Looters take vegetables from death road crash in Australia

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July 4th, 2009 No comments

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LOOTERS are believed to have stolen pumpkins and other vegetables from the wreckage of a crash that killed a truckie on Brisbane’s Gateway Motorway yesterday, police said.
The 47-year-old married driver from Lowood, near Ipswich, was thrown from the cab of his vehicle after it smashed into a guardrail and rolled on the southbound lanes of the road at Eagle Farm.
The truck, which was coming from far north Queensland and  headed for the Rocklea Markets, skidded on its roof, crushing the cab and splitting open the tandem trailers.
Pallets of pumpkins and boxes of capsicums were strewn over the roadway.
As one motorist stopped and rushed to offer what aid he could to truckie Andrew Saxelby, who was thrown from the cab down an embankment, another passerby stopped at the scene and began loading pumpkins and cases of vegetables into the back of his silver Holden Commodore utility, according to a report given to police.
He then got back into his car and drove south over the Gateway Bridge.
Last night, police confirmed they were investigating the shocking claim. The person who made the initial report is believed to be travelling and currently out of contact.
Police want to speak with anyone who might have also seen the alleged incident.
They also plan to examine footage from traffic cameras along the road and at the Gateway Bridge toll booth.
Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said if the claim was correct, it was a “poor act”.
He said if evidence was found that supported the claim and led to a suspect, that person could be charged with stealing.
“On the face of it, it is a despicable act, particularly if assistance was required,” he said.
Transport Workers Union Queensland secretary Hughie Williams was outraged that a passerby could ignore a seriously injured truckie to get some free vegetables.
He called it a “despicable and ruthless” act.
“What has society come to? The Australian tradition is to give a helping hand, but instead this bloke apparently loaded his car with all the fruit and vegies he could find,” Mr Williams said.
“It is so hard to understand why somebody would do that.”
RACQ spokesman Gary Fites said if the claim was proven true, he hoped the incident was a rare and disappointing exception to the way most Queensland motorists look out for each other.
“If it is true, it is pretty callous. It surprises me,” he said.
“Everyone has a duty to render assistance to injured motorists until help arrives.”
Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred in an area where extensive roadworks are under way as part of the Gateway road and bridge duplication.
Police said it appeared the truck failed to take a bend.
They are investigating whether fatigue or speed were involved.
Mr Saxelby’s employer, Interstate Transport Logistics, declined to comment.
However, Mr Williams questioned whether the Gateway in its current state was suitable for such B-double semi-trailers.
Yesterday’s accident, which closed parts of the motorway for most of yesterday, was the latest in a string of recent truck incidents on the road.
“I think it is OK for prime-movers but perhaps drivers of B-doubles should take a different route,” Mr Williams said.

LOOTERS are believed to have stolen pumpkins and other vegetables from the wreckage of a crash that killed a truckie on Brisbane’s Gateway Motorway yesterday, police said.

The 47-year-old married driver from Lowood, near Ipswich, was thrown from the cab of his vehicle after it smashed into a guardrail and rolled on the southbound lanes of the road at Eagle Farm.

The truck, which was coming from far north Queensland and  headed for the Rocklea Markets, skidded on its roof, crushing the cab and splitting open the tandem trailers.

Pallets of pumpkins and boxes of capsicums were strewn over the roadway.

As one motorist stopped and rushed to offer what aid he could to truckie Andrew Saxelby, who was thrown from the cab down an embankment, another passerby stopped at the scene and began loading pumpkins and cases of vegetables into the back of his silver Holden Commodore utility, according to a report given to police.

He then got back into his car and drove south over the Gateway Bridge.

Last night, police confirmed they were investigating the shocking claim. The person who made the initial report is believed to be travelling and currently out of contact.

Police want to speak with anyone who might have also seen the alleged incident.

They also plan to examine footage from traffic cameras along the road and at the Gateway Bridge toll booth.

Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said if the claim was correct, it was a “poor act”.

He said if evidence was found that supported the claim and led to a suspect, that person could be charged with stealing.

“On the face of it, it is a despicable act, particularly if assistance was required,” he said.

Transport Workers Union Queensland secretary Hughie Williams was outraged that a passerby could ignore a seriously injured truckie to get some free vegetables.

