WebProNews

Tag: WTF

  • Man Shot By Mother-In-Law, Records It All On His iPhone

    It’s unfortunate for wonderful, loving, sane mothers-in-law that some off-balanced nutjobs have to go any perpetuate the whole “crazy mother-in-law” joke. Truly, a shame.

    What’s not a shame for 39-year-old Salvatore Miglino of Boca Raton is that his iPhone might just be the key witness in a crime reportedly borne of familial bickering.

    According to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Miglino went to the home of his estranged mother-in-law, 66-year-old Cheryl Hepner, to pick up his 3-year-old kid for his court-mandated visitation. Apparently, Miglino and Hepner’s daughter are in the midst of a divorce.

    After a brief discussion, Hepner allegedly pulled out a .22 caliber Beretta and shot Miglino twice – in the shoulder and the rib cage.

    Luckily for Miglino, he had expected some sort of confrontation (although by the sound of his voice, obviously not any involving firearms), so he hit the record button on his iPhone before getting out of his car. The 90-seconds of footage has just been released by investigators and is making the rounds on the internet.

    In the video, we don’t get much in the way of visuals. But the audio paints a pretty vivid picture of what happens:

    According to the CBS local affiliate in Miami, operators received two distinct 911 calls – one from Hepner and one from Miglino. As you would expect, one doesn’t exactly corroborate the other:

    Hepner: I tried to grab the gun and shoot. I don’t know.
    911: Did you guys scuffle for the gun?
    Hepner: Yes he had me down on the floor on the ground outside.
    911: Did he pull the gun on you or did you pull it on him?
    Hepner: No he pulled the gun on me and he’s got it and he drove away.

    ///

    Miglino: Oh my God. I’m shot.
    911: Ok
    MIglino: I took the gun away from her. I have it.
    911: Where are you shot?
    Miglino: On my shoulder and on my side. I can’t believe she shot me!

    The Broward Sheriff’s Office says that the gun jammed, and that’s probably the only reason that Miglino is alive. Hepner has been charged with attempted first-degree murder.

    “The victim knew that something wasn’t right,” a BSO spokesman said. “He knew that there would possibly be a confrontation, he had the foresight to hit record on his iPhone. Thank goodness he did.”

    [Via The Smoking Gun]
    [Image Courtesy]

  • This Guy Wants 100,000 URL Tattoos, Will Ink Your Site For A Small Fee

    A 30-year-old Quebec native is already in the record books, but his goals are even more ambitious. Pat Vaillancourt wants to cover his body with URLs – 100,000 to be exact. He’s donating his entire body to be the canvas of the internet, and you can be a part of it all for a small fee.

    For just $35, you can have your site permanently inked into Mr. Vaillancourt’s skin, as well as linked to from his fast-growing list of sponsors on his personal site, back2thelight.com. Major sponsors (the ones that get the large tattoos in the prime real estate seen above) have to shell out $500.

    According to his site, more than half the money he raises for the project will go towards charitable organizations to help in places like Haiti and Somalia.

    Those who know me will agree that I’m a spontaneous guy, a man of real conviction and passion who’s not afraid of getting involved in unconventional projects. I want to break a world record and become the man with “the most Websites tattooed on his body.” But more importantly, I want to help others. That’s why I’m going to donate more than half the money raised through the project for Haïti.

    Vaillancourt already has over 15,000 URLs tattooed all over his body, and he claims that over 16,000 more have already reserved a spot. Apparently, the first 50,000 URLs will be inked traditionally, as black text. The second half will be tattooed in fluorescent ink so that he can be “very noticeable in nightclubs.”

    Each 100 URLs take about an hour to tattoo, so the entire 100,000 will end up costing Vaillancourt between 10,000 and 12,000 hours of his life. The entire project will hopefully generate a total of around $3.5 million.

    While “over half” the money will go to charity, the rest will go to paying old debts and helping him raise his son, he says. With almost 150,000 likes on his Facebook page, it looks like Vaillancourt is generating enough publicity to make his goal a reality.

  • Galaxy S II Catches Fire In Guy’s Pants

    Talk about a close call. A really, really close call.

    Apparently, a Samsung Galaxy S II caught fire inside someone’s pocket. The incident was reported on the xda-developers forums, by a friend who seemed to be seeing at least a little bit of humor in the situation:

    My friend almost lost his nuts! He said he heard a sound, a burning sensation on his leg and as he pulled this piece of junk out of his pocket he smelled burning. There was smoke coming out of his pocket and out of the phone. LoL, He said he was scared.

    You think? One time a friend secretly dropped a lit firecracker in my front pocket. I imagine the situation was similar.

