Spam Text Prevents New Years Eve Massacre in Red Square

28 Jan

One of Russia’s most popular newspapers claims a potentially devastating New Years Eve suicide bombing was prevented only because the would-be-bomber received a spam message that caused her weapon to detonate early.

The woman, who belonged to the same group as the suicide bombers that attacked a Moscow airport earlier this week, planned to detonate the bomb in Red Square during the New Years Eve celebrations. If successful, the bomb could have killed hundreds of people. Just hours before the planned attack, the woman’s mobile carrier sent her a “Happy New Year” text message that caused the device to detonate.  She received the message while in her apartment, and the blast shattered windows nearby.

Islamic terrorists in Russia frequently use explosives that are detonated by text message. The technique allows for a handler to watch the bomber, and detonate the device when it can cause the maximum number of causalities possible.

How Egypt Cut Off the Internet

28 Jan

Update: A reader sends me the following tip, “the AP released a video: http://apne.ws/hgEg4d, of a man being shot in the head. 10 minutes later the internet went down.” (CAUTION: graphic video)

First, the visual. From DailyKOs:

So, it appears that around 5:20 EST on January 27 something happened that caused most of the country to lose internet access. Later in the blog post on KOs, we learn that the number of active internet connections dropped from an average of 80,000 active connections at any given time  to 100 total, overnight.

Renesys, a company that monitors internet traffic worldwide, called the action “unprecedented in Internet history.” Time provides a well-written, comprehensible analysis of how the country managed to shut off access. The Wall Street Journal has another, more technical, account.

In spite of these odds, some information still appears to be leaking out of the country.  One computer science professor somehow managed to update his Facebook page and another journalist has been able to tweet.

Beyond the political implications of this story, which seem potentially historic, the use of a “kill switch” on the Internet inside a country will also make technology history.

Ice Cream Picture in Snow Goes Viral

28 Jan

Zach Burroughs probably didn’t expect anything unusual when he went to get an ice cream cone on Jan. 26. Little did he know that a Washington Post photographer was lurking. One click, then the photographer chased down Burroughs to get his consent. The picture was pretty good.

The next morning…he was on the front page of the newspaper.

Well, the Post chased him down and conducted an interview about his new fame. Through it, we learned the answers to some burning questions. Why was getting ice cream in a blizzard?

He saw a co-worker with a cone and got a craving that he couldn’t resist. “They [a local restaurant] have pistachio ice cream and I love pistachio. So whether it was snowing or not, I was going to go get it,” says 25-year-old Burroughs. “As you can see from my face in the picture, I wasn’t much enjoying the snow smacking me in the face.”

The Internet is a wonderful thing.

Impressive Drug Haul From Recent Phish Concerts

28 Jan

I spotted this story in this month’s Wired and did a little more research. It seems that the police of Atlantic City were quite busy from Oct. 29-31 at 3 Phish concerts. They made 64 arrests and confiscated m0re than $250,000 in drugs. Here’s some figures…

– 70 nitrous oxide tanks.
– 551.2 grams (19.4 oz.) marijuana.
– 4 marijuana-laced brownies.
– 16 marijuana-laced Rice Krispies Treats.
– 66 marijuana-laced cookies.
– 134.9 grams (4.8 oz.) psilocybin mushrooms.
– 22 doses of ketamine.
– 34.3 grams (1.2 oz.) of Ecstasy (MDMA powder form, a.k.a Molly).
– 60 pills of Ecstasy.
– 30.7 grams (1.1 oz.) cocaine.
– 2.2 grams (0.1 oz) heroin.
– 395 hits of LSD.
– 21 LSD-laced cookies.
– 26 Oxycodone pills.

World’s Scariest Hike

27 Jan

Do not watch this video if you’re afraid of heights. Really, don’t do it. The first minute gives you a good sense of what this person is doing for their hike.

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