He called it a “despicable and ruthless” act.

“What has society come to? The Australian tradition is to give a helping hand, but instead this bloke apparently loaded his car with all the fruit and vegies he could find,” Mr Williams said.

“It is so hard to understand why somebody would do that.”

RACQ spokesman Gary Fites said if the claim was proven true, he hoped the incident was a rare and disappointing exception to the way most Queensland motorists look out for each other.

“If it is true, it is pretty callous. It surprises me,” he said.

“Everyone has a duty to render assistance to injured motorists until help arrives.”

Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred in an area where extensive roadworks are under way as part of the Gateway road and bridge duplication.

Police said it appeared the truck failed to take a bend.

They are investigating whether fatigue or speed were involved.

Mr Saxelby’s employer, Interstate Transport Logistics, declined to comment.

However, Mr Williams questioned whether the Gateway in its current state was suitable for such B-double semi-trailers.

Yesterday’s accident, which closed parts of the motorway for most of yesterday, was the latest in a string of recent truck incidents on the road.

“I think it is OK for prime-movers but perhaps drivers of B-doubles should take a different route,” Mr Williams said.

Categories: accidents, crime, crooks Tags:

Nine Russian police man killed in attack

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July 4th, 2009 No comments

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NINE Chechen police were killed when militants fired on their car from a forest in the neighbouring Russian region of Ingushetia, one of the deadliest recent attacks in the volatile Caucasus.
Their vehicle came under grenade and gun fire from unknown individuals hidden in a forest as it travelled on a road in Ingushetia at around 0530 GMT and burst into flames, Russian news agencies said, quoting security officials.
”As a result of the attack, nine police from Chechnya were killed and nine more were badly wounded,” the head of Ingushetia’s security council Alexei Vorobyev told the Interfax news agency.
The Chechen police were in Ingushetia to conduct a joint special operation against militants with their Ingush colleagues, the reports said.
Concerns have grown in the last weeks about the stability of Ingushetia, one of Russia’s most violent regions, after its leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was gravely wounded in a car bombing on June 22.
The fact that Chechen police were the victims is especially significant as Chechnya’s controversial leader Ramzan Kadyrov has in recent weeks positioned himself as the strongman of the entire Caucasus region. The attack is the deadliest single militant strike in the Caucasus since April when Russia abolished a decade-long anti-terror operation in Chechnya which was the scene of two separatist wars since the collapse of communism.
Russia justified that move by saying stability had returned to Chechnya under Kadyrov. But analysts warned at the time that other regions of the Caucasus were still mired in unrest.
Islamist militants are battling pro-Kremlin authorities and Russian security forces in a low-level insurgency in the overwhelmingly Muslim regions of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia.
Officials said Friday Yevkurov has regained consciousness after almost two weeks in a coma but the Kremlin has appointed the local prime minister Rashid Gaisanov to act as Ingush leader until he recovers.

NINE Chechen police were killed when militants fired on their car from a forest in the neighbouring Russian region of Ingushetia, one of the deadliest recent attacks in the volatile Caucasus.

Their vehicle came under grenade and gun fire from unknown individuals hidden in a forest as it travelled on a road in Ingushetia at around 0530 GMT and burst into flames, Russian news agencies said, quoting security officials.

”As a result of the attack, nine police from Chechnya were killed and nine more were badly wounded,” the head of Ingushetia’s security council Alexei Vorobyev told the Interfax news agency.

The Chechen police were in Ingushetia to conduct a joint special operation against militants with their Ingush colleagues, the reports said.

Concerns have grown in the last weeks about the stability of Ingushetia, one of Russia’s most violent regions, after its leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was gravely wounded in a car bombing on June 22.

The fact that Chechen police were the victims is especially significant as Chechnya’s controversial leader Ramzan Kadyrov has in recent weeks positioned himself as the strongman of the entire Caucasus region. The attack is the deadliest single militant strike in the Caucasus since April when Russia abolished a decade-long anti-terror operation in Chechnya which was the scene of two separatist wars since the collapse of communism.

Russia justified that move by saying stability had returned to Chechnya under Kadyrov. But analysts warned at the time that other regions of the Caucasus were still mired in unrest.