    According to the report, the victim hadn’t even had the phone for longer than two weeks and hadn’t recently used it either – it was just sitting, cold in his pocket. He posted some photos of the melted device to prove his story. From the looks of those photos, it appears that the battery may be to blame for the incident:

    It appears that iPhones aren’t the only smartphones spontaneously blowing up these days. Two high profile reports emerged earlier this week about Apple devices smoking and catching fire. The first came from Australia, where a group of passengers were startled when one of their iPhone 4s began smoking and emitting a red glow. Luckily, they were in the process of landing. Officials are still investigating the cause of the incident.

    A few days later, a man in Brazil had a bad morning when he awoke to his iPhone 4 on fire, only inches away from his face. It’s thought that the battery could be the issue in those cases as well.

    So look out, guys. It’s not just the radiation that could hurt your reproductive prowess when you carry your smartphone in your pocket.

    [Via RegHardware]

  • iPhone Suddenly Smokes, Glows Devilishly Red On Australian Flight

    iPhone Suddenly Smokes, Glows Devilishly Red On Australian Flight

    After all these years of people telling us that planes are going to start dropping from the sky like dead birds if we don’t turn off our smartphones during takeoff, it looks like the real threat might actually be the planes killing our smartphones.

    Okay, planes are probably not killing your devices, but apparently an iPhone blew up during an Australian flight landing in Sydney. Passengers on Regional Express flight ZL319 were startled when someone’s iPhone went demonic and started smoking profusely and glowing red.

    Here’s the airline’s official statement on the incident, which they are calling “self combustion”:

    Regional Express (Rex) flight ZL319 operating from Lismore to Sydney today had an occurrence after landing, when a passenger’s mobile phone started emitting a significant amount of dense smoke, accompanied by a red glow. In accordance with company standard safety procedures, the Flight Attendant carried out recovery actions immediately and the red glow was extinguished successfully.

    All passengers and crew on board were unharmed.

    The matter has been reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) as well as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for investigation and directions. The mobile phone in question appears to be an Apple iPhone (see picture below) and has been handed over to ATSB for analysis.

    As promised, they provide a photo of the malfunctioning device. Although it’s unclear whether the device is an iPhone 4 or and iPhone 4S, what is clear is that something happened to this thing. It kind of looks like part of it exploded. Check it out:

    There have been sporadic reports of iPhones running hot and “exploding” in the past, and The Next Web suggests that the battery housed on the right side of the device could be to blame for the problem.

    Whatever the issue, I’d like to think that it’s the planes fighting back. For too long, people have secretly been activating their devices on takeoff and landing – against the wishes of aviation officials (however suspect they might be). It looks like the planes have begun to take matters into their own hands. Be warned: if you use your phone while landing it will be spontaneously combusted.

  • Phony Craigslist Ads Lead To Murder Plot

    Phony Craigslist Ads Lead To Murder Plot

    Online classified site Craigslist, like most of the internet, has to ability to be a force for good in the world. Say you need a new dresser for your bedroom and there’s someone in your vicinity that needs to get rid of a dresser to make room for their new baby. Bingo – you guys get together and help each other out. Awesome.

    But Craigslist, like most of the internet, is also a place for scams, manipulation and other seedy activities. We’ve heard stories of jilted lovers trying to hire hitmen on the site as well as oblivious drug dealers trying to liquidate product. And of course let’s not forget about the infamous Craigslist Killer.

    This unbelievable story begins on Craigslist and ends with two shallow graves in the woods. Hold on, everybody. This is a weird one.

    In Caldwell, Ohio, a 16-year-old high school student and a 52-year-old Akron man have been arrested in conjunction with a shooting that occurred back on November 6th.

    According to the shooting victim, a South Carolinian, he had come to Noble county Ohio in response to a Craigslist ad for a general labor job on a 688 acre cattle farm. He said that he was told he’d be living on the farm, and thus was instructed to bring all of his belongings with him. He reportedly met two men for breakfast in a nearby city and they set off together, supposedly for the farm.

    The men eventually pulled over, explaining to the victim that they would have to take the rest of the journey on foot due to the impassable roads ahead. As they were walking through the woods, one of the men pulled a gun on the victim, who was able to deflect the barrel aimed at his head and begin running away. As he was fleeing, he was shot in the elbow.

    The victim waited hours in the woods until he felt the coast was clear, and he eventually made it two miles to a residence where he was taken in. The authorities were then notified of the situation.

    Authorities think that this was all part of bigger scheme that involved phony Craigslists ads. The suspects are thought to have placed the ads with the intention of getting unsuspecting workers out to their farm where they would rob them of all their possessions and kill them.

    This is the working theory because shortly after the shooting incident, authorities found a shallow grave in woods nearby, which they think was meant for the South Carolina man. A day later, they found another shallow grave near the first – but this one was occupied.

