Net Crimes & Misdemeanors

J&J expands recall of Tylenol arthritis caplets | Reuters

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .A novel prank, but don't try it on me! Friends pack apartment with gifts in holiday prank http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091224/ap_ on_fe_st/us_odd_christmas_prank A Chicago man could be unwrapping the hundreds of Christmas gifts spread around his apartment for days, even weeks. Trouble is, they aren't really presents. They're his own belongings meticulously wrapped by friends as a prank while he was out of town. Louie Saunders' packages contain everything from couch cushions to the beer in his refrigerator. His friend Adal Rifai masterminded the scheme after Saunders gave him a spare key. It took 16 people, 35 rolls of wrapping paper and eight hours to finish the job. Saunders tells the Chicago Sun-Times he's only been able to unwrap about 10 percent of the packages. He jokes that the upside is that, with each package he unwraps, he finds something inside that's just what he needs. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *...

I had a bit of a meltdown last week. Which is why I stopped posting updates for a while. If you remember, my check engine light came on in Jurgen, my Beemer on Thursday, the 17th, on my way back from a meeting in Portland. Chris has a code reader and the code that came up claimed it was the torque converter solenoid. He called around, got a price of $54 for the part, but was told it should really go to a garage to have the part put in instead of him trying. Good enough. He called a local dealership we usually go to and they said it needed to go to a BMW dealer. Hell no - I knew I'd pay an arm and a leg. Chris went to warm up the Jeep for me (I didn't want to use Jurgen until he was fixed) and ran into our neighbor and told him about the Beemer's problems. Turns out our neighbor's brother in law has a foreign auto place not far from us and promised "he'll take good care of you." So we called and arranged to drop off Jurgen Monday. Did that and waited for FA...

NEW Things That Stick In My Craw - Worst Christmas Presents Ever

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .Dumbass Flashing teen found guilty after being hit by car http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_odd_distr acted_driver A New Zealand teen who was flashing her breasts at passing cars has been found guilty of disorderly behavior for the prank, which ended with her in a hospital after a distracted driver ran into her. Cherelle May Dudfield, 18, pleaded guilty to the charge when she appeared in Invercargill District Court, the Southland Times newspaper reported Wednesday. Dudfield, egged on by her friends, was flashing passing motorists from a traffic island in the middle of a four-lane road in the southern city of Invercargill on Sept. 27. The alcohol-fueled prank went awry when one of the vehicles crashed into her as she tried to run to the side of the road, police Inspector Olaf Jensen said. "She was extremely lucky as the vehicle had slowed because of her behavior," he told The Associated Press. "She rolled up onto the bonnet (hood) an...

Actress Brittany Murphy dead at 32: report - NYPOST.com

Here's the article I was in - The Weekly Sentinel

Teen's Cell Phone Bill Tops $20,000 | NBC Bay Area

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .Tinfoil Hat Alert!!! "Secret agent" busted in late night car chase http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_germany_a gent German police arrested a man who claimed to be a "secret agent" after a high speed chase in pursuit of a car with a blue flashing light on its roof. Police in the southern city of Fuerth caught up with the man after he raced past them, ignored signals to pull over, and ran a red light as they gave chase. Smelling strongly of alcohol, the 44-year-old whispered only that he was "one of them," on a secret mission and belonged to the Federal Crime Office -- a body similar to the FBI -- local police said. A check revealed he had no such credentials. "After matters were taken care of, the would-be 'Mr. Bond' was again released," police said in a statement on Thursday. A local police spokesman said the man in reality had "a normal job" and declined to explain his nighttime sortie. He...

For my new Things That Stick In My Craw, I want to know what your worst Christmas present ever was and why it was the worst. Whether you gave or received it, tell me tell me tell me!

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .The title just amused me Police nab woman with nearly $600 of stolen meat http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091206/ap_ on_fe_st/us_odd_meat_theft Galesburg police said they have filed a retail theft charge against a woman who was reportedly found pushing a cart filled with nearly $600 worth of meat and meat products outside a supermarket. Police went to the supermarket Wednesday evening after a store employee spotted the woman on the street outside and apparently coaxed her into returning to the store with the cart. Officers said the woman appeared intoxicated and told them only that she had taken the meat was that she wanted to visit her boyfriend, who was an inmate at the Knock County Jail. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit WHOA on the web at http://www.haltabuse.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS TO USE AND PASS ALONG! (DISCLAIMER: The following new...

