Wmy2k7

He thinks we're stupid.

(Credit: compilarizTVi/YouTube Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

It had quite slipped my notice, but I'm actually a cat.

It's true that I struggle with the running-up-and-down-drainpipes thing. I'm also not very adept at catching mice, without considerable chemical help.

On the other hand, I'm good at eating cheese and I can drink milk very quietly. Perhaps that's why my friend Ed's cat Bob thinks I'm also a cat.

Bob hasn't told me himself, but a British anthrozoologist named John Bradshaw has. In a book called Cat Sense, which the New York Times kindly reviewed last week, Bradshaw insists that despite being happy lying over your warm laptop keyboard and starring in any number of YouTube videos, cats are essentially still wild.

He's been studying cats for 30 years and he insists that because they were never bred to play some specific role in the domestic life of humans, they didn't go through some radical evolutionary change.

Yes, many have been domesticated in their way, but equally, many go out and breed with wild cats out there in the trees and bushes. (Bradshaw estimates th... [Read more]

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Dreamcast: Sega's heroic failure

Few gadgets are remembered as fondly as Sega's Dreamcast, and yet this quirky games machine flopped so hard that it forced Sega to quit the console market entirely. In the latest episode of Adventures in Tech, we take a fond look back at the Dreamcast, its ahead-of-its-time innovations, and the reasons why it died.

Take a look at Sega's beautiful, doomed Dreamcast (pictures)

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A man convicted of second-degree assault after beating a john’s face to a pulp with his Jordans is now suing Nike from his jail cell — where he’s serving a 100-year prison sentence for his crimes — for not warning consumers that the shoes could be used as a dangerous weapon.

The 26-year-old Portland man was not only convicted of stomping on a man’s face who was trying to leave a hotel without paying the pimp’s prostitute in June 2012, but of also robbing the john and beating the woman he forced to work as his prostitute, reports The Oregonian.

And now he’s suing Nike for $100 million, claiming it’s somewhat the company’s fault that he used the shoes as weapons.

His three-page handwritten complaint claims that Nike, Chairman Phil Knight and other executives were remiss in not warning consumers that Jordans can be used as weapons that cause serious injury or death. Again, if you use them to stomp someone’s face to a bloody pulp instead of just you know, walking in them.

“Under product liability there is a certain standard of care that is required to be up-held by potentially dangerous product …” wrote the man, who is representing himself. “Do (sic) to the fact that these defendants named in this Tort claim failed to warn of risk or to provide an adequate warning or instruction it has caused personal injury in the likes of mental suffering.”

He asks that a judge order Nike to put warning labels on all their “potentially dangerous Nike and Jordan merchandise.”

Nike will now have an opportunity to respond.

Portland pimp sues Nike for $100 million for lack of warning label after beating victim with Jordans [The Oregonian]

In the process of dealing with the death of a parent, it might be forgivable if you overlook some paperwork and the Social Security folks send out a benefits check meant for the deceased. But when you deliberately hide this death for two decades while collecting nearly $200,000 that doesn’t belong to you, you’re probably going to jail.

This is the lesson recently learned by a Taco Bell franchisee in Bellevue, WA, who recently pleaded guilty to charges that he fraudulently kept collecting his mother’s Social Security benefits long after her death in 1989. He’s also been accused of stealing $100,000 in pension benefits from the state of Ohio.

The man claims that he was in dire financial straits at the time of his mother’s death. Even though he’s since become a fast food entrepreneur and carved out a good life for himself — his net worth is reportedly around $4 million, including about $431,000 in cash — he says there was no way for him to stop receiving his mom’s benefits without making his fraud obvious.

“While none of this is offered to excuse or attempt to justify [the defendant's crime, it simply describes a desperate, but good man, who saw an opportunity to provide for his family’s health in 1989, when he was at his lowest point, and took it,” explains his attorney. “Like making a deal with the devil, however, once that decision was made there was no way out.”

The federal prosecutor in the case took particular issue with the fact that the defendant reaped in all these payments while earning millions through his Taco Bells.

“Social Security fraud cases often involve genuinely impoverished persons who steal to improve an otherwise desperate existence,” said the U.S. Attorney. “Here, however, [the defendant] has had a lucrative business career as the owner of fast food restaurants and real estate.”

The 70-year-old now faces six months in jail for his 23 years of illegally benefiting off his dead mother’s name.

Bellevue Taco Bell owner hid mom’s death for decades to steal benefits [SeattlePI.com]

Reuters / Darren Hauck ​The US Supreme Court upheld biotech giant Monsanto’s claims on genetically-engineered seed patents and the company’s ability to sue farmers whose fields are inadvertently contaminated with Monsanto materials. The high court left intact Monday a federal … Continue reading →

The post ​Supreme Court hands Monsanto victory over farmers on GMO seed patents, ability to sue appeared first on .

"Aviation history in the making," says the YouTube description. I don't know about that, but it's pretty crazy to watch this Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 767-300ER taking off in a shockingly short distance at Arusha Airport, in Tanzania. That runway is only 5,351 feet (1,631 meters) long.