    It’s thought that the dead man could be a Florida man, who was reported missing by his twin sister after he also responded to a similar Craigslist ad. Autopsies have yet to determine this, but authorities suspect that there could be more victims. They don’t really know if this phony ad killing scheme is limited to these two, or extends to others. We don’t know much more right now because today a judge issued a gag order.

    What have we learned here? Well, for one, that people are f*cking crazy.

    I’m sure that once everything about this comes to light, the Lifetime movie is not far behind. I don’t know, can it be as compelling as a film about a med student that kills hookers he find on Craigslist escort ads? I don’t know – it’s a pretty sinister story.

    Is Billy Baldwin available?

  • China’s Up To Something In The Middle Of The Gobi Desert

    China’s Up To Something In The Middle Of The Gobi Desert

    In the middle of the Gobi desert, the Chinese are up to something. Or perhaps aliens are up to something. Or, I guess, some image-manipulating troublemakers are up to something.

    Either way, there are some incredibly mysterious structures in the area that have been captured by Google Earth. From concentric circles to grids to irregular metallic-looking patterns, the Chinese desert looks to be hiding some sort of secret on the border of the Gansu province, near Jiuquan.

    Let’s go ahead and get to the evidence. First, we have this pattern, that appears to consist of pathways with a metallic origin. According to Google Maps, it’s at least 5000 feet long and 2500 feet wide.

    Here are some thoughts from the internet, more specifically reddit, on the possible purpose of this irregular grid:

    • Street map of a U.S. city – possibly Washington D.C.
    • A grid for Chinese spy satellites
    • An alien QR code

    In a similar vein, here’s another irregular grid spotted in the Gobi desert. According to Google Maps, it’s a little under a square mile.

    Here’s we have a Stonehenge-like set of concentric circles. In the center, there appears to be three planes.

    Then we have these two structures, both resembling runways – but one is an almost glowing metallic blue color:

    Nearby, here are some metallic looking squares arranged in a grid, many of which appear to have been destroyed:

    What does this all mean? What could all of these structures signify? According to the Telegraph, it’s most likely part of China’s space program and/or military testing.

    The two reflective rectangles lie 70 miles from the nearest main road and there is no sign of any surrounding activity. However, Ding Xin military airbase, where China carries out its secret aircraft testing programme, is relatively nearby, at a distance of some 400 miles.

    400 miles in the other direction is Lop Nur, the salt lakes where China tested 45 nuclear bombs between 1967 and 1995.

    The planes with the concentric circles, and the destroyed grids sure seem to scream target practice. As far as the irregular grids are concerned, could they be “optical test ranges for missiles?” And could they resemble street grids? The fact that all of these mysterious structures are relatively close to each other suggest that it could be some sort of giant test site:

    There’s enough visual evidence here to satisfy conspiracy theorists and/or alien hunters for weeks. Is it the Chinese military? Is it visitors from outer space? Is it a clever artist who has overlain the patterns and trolled everyone? Discuss.

  • This $8 Million iPad Is Made With 53 Diamonds And A T-Rex Femur

    It might fascinate you to learn that it exists. It might also anger you. However you feel about it – disgust, envy, desire – it’s pretty amazing. I’m talking, of course, about the world’s most expensive iPad 2.

    The over-the-top gadget comes from super-luxury designer Stuart Hughes. It’s your typical Apple tablet but with a bit of added flair. And by a bit, I mean 2000 grams of 24ct gold, a few dozen diamonds, and part of a dinosaur bone.

    Here’s what goes into the iPad 2 Gold History Edition:

    Encrusted with 12.5 cts of ‘I’F’ Flawless diamonds, a magnificent total of 53 individually set sparkling gems dwell beautifully in solid 24ct Apple logo with rear section formed again in 24ct gold weighing an immense 2,000 grams. The unrivalled imagination towards the craftmanship of the iapd is down to its main front frame which is made from the oldest rock the world has to offer in the form of Ammolite , sourced from Canada this stone is over 75 million years old. However to make this masterpiece even more individual, sections of a 65 million year old T-REX Dinosaur’s thigh bone was splintered and then shaved into the Ammolite , then finished off with ultimate jewel , as single cut 8.5ct flawless diamond inlaid in its own platinum surround with 12 outer flawless diamonds.

    This T-REXified iPad is being made in a limited run of just two units. It’s going to run you £5,000,000.00, or roughly $8 million.

    Chances are low that you’re going to become the proud owner of the iPad 2 Gold History Edition. But there’s always the Stuart Hughes Platinum iPad Supreme Edition, which will run you about £299,995 or for the luxury iPad shopper on a budget – the £79,995 Supreme Ice Edition made of solid white gold.