MediaPost Publications Yahoo Lets Users Set Ad Interest Levels, Or Turn It Off Completely 12/07/2009

Consumer group claims Zhu Zhu Pets unsafe - CNN.com

Want to get something different for yourself or someone else this Christmas? Order my book, Net Crimes & Misdemeanors 2nd edition. For $20, you get a signed copy of the book, 3-CD lesson by Video Professor which is based on the book, free gift wrapping, free shipping in the USA (media mail) and a bonus!!! You can pay by Paypal to netcrimes@netcrimes.net or send a check/money order to J.A. Hitchcock PO Box 782 York, Maine 03909 Support a writer and get or give a great gift!!!

I signed the contract for my newest book - True Crime Online: Most Shocking Stories from the Dark Side of the Web, due out in fall of 2011. Publisher is the same for my Net Crimes books, Cyberage Books, an imprint of Information Today, Inc. I am very excited!

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .Snort! Pig farts spark Australia gas scare http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/australiaan imalpigoffbeat A flatulent pig sparked a gas emergency in southern Australia when a farmer mistook its odours for a leaking pipe, according to officials. Fifteen firefighters and two trucks were called to a property at Axedale in central Victoria state after reports of a gas leak, the Country Fire Service said. "When we got there, as we drove up the driveway, there was this huge sow, about a 120-odd kilo (265-pound) sow, and it was very obvious where the gas was coming from," said fire captain Peter Harkins. "We could not only smell it, but we heard it and it was quite funny." Harkins said the pig's owner was "a little bit embarrassed to say the least," and it took fire crews a little while to compose themselves. "It was fairly obvious what it was. I think we dealt with it fairly professionally and had a bit of a giggle whe...

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .That'll distract them for sure Trapped thief drops trousers in bungled burglary http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091117/od_ nm/us_portugal_trousers_odd He wiggled, jiggled and even dropped his trousers, but a thief trying to break into a supermarket in Portugal stayed stuck fast in a tiny window until he was rescued by police and the fire brigade. "Apparently he dropped his trousers as he was trying to free himself by wiggling," Capt. Santos, local police chief in Loule in southern Portugal, told Reuters Monday. He said the slim 22-year-old Romanian man had spent about 11 hours stuck in the window, including the two hours it took police and the fire brigade to get him out Sunday morning. "Once he got his upper body inside, there was nothing there to find support on, so he was stuck at his waist ... It's not uncommon for thieves to get inside and then not be able to get out after a burglary, but this was quite unusual," ...

On Thursday, I talked to students at Marshwood Middle School in Eliot, Maine. There were 565 of them and I went through the usual, cyberbullying, online predators, sexting and then I did my Facebook thing. I told them I have an alter ego who asked some students to be friends with them and then I said, "How well do you think you guys did?" You could hear a pin drop. I was asked by the school not to show photos I found, even though I block out faces, so I obeyed, but I did find: •60 were asked to be a friend of my alter ego •58 approved my alter ego as a friend •5 asked who I was, but 3 still approved me •65% were boys; 35% girls •25% list their cell phone number in their profile – this was evenly divided between boys & girls –3 girls also listed their home phone •65% list their AIM screen name •All list an email address (sometimes two) •3 boys & 1 girl listed their home address •One girl had over 400 photos •37% have videos •One of the videos was taken in homeroom whi...

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .Wow. Mass. principal bans students from saying 'Meep!' http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_odd__meep __ban Who knew "Meep!" was a four-letter word? The utterance favored by bungling lab assistant Beaker of "The Muppet Show" has been banned at Danvers High School in Massachusetts after students said it to repeatedly interrupt school. Principal Thomas Murray said the word was part of a disruption planned using Facebook. The Salem News reports that parents recently got an automated call about "Meep!" from Murray. He warned them that students who said or displayed the word at school could be suspended. Murray says the warning was needed because students didn't heed his "reasonable request" to stop the meeping. Danvers High sophomore Melanie Crane says it doesn't mean anything in particular. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit WHOA on the web at http://w...

NEW Things That Stick In My Craw - Grocery Shopping