Islamist militants are battling pro-Kremlin authorities and Russian security forces in a low-level insurgency in the overwhelmingly Muslim regions of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia.

Officials said Friday Yevkurov has regained consciousness after almost two weeks in a coma but the Kremlin has appointed the local prime minister Rashid Gaisanov to act as Ingush leader until he recovers.

Categories: crime, crooks, politics Tags:

Six killed in London tower block fire

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July 3rd, 2009 No comments

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SIX people including a newborn baby have died in a massive fire at a tower block in London, the city’s emergency services say.
“There were six fatalities – three adults and three children,” a London Fire Brigade spokesman said the overnight blaze in Camberwell, south London.
Witnesses gave distressing accounts of how those trapped by the fire pressed their faces up against the windows and screamed as they battled to escape the flames and smoke.
The Metropolitan Police said that those who died were a three-week-old baby, two children aged about six and seven, a woman in her 30s and two other adults.
A further 12 people were taken to hospital, many suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.
Some 30 people who had been in “immediate peril” trapped inside were rescued safely, the fire service said, adding the blaze was under control and there were no reports of people still. About 100 firefighters were sent to the scene of the fire, which started on the fourth floor of the local authority-owned block and spread to the 11th.
Witnesses spoke of harrowing scenes as the fire, which was reported just before 4.30pm local time, 1.30am (AEST), took hold.
“There were kids screaming, there was all sorts of stuff going on,” Rob Atthill told BBC television.
“The people I was with, they climbed on the roof to see what was happening and they could see faces of people in the windows, people were trying to smash windows, it didn’t look very good.”
Michael Thompson, 17, who lives in the tower block, added: “There was a big bang that sounded like an explosion.
“People were screaming. I heard people shouting: ‘Fire, fire’.
“I called 999 (Britain’s emergency telephone number) when I saw the flames and they said they were already on their way. I could smell the smoke from inside my flat so I closed the windows.
“This black smoke was pouring out of the windows.”
Paul Glenny, a firefighter who battled the blaze, said: “I’ve been in the job for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it.
“The hot weather and the fact that people’s windows were open made the fire what it was.”
An investigation will now be held into the cause of the blaze, although the fire service has warned it could take “weeks if not months” to find out what happened.
“It is too early to say what led to the fire and police officers are working with the London Fire Brigade investigation team to establish the cause of the fire,” the Metropolitan Police said.
The bodies of three people were found at the scene and three others died later in hospital.
Uninjured survivors were being taken to an emergency centre set up at a nearby church hall.
The 1960s building contains 108 flats and is owned and managed by the local council, with residents living there on a leasehold or tenant basis.

SIX people including a newborn baby have died in a massive fire at a tower block in London, the city’s emergency services say.

“There were six fatalities – three adults and three children,” a London Fire Brigade spokesman said the overnight blaze in Camberwell, south London.

Witnesses gave distressing accounts of how those trapped by the fire pressed their faces up against the windows and screamed as they battled to escape the flames and smoke.

The Metropolitan Police said that those who died were a three-week-old baby, two children aged about six and seven, a woman in her 30s and two other adults.

A further 12 people were taken to hospital, many suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.

Some 30 people who had been in “immediate peril” trapped inside were rescued safely, the fire service said, adding the blaze was under control and there were no reports of people still. About 100 firefighters were sent to the scene of the fire, which started on the fourth floor of the local authority-owned block and spread to the 11th.

Witnesses spoke of harrowing scenes as the fire, which was reported just before 4.30pm local time, 1.30am (AEST), took hold.

“There were kids screaming, there was all sorts of stuff going on,” Rob Atthill told BBC television.

“The people I was with, they climbed on the roof to see what was happening and they could see faces of people in the windows, people were trying to smash windows, it didn’t look very good.”

Michael Thompson, 17, who lives in the tower block, added: “There was a big bang that sounded like an explosion.

“People were screaming. I heard people shouting: ‘Fire, fire’.

“I called 999 (Britain’s emergency telephone number) when I saw the flames and they said they were already on their way. I could smell the smoke from inside my flat so I closed the windows.

“This black smoke was pouring out of the windows.”

Paul Glenny, a firefighter who battled the blaze, said: “I’ve been in the job for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it.

“The hot weather and the fact that people’s windows were open made the fire what it was.”