    To put it in perspective (a pretty tough task), you could either buy one iPad 2 Gold History Edition, or about 16 thousand 16 GB regular iPad 2s.

  • Google’s Marissa Mayer Threatened With Bizarre, Lewd Tweets

    A man has been arrested and indicted on felony charges for using Twitter to harass and ultimately threaten top Google exec Marissa Mayer.

    Mayer, VP of Maps and Location Services at Google, has become one of the most public faces of the company over the last several years. And now, according to the San Francisco Examiner, she is the target of a Twitter stalker.

    According to court documents, 27-year-old Gregory Calvin King was arrested and has now been indicted on multiple counts of threats transmitted through interstate communication and harassing communications. The records indicate that King posted the threats on Twitter, addressed to one “M.M.”

    King’s Twitter account, @gck764 is still active and shows over 20,000 tweets that mention @marissamayer. The tweets begin in November of 2010 and end on August 19th of 2011, the day that King was reportedly arrested.

    The tweets are lewd, threatening, racist and most of the time make little to no sense. On multiple occasions King tweets at Mayer stuff about being “infected” – oftentimes blaming her for it.

    (Warning: Most of the tweets are NSFW)

    @gck764
    Gregory Calvin King    @MARISSAMAYER YOUR GREAT MARISSA. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA YOUR SO FUNNY I FORGOT TO LAUGH AFTER THEY TRIED TO FUCKING INFECT ME. 22 days ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @gck764
    Gregory Calvin King    @marissamayer If i said I was fucking molested, it happened. If I said you tried to give me HIV it happened 18 days ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    The tweets are also threatening, as he makes multiple references to shooting and killing. One tweet even reads “I should fucking shoot your ass marissa.”

    @gck764
    Gregory Calvin King    @marissmayer im telling u, u shit bags tried to infect me i should fucking shoot one of you. 22 days ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    Much of the tweeting directed toward Mayer is of a sexual nature. King makes hundreds of references to Mayer’s body, and about having sex with her –

    @gck764
    Gregory Calvin King    @marissamayer So I really dont know why you dont have a quality body marissa. 21 days ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @gck764
    Gregory Calvin King    @marissamayer Seriously Marissa, you should suck my dick… I’m interested if my cum tastes better than bogus’s 19 days ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    And like I said before, many of the Tweets are either random in topic or they seem rather delusional.

    @gck764
    Gregory Calvin King    @MARISSAMAYER ARE YOU AN ORGAN DONOR? 22 days ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @gck764
    Gregory Calvin King    @MARISSAMAYER I FUCKING SAID WINSTON CHURCHILL WOULD PROBABLY IMPRESSED WITH JOBS PERFORMANCE AND FUCKING SYRIA ROLLS OUT THE GUNBOATS/ 22 days ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    There is no word on whether Mayer reported the Twitter harassment to the authorities herself. It’s highly unlikely that she wouldn’t have noticed the tweets. I counted on one day, August 18th, King sent over 130 tweets at Mayer.

    According to the FBI, “there is no known connection between King and the Google Executive.”

    King is being held without bail awaiting a future court date at a time to be determined. If convicted, he faces up to 7 years in prison.

    [Lead Image Courtesy Google+]

  • “Justin Bieber Way” Existed, Thanks to a Tween and a Facebook Contest

    Move over Rick Perry, there’s a new controversial leader in Texas and she’s a giant Justin Bieber fan.

    The small town of Forney, Texas recently held a Facebook contest to elect one child, aged 8 to 13, “Mayor for a Day.” Adults were asked to nominate children by sending an email to the current Mayor of Forney, Darren Rozell, explaining why the kid would make a good chief executive.

    On Monday, the town announced the winner via Facebook. 11-year-old Caroline Gonzalez received the honor – which came with responsibilities like leading City Council Meetings. Given all that power, free executive reign over an entire town, what did young Caroline do for her first Mayoral act?

    She renamed a street in the town “Justin Bieber Way.” And not just any street, but Main Street.

    The City of Forney’s Facebook page posted the entry the secured Caroline the win. It came from her father, and praised Caroline for being part of the Gifted and Talented Program, for playing softball, basketball and cheerleading, and for volunteering to help the poor through outreach programs. The nomination said nothing about her being a rabid Justin Bieber fan.

    I say this is grounds for impeachment.

    According to KDAF in Dallas, Rozell had this to say:

    “I can’t really say that I know a lot of Justin Bieber’s music, but I know that he’s really popular these days, and if she wanted to name it Bieber Way, we were going to make that happen”

    Luckily, Caroline’s regin of terror is over as she was only Mayor for one day. And Justin Bieber Way will be changed back to Main St. But the damage has been done. Anyone that drove through downtown Forney, Texas saw, for a split second, a street named Bieber.

