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."

Hugh Pickens writes writes "The Denver Post Reports that a biologist at Colorado State University has re-engineered plants so that they can detect explosives, air pollution and toxic chemicals, signaling the presence of potentially deadly vapors by turning from green to white. 'If you take something into Denver International Airport, like an explosive for a plane, my plants are going to turn white,' says June Medford, who developed the system. 'That's going to get the security guys on you.' Military and Homeland Security research directors say they envision wide applications for the genetically modified plants positioned in buildings, war zones and cities where terrorists could set up covert bomb-making factories and add that strategic placement of the plants could help reach a goal of deploying a decentralized, nationwide system for detecting explosives. 'Our hope is if these plants could be located ubiquitously, we might be able to detect explosives at the point they are being assembled,' says Doug Bauer, the Homeland Security explosives research program manager. 'You would have a much greater opportunity for first-responders to interdict and disrupt that activity.'"

Hugh Pickens writes "A suicide bomber's plan to detonate explosives in Central Moscow on New Year's Eve was foiled when she received an unexpected spam text message that caused her deadly payload to blow up too early. A message wishing her a happy new year came hours before the unnamed woman was to set off her suicide belt near Red Square, an act of terrorism that could have killed hundreds of people. Islamist terrorists in Russia often use mobile phones as detonators. The bomber's handler, who is usually watching his charge, sends the bomber a text message to set off the explosive belt at the moment when it is thought they can inflict maximum casualties."

suraj.sun writes "According to a Fox News report: 'Drug smugglers trying to get marijuana across the Arizona-Mexico border apparently are trying a new approach — a medieval catapult, capable of launching 4.4 pounds of marijuana at a time. National Guard troops operating a remote video surveillance system at the Naco Border Patrol Station say they observed several people preparing a catapult and launching packages over the International Border fence last Friday evening. The 3-yard tall catapult was found about 20 yards from the US border on a flatbed towed by a sports utility vehicle, according to a Mexican army officer with the 45th military zone in the border state of Sonora.'"

KermodeBear writes "Dungeons and Dragons — originally Satan's Game — has now been found to encourage gang-like behavior. In a finding by a three judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, D&D 'can mimic the organization of gangs and lead to the actual development thereof.' From the ruling: 'during D&D games, one player is denoted the "Dungeon Master." 'The Dungeon Master is tasked with giving directions to other players, which Muraski testified mimics the organization of a gang.'"

talljamesnixon writes "Fancy starting up your own secure ISP? A bomb-proof Cold War nuclear bunker like the ones that hosted The Pirate Bay and WikiLeaks has come on the market for just £400,000 ($635,000). Situated several metres under the rolling hills of Scotland, the Cultybraggan bunker cost £30 million to build, has space for 150 staff and includes its own BBC studio, canteen, telephone exchange and dormitories."

dbune writes "Two Tennessee men were arrested after they allegedly kidnapped one of the men's son-in-law over some stolen jewelry. The victim was beaten and finally freed him in exchange for a neighbor's Xbox 360. The victim was able to reach his mother-in-law and she spoke to a neighbor who suggested they trade his Xbox 360 valued between $400 and $500 in return for the release of the kidnapped victim."

siliconbits writes "According to ITProPortal: 'Semiconductor giant Intel has announced that it has hired music artist Will.i.am as Director of Creative Innovation, which is a new post as far as we know. Will.i.am is one third of the popular music group, the Black Eyed Peas, and emulates the like of Lady Gaga, who is partnering with Polaroid to produce some groovy products.'"

24-year-old Cal Walsh has put his aerospace engineering degree to good use by becoming the Lego Czar at The Legoland Discovery Center in Texas. Walsh beat out over 100 other Lego lovers for the $37,500 starting salary, and the chance to play with blocks for a living. From the article: "The 15 finalists were given an hour to design something that defined them and their interests. Walsh applied his engineering skills to build a spaceship, a unicycle and a running shoe that spelled out his first name. He gave credit to the children spectators at the event, who offered suggestions on what pieces to add to make the designs more interesting."

An anonymous reader writes "A woman in her 60s was recently apprehended by Israeli airport security when she tried to smuggle 44 iPhone 4s into Israel by hiding them in her stockings under traditional Georgian garb. From the article: 'Upon being approached by security personnel, the woman claimed she wasn’t feeling well whereupon airport security offered to accompany her. But first, she had to pass through a full body scanner. It was then the authorities found buried underneath layers of traditional garb that the woman was carrying at least 44 iPhones on her person.'"