sure enough, there were bits of his kit in a vertical line all the way up where he had obviously lost them during the fall. It was quite incredible. He must have literally glanced off the outcrops as he fell, almost flying.'"

abhatt writes "From the article: 'Your favorite team losing the Super Bowl may not only be disappointing, but new research suggests it could be deadly. University of Southern California researchers studied how often the type of emotional stress sports fans sometimes experience may translate to increased cardiac death.'"

tanveer1979 writes "Indian students duped by Tri-Valley University in California have been fitted with GPS devices by US immigration authorities. Scores of Indian students were caught in a scam where the university violated immigration norms and illegally got the students F1 visa and immigration status. To keep a track on the movements of the students, the authorities have fitted them with GPS devices. This is spiraling into a major diplomatic row between India and the USA, with the former calling the practice inhuman and unwanted."

An anonymous reader submitted a video clip that allegedly demonstrates a hacker working in a honeypot. If you fear for the future security of the internet, this video will set your mind at ease.

heidaro writes "'As part of its ongoing expansion, has the People's Liberation Army signed up Goose and Maverick? Chinese bloggers are accusing state broadcaster CCTV of using re-purposed footage from the 1986 film Top Gun for a story on a recent air force drill.' Is it just me or are communist nations very skilled at embarrassing themselves?"

theodp writes "Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live during host Jesse Eisenberg's monologue. The real Zuckerberg appeared on stage with both his movie (The Social Network's Eisenberg) and TV (SNL's Andy Samberg) counterparts. The Social Network received 8 Oscar nominations last week, although the Academy snubbed KDE 3's performance."

kriegs writes "'Historically speaking, the tech realm and beards have never been too far apart, at least for the men. As such, there are some in the FOSS realm who deserve special recognition for not only advancing free/open source software, but also for forsaking the razor and putting a hairy face forward.' Who's got the best facial hair in the open source community?"

broggyr writes "According to a story from MSNBC: 'For Mustafa Fteja, Facebook is more than just a hobby. It's the main way the 30-year-old Albanian native has stayed in touch with friends and family all over the world for three years, and when he was inexplicably cut off from it, he did what every other person in this country seems to do when they're mad enough: he sued. In seeking $500,000, Fteja is suing Facebook for disabling his account, in which he had about 340 friends and family and had spent "timeless hours creating content and relationships [Facebook] benefited from," the suit contends. He wants it back on, and he wants the company to pay for the damage of alienating him from his family and friends (about $1500 per friend/family).' Must be nice when you can use a free site and expect to get paid when they cut you off."

abhatt writes "A network in France has launched what is believed to be the first 3D adult film service in the country. The service was launched by renowned French adult movie actor, Marc Dorcel. All the programs were shot in the 3D format and the creators believe that this unique channel will allow viewers to enjoy the porn in a new and exciting way."