__IT guy answers daughter's Facebook rant by shooting her laptop_'You can have a new one when you buy one'
By Lewis Page Posted in Bootnotes, 10th February 2012 12:13 GMT Vid An angry American IT pro has responded to a rude Facebook post from his daughter by riddling her laptop with a fusillade of bullets and posting video of the shooting on YouTube. Here it is, with the incensed dad leading in by reading out the offending Facebook post and offering a few points in response before emptying his .45 – apparently loaded with "exploding hollow point rounds"* – into his daughter's machine. Viewers will note that the testy IT-guy's daughter had seemingly blocked her Facebook diatribe from being viewed by her parents, despite the fact that it was notionally addressed to them. Not only did she show an undoubtedly misguided faith in Facebook's privacy defences (all the more unwise, as her father points out, when one has a dad who works in tech), the obstreperous teen also showed a very poor awareness of cliche, leading off her remarks with the statement that she is not her parents' slave. For those preferring a summary to audio, the oppressed teen seemingly objected to doing such chores as cleaning, emptying the dishwasher and making her bed, and felt that her parents should pay her for doing these things rather than nagging her to get a job. The young lady added that "we have a cleaning lady for a reason", and also suggested that her parents should get off their fat asses and pour their own coffee. Her dad, who apparently discovered these thoughts while upgrading his daughter's machine, begs to differ before moving on to the aforementioned enpopment of caps in the hapless laptop. Piling on the punishments, he adds that he expects to bill his daughter both for the software added to the machine and for the cost of the bullets expended in destroying it. "When you're not grounded again," he adds, "whatever year that turns out to be, you can have a new computer. When you buy one." The online community seemed broadly to stand behind the enraged, pistol-packing IT dad, with the vid standing at well over 36,000 likes compared to just 3,000 dislikes as of publication of this article. ® Bootnote *From the vid one would say probably just hollowpoint. It's pretty common to hear various kinds of expanding/dum-dum rounds (previous Reg coverage here) described as "explosive" or "exploding" but they almost never contain an actual explosive charge in the projectile itself (as opposed to the propellant charge in the cartridge which blows the bullet out of the gun). Technically for anti-materiel work, hollowpoints wouldn't normally be the choice - though of course our gun-fancying readers may differ on this point, it's what comment threads are for - but in this case the job seems to have been done in a workmanlike fashion. A Racecar driver drove a car into the sea
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A rally driver was allowed to race his father's prized car on two conditions - he didn't come second or crash it. But George Miedecke, 25, didn't finish at all when he lost control of the cherished vehicle and ploughed it into the sea. Mr Miedecke was loaned the 1970 Ford Capri Perana after his racing car father, Andrew, pulled out of a competition after injuring his back. But he drove the classic motor off the road on a tight corner at 80mph before hitting the ocean and colliding with a competitor's Subaru WRX STI which had crashed just moments earlier. "It was a tight corner and obviously somehow we got it wrong," said Mr Miedecke, who was unhurt along with co-driver Daniel Willson. Mark Perry, organiser of the Targa Wrest Point rally in Tasmania, Australia. added: "This is what we would call a spectacular crash." |
Bouncy Boiled eggs in ChinaFebruary 10, 2012, 7:20 pm
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities are investigating eggs which bounce after being boiled and may make men sterile, state media reported on Friday, in the latest food safety scare to hit the country. The eggs, being referred to in Chinese media and on the internet as "rubber eggs" or "ping pong eggs," are too hard to eat, raising suspicion they are fake, after appearing in "small numbers" in markets nationwide, Xinhua news agency said. "The investigation is designed to appease consumers' concerns, after some suspected they bought artificial eggs made by unconscientious traders seeking profits," it reported. However, the eggs' hardness could be a natural occurrence, caused by hens consuming large amounts of food enriched with a compound called gossypol, which binds to protein in egg yolks, Xinhua said. "While gossypol normally exists in the residue of cotton seeds added to chicken feed as an extra protein source, large doses of the compound will suppress sperm activity as gossypol has been tested to be used in male contraceptive pills," it added. Food safety worries are nothing new to China, where tales of fake cooking oil, tainted milk and watermelons which explode from being fed too much fertiliser regularly appear in the news. In 2008, at least six children died and nearly 300,000 became ill from powdered milk laced with melamine, an industrial chemical added to low quality or diluted milk to fool inspectors by giving misleadingly high readings for protein levels. A kid's brain is shrinking ( A :( story)
Jason Egan's shrinking brain confounds medics, but brave Australian still smiling
BIT by bit, Jason Egan's tiny brain is shrinking First it was the cerebellum that shrank - the area at the top of the neck controlling movement and balance. But over the past few years the Victorian nine-year-old's entire brain has compressed, and nobody knows why There are no other recorded cases of this mysterious brain degeneration in the world, leaving Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital specialists to continually rewrite the textbooks on his treatment. And while the undiagnosed condition means Jason has never been able to walk or talk, what he has mastered with remarkable strength is showing emotion and giving unconditional love. His connection to the world is evident when his brilliant blue eyes light up when someone new enters the room. He turns around to high-five his dad as he is wheeled around the back blocks of Eden Park, and his trademark toothy smile appears when his pooch, Goldie, sidles up for a pat. No cure "There is no cure, no tablets or medicine they can give him. All they can do is give him the most comfortable life," said dad Jamie. "And at this stage he's 100 per cent a happy boy and loving life." Jason showed no signs of degeneration at birth, but when he was not crawling or walking at 12 months, Jamie and wife Terry knew something was wrong. At first they tested for common and treatable conditions, but as each result returned a negative doctors were forced to spread their probe further. An MRI brain scan showed that the cerebellum had been eaten away since birth, and by age six he was losing skills such as standing and his ability to feel pain. But the next next brain scan was the bombshell - not only was the cerebellum disappearing, his entire brain tissue was reducing. RCH neurologist Victoria Rodriguez-Casero said this unexpected development triggered a new stage of investigations, homing in on even more rare neurodegenerative disorders. "People find it hard to believe that with all the advances in science we still don't have an answer, and that is frustrating," Dr Rodriguez-Casero said. "Science has its limits, but science moves quickly so there is always hope. "We are always searching for an answer." The family recently received some positive news, with the latest scans showing there had been no shrinking of his brain since the start of last year. While the hard work continues in the genetics laboratory, the Egans are also working hard to create a life filled with simple pleasure and love for their son. Still smiling "It's not hard," Mr Egan said. "Even sitting there watching the animals or other kids playing makes him smile non-stop. "Terry and I think we're the luckiest parents in the world, because he's always happy." Jason is at his happiest when he's being wheeled by his dad, and the pair have completed more than 30 marathons and fun runs. This time, however, it's their turn to receive help. Jason, who needs a ceiling hoist and a new wheelchair, will be one of the beneficiaries of a fun run to be held on Sunday, March 4, in Riddells Creek |