Weird News of the World Thread - Part 2

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Stolen Credit Card Data Spreads Around the World "Staggeringly" Fast

How do thieves share their stolen data online? Security firm BitGlass tried to answer the question by leaking a fake trove of profiles that included credit card info and social security numbers.

BitGlass placed tracking watermark on the falsified data, so researchers could see each time someone clicked on it. After dropping the bait (a few Excel files with different names) on seven darknet Pastebin sites and anonymous upload sites, all the team had to do was wait. At first, the data languished, sitting on the websites for a little over a week. But once it got picked up, it didn’t take long to go around the world. Write the researchers in their report:

The speed at which the bait was taken was staggering. In the first few days, the data had reached over 5 countries, 3 continents and was viewed over 200 times... by 12 days it had received over 1,081 clicks, and had spread across the globe to 22 different countries, in 5 different continents. By the end of the experiment the fake document of employee data had made its way to North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa​

BitGlass tied the spread of the info to two potential crime syndicates in Russia and Nigeria.

Since many digital criminals (and all the smart ones) use anonymizing software to obscure their actual IP addresses means it’s impossible to know for sure the exact route that the stolen data took, so this experiment is showing the broad strokes of how data spreads whether than a precise example. But it’s a reminder that identifying data breaches quickly is very important. Think of how long it took Home Depot and Target to identify when hackers stole 56 million and 40 million credit card numbers, respectively.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/7/8356953/dark-web-data-breach-credit-card-tracking

That is really disturbing

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Why Earth Is Constantly Ringing Like a Bell

Seismologists have long known that Earth can oscillate like a planet-sized bell after the shock of an earthquake. More mysterious is why our planet is also oscillating all the time—at low frequencies and barely detectable by instruments.

A new study suggests a surprising answer: waves at the bottom of the ocean.

Long ocean waves can actually travel thousands of miles from coast to coast, hugging the seafloor. The immense pressure of these waves on the ocean bottom generates the oscillation waves that makes the whole Earth resonate, according to computer models described by French scientists in Geophysical Research Letters. These oscillations are very slow, with periods of up to 300 seconds.

A second and better known mechanism explains the faster oscillations. They are the result of waves colliding in the oceans, generating seismic waves with periods of less than 13 seconds.

Together, the authors say two mechanisms account for the tiny seismic waves that continuously rock our planet. Understanding these small oscillations could help seismologists separate signal from noise, picking out ever fainter seismic signatures from earthquakes or nuclear explosions far away.

http://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2015/04/07/new-study-explains-source-of-earths-mysterious-ringing/

I had no idea this was a thing

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Family of Eight Killed in Apparent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

A single father and his seven children were found dead in their Maryland home on Monday, apparently poisoned by a gas generator left running indoors, CBS News reports.

Police say they discovered the bodies after a coworker reported Rodney Todd of Princess Anne, Maryland missing, having not seen him in over a week. From The Baltimore Sun:

All of them — Todd, 36, and his children ages 6 to 15 — were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in their modest, one-story, yellow-siding home on Antioch Avenue on Monday. Police said Tuesday that they died in bed and a power generator with an empty gas tank was found inside the house.​

"It appears as though they were sleeping," Princess Anne Police Chief Scott Keller told the Sun. "Probably it was bedtime and they decided they needed some light and probably some heat. ... Even though it was spring we were having some pretty chilly nights."

On Tuesday, a utility company spokesperson told NBC News that a stolen electric meter had been disconnected from the family's address late last month.

"It's so hard. How can you understand something like this?" Todd's stepfather, Lloyd Edwards, told the Associated Press. "He was an outstanding dad. ... To keep his seven children warm, he bought a generator, and the carbon monoxide consumed them."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/carbon-monoxide-poisoning-suspected-in-deaths-of-maryland-family/

What an absolutely horrible story

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Marilyn Manson Allegedly Sucker-Punched at Canadian Denny's

In a tale as old as terror itself, the shocker became the shockee last weekend when an irate diner is said to have sucker-punched Marilyn Manson at an Alberta, Canada Denny's.

According to TMZ's initial report, the ironic reversal occurred at around 2 a.m. on Sunday, after the professional bogeyman allegedly called another patron's girlfriend a "b****." A Manson representative later disputed that version of events, claiming the attack was unprovoked:

Manson's manager tells TMZ the rocker was enjoying his late night meal when two girls approached him and asked for a photo. Manson says he obliged and never called either woman a "b****" ... as witnesses have claimed.

