Missed Shot
September 1st, 2010 | Published under In The News | No Comments
Man shot in head notices five years later
A man living in Germany was shot in the back of his head, but it took him five years to realise it, police say.
The 35-year-old man was hit by a .22-calibre bullet in the town of Herne as he was out in the street partying and drunk on New Year’s Eve five years ago, police said overnight.
They say the man recalled receiving a blow to the head, but told them he didn’t seek medical assistance at the time.
The bullet did not penetrate the skull, and police say the Polish man only went to see a doctor recently when he felt a lump on the back of his head.
An X-ray showed an object under his skin, and doctors operated and found the projectile.
Police say it may have been a stray bullet fired by a reveller in celebration.
Broadmeadows Raids
August 31st, 2010 | Published under Humour | No Comments
Early morning raids carried out by police in the Victorian suburb of Broadmeadows finalised a three-month surveillance operation with the overall discovery of:
- An arms cache of 2000 semi automatic rifles with 250,000 rounds of ammunition
- 10 anti-tank missiles
- 4 grenade launchers
- 20 tonnes of heroin
- $50 million in forged Australian banknotes
- 25 trafficked Filipino prostitutes, all in a Housing Commission house behind the Public Library in Broadmeadows
Local residents were stunned.
A community spokesman said:
“We’re shocked. We never knew we had a library!”
In Your Sight
August 29th, 2010 | Published under General | No Comments
How would you like it if creatures lived in your eyelashes? Well, chances are they already do. The demodicid is a small mite measuring less than 0.4mm that finds pores and hair follicles, and especially the roots of your eyelashes, the perfect place to live. Nearly everyone has a few of these creatures living somewhere on their bodies and those that use a lot of make-up or have very oily skin and the most vulnerable.
Their main meals are your skin dead skin debris and certain fluids expelled from your body. And they breed on you too. A female can lay up to 25 eggs, which then hatch and move to other hair follicles on your body to continue the breeding process. Sounds scary? Generally these creatures are harmless, and are a normal part of the human and many other species.
The pictures below show what these creatures might look like if you had microscopic sight.
Still worried? When you go to bed tonight think of the millions of dust mites living in your bed!
I’m Disabled
August 27th, 2010 | Published under Humour | No Comments
Not a funny story, but I had to laugh at one woman’s comment…
(click image to view full-size)
Tycho Brahe-1
August 25th, 2010 | Published under In The News | No Comments
Copenhagen Suborbitals prepare to launch first private rocket, astronaut into space.
Want to go to space?
You could pay millions to get on board someone else’s spacecraft as a tourist, spend six years at uni garnering the relevant NASA qualifications, or hitch-hike aboard the next alien construction fleet that passes through.
Or you could just build your own.
A group of engineers in Denmark are preparing to do just that – launch a home-built rocket, along with a human passenger, more than 100km into the sky.
Dubbed HEAT1X, the rocket will be launched from a floating barge in the sea just outside the Danish border, 12 nautical miles from shore.
And it will be towed out there by a submarine built by one of the men behind the rocket project.
Eccentric engineering genius Peter Madsen lives onboard that homemade submarine, a project that gained him internet fame last year and a Discovery Channel documentary.
Looking to go one up in 2010, Madsen founded Copenhagen Suborbitals with Kristian von Bengston with the aim of building the world’s largest amateur space rocket.
Over the last year-and-a-half they have led a team of volunteers to create the HEAT1X rocket and the micro spacecraft it will launch, called Tycho Brahe-1.
Tycho Brahe-1 will carry one human passenger, in a half-seated position, into space and back down again.
The seat is designed to minimise the gravitational pull on the passenger’s spine.
Whoever is on board will also have to wear a pressure suit, like those worn by fighter pilots, to make sure they don’t pass out.
At the top of the module is a see-through polymer plexiglass dome, giving the astronaut a once-in-a-lifetime view of their journey.
It’s planned that the spacecraft will travel in an arc, jettisoning the rocket about halfway up and eventually peaking more than 100km above the Earth before coming down.
After it re-enters the atmosphere, parachutes will be deployed to slow it before it hits the water.
The project is being subsidised by sponsorships and donations from fans.
The team has almost raised its target of $71,250 for the HEAT1X launch scheduled this weekend.
From News.com.au.