    Check out the video below, which is worth it simply for the female news anchor referring to “Justin Beaver” a couple of times.

     

  • Tulsa Tower Guy Fascinates Twitter and Facebook

    Right now, as of 5 pm EST, William Sturdivant II is currently 300 feet in the air, clinging to a Clear Channel Radio tower. Police are still unclear as to the young man’s motivations, all they know is that he doesn’t want to come down.

    According to Oklahoma’s News On 6, he has been in the tower since Thursday morning, a total of 127 hours

    Sturdivant has climbed up and down the tower, but has never made it more than halfway down since Thursday. He has somehow managed to sleep a few hours, but has had little food or water in 6 days. Yesterday morning he asked for some Whataburger and Oreos & milk.

    He denies that he is planning on jumping, reportedly saying that “there is no such thing as suicide.” Apparently, he just says he would rather we in the tower than “down there.”

    Is this a statement of individuality? A critique on an overly-simplistic, monotonous world? Is he just crazy?

    Whatever the case, he has captured the attention of the internet. He has his own Facebook page called “Tower Guy,” where he has amassed over 4,200 likes. On the page, people are discussing the action as it unfolds in real time. Right now, a negotiator has been sent up to Tower Guy in a bucket to try to talk him off the tower.

    The Facebook community is debating whether or not “Bucket Guy” will succeed.

    Tower GuyBucket Guy should have brought up a hamburger, beers and a lady. Tower Guy would already be chillin in the bucket. 7 minutes ago · 2 likes · 0 comments

    Twitter is talking about him as well, and apparently the people over at Fox News are captivated –

    @seanhannity
    Sean Hannity    The entire staff is watching this live feed on @FoxNews of the guy coming down from the radio tower in Tulsa, OK. 1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @rustysurette
    rustysurette    is anyone else NOT getting work done because they are watching the Tulsa tower guy? 1 hour ago via Pixelpipe · powered by @socialditto

    @chadosko
    chad osko    $20 to the first person to successfully toss a Twitter-ready device up to the Tulsa tower guy… 2 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    You can watch a live stream of Tulsa Tower Guy here.

    Why do you think he’s in the tower? And when do you think police will get him down? Let us know in the comments

  • Protect Your iPad With Covers Made From Bernie Madoff’s Pants

    With famous Ponzi scheme operator and former most-hated person in America (usurped by Casey Anthony) Bernie Madoff currently clothed in more…utilitarian attire, it only makes sense that his former threads should go to use. I mean, he definitely doesn’t need them anymore.

    Fashion company Frederick James, makers of “fashion iPad covers made out of luxury rescued and vintage fabrics” is making use of Madoff’s old clothing – his pants to be exacts.

    According to their website, Frederick James obtained a “limited number of personal clothing items” that once belonged to Madoff at an auction put together by the U.S. Marshall’s office. From those clothing items they developed the Bernie Madoff Collection, a limited edition run of iPad covers made out of his various types of pants.

    Take for instance the Mason’s Off-White Khaki Pants cover (the left one on the lead image). The cover retails for $350 and is described like this –

    This cover is made from a pair of Mason’s men’s size 50 casual pants. They are an off-white cover. They are lined in navy blue linen.

    Only 4 iPad covers were produced from this pair of pants. Each cover is unique. Two of the covers have the original pockets from the pants.

    The other unique cover above is the Ralph Lauren Polo Chino Blue Pants cover. It also had a price tag of $350 but it’s sold out. It is made from size 35×30 pants, which means they must be from a much slimmer period in Madoff’s life. They only produced 4 of those as well. This truly is limited edition stuff.

    As you can see, at one point Frederick James was offering 4 different pants-covers. The only two still listed on the site are the blue and gray ones. With the blue Chino cover sold out, that means your last chance to own this piece of history is with the off-white khakis cover.

    I wonder what other fashion treasures they pulled from that auction. Will we see more Madoff-inspired device accessories?

    As odd as they are, these are only the second strangest iDevice cases I’ve seen this month. If you want to see first place, check out the iPhone human hand case we told you about last week.

  • Creep Takes Woman’s Facebook Account Hostage For Nude Pics

    On one side you have Anonymous hacking into government sites and corporations under the stated purpose of social change, and then you’ve got this guy.

    John Joaquim III has been charged with first-degree criminal attempt to commit larceny by extortion and two counts of computer extortion after he held a young woman’s Facebook account hostage.

    His demands? Nude pics.

    According to WTNH in Monroe, Connecticut, Joaquim hacked into the unidentified victim’s Facebook and Gmail accounts. He then began sending her emails that stated he would only give her back control of said accounts if she sent him naked pics. Perverts these days – I tell ya. What happened to buying some binoculars and climbing a tree? Creeps have gotten lazy.

