Chess player banned for 10 years for using bluetooth

The march of technology is unstoppable, and so are the measures used to use these for unfair means. Imagine a chess game with 2 cerebral players pitted against each other using their minds to outwit each other, and then imagine one of these players using technology to cheat.
This is what actually happened. Read the story here. A chess player has been banned for 10 years after being caught cheating during a random check. He was seeking the assistance of a computer via a accomplice. The accomplice would calculate the next move using a computer and send him that information via a bluetooth headset. This is against all the chess federation rules.

Arrested for stealing handcuffs

This really made me smile. A man was arrested for theft, and escaped while still wearing handcuffs. So what did the police do when they re-arrested him ? They filed a case against him for stealing police property - the handcuffs. Read the story here.

Baby in X-ray

In an accident, a woman put her 1-month grandson through an X-ray machine at the Los Angeles International Airport. This was obviously an accident, and I am sure that this would have happened due to the hustle and bustle at the X-ray machine where the woman would accidentally have put her baby on a tray.
In a sign that security workers are actually looking at the contents of the baggage, one of the X-ray personnel noticed the shape of a child on the carry-on baggage check and pulled the child out. Doctors determined that no harm done.

Fighting to save your own fire station

In an unusual incident, a fire next door to a fire station pulled in all the available fire-fighters leaving the fire station to be the actual next target for the fire. Luckily the fire fighters managed to get help from a team of fire-fighters from the next town, who managed to save the fire station. Imagine the mockery that the fire-fighters would have to endure if their station burned down ! The next thing that would start to happen is that they would start getting compared to incidents of a robbery happening in a police station.

Trying to steal guitar by hiding among clothes

Tried shop-lifting something that is almost as big as you ? Well, this guy tried.
A music store owner saw a customer walking out of the store without buying anything; well such a thing happens a lot. However, it is not often that you see a person walking stiffly and with a big bulge in his clothing. When the store owner challenged this guy, the guy denied that anything was amiss. But he eventually owned up and revealed that he was trying to conceal a guitar in his clothing - from his shirt to his trouser, from his knees to his neck.
Further search of his home revealed a sound system, also stolen from the same shop. He is now charged with theft. But think about it - trying to conceal a guitar among your clothes.

Stupid robber commits massive self-injury

In a weird incident, a kidnapper was, along with 2 accomplices, was trying to kidnap a youth. Well, so what is so weird about this ? The kidnapper, apparently learned all about how to use a gun, but not about gun safety. As a result, during the kidnapping, when he tried to put his gun back into his belt, the gun went off, and did his some considerable damage, hitting one of his testicles, ouch !! When his body instinctively reacted to such a shock, the gun went off again and hit his calf. At this point, the guy developed some sense and managed to reach hospital to get some treatment.
Good news, he got arrested by the police, although I do not as yet know whether he will face any charges of attempted suicide. Read the original story here. Read more about gun safety here.

Britain's unluckiest man does it again

In this article from The Register, can read about the world's unluckiest man exhibiting the reasons why he has won that title. It would be funny if it was not real and happening to some living human being.
John Lyne, from Britain, fell down a manhole and suffered serious injuries which will take a few months to repair. Now this can happen to anyone, but for something serious to happen to someone 16 times over is a bit too much.
John has been run over by a cart, fallen from a tree, hit twice by lightning, suffered numerous vehicle crashes and come close to drowing. He must have borrowed a few lives from neighbouring cats. And to make it even worse, his friends and family just laugh about it.

Pardon for Turkeys

In an annual event, President Bush, the leader of the mightiest nation on earth, pardoned 2 turkeys that were planned for the annual Thankgiving dinner. Read about it on CNN.
This is so much of an annual ritual that the only surprise would be if the turkeys did not get pardoned, but it is expected that every year, the president will have to do it, otherwise, there will be lots of questions asked, and the president might be portrayed as an man without a heart.
And what will happen to the lucky turkeys ? These turkeys will be flown at US Government expense to California where they will serve as Grand Marshals at the annual Thankgiving parade. Of course, we still don't know as to whether President Bush or other people in the White House will eat any other turkey for Thanksgiving. And in a final twist to the story, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA - remember the nude protest by Pamela Anderson ?) sent Bush a turkey made of Tofu.