Luke’s Top 10 Police Cars
August 23rd, 2010 | Published under Cars, Top 10 Lists | No Comments
We’re all used to seeing the average Falcon or Commodore done up with a light bar, livery and all kinds of other gadgets to convert it from your regular family sedan into a car ready for police work. But both here and around the world the police occasionally add a car outside of the ordinary to their stable. You may remember a few from my Awesome Police Cars blog.
Over the years unique police cars have been an interest of mine, and out of the many I’ve found from around the world, there are 10 that are my favourites:
10 – BMW M3 (Netherlands)
With Germany next door you can’t blame the Dutch police for picking up a BMW M3 for police duties. With a 4-litre V8 putting out 309kW and 0-100km/h times of 4.8 seconds, this thing is sure to catch some crooks. It is electronically limited to a top speed of 249km/h but can reach around 290km/h delimited.
09 – Lexus IS-F (UK)
The police in the UK were recently using Subaru’s Impreza WRX as their high performance patrol car, but after issues with heat soak they decided to replace them with some V8 cruisers. Forget the Crown Victorias of the US or the Commodores of Australia – these guys get their V8s in style. The 5-litre V8 Lexus IS-F engines put out 311kW good for 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 270km/h.
08 – Carbon Motors E7 (USA)
The E7 by Carbon Motors sets itself apart from other police cars by being the world’s only vehicle that is custom built for police work. All the lights, gadgets and seating are designed for police work and police work only. Not only is it physically tough, it also has a BMW 3-litre turbo diesel power plant good for 220kW and 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds. It can reach a top speed of 250km/h. But the best thing is no clunky added on light bars or bull bars, it’s all integrated from the factory! It is expected to be released in 2012 and, no, it cannot be bought for private use.
07 – GeigerCars Hummer H2 (USA)
GeigerCars are one of Europe’s leading tuners of American vehicles. Through a request from a Texas sheriff, they built up this Hummer H2 in both the styling and engine compartment to make the world’s fastest police Hummer. The GeigerCars built supercharged 7-litre V8 engine puts out 515kW with a top speed of 250km/h (electronically limited). That’s enough power for 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds. All on 28-inch wheels!
06 – TechArt Porsche 911 Carerra S (Germany)
To promote safe tuning at the Essen Motor Show, TechArt joined with the German police and traffic authorities to develop this high-powered Porsche police car. With a 3.8-litre 6 cylinder boxer engine, the car is good for 273kW and 0-100km/h sprints of 4.5 seconds. It has a top speed of 300km/h.
Liquid Bullets
August 21st, 2010 | Published under In The News | No Comments
After being hit with water bottle, drunk Sheboygan man goes to emergency room thinking he was shot.
Police say a 46-year-old Sheboygan man who went to the hospital believing he had been shot in the head was actually struck with a water bottle during a drunken brawl with his sister.
Joseph M. Bonnett, of 1617-A N. 11th St., could face up to a year in jail on misdemeanour counts of battery and disorderly conduct. He was charged Monday.
According to a criminal complaint:
Police were called Thursday night after Bonnett went to Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center with what he said was a gunshot wound to the head. He told police his sister or her friend shot him with a small gun.
Bonnett said he heard a bang or pop, saw a flash, felt pain and fell backwards, after which he doesn’t remember anything for 15 minutes. The officer noted Bonnett’s injury was protruding from his head, not going into it. The officer noted Bonnett smelled strongly of intoxicants.
Officers went to Bonnett’s house and found his sister, who was intoxicated, along with at least three other people. Witnesses said Bonnett had approached his sister with a knife.
The sister, who had several scratches on her arm that she said may have been caused by the knife, said Bonnett’s injury was caused when she threw a full bottle of water and struck him in the forehead.
Confronted with the conflicting account of the sister and another witness, Bonnett insisted he had been shot, saying then that it was with a large handgun. He said his sister took the gunpowder out of the bullet so it wouldn’t have enough force to penetrate his skull.
From The NorthWestern.
Help Close Puppy Factories
August 19th, 2010 | Published under General | 1 Comment
While factories the world over have recently been forced to shut down due to the economic crisis, puppy factories continue to boom.
Mass-producing puppies for profit, their operators are simply business people with little or no concern for the animals they force to breed in appalling facilities. It’s not uncommon for female dogs as young as six months old to churn out litters constantly for their entire lives.
When they’re no longer able to breed, they’re euthanised. But perhaps the most shocking truth about puppy factories is that they’re operating right here, in towns all across Australia.
How can you help to close down puppy factories?
With your signature of support petition.php the RSPCA can approach the Government requesting to have the laws and legislations regulating puppy factories tightened, ultimately closing them down for good.