    Although the 20-year-old victim isn’t named, her friend spoke out about the incident:

    “She feels pretty violated, yeah.”

    And on the topic of what she would have done in the same situation she had this to say: “I mean, I just think that like if someone was asking me to do that like I would just not do it and make a new account.”

    Good plan. I hope her friend didn’t oblige the guy.

    It’s also unclear if Joaquim, 19, and the victim knew each other.

    The WTNH article quotes a woman who is very concerned with privacy and internet security. She says that she “changes her password constantly…that’s the only way you’re gonna be safe.” I hope she knows what kind of password to use. Many don’t as is illustrated beautifully by this XKCD comic –

    In other Facebook/crime news, the NYPD just launched an entire new unit dedicated to those idiots who post about their crimes on social networks. If this guy actually succeeded in getting the pics, do you think he would have posted them on Facebook? Probably.

    The stupid, it burns.

  • iPhone 5 Rumor Fatigue? Here, Hold My Hand

    I’ve got to hand it to the Japanese. WTF, guys?

    In what might be the strangest way to house your beloved Apple smartphone, they have come up with this: A human hand case. It’s a perfect way to house your now-unbearably-boring 3GS or 4 while you are waiting patiently for the iPhone 5 to drop.

    Not only can you protect your iPhone from drops and scratches, but you can do it while protecting yourself from loneliness. The life-like hand cases come in two types – a woman’s hand and a child’s hand.

    Here at WebProNews we are regrettably bereft of Japanese speakers. So I translated the original site to English using Google translate. The results are interesting.

    From what I can gather, the fake hand might feel a bit rubbery. The site says “Is the elastic material, not so much soft hands, please understand.” It also says “please avoid surprises and to how weak of heart or the elderly.” Conclusion: It may freak out your grandmother.

    It looks like the case will run you 4.762 yen. With current conversion rates, that’s about 60 bucks.

    What would be the benefits of such an odd and cumbersome iPhone case, you ask? First, there’s the obvious plus of always holding someone’s something’s hand as you chat away. Life can get lonely, and it might be nice to always have a helping hand.

    Second, you can flip your phone face down and the hand now becomes a convenient holder for pens, pencils, envelopes – you name it. Third, impromptu thumb wars. And finally, as the site recommends, palm readings.

    Isn’t this wonderfully bizarre thing a welcome break from all the iPhone 5 rumors?

  • Chinese Gamers Sell Kids To Bankroll Their Habit

    It’s a tough world out there, and sometimes money can be tight. If you’re a young couple struggling to get by, where do you turn for a little extra cash?

    If you said “selling your children,” you are in a dark place my friend. But that’s exactly what Li Lin and Li Juan of Dongguan did. And they did it to fund their online gaming activity.

    ABC News reports out of China that according to Sanxiang City News, the young couple met back in 2007 in an internet cafe. They soon discovered that they both had a pretty strong love for online gaming.

    About a year after they met, Li Juan gave birth to a son. According to the reports, days after he was born the couple left him by himself while they traveled over 30 km away to play games at an internet cafe.

    It is unclear what particular online games captivated the couple. Possibly an MMORPG? Maybe social gaming? Whatever the games were, they required money, either for a subscription or for in-game micro transactions. Once the couple had their second child, they decided to sell the baby girl for the money to play their games. They received the equivalent of around $500 for her.

    When that went smoothly, they decided to sell their firstborn son as well. They raked in a substantially greater amount for him, somewhere around $4600.

    They then had another boy, and sold him for about $4600 as well.

    Who knows how many more children they would have made and then sold if they weren’t caught? Sure gives more meaning to the phrase “baby factory.”

    Li Lin’s mom turned them in when she found out what they were doing.

    According to ABC, when asked about their activities, the young Chinese couple replied, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.” They also said that they didn’t know they were doing anything illegal.

    Now, it wouldn’t be the first time that a story like this out of the East comes to us a little embellished. But it seems to fall in line with other stories we’ve heard recently about strange behavior when it comes to technology.

    Last month we told you about a Chinese high-school student that attempted to sell one of his kidneys on the black market in order to acquire the money to purchase an iPad2. A few weeks later, a Chinese girl attempted to sell her virginity through Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. What did she want for it? An iPhone 4.

    Those kids had it all wrong. You don’t sell parts of yourself to fuel your technology addiction, you sell your kids. I mean, you can only afford to part with a limited number of vital organs. Technically, you can make around 1.2 kids per year.

    Gaming addiction is real, folks. If this doesn’t make that abundantly clear, then I don’t know what does.

    [Image Courtesy Lungstruck Flickr Stream]

  • New Dark Knight Rises Trailer Promises S&M, Batman Working At Walmart

    Who is excited for next summer’s most anticipated film? I know, I’m super stoked about Men In Black III as well.