Prisoner escape using petroleum jelly

A different use of grease, something that the law and order crowd will definitely not like. In South Africa, a prisoner escaped from a high security prison by covering himself with petroleum jelly and using the extra lubrication to push himself through a small opening, something that he would never have been able to do with the extra lubrication.
Police are embarasses, this was an escape of a notorious criminal (awaiting trial on rape, murder and other serious crimes) from a high security jail. He removed a bulletproof window and after some squirming, managed to make good his escape, and in the process, created a record by being the first prisoner to escape from the jail in its 36 years of existence.

Using a snake to scare police

A drunk driver, when threatened by police, used a snake to scare them. A young person, swerving across the road in Australia was spotted by police. They stopped him, did a breath analyzer test and concluded that he was indeed drunk.
At this point, he found that there was a snake slithering pass; and showing tremendous presence of mind, he picked up the snake and threatened the police. In the confusion, this guy managed to escape.
This is however not going to be the end, to his misfortune, he is known to the police, and they will pick him up somewhere else.

Sex with dead deer not illegal

Legal cases can take on a lot of different varieties. This is a very interesting case. A man admitted to having sexual relations with a dead deer. In the face of it, in Wisconsin, US, there is a law called "crimes against sexual morality" that disallows relations with animals. It seems so strange; first a person having intercourse with an animal, and that too, a dead animal.
The defence lawyer claims that a carcass is not an animal any more. So, the entire case is hinged on the question of whether a dead animal is indeed an 'animal' as per the law. Subsequently, the judge has to decide on whether the dead animal is an animal as per the law. Lucky judge.
The prosecutor though pointed out an example of a dead pet dog still being referred to as a pet, indicating that common language does not distinguish between a dead animal and a living animal. Whatever be the case, the judge has promised to deliver a judgement by the next session.

KFC symbol visible from outer space

Kentucky Fried Chicken has put up a giant mosaic of its founder and symbol (Colonel Sanders) in the Nevada desert. It seems that the logo has also been changed somewhat, with the apron becoming red.
The pic of the Colonel comprises 65,000 one-foot-square painted tiles laid out on a plot near Rachel, Nevada. Because of the size, the logo is visible from outer space, but unless there are aliens orbiting near the earth, we need not worry about aliens landing on earth hunting for a bucket of KFC's best. What might happen though is that astronauts on the space station might work up an excellent appetite.

Naomi Campbell refuses to do community service

In a severe case of a celebrity declaring themselves above normal people, Naomi Campbell, who is undergoing trial for assaulting her former assistant with a jewel encrusted mobile phone, refuses to accept a possible punishment such as doing community service (sweeping the streets). She feels that she will be jeered by the public when doinh such service, and instead wants to do something like charity work.
One of the reasons for doing community service is the feeling of shame it inculcates in a celebrity and prevents them from indulging in such behaviour again. But Naomi apparently is not willing to undergo something like this.

Coconutting monkeys mean business

Coconut pickers who are monkeys. This is the tagline. A person in Thailand has 2 monkeys trained to get coconut off trees. They get around 300 coconuts per day per monkey, about 10 times more than what a person could get.
The coconuts that the monkeys collect prove to be so money earning to their owner that they paid off their purchase cost within a month, and have paid for the college expenses of their owner's kids. With such trained helpers, the owner is very careful to keep the monkeys in good humour, not even shouting at them even if they bite him.

Worst states for auto-deer crashes

Deer-automobile crashes in the US are up 6% from last year. It is an increasing trend, and such accidents cause around 150 deaths and $1.1 billion in damage annually. Statistics for deer fatalities are not available, but these also will be significant. Deer populations have been increasing, and more important, humans are increasing moving into areas where such collisions are becoming more frequent.
The advise is to use high-beam headlights, be careful when seeing a 'Deer crossing' sign and if you see a deer, assume that there will be more of them somewhere close by. These deer are normally very peaceful creatures, so if you are a bit more careful, you will find that these accidents can be avoided.

Airlines to connect Ipods to screens

There is an article on TheRegister that around 6 airlines have signed an agreement with Apple to fit iPod docs onto seat-back screens. So users will be able to charge their iPods while in the air, and also be able to see videos stored on Ipods onto the 'slightly' bigger screen of the seat screen. Not yet specified which class of passangers will be able to use this, but this can be a major hit with the iPod carrying community.