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If you're an off-roading enthusiast you've probably already seen those kits that let you replace your truck's wheels with a set of four tank treads for tackling any terrain. The Track N Go is the same idea, except that you don't need a garage, a lift, or any kind of mechanical know-how to install them. You just drive your vehicle onto the treads, lock them in place, and away you go.

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Ever wondered how the US Air Force cleans its planes? Here's one way: They use a giant shower on a runway—or a planewash if you must. Here you can see it cleaning the salt accumulated on a Lockheed Martin WC-130 Hercules after flying through storms over the Gulf of Mexico.

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Despite being so user-friendly on the whole, computers are incredibly complex systems. So complex that sometimes—just sometimes—the only explanation for a fault is that it must be haunted or something. Just blame the ghost in the machine. [XKCD]

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Many of us would he hard-pressed to function without our morning coffee, but now there's compelling evidence that it could actually help enhance your long-term memory.

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Photovoltaic panels aren't the most glamorous technology: They're usually tucked away on a roof, and when you can see them, they're ugly. And inefficient. But what if they made architecture more beautiful? And what if they were more efficient, working even at night? Say hi to Rawlemon, a solar ball lens that is quickly making its way to market.

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You probably won't be surprised one bit to learn there's a new Bitcoin competitor out there. A group of cryptographers just announced the creation of Zerocoin, an ultra-anonymous cryptocurrency that's otherwise a lot like the dozens of other newly launched cryptocurrencies.

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Surely passers-by are familiar with LOST fliers seeking the safe return of a beloved pet. It’s not uncommon for these posts to advertise a monetary reward for wayward dogs and cats, but one dog owner found success dangling a different kind of bait: Beer and cigarettes for the safe return of her pooch.

The 23-year-old Dayton, Ohio woman (full disclosure: Dayton is my college town and I will love it forever) put a flier in a local grocery store offering up a case of beer and pack of cigarettes for her dog, reports the Dayton Daily News, and it worked.

Zoro came home 10 days after he’d escaped from her yard, along with her other pup. She’d had luck finding the other dog at a local shelter, but was still missing Zoro when she got a line on Zoro from a frequent customer at the sub shop where she works.

That customer said he’d seen people walking a dog they’d found and intended to keep it, so when he saw the flier he thought it could be her dog. The descriptions matched, and she found Zoro at the home described by her customer.

She explains that she offered the booze and smokes reward because it was something she could afford, and figured it would stand out as unusual among other kinds of traditional rewards. It’s a smart play — how many fliers have you seen offering up beer and cigs for a dog? Exactly.

But since the Good Samaritan has refused to accept it, she says she’ll instead treat him to free food at the sub shop. All’s well that ends with a happy reunion under one woof. I mean roof. Yay, safely returned pets!

Case of beer and cigarettes offered for return of Dayton dog [Dayton Daily News]

Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal wants to make it mandatory for parents to notify their children's schools if they have guns in the home.

We have written before about the deer sterilization program in Cayuga Heights, which borders the Cornell campus .

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If you're looking to get into the knockoff leather game, there could be pools of cold, hard cash in your future just waiting for you to go diving on in. All it takes is a little half-assery, a more-than-questionable moral compass, and the knowledge of where to actually cut those corners—which can be harder than it seems. Fortunately for you, Saddleback Leather CEO David Munson is here to show you how to fake his bags the right way—tongue, of course, planted firmly in cheek.

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Police in Fort Myers said a man admitted to them that he was texting and driving when he crashed his

Mozaffar Khazaee, a former Manchester, Connecticut resident and defense contractor has been arrested by federal authorities on charges that he attempted to smuggle classified technical data on a variety of military projects—including the new F-35 Lightning II—out of the country and into Iran.

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Imagine yourself stuck in traffic. Imagine listening to some Top 40 radio station playing the same 4 songs over and over and wondering about the things you would do if you didn't have to commute. Imagine your brain numb. And then imagine seeing some psycho bike rider pull off some bike tricks off of a half-pipe on top of a moving truck. In the middle of traffic. That would be fun for everyone.

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2013 was the year of Candy Crush Saga. It was on television, in music videos, and — most importantly — it was in the hearts and minds of millions of mobile gamers around the globe. Let's see if one of these ten alternatives can't dislodge it.

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Sony's announced a new mid-to-high-end "phablet" model today, with its Xperia T2 Ultra arriving in both normal and dual-SIM options. It combines a 1080p display with a 13-Megapixel camera, with Sony plumbing its quad-core Qualcomm MSM8928 chipset into 1GB of RAM.

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KitUp's headline for the new Smith & Wesson .460-caliber revolver is "Smith & Wesson Unveils Backpack Cannon." Judging by its size, it looks like a hand cannon to me, yes. Or like a power tool that can kill you.

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Last month, Winamp sauntered up to the brink of death, but now it's back. Thanks to a first rumored and now confirmed acquisition by digital audio business Radionomy, both Winamp and Shoutcast will live on.

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