Webcam Watcher
Has it ever occurred to you, as you sit working or playing on your computer, that someone might be watching you through that little camera lens at the top of your screen or through that egg shaped webcam perched somewhere close-by? I have to admit that it has crossed my mind occasionally.
Well, it seems my deep-seated paranoia was not entirely unfounded, as police officers in Fullerton in California; USA arrested a 20-year-old man by the name of Trevor Harwell for doing just that. I knew it!
Police became aware that Howell was allegedly up to something last summer when a Fullerton resident reported that pop-up messages had started appearing on his daughter’s computer advising her to put the unit near hot steam for several minutes to clean the sensor.
The pop-up’s had the desired effect and several women took their laptops into their bathrooms when they went for a shower, leaving Harwell to capture pictures remotely of dozens of women in several counties, naked or undressing, believing they were ‘fixing’ the sensors on their computers. They would all have felt safe in the knowledge that their webcams were ‘offline’.
What these women didn’t know, was that Harwell worked in a large computer repair company, and any computer that he came into contact with during repair, was also checked to see if the owner was female, the right age and the type of girl he liked. He then installed a spyware application that allowed him to control the computers, but more importantly to be able to remotely activate the webcam.
Harwell was studying at the Biola University in La Mirada California, but they kicked him out as a result of the investigation. Many of his victims were also students at the same university. Police are still trawling through the images on his, now confiscated, computers.
This story has made me paranoid again… I’m looking very suspiciously at that bloody little lens far too often!
Trouble No More
The Ed and myself know a lot about eccentric women and their love of small, annoying little dogs. But that’s another story, for another day. This particular small dog story relates to Trouble, a white Maltese breed dog who belonged to the billionaire real estate and hotel tycoon Leona Helmsley, who proved that she was not only extremely rich, but also extremely weird, by leaving 12 million dollars to Trouble in her will.
If that kind of obscene excess makes your blood boil, just spare a thought for her two grandchildren who received… nothing.
At this point, it would be nice to say that Trouble was a loving, well-behaved pet, but unfortunately she was cantankerous with a strong urge to bite any hand within range.
Whilst the barmy Mrs. Helmsley was alive, the pampered pooch would dine on crab cakes, cream cheese and steamed vegetables with chicken, all fed to her by regularly bitten hands… never from a bowl.
Without going into all the financial details, Trouble saw out her years at the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel in Florida, and the manager was put in charge of her care. Thankfully, he treated her as a dog and she was fed food from a can, in a bowl, on which she actually increased a little in weight, thrived and became almost normal… well, for a feather duster on legs anyway.
It is unknown how or why she died, and frankly I really don’t care, although a judge did reduce her inheritance to two million dollars, which was to ensure she received “the highest standard of care.” The rest went to animal welfare charities, so not such a bad ending after all.
Sausage Dog Attack?
You have to feel for poor old Hendrik, a hot-sausage seller from Berlin. The 29-year-old was selling his wares on the busy streets of Berlin, just like any other day, when he found himself in the middle of an animal rights protest.
Two of the protesters approached Hendrik’s stall and attempted to put a vegan sticker on the plastic front of his serving area. Now, Hendrik has put up with quite a lot over the years on the mean streets of Berlin, but he will not have people interfering with his bratwurst!
“I had to stop that,” he explained to a local newspaper, “I have nothing against vegetarians, but I don’t let anyone force their opinions onto me.”
It is then alleged that one of the activists, described a heavily tattooed chap with earrings, then pushed Hendrik to the floor and kicked him.
A passer-by then decided to give Hendrik a hand, but unfortunately his German Shepherd dog got a little over excited at the smell of Hendrik’s bratwurst that he promptly bit him on the bottom.
During the confusion the alleged tattooed assailant rejoined the animal rights demonstration and was never seen again, the dog let go of Hendrik and his bratwurst suffered only minor bruising.
Mexican Cornish Pasty
Crazy as it sounds, the town of Real del Monte in Mexico absolutely love Cornish pasties! Finding this story on the internet, I was somewhat dubious at first, so did a little checking and discovered it is completely true.
The town was originally a mining settlement; with people turning up from all over the world to dig for silver and in 1824 a bunch of Cornishmen arrived to make their fortunes. For those of you who do not hail from the UK, the men of Cornwall were, for many years, experts at mining for metal, after many years of extracting tin from deep under the Cornish countryside.
But they didn’t just turn up bearing picks and shovels, they also brought their wives with them, and they sent their men off to work each morning with a pasty and it wasn’t long before the Mexican wives were doing the same for their men folk.