Marilyn says the guy came out of nowhere and hit him in the face. Manson says his security grabbed the guy, who then began screaming about blowing up Manson's next concert.​

The shocked rocker's manager told TMZ that Manson now plans to press charges against his assailant for serving up the unrequested Grand Slam®.

http://www.tmz.com/2015/04/07/marilyn-manson-suing-fight-dennys-punch/

Who would have guessed Manson eats at Denny's?

 

[MangleBoP]

Who would have guessed Manson eats at Denny's?

Actually, Denny's is quite popular with the Goth crowd: Many are open 24/7, and serve unlimited refills on coffee.

 

[Marvolo]

I'm not goth, but me and my friends used to go there a lot. IHOP too. Can't beat the unlimited coffee, and there isn't anything else open at 3AM except McDonald's drive thru.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Seems like you can't throw a rock without hitting a Waffle House here in FL. I still remember when I was in Pensacola and they have a Waffle House across the street from another Waffle House haha

 

[squeekness]

Family of Eight Killed in Apparent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/carbon-monoxide-poisoning-suspected-in-deaths-of-maryland-family/

What an absolutely horrible story

My husband said something about them using a generator because someone had stolen their utility meter. He was curious if the theif could be brought up for manslaughter charges.....

 

[Victarion]

Brazil Can't Clean Up Its Crap in Time for the Olympics

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-03-23-21-58-21

That is disgusting

That's not a lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

My husband said something about them using a generator because someone had stolen their utility meter. He was curious if the theif could be brought up for manslaughter charges.....

Who the hell steals a utility meter anyway? I can't imag there is a big black market for those. If they ever do actually catch the thief I hope he is brought up on charges for manslaughter

 

[squeekness]

Who the hell steals a utility meter anyway? I can't imag there is a big black market for those. If they ever do actually catch the thief I hope he is brought up on charges for manslaughter

Maybe there's copper wire in there? I haveno idea.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Bobcat Drags Enormous Fish Out of the Ocean Like It's Nothing

We're all gonna die someday. Just you wait. Perhaps you'll die with dignity and you'll be missed; maybe not. If a bobcat came into your water bed and yanked you straight from your happy life into the depths of hell, that would be an okay way to die. A death with purpose.

While wistfully staring out at the ocean in Vero Beach, Fla. on Monday evening, John Bailey, a man who will surely die someday, too, saw what looked like a bobcat pulling a huge fish from the ocean. He photographed the scene and sent it to Local10.com, who would have you believe that the fish was in fact a shark:

The photographer said he noticed the bobcat staring at a shark in the water that was feeding on a smaller fish. The bobcat then leaped into the ocean, caught the shark and dragged it onto the beach.

"Initially, it was pretty quick," Bailey said. "Spotted it, pulled it up (and) the shark floundered for a while."​

The bobcat eventually ran off, dropping its fish on the sand to suffocate. While the large fish was maybe not a shark, it's probably dead now.

http://www.local10.com/news/bobcat-catches-shark-on-florida-beach/32237440

FL wildcats don't play

 

[squeekness]

Makes you wonder why the bobcat didn't eat it. Kitties gotta eat, too.

 

[KevanG]

Probably found it too crowded. A lot of animals will either get really vicious about their food or back off if there's enough of another animal about that might hurt it bad enough not to warrant trying to keep it.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I just think that cat was a new superhero for the sea defending the smaller fish at all cost

 

[squeekness]

I just think that cat was a new superhero for the sea defending the smaller fish at all cost

Sharks are having a tough go at it as it is without Bobcats adding to the fray.

 

[Octoberist]

Family of Eight Killed in Apparent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/carbon-monoxide-poisoning-suspected-in-deaths-of-maryland-family/

What an absolutely horrible story

That's horrible.

 

[Marvolo]

Seems like you can't throw a rock without hitting a Waffle House here in FL. I still remember when I was in Pensacola and they have a Waffle House across the street from another Waffle House haha

We've got them on every corner where I live too. We tended to avoid them because after 2AM you get a...unique crowd in waffle house.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Same here, bunch of drunk yahoos that want everything smothered and covered. Funny story, only fight I've ever been in happened at a Waffle House. Basically the guy punched me in the head, I fell over then got up and declared him the winner haha and yes I was very drunk

 

[Marvolo]

Declaring him the winner was probably the smartest thing you could have done. Wounded pride is a lot less costly than a shattered jaw and/or a concussion.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I'm a lover not a fighter haha

 

[blksuperman2]

Seems like you can't throw a rock without hitting a Waffle House here in FL. I still remember when I was in Pensacola and they have a Waffle House across the street from another Waffle House haha

lol, one of the first things I noticed when I moved to Georgia was how odd it was that businesses will build right across the street from each other. If there's a Waffle House on the corner there's another one right nearby. If there's a Home Depot then Lowe's is right across the street. Anytime you see an Advanced Auto there's an Autozone across the street. Weird.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Fat or Stupid? Scientists Say You Must Choose

Life is a series of stark choices. None starker than this: Would you rather be fat, or stupid? Do not try to weasel out of this. Science demands that you choose one, and only one.