There are also other ways you can help to put these awful businesses to a stop. Make sure you know how and where to buy a puppy, and if you aware of a puppy factory in operation, make sure you report it.
You can find out more at RSPCA – Help Us Close Puppy Factories.
Advanced Search
August 17th, 2010 | Published under General | No Comments
It’s a search engine, calculator, currency converter and much more. Anyone who uses Google on a day-to-day basis (which is most of us) is quite aware of the extensive features integrated into Google searches. It really is much more than just a search engine. But it’s not all serious business, with these cool and funny tricks hidden inside Google search. Give them a try!
- Try some of the “other” measurements Google accepts, such as the beard-second (5mm), Potrzebie (2.2633mm), ngogn (11.5938151ml), blintz (36.4253863g) and donkeypower (0.3353hp). For example, type “1 donkeypower to hp” in the search box.
- What’s the loneliest number? Let Google calculate it by searching “loneliest number.”
- Find out the real probability of “once in a blue moon” through a Google search.
- Search for “the answer to life, the universe, and everything.” The result is a reference to Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
- Search for “the number of horns on a unicorn”
- All of the above are stored as actual numbers, so you can add, subtract, multiply, etc, on them. You can even convert them to a currency. For example try “number of horns on a unicorn + 5”.
In early March this year a town called Topeka in Kansas temporarily changed their name to Google. On April Fools’ Day, Google issued a joking statement that they would be changing their name to Topeka in honour of the gesture and changed their logo for the day.
- Google the words “recursion” and “anagram.” Pay attention to the resulting “Did you mean?” suggestions.
- See if you can spot this one: search “ascii art.”
- If one sets the iGoogle theme to the “Beach” option, then at 3:14 AM every morning, the Loch Ness Monster surfaces for 1 minute, then at 3:15 dives back under. The reason for the timing of 3:14 is rumoured to be a tribute to the number pi. Additional 3:14 eggs include the “Seasonal Scape” showing off the Northern Lights, the “City Scape” with UFOs, the “Spring Scape” with a monster, the “Sweet Dreams” with the stars aligning to the shape of the symbol pi, and the “Tea House” that has spirits in the mist.
- Use Google Translate to translate “James Bond” from English to Chinese.
- Press up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A in Google Reader to release some Ninja action.
- Google offers multiple languages not common in other applications, such as Google in Pirate and Pig Latin.
And that’s just a few! In addition to these tricks, Google are also famous for their various hoaxes over the years. You can see the full list at Wikipedia.
Nice to see one company not taking things too seriously!
Gmail
August 15th, 2010 | Published under My Stuff | 1 Comment
It all started back when I was a kid and realised I didn’t have to rely on web-based email interfaces. Nor did I need to use the Outlook client that was loaded on the sole family computer we owned back in the day. You see, I discovered a program called “Incredimail” which, along with being able to add all kinds of effects that are cool at age 10, was a client hosted on my computer without having to open a web link.
And so it went on until I learnt more about computers and Incredimail started to become a bit too gimmicky. I needed something serious. Through the use of Mozilla Firefox, I discovered the email client Mozilla Thunderbird, and I was set for years. Old habits die hard and, despite a push from friends and colleagues to start using Gmail as my email client, I stuck with my old Thunderbird.
Until a few nights ago… the drama of trying to be able to receive the same emails on both my computers was too much! Not only that, but configuring IMAP settings were a headache in itself. And so I finally thought I’d trail Gmail…. and what did I think?
It is great. It really is. I was so sceptical, and like so many of the sceptics in the reviews I read before making the leap. Now I’ve also been converted. Not only can I access all my email accounts (Thunderbird couldn’t configure one of them whatsoever, I had to use email forwarding) but I can access it from any computer, anywhere, at any time. And thanks to the selectable Themes, it looks the goods too. (Where are my Calendar themes, Google?)
Although I’m only a few days into officially converting, I’ve already gone far enough as uninstalling Mozilla Thunderbird altogether. And thanks to Google’s other great invention, Google Chrome, I’ve conveniently replaced my Thunderbird “pin” (Windows 7 speak for Quick Launch) with an application shortcut to Gmail.
What else is cool about it? So far I like the absolute ease of adding email accounts, integration with chat, and my Calendar link up the top from the usual Google application links. And of course the search functions. And thanks to “reply-to” addresses and offline access, it pretty much has all the same functionality of a local email client.
Google, you’ve done it again.
Why not try out Gmail for yourself?
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