    Another film I’m also pretty anxious for is the finale of Christopher Nolan’s Batman revamp, The Dark Knight Rises. Bane? Awesome. Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Awesome. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman? Meh. Not everything can be perfect, right?

    The internet buzz for the upcoming Batman film is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed. People are itching for any little bit of exclusive content – a sneak peak, an on-set photo, or casting gossip.

    The people at Warner Bros have employed social media to help grow the excitement even more. In May, a viral campaign was launched that allowed fans to uncover the first photo of Tom Hardy as the villain Bane using Twitter reaction.

    Users simply tweeted the hashtag #thefirerises and the image was revealed piece by piece.

    In June another campaign was launched involving mysterious YouTube videos of chaos after an Arkham Asylum breakout and broadcasts from Gotham Cable News. Although incredibly well made, these are now thought of as clever fan-made promotions.

    Still, those videos created quite a stir for the film when they were released.

    On the heels of the official TDKR teaser trailer being released along with the new Harry Potter film, a new trailer has emerged.

    This new trailer is full of the same mystery and suspense as the teaser trailer, except it’s animated. And is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.

    Taiwanese animation company NMA has released their own “The Dark Knight Rises Trailer” today. You might know them from such classics as Lulzsec takes down the CIA, Antonin Scalia shoots guns with children and The Winklevii Canoe gets blown up by Mark Zuckerberg’s cannon fire.

    “Looking forward to the final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy? We are too. Here’s an ode to Christopher Nolan’s best work,” they say about this new video.

    What follows is a very strange take on the trilogy conclusion – one involving a stock market crash, a lot of dreaming, and an unforgettable S&M scene with Catwoman and Robin.

    Keep an eye out for the Memento and Inception references. Enjoy:

    And to cleanse your palate, here is the real teaser trailer for TDKR:

  • Virginity, A Small Price To Pay For An iPhone 4

    Apple now has a new slogan for the iPhone.

    “So awesome, you’ll do anybody for one!”

    Of course, Apple already had a slogan similar to this for their iPad 2 – “So awesome, you’ll cut out your internal organs for one.” Earlier this month the news surfaced that a high-school freshman in China named Zheng had sold one of his kidneys on the black market for the money to purchase Apple’s new tablet.

    He was contacted online by a man offering him 20,000 yuan, or just over $3,300. When his mother found out, she wasn’t pleased to say the least. Authorities were unable to find the people responsible.

    Now, another Chinese citizen has decided to sell a piece of their body for the latest and greatest device. This time it’s a girl, and she has offered her virginity to the first person who will buy her an iPhone 4.

    It’s being reported that a “jiulinghou,” or person born during the 90’s, posted messages to microblogging site Weibo that said it was her “dream to own an iPhone 4” but her father wouldn’t let her get one. She then said that she was willing to sell her virginity to anyone that would buy her one. Weibo is basically the Chinese version of Twitter.

    She also posted photos of herself to the site with general descriptions of her physical features. The whole thing has caused quite the controversy in China.

    This definitely wouldn’t be the first time that a lady’s first time is up for grabs on the interwebs. In 2008 a 22-year-old woman tried to auction off her virginity online in order to pay for college tuition. Since she did this all through the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in the prostitution-legal state of Nevada, everything was totally legal. Apparently she received a top offer of $3.4, but the deal was never consummated.

    This story leaves a lot of questions unanswered. What about the data plan? She won’t enjoy her prize very much without one of those. Will the “lucky” guy have to get her a 2-year contract? What would she do for a locked iPhone 4?

    And possibly, most of all, why in the hell wouldn’t she wait and do this when the iPhone 5 comes out?

    [Image Courtesy]

  • Utah Man Posts Police Standoff Play-by-Play on Facebook

    Don’t let a pesky standoff with the police keep you from social media – Jason Valdez didn’t.

    The 36-year-old man from Salt Lake City, UT holed himself up in a motel room for 16 hours with what police call a hostage. During the standoff, Valdez made sure to let his Facebook friends know how it was going. He made six status updates from about 1:23 am to 9:25 am on June 18th, all while surrounded by SWAT teams.

    Here is his first Facebook post, notifying his friends about his current predicament –

    One minute later he posted “Sorry I meant to put opd….” a correction of “old.” Valdez is referring to the Ogden Police Department

    About forty minutes later, he posted this –

    Valdez claimed that the girl with him inside the motel room was not a hostage, but with him willingly. He then posted photos of him with the girl inside the room. He captioned the one below “Got a cute ‘HOSTAGE’, huh?” From the photos, at least, she doesn’t look to be under too much duress. But we all know a picture can be quite deceiving.