An investigation will now be held into the cause of the blaze, although the fire service has warned it could take “weeks if not months” to find out what happened.

“It is too early to say what led to the fire and police officers are working with the London Fire Brigade investigation team to establish the cause of the fire,” the Metropolitan Police said.

The bodies of three people were found at the scene and three others died later in hospital.

Uninjured survivors were being taken to an emergency centre set up at a nearby church hall.

The 1960s building contains 108 flats and is owned and managed by the local council, with residents living there on a leasehold or tenant basis.

Categories: accidents, child Tags:

Four drug dealers decapitated in Mexican drug gang violence

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July 2nd, 2009 No comments

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Four men have been found decapitated and 12 others murdered in suspected drug violence over just 24 hours, Mexican officials say.
Three decapitated bodies were found in Mexico state, which surrounds the capital, and a fourth was discovered in the southern Guerrero state, police and government sources said.
Two of the grisly finds, which come three days before Mexicans vote in legislative elections, were made near Teotihuacan, home to some of Mexico’s most famous pre-Hispanic pyramids.
“Two decapitated males, whose identities are still unknown (were found) by the side of the road,” an official from the attorney-general’s office told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Another decapitated body was found in Tecamac and a head was found in Naucalpan, both in Mexico State. It is unclear whether the head belongs to any of the bodies discovered on Thursday.
Another decapitated head found in Guerrero was that of a 33-year-old man, and was found in a “black plastic bag,” a government prosecutor said.
Decapitation is frequently used by Mexico’s bloody drug cartels as a way of settling scores.
The drug gangs are engaged in a brutal turf war for control of drug routes to the United States that has killed an estimated 7700 people since the beginning of 2008.
Once epicentre of the violence has been the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, a stone’s throw from El Paso, Texas. Around 1650 people were killed in drug-related violence in Ciudad Juarez last year. At least eight more were killed on Wednesday night, authorities said.
The city of 1.3 million people is now home to 8500 troops who have been deployed by the government of Felipe Calderon, who has bet his presidency on a muscular campaign to clamp down on the cartels.
That gamble will be put to the test on Sunday in mid-term elections, when voters will choose who will occupy 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and scores of governorships and mayoralties around the country.

Four men have been found decapitated and 12 others murdered in suspected drug violence over just 24 hours, Mexican officials say.

Three decapitated bodies were found in Mexico state, which surrounds the capital, and a fourth was discovered in the southern Guerrero state, police and government sources said.

Two of the grisly finds, which come three days before Mexicans vote in legislative elections, were made near Teotihuacan, home to some of Mexico’s most famous pre-Hispanic pyramids.

“Two decapitated males, whose identities are still unknown (were found) by the side of the road,” an official from the attorney-general’s office told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Another decapitated body was found in Tecamac and a head was found in Naucalpan, both in Mexico State. It is unclear whether the head belongs to any of the bodies discovered on Thursday.

Another decapitated head found in Guerrero was that of a 33-year-old man, and was found in a “black plastic bag,” a government prosecutor said.

Decapitation is frequently used by Mexico’s bloody drug cartels as a way of settling scores.

The drug gangs are engaged in a brutal turf war for control of drug routes to the United States that has killed an estimated 7700 people since the beginning of 2008.

Once epicentre of the violence has been the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, a stone’s throw from El Paso, Texas. Around 1650 people were killed in drug-related violence in Ciudad Juarez last year. At least eight more were killed on Wednesday night, authorities said.

The city of 1.3 million people is now home to 8500 troops who have been deployed by the government of Felipe Calderon, who has bet his presidency on a muscular campaign to clamp down on the cartels.

That gamble will be put to the test on Sunday in mid-term elections, when voters will choose who will occupy 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and scores of governorships and mayoralties around the country.