The Pasty is ideal mining food due to the thick crusty ridge across its top, which today most people (including me) eat. But in the days of the mines, the pasty was eaten with very dirty hands and the crusty ridge across the top was the perfect way to hold your food without it getting filthy.
Incredibly, the tradition of the pasty still holds strong in Real del Monte, where you may struggle find yourself some burritos or nachos, but what you will find are several Cornish pasty shops. In fact, they take the pasty so seriously they have an annual Cornish Pasty Festival… the place sounds like heaven to me!
Smart Bell
Most of our UK readers will have seen this story which was published in the Daily Mail, but for all you other northern Europeans here’s the story of one very clever teenager.
The device is called Smart Bell, and the clever little box of tricks can fool potential burglars into thinking that there is somebody at home, even thought the house is completely empty.
The designer of the product is 13-year-old Laurence Rook who thought it would be a great idea if, when someone rings your doorbell, it links straight to your mobile phone, allowing you to actually talk to the person on the doorstep.
Young Laurence, who comes from Surrey said, “At first I designed it because my mum was fed up going to the Post Office to collect deliveries which were made when we were not at home. But then after I started to develop the Smart Bell I realised it could also be a great burglar deterrent, as most burglars ring the doorbell to check the house is empty.”
The clever lad even added a small amount of white noise to the gadget, so when you are speaking to the person on your doorstep, your voice really does sound like it is coming through an intercom.
The young entrepreneur has already sold 20,000 units to the telecoms giant Commtel Innovate. He is now signing a deal to get the gadgets into all the big stores, such as PC World, B&Q, Comet… the list goes on. Once the ink is dry Laurence will receive around 280,000 euros.
My children only seem to invent new and innovative ways of extracting every last bit of money from my wallet. Bless them.
Buff Biking
Did you know about the World Naked Bike Ride? If not, let us bring you up to date. The event has just reached Portland, Oregon USA, which is the cycling capital of the US and despite the lack of clothes, not only did thousands turn out, but the event even received the blessing of the mayor.
The event started in 2004 and was organised to hi
ghlight cyclist and pedestrian safety, and of course to bring to the fore, the need to be greener in our travel habits.
The event is definitely an eye catcher, with events popping up all over the world, one of the biggest rides recently was the London event which saw thousands of cyclists, all completely naked, ride through Hyde Park and straight past Buckingham Palace and although there is no evidence that the queen removed her clothes, there was some suggestion that one or two of the guards stood to attention as the riders went by.
The events are usually rounded off with a big party, where the riders can dance and drink the night away… clothes optional, of course.
Tasty Testes
Sometimes, the Ed and I do talk a lot of testes, particularly after a cerveza or three. But getting a testicle as my tapa would definitely be a conversation piece.
However, testicle is definitely on the menu at the sixth World Testicle & Aphrodisiac Cooking event, which was held at Gornji Milanovac, Serbia.
They take their balls seriously in Serbia and the event was created to promote the testicle menu, with all kids of specialities as well as traditional Serbian cuisine, and the word is that if you can put aside your initial distaste at eating dangly bits, they do in fact taste pretty damn good.
Well, the Serbians definitely think it is a delicacy worth celebrating with lots of food drink and music to be enjoyed during the festival. Those Serbians are just nuts about nuts!
Stork Staring
Organisers were worried that the Airpower 2011 air show in Zeltweg, Austria, could be disrupted by the presence of a flock of storks. You can see their point when you look at the size of the feathered flappers. It’s highly likely that if you’re a fast jet pilot doing all kinds of low level manoeuvres to impress the young ladies at the show and a stork buries itself in your engine, you’re going down.
After failing to tempt them away by creating better feeding grounds some distance from the airfield and populating the area with plastic storks, they decided to call in the army.
There was not intention to do the birds any harm by deploying the military, and the soldiers looked even more confused when they were told they couldn’t use guns or explosives to frighten the birds… they had to just stare at them.
A local environmentalist called Seigfried Prinz explained, “Being stared at intimidates the storks more than the sound of a gun or an explosion.”
So it came to pass that 24 soldiers worked on operation stork stare from five in the morning through to ten at night.
And the crazy thing about this story is not that it even made it into a magazine… but that the staring actually worked. Mind you, the temptation to stick a few rounds into the flock must have been close to overwhelming!
Crazy Crows
Not everybody likes the police, but it comes to something when even the local wildlife turns against you, and that’s exactly what’s happened in Everett, Washington USA.