    About 5 hours after posting the photos, Valdez said this –

    And then two hours after that, his final Facebook communication –

    About an hour and a half after this post, police stormed the room. Valdez shot himself in the chest and is now in critical condition.

    Some of his Facebook friends even tried to warn Valdez about police movements. Apparently one friend posted on his wall “gunner in the bushes stay low.” That post has since been removed. Police haven’t said whether or not they will consider this sort of action a crime. It could be seen as obstruction of justice I guess.

    Valdez kept communication with the people posting on his wall as well. A girl identifying herself as his sister posted “I love you brother, get your head right and ten yrs, is not a thing, me and kids love you, be smart.” Valdez replied “Love u always sis.”

    His wall is now mostly being used by friends to post get well messages and prayers. One friend has posted “Hey Jason, im praying for u. god is wit u. listen to him. much love.”

    One response to that post – “You friend is a retarded f*ck, kind regards from Norway.”

    Oh, Facebook.

  • Woman Gets Facebook Friend “Social Tattoo”

    How much do you love your friends? How much do you love Facebook? How much do you love your friends on Facebook? Enough to permanently memorialize them on your body?

    Well, I don’t really like my friends that much, but apparently one woman does. A video entitled “My Social Tattoo” has gone viral, showing the process of the woman getting a new right arm sleeve, which turns out to be a collage of 152 Facebook friends. Here’s what she says on the YouTube video info:

    Of course I gave it a lot of thought. These are not all my friends. Just the people I care most about. I got their permission and they were very proud to be on it. To me it represents who I am right now and the time we live in. And of course I love the looks of it.

    Check out the video below:

    Now, here would be my concerns regarding this particular tattoo: First, what if you fall out with one of the 152 friends? If one of them does something really nasty to you, do you really want their face tattooed on your arm? Probably not, so you’re going to have to get it removed.

    Also, I hope she chose the specific friends carefully. It is a snapshot of their current profile pictures I presume. She says it represents who she is right now and the time we live in. True, just be wary of the one friend who has a lookalike picture as their profile pic. You don’t want Natalie Portman tattooed on your arm instead of your friend Jessica. Or maybe you do.

    At the end of the video, she gives the tattoo design credit to Pretty Social, who turns out to be a company that puts your Facebook friend collages on products for you – posters, laptop covers, handbags, and more. I’m sure this is the first arm for which they’ve designed a collage.

    So, what do you think? Interesting, fun and current? Or something she’ll regret in 10 years? I wonder how these people with the WordPress and Blogger tattoos feel now, about 3 years later.

  • iPad 2 Worth a Kidney to Chinese Teen

    iPad 2 Worth a Kidney to Chinese Teen

    Don’t get me wrong, I love gadgets. Also, don’t misunderstand me – I would gladly part with a kidney in the right circumstance. Say my mother or someone else I loved needed one, I would give it up in a second. You only need one, right? Or maybe even for the right price on the black market…

    But for three grand? I don’t think so.

    That’s exactly what one Chinese high-school freshman did. Seventeen-year-old Zheng from Huaishan, Anhui Province sold one of his kidneys for 22,000 yuan, a little over $3300.

    According to the Shanghai Daily, the teen went to Chenzhou no. 198 hospital under the supervision of three men to have the kidney removed. His poor mother, who knew nothing about the exchange, called the authorities as soon as she saw what had happened. The police had no luck in reaching the “broker” via the cell phone number given by Zheng. The kid’s health is currently deteriorating.

    As would be expected, the hospital has denied any connection with the operation. They said that “[their] urology department is contracted to a businessman in Fujian.”

    Zheng said he did all of this for the latest Apple tablet:

    “I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it. A broker contacted me on the Internet and said he could help me sell one kidney for 20,000 yuan.”

    I guess this is one way Apple could advertise their popular product – “The iPad 2: so awesome, you’ll sell your organs on the black market for one!”

    Here’s an alleged photo of Zheng showing his post-surgery scar, courtesy of China’s Global Times:

    In April, we reported on a study that found young people with a high level of dependence on social media, bordering on addiction. Kids all over the world reported feelings of distress and despair when separated from things like Twitter and Facebook for just 24 hours. I guess the addiction to social media applies to the devices used to access said social media.

    The Chinese have made news recently over fights regarding Apple products. When the iPad 2 was first launched in the States, Chinese scalpers set up camp near the NYC Apple store to buy up the devices and scalp them for ridiculously inflated prices. Apple stores in China were sites of disputes over the iPad 2, one reportedly resulting in the front glass windows being destroyed by the fighters.

    It’s no wonder that Apple just surpassed Google as the world’s most valuable brand. When people are selling their kidneys for your latest and greatest, you have quite the hold on the global consumer.