Though I have not been accredited with a white lab coat by any of the leading scientific "insider" organizations, I have written brief and misleading blog posts about many a scientific study—none, perhaps, more alarming than the findings of a new study published in the Lancet, which bodes ill for your body and your mind.

You may be fresh, lively, and youthful now, but imagine yourself in middle age. Do you think that you will be the sort of fit, active adult portrayed in pharmaceutical advertisements? You will not. You will either be fat, or you will be on the cusp of mental oblivion. Your treasured "middle way" ideal is little more than a childish dream. The Washington Post reports:

A surprising study contradicting all previous research found that being fat in middle age appears to cut the risk of developing dementia rather than increase it, the Lancet scientific journal has reported...

Underweight people had a 34 percent higher risk of developing dementia than those of a normal weight, the study found, while the very obese had a 29 percent lower risk of becoming forgetful and confused and showing other signs of senility.​

Obesity or dementia? Superficial outward beauty accompanied by the brain of a mouse, or a healthy mind that shall not know happiness due to the cruel world's shallow condemnation of your size? Total satisfaction is as impossible as squeezing a slippery water balloon—whichever side you get a solid grasp on will only cause the opposite side to swell in grotesque proportion.

Fat or stupid? What will it be? Choose wisely. Or choose poorly. Either way, we all know where you will end up: in a shabby rented room in Spartanburg, South Carolina, surrounded by half-eaten "Tater Biscuits."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...f52-11e4-a1b8-2ed88bc190d2_story.html?hpid=z4

Considering I already have some extra pounds I'll take fat thank you

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Airport Security Raked In Nearly $675,000 In Loose Change Last Year

You may be thinking "good riddance" when you remove a handful of nickels and pennies from your pockets at airport security, but your loss is the Feds' gain.

Earlier this week, the Transportation Security Administration released its 2014 fiscal year report, which disclosed a surprising revenue stream. The government agency collected $674,841.06 in loose change at airport security checkpoints across the country last year, and it gets to keep every penny.

"TSA makes every effort to reunite passengers with items left at the checkpoint, however there are instances where loose change or other items are left behind and unclaimed," TSA press secretary Ross Feinstein said in a statement Tuesday. Forgotten pocket change may be the least of your concerns if you're rushing to catch a flight, but every penny counts, and the TSA's collective haul has been increasing steadily over the years. In 2010, the agency raked in a mere 400 thousand dollars.

As for which airport security systems are being tipped the most, this chart breaks it down nicely. Highly trafficked airports like JFK ($42,550) and LAX ($41,506) are, unsurprisingly, at the top of the pack. But Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, despite being the most heavily trafficked airport in the world, somehow ended up pretty far down on this list, so I guess it's not all about the numbers.

According to federal law, the TSA can spend the loose change on anything it deems important for civil aviation security. But whether that means more money funneled into facial recognition programs or more Venti lattes for TSA employees is anyone's guess at this point.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/07/tsa-collected-675000-in-spare-change-2014_n_7019894.html

That's a pretty penny

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

This 3D Printed Violin Looks Like A Klingon Weapon

It looks straight out of science fiction, but this terrifying contraption is actually one very modern string instrument. The “Piezoelectric Violin,” brainchild of architects at Miami’s MONAD Studio, has got only two strings, and it’s 3D printed, but according to the designers, it still plays and sounds like its ancestral instrument.

The violin is slated to appear next week at a 3D print design show in New York, where it’ll be played alongside other ultra-modern MONAD instruments, including a cello, and a small and large didgeridoo. In an interview with BBC Culture, designer Eric Goldemberg describes what he and his collaborator Veronica Zalcberg were trying to achieve with their futuristic take on this classical instrument:

“Our desire to create unusual instruments emerged when we realised the aesthetic and technical issues we were facing as architects did not differ much from those of musicians and composers,” Goldemberg said. “With each of our original instruments, a certain functionality and ergonomic structure is preserved: this is why we can call our violin a violin, our cello, a cello, and so forth. There is a certain physical standard of componentry which must be maintained.”​

Hey, everything’s got to evolve eventually, right? Though personally, I’d be a bit more convinced if a Klingon or a Centurion was holding the bow.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150330-the-weirdest-musical-instruments

Really looks like you could mess somebody up with that thing