A small group of three crows has made their new home in a tree that is situated in the police department car park, which they now see as their territory and are will to take on all-comers in its defence.
Some officers have described the walk (or run) to their vehicles as like a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds.
It appears that the three birds work as a team when intimidating people in the car park, with one of them causing a distraction, while the other two dive bomb anyone daring to enter the parking area.
Trying to frighten them, or sounding the police vehicle sirens does not work either; it just seems to make them even angrier and aggressive.
“They will whitewash your car,” explained Captain St. Clair of the Everett Police Department.
According to experts, crows are very clever birds that can recognise individuals and even remember wrongs done by that individual… in other words; the beaky black blighters can actually hold a grudge!
Officers have been told to use the ‘ignore’ tactic, which experts think will eventually work, but in the meantime not to annoy them. Don’t these officers have guns?
Dog Ugly
Continuing with the animal theme, some of you may have seen this story on the TV, which is were I picked it up, about the Worlds Ugliest Dog contest held at Sonoma-Marin Fair in California, USA.
The title was won by Yoda, a 14-year-old Chihuahua cross, with only sparse tufts of hair on her body, Marty Feldman type bloodshot eyes and a tongue that the unfortunate beast is incapable of retracting… actually, I think I went out with this girl in 1981!
Walking away with the 1,000 dollar prize the owner Terry Schumacher of Hanford California, admitted that when she had first discovered Yoda on the street, she was convinced she was a rat, but on getting a little closer she realised the unfortunate animal was actually a dog. Feeling sorry for the crusty canine, she took her home and she became a family pet. The 2lb pooch now eats the same food as the family and accompanies Miss Schumacher to her job each day as a dog groomer.
The Worlds Ugliest Dog contest was created to raise awareness of rescued dogs and to get more people to adopt the less fortunate canines that get left behind after all the cute dogs have found homes.
Many of the ‘ugly’ dogs at the contest were the result of unsuccessful breeding, which left them with all sorts of deformities, after which the owners just abandon them on the streets or at the shelters.
The competition saw some wonderful entrance, many of which had bits missing or somewhat misshapen, but my favourite was the 15-year-old blind pug called Hercules. Hopefully the Ed will find enough room for his picture, so that you can all revel in his beauty.
Fried Fingers
A Thai chef by the name of Kann Trichan has an interesting party trick… he can immerse his hands in boiling cooking oil, pull them out again and there’s no blistering or burn marks either hand.
Kann hails from the town of Chiang Mai in Thailand where he has a fried chicken stall, and every day he immerses his hands into his boiling oil to retrieve the freshly cooked chicken, he’s even been recognised by the Guinness World Record organisation for pulling 20 pieces of chicken out of a pan of boiling oil, measured at 480 degrees, in one minute.
The hands-in-the-oil gig started about seven years ago, according to Mr Trichan, who says that a hungry squirrel managed to knock a large mango into his wok, splashing boiling oil over his head, arms and hands, “It should have seriously burnt me, but I remember looking in the mirror, expecting to see blisters and red blotches, but there was nothing,” he explained.
“Now I can fry rice, chicken and other foods with my bare hands. When I put my hands into the oil it feels hot, but it doesn’t burn or blister my skin,” he said.
The good news here is that Kann is making pretty good money since news of his asbestos hands came to light and he reckons that his stall has never been busier as people from far and wide come to watch him at work.
“It’s crazy, but my stall is busier every day with tourists and customers wanting to watch me work,” he beamed.
Let’s hope he makes enough money before his hands completely calcify and drop of into his wok.
Naked Record
Around 400 people stripped off all their clothes and plunged into the very cold sea at Rhissili Beach on the Gower Peninsula in Wales and in doing so have set a new world record.
The event organiser, Alison Powell, who got the naked crew together to raise money for the Marie Curie Cancer Trust, which is now richer by around 7,000 euros, led them into the sea.
“We were hoping for about 300 people, but in the end a lot more turned up and I’m delighted with the turnout,” she said.
The sea temperature was described as ‘icy’ and many of the swimmers were more than a little shocked as it reached their nether regions during the walk into the surf.
One such swimmer was 25-year-old Lizzy White, “I’ve flown in from Australia to take part – what was I thinking of?”
Hopefully, for all concerned, the next time they do something like this it will be somewhere sensible, like Spain or Greece. But it was for a good cause and everybody had great fun… even if some were more than just a little bit shrivelled.