Categories: crime, crooks, drugs, failed Tags:

New Zealand inmate calls jail librarian on radio

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July 2nd, 2009 No comments

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A LOVED-UP Kiwi prisoner has been hauled through the courts for using a jail radio to make a “romantic” phone call to the prison librarian.
The judge presiding over the case convicted Patrick Cook, 30, but decided the $NZ2.50 ($2) compensation being sought was “unnecessary”.
Cook has served six years for armed robbery. He made the call on vehicle digital radios while cleaning prison vans at Hawke’s Bay Prison, on the east coast of the North Island, the Dominion Post newspaper reported.
He contacted the jail’s female librarian at her home at 10am on August 16 last year, a call his lawyer, Aiden Broughton, said was “of a romantic nature”.
The Corrections Department sought reparation for the call, worth $NZ2.50, but it was declined by Judge Bridget Mackintosh who convicted and discharged Cook.
Prison management said: “The librarian cooperated fully with the police investigation and no disciplinary action could be taken against her as she no longer worked at the prison.”
Corrections believe hundreds of calls were made by prisoners over more than a year to a value of more than $NZ300 ($238).
They decided to remove radios from the vans after this incident and all phone bills are now checked regularly for anomalies.

A LOVED-UP Kiwi prisoner has been hauled through the courts for using a jail radio to make a “romantic” phone call to the prison librarian.

The judge presiding over the case convicted Patrick Cook, 30, but decided the $NZ2.50 ($2) compensation being sought was “unnecessary”.

Cook has served six years for armed robbery. He made the call on vehicle digital radios while cleaning prison vans at Hawke’s Bay Prison, on the east coast of the North Island, the Dominion Post newspaper reported.

He contacted the jail’s female librarian at her home at 10am on August 16 last year, a call his lawyer, Aiden Broughton, said was “of a romantic nature”.

The Corrections Department sought reparation for the call, worth $NZ2.50, but it was declined by Judge Bridget Mackintosh who convicted and discharged Cook.

Prison management said: “The librarian cooperated fully with the police investigation and no disciplinary action could be taken against her as she no longer worked at the prison.”

Corrections believe hundreds of calls were made by prisoners over more than a year to a value of more than $NZ300 ($238).

They decided to remove radios from the vans after this incident and all phone bills are now checked regularly for anomalies.

Categories: computer, crime, crooks, psycho Tags:

Jackie Ellery finds cat by watching BBC talk show

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July 2nd, 2009 No comments

missing_catA WOMAN has been reunited with her missing cat after watching it wandering around the set of a live political talk show.

British woman Jackie Ellery was sitting at home last Thursday night when a friend called and told her to watch a BBC program, the Daily Mail reports.

Mrs Ellery was then shocked to see ginger tom Tango wandering around the set of talk show Question Time, which was filming at a school in her hometown of Cornwall.

Tango soon stole the spotlight from the politicians and pundits on the panel, before a stage manager darted across the set and collected Ms Ellery’s pet – who has since become a minor celebrity in Cornwall.

“It’s lovely,” Mrs Ellery said.

“He’s a mischievous cat anyway and because we live so close to the school he’s often in the school grounds.

A WOMAN has been reunited with her missing cat after watching it wandering around the set of a live political talk show.
British woman Jackie Ellery was sitting at home last Thursday night when a friend called and told her to watch a BBC program, the Daily Mail reports.
Mrs Ellery was then shocked to see ginger tom Tango wandering around the set of talk show Question Time, which was filming at a school in her hometown of Cornwall.
Tango soon stole the spotlight from the politicians and pundits on the panel, before a stage manager darted across the set and collected Ms Ellery’s pet – who has since become a minor celebrity in Cornwall.
“It’s lovely,” Mrs Ellery said.
“He’s a mischievous cat anyway and because we live so close to the school he’s often in the school grounds.
Categories: animals, human Tags:

Pedo Child Porn Is Apple’s Latest iPhone Headache

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July 1st, 2009 1 comment

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A photo ostensibly showing a 15-year-old nude girl has appeared in an iPhone app, highlighting Apple’s inability to safeguard its application store from prohibited content.
The image appears in the free app BeautyMeter, which enables people to upload photos that are then rated by others, who assign a star-rating to each other’s body parts and clothing. It’s much like an iPhone version of Hot or Not and many similar sites.
The censored photo to the right depicts a photo of a nude girl snapping a photo of her reflection in a mirror. In the screenshot, the girl, who is listed as a 15-year-old from the United States, is topless and partially nude at the bottom. Nearly 5,000 users of the app have rated the photo. iPhone app review site Krapps discovered the photo.
The appearance of nudity in BeautyMeter underscore’s Apple’s difficulties regulating content in its App Store, which has surpassed 50,000 pieces of software available for download. For example, reported on an app called Hottest Girls, which released an update for its app to include topless photos of women. Apple pulled the app hours later, saying porn is not allowed.
“Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography,” an Apple spokesman said regarding Hottest Girls on June 25. “The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.”
On its web site, BeautyMeter’s developer Funnymals says users of BeautyMeter are required to provide their iPhone device ID so illegal content can be traced back to the owner of that phone.
“We don’t review each uploaded photo exclusively but from time to time we will clean up,” Funnymals stated in BeautyMeter’s terms and conditions.
As of 1:30 p.m. PDT the image of the purported 15-year-old was still in the app.
Funnymals and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Although U.S. federal and state laws prohibit child pornography, Funnymals and Apple will probably not be held liable for the content because they would be protected by the Communications Decency Act, according to Mark Rasch, a lawyer and founder of computer security consulting firm Secure IT Experts. That’s because when Apple approved the app, it did not contain the prohibited content. Instead, the app downloads images off the internet, thus placing the responsibility on the people who use the app.
However, Rasch said he expects Apple to remove the application, or the developer to remove the content, once made aware of it.
“They probably don’t have liability unless they have actual knowledge, in which case they have at least a legal or moral duty to act,” Rasch said.

A photo ostensibly showing a 15-year-old nude girl has appeared in an iPhone app, highlighting Apple’s inability to safeguard its application store from prohibited content.

The image appears in the free app BeautyMeter, which enables people to upload photos that are then rated by others, who assign a star-rating to each other’s body parts and clothing. It’s much like an iPhone version of Hot or Not and many similar sites.

The censored photo to the right depicts a photo of a nude girl snapping a photo of her reflection in a mirror. In the screenshot, the girl, who is listed as a 15-year-old from the United States, is topless and partially nude at the bottom. Nearly 5,000 users of the app have rated the photo. iPhone app review site Krapps discovered the photo.

The appearance of nudity in BeautyMeter underscore’s Apple’s difficulties regulating content in its App Store, which has surpassed 50,000 pieces of software available for download. For example, reported on an app called Hottest Girls, which released an update for its app to include topless photos of women. Apple pulled the app hours later, saying porn is not allowed.

“Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography,” an Apple spokesman said regarding Hottest Girls on June 25. “The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.”

On its web site, BeautyMeter’s developer Funnymals says users of BeautyMeter are required to provide their iPhone device ID so illegal content can be traced back to the owner of that phone.

“We don’t review each uploaded photo exclusively but from time to time we will clean up,” Funnymals stated in BeautyMeter’s terms and conditions.

As of 1:30 p.m. PDT the image of the purported 15-year-old was still in the app.

Funnymals and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Although U.S. federal and state laws prohibit child pornography, Funnymals and Apple will probably not be held liable for the content because they would be protected by the Communications Decency Act, according to Mark Rasch, a lawyer and founder of computer security consulting firm Secure IT Experts. That’s because when Apple approved the app, it did not contain the prohibited content. Instead, the app downloads images off the internet, thus placing the responsibility on the people who use the app.

However, Rasch said he expects Apple to remove the application, or the developer to remove the content, once made aware of it.

“They probably don’t have liability unless they have actual knowledge, in which case they have at least a legal or moral duty to act,” Rasch said.

Categories: child, computer, technology Tags:

Chihuahua lives after 900kg stomp on head by horse

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July 1st, 2009 1 comment

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THEY look like buddies, but it will take Berry the chihuahua a while to forgive Leroy the horse after he accidentally stomped on his head with the force of his 900kg body weight.
Berry was nearly squashed flat when her pal, a 900kg (140-stone) Clydesdale, stepped backwards on to her head, reports the Metro newspaper.
“There was just this little tiny bit of her nose sticking out.
“I thought she was dead,’” said the animals’ owner, 24-year-old Abbey Newton.
A vet gave Berry 24 hours to live and suggested she be put down but instead Ms Newton took her home.
By the morning, the happy dog had bounced back, said Ms Newton, adding: “She just got up and ate my other dog’s breakfast.”
It’s not the first time intrepid Berry has got into trouble.
She has already had a bowel operation after eating a nappy and broke her tail leaping off a sofa.
And she still darts obliviously between Leroy’s hooves, said Ms Newton, from Geelong, near Melbourne.
“She just seems to be spring-loaded,” she added.
THEY look like buddies, but it will take Berry the chihuahua a while to forgive Leroy the horse after he accidentally stomped on his head with the force of his 900kg body weight.
Berry was nearly squashed flat when her pal, a 900kg (140-stone) Clydesdale, stepped backwards on to her head, reports the Metro newspaper.
“There was just this little tiny bit of her nose sticking out.
“I thought she was dead,’” said the animals’ owner, 24-year-old Abbey Newton.
A vet gave Berry 24 hours to live and suggested she be put down but instead Ms Newton took her home.
By the morning, the happy dog had bounced back, said Ms Newton, adding: “She just got up and ate my other dog’s breakfast.”
It’s not the first time intrepid Berry has got into trouble.
She has already had a bowel operation after eating a nappy and broke her tail leaping off a sofa.
And she still darts obliviously between Leroy’s hooves, said Ms Newton, from Geelong, near Melbourne.
“She just seems to be spring-loaded,” she added.
Categories: accidents, animals Tags:

Escaped pet python strangled 2-year-old Florida girl

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July 1st, 2009 No comments

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An 8-foot pet Burmese python broke out of a terrarium and strangled a 2-year-old girl in her bedroom Wednesday at a central Florida home, authorities said.
Shaiunna Hare was already dead when paramedics arrived at about 10 a.m., Lt. Bobby Caruthers of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said.
Charles Jason Darnell, the snake’s owner and the boyfriend of Shaiunna’s mother, discovered the snake missing from its terrarium and went to the girl’s room, where he found it on the girl and bite marks on her head, Caruthers said. Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry the child away.
“The baby’s dead!” a sobbing caller from the house screamed to a 911 dispatcher in a recording. “Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby.”
Authorities did not identify the caller and removed the person’s name from the recording.
“She got out of the cage last night and got into the baby’s crib and strangled her to death,” the caller said.
Authorities removed the snake from the home Wednesday afternoon after obtaining a search warrant. Once outside the small, tan home, bordered by cow pastures, the snake was placed in a bag then inside a dog crate. The snake was still alive.
Darnell did not have a permit for the snake, which would be a second-degree misdemeanor, said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He has not been charged,
but Caruthers said investigators were looking into whether there was child neglect or if any other laws were broken.
Hill said the snake will be placed with someone who has a permit, pending an investigation into the girl’s death.
The Humane Society of the United States said including Wednesday’s death, at least 12 people have been killed in the U.S. by pet pythons since 1980, including five children.
Burmese pythons are not native to Florida, but they easily survive in the state and can reach a length of 26 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds.
Some owners have freed pythons into the wild and a population of them has taken hold in the Everglades. One killed an alligator and then burst when it tried to eat it. Scientists also speculate a bevy of Burmese pythons escaped in 1992 from pet shops battered by Hurricane Andrew and have been reproducing since.
“It’s becoming more and more of a problem, perhaps no fault of the animal, more a fault of the human,” said Jorge Pino, a state wildlife commission spokesman. “People purchase these animals when they’re small. When they grow, they either can’t control them or release them.”
George Van Horn, owner of Reptile World Serpentarium in St. Cloud, said the strangulation could have occurred because the snake felt threatened or because it thought the child was food.
“They are always operating on instinct,” he said. “Even the largest person can become overpowered by a python.”
Oxford is about 50 miles northwest of Orlando.

An 8-foot pet Burmese python broke out of a terrarium and strangled a 2-year-old girl in her bedroom Wednesday at a central Florida home, authorities said.

Shaiunna Hare was already dead when paramedics arrived at about 10 a.m., Lt. Bobby Caruthers of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said.

Charles Jason Darnell, the snake’s owner and the boyfriend of Shaiunna’s mother, discovered the snake missing from its terrarium and went to the girl’s room, where he found it on the girl and bite marks on her head, Caruthers said. Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry the child away.

“The baby’s dead!” a sobbing caller from the house screamed to a 911 dispatcher in a recording. “Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby.”

Authorities did not identify the caller and removed the person’s name from the recording.

