wiredmikey writes "A former contract security guard who admitted hacking into a hospital's computer systems (where he worked), was sentenced to 110 months in Federal prison. Why did he do it? He admits that he intended to use the bots and the compromised computers to launch DDoS attacks on the websites of rival hacker groups. The FBI says he posted video of himself hacking into the hospital computers on YouTube — While the theme of 'Mission Impossible' played, he described his hack, step by step, including the insertion of a CD containing the OphCrack program, which allowed him to bypass all security. The FBI found the CD containing the OphCrack program in McGraw's house and found the source code for the bot on his laptop."

Zothecula writes "This is one home security alarm you won't want to trigger by mistake! Burglar Blaster mounts on a wall inside the home, and once armed, uses an infrared beam to detect when an intruder has entered the house. It then emits a cloud of pepper spray, that will severely inconvenience anyone within 2,000 square feet (186 square meters)."

The pentagon expects members of the military to deal with seeing blood, guts, and traumatic amputations but feels the horrors of a same-sex kiss might be too much for even the grittiest Marine. A new batch of training materials is being sent out to help commanders figure out how to tell those under them how to react should they see such a display of affection. From the article: "Four branches of the military have begun sending training material to 2.2 million active and reserve troops as a prelude to opening the ranks to gays, with instructions on, for example, what to do if an officer sees two male Marines kissing in a shopping mall."

Pigskin-Referee writes "Never want to read another story about Lindsay Lohan or Charlie Sheen? Now there's an app for that. 'Silence of the Celebs,' a program created by Manhattan web design studio Gesture Theory, lets you filter out all mentions of a celebrity from online news sources just by entering their names."

An anonymous reader writes "25-year-old Hidayat Sudirman found that his new laptop came loaded with more than just the usual software, it also contained 10GB of someone else's documents. From the article: "A buyer on the lookout for a new laptop got more than he bargained for at his local computer fair when the 'new' device came loaded with over 10GB of personal documents — including divorce papers and tax returns."

theodp writes "After a 10-year struggle, the USPTO was convinced to issue Google a patent Tuesday for Systems and Methods for Enticing Users to Access a Web Site, aka Google Doodles. Among other things, Google explains that the invention of co-founder Sergey Brin covers modifying a company logo with 'a turkey for Thanksgiving' and 'a leprechaun's pot of gold for Saint Patrick's Day.' To help drive home its point, Google included an illustration showing the USPTO that hearts could be displayed on the Google home page for Valentine's, which would be deja-vu-all-over-again for the 394 lovers who used the UIUC PLATO system on Feb. 14th, 1975."

ChronoFish writes "The FARS news agency and a host of others are reporting on Iran claiming to have created a flying saucer-like drone. There is one small problem however. The press release photos from the state-run news service are from a movie."

An anonymous reader writes "Police in Michigan have arrested 34-year-old Richard Leon Barton Jr. on charges of polygamy, thanks to incriminating wedding photos on Facebook. The man unfriended his first wife on the social network before marrying his second wife, but unsurprisingly that wasn't enough."

RedEaredSlider writes "If you ever wanted to see Mario finally give those little mushroom creatures the what-for, this is the game for you. The experience of a side-scroller as a first-person shooter is a bit surreal, though."

60-year-old John Jacques has appealed his conviction for engaging in sexually graphic online conversations with a police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl, saying the police entrapped him using animated emoticons during the chats. From the article: "Jacques claims prosecutors withheld evidence when they failed to use a computer program that would have shown the jury animated emoticons, which he argued was 'clear evidence of enticement.' He doesn't support his argument with a legal basis, the appeals court found. 'We fail to see how viewing the emoticons as animations would have led the jury to conclude that he was the victim of excessive incitement,' the court wrote."

Have you ever thought of going on a cruise, but decided your booze bill would be too high after being trapped on a boat with a group of seasick senior citizens for a week? If so, Royal Caribbean has just the packages for you. $49 extra a day will now buy you: unlimited beer and wine that normally sell for up to $10, cocktails, premium liquor brands and a 25% discount on all bottles of wine, glasses of wine over $10 and specialty liquors.

Wesociety writes "Not one week ago Sony released a new PlayStation 3 firmware update which implemented cloud-saving for its PlayStation Plus subscribers and featured some understandably secretive behind-the-scenes security features meant to prevent future hacking. Today, a hacker is purporting that he broke firmware 3.60 and posted a video to prove it."

autospa writes "An Australian teen who had to shut down an event page on Facebook after more than 200,000 people RSVP'd for her sweet 16 party now has more than 70,000 people signed up to attend her new party. The girl named Jess called police Monday to say her Facebook account had been hijacked after thousands said they'd attend her birthday party in Chatswood March 26."

dostojevski78 writes "Some Norwegian art students built this gizmo to visualize wi-fi signal strength in the city streets. The result is simply beautiful. Who said technology can't be aesthetically pleasing?"

f1vlad writes "A snake that bit model Orit Fox in the breast has died of silicone poisoning." It seems almost impossible to me that the boa's teeth could have gotten deep enough to hit the implant but The Daily News, Breitbart, and many other sources say it happened so it must be true, right?

bradley13 writes "When the world's most gullible bank robber went in to rob a bank, the teller told him she needed to see two forms of ID before she could give him the money. Now he's enjoying three hots and a cot. From the article: 'A judge sentenced 49-year-old Nathan Wayne Pugh of Sachse (SAK'-see) to more than eight years on Tuesday. Pugh tried to hold up a Dallas Wells Fargo Bank in July. The teller stalled Pugh by telling him she needed to see two forms of ID. Pugh showed her his Wells Fargo debit card and a state ID card. He was captured as he tried to flee with $800.'"

An anonymous reader writes "From the article: 'A postal worker in Petrozavodsk, a town in the republic of Karelia, noticed a ticking package and immediately called the police. On inspection a police officer decided that the package needed the close attention of the specialist bomb squad. The area was evacuated and the emergency response bomb squad quickly swooped on Petrozavodsk to deal with the ticking suspect package. The package was dealt with in all the controlled measures you would expect when nerves are jangling expecting a bomb to be detonated. Within seconds of a controlled response to the suspected bomb nerves quickly turned to laughter as the now defused package was seen to be just a vibrating sex toy that had been activated within its box. '"

An anonymous reader writes "After being told it can no longer sell its Apple CEO Steve Jobs action figure, M.I.C. Gadget has been ordered to kill off its Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg action figure as well. The lifelike Zuckerberg doll was available for $70 online, but now Facebook has had it banned, just like Apple did for the Jobs doll." Still waiting for a lifelike 'CmdrTaco' doll with Carpal Tunnel Grip.

The national Society of Professional Journalists plans to 'honor' Utah's Gov. Gary Herbert with the first-ever Black Hole award for a restrictive new open records law. From the article: "David Cuillier, SPJ's Freedom of Information Committee chief and a journalism professor at the University of Arizona, said he'll try to present the award to Herbert on Wednesday. The award, Cuillier said, is part of Sunshine Week, an annual initiative begun in 2002 to promote greater transparency in government. Nominations were gathered from around the country, but Cuillier said 'there was no question' the award should go to Herbert as the chief executive of the state."

tetrahedrassface writes "An Iowanian is living on nothing but beer for the 46 days of Lent. J.Wilson, a blogger, and editor of the weekly Adams County Free Press modeled this Lent exercise on 17'th century German Monks who practiced liquid fasts. Using a custom made grog that has high caloric values is key as Wilson says because ordinary light beer just doesn't have enough nutritional value. He has already lost 11 pounds while following his weekday four a day and weekend 5 a day beer scheme."