“She got out of the cage last night and got into the baby’s crib and strangled her to death,” the caller said.

Authorities removed the snake from the home Wednesday afternoon after obtaining a search warrant. Once outside the small, tan home, bordered by cow pastures, the snake was placed in a bag then inside a dog crate. The snake was still alive.

Darnell did not have a permit for the snake, which would be a second-degree misdemeanor, said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He has not been charged,

but Caruthers said investigators were looking into whether there was child neglect or if any other laws were broken.

Hill said the snake will be placed with someone who has a permit, pending an investigation into the girl’s death.

The Humane Society of the United States said including Wednesday’s death, at least 12 people have been killed in the U.S. by pet pythons since 1980, including five children.

Burmese pythons are not native to Florida, but they easily survive in the state and can reach a length of 26 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds.

Some owners have freed pythons into the wild and a population of them has taken hold in the Everglades. One killed an alligator and then burst when it tried to eat it. Scientists also speculate a bevy of Burmese pythons escaped in 1992 from pet shops battered by Hurricane Andrew and have been reproducing since.

“It’s becoming more and more of a problem, perhaps no fault of the animal, more a fault of the human,” said Jorge Pino, a state wildlife commission spokesman. “People purchase these animals when they’re small. When they grow, they either can’t control them or release them.”

George Van Horn, owner of Reptile World Serpentarium in St. Cloud, said the strangulation could have occurred because the snake felt threatened or because it thought the child was food.

“They are always operating on instinct,” he said. “Even the largest person can become overpowered by a python.”

Oxford is about 50 miles northwest of Orlando.

Categories: accidents, animals, child Tags:

Fly by SMS death threats hold People to ransom

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July 1st, 2009 No comments

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The federal government has issued a warning against fly-by criminals who are issuing SMS death threats to defraud victims.

The anonymous death threats warn victims that they will be killed unless they follow instructions pointing to a Web address or e-mail account, where a random is often demanded.

Experts say the criminals hack into mobile network carriers with weak IT security to obtain a list of mobile numbers and issue threats over a short period up to 48 hours before the threat is detected and police can react.

Ransoms may be deposited into temporary bank accounts or funnelled through online payment processing businesses like e-Gold.

A sample death threat SMS collected by the Australian Competition and Media Authority (ACMA) read: “I am about to kill you. If you want to live, contact [xxx@xxx.com] to get information on what you will have to do to live. If you ignore this message, you will die!”

ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said the victims should ignored despite the warnings and reported to its spam watch division.

“Undoubtedly, a member of the public may be distressed to receive such a message, but they should not be alarmed,” Chapman said in a written statement.

“These threats are a particularly nasty type of scam. The messages should simply be ignored – they are intended to frighten recipients into providing money, credit card details and personal information to the scammer.”

The messages have been sourced from an overseas location, according to the ACMA.

Telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said the criminals steal sensitive customer databases from mobile carriers with lax IT security.

“Mobile networks, unlike the Internet, are not open and are under the control of operators… they generally have good security but there are some that are slack and do not keep their controls up to date,” Budde said.

“The carriers do not get a cent extra [for improving security], that is also why there are re-occurring security cracks. The hack is difficult to do, and it’s not done by the occasional hacker.”

“Criminals operate only for a few days and before anyone is aware of the scam, they have collected their money and are gone.”

The warnings follow consumer complaints received by the ACMA about the death threats which Budde said are increasing.

hey, got the same message last monday morning from the same number.
reason why we created this new account to try & look-up for this email address (fz39c@yahoo.com)…

checked the number and it is pointing to Laos with the code +856…

did not even try calling it…. not sure what will happen if we did…

went to the police, got 3 answers, (1) they can not do anything as the number is not from australia…. (2) ask your service provider to trace the call/sms where it is coming from & block this number from sending message or calling you….(3) ignore it as this could be a crap, a hoax….

called our service provider, can not do anything (or don’t want to do anything), all they can offer you is to have your number changed… so much for the CSI technology stuff, tracing calls using modern technology…..

so just had my number changed…..least i can do

suggest you guys go to the police as well, better be safe than sorry….

with the current technology, mobile phone roaming, internet, this person can just be around or anywhere…..

good luck to you!!!!

Categories: computer, crime, crooks, technology Tags: