Woman Jailed For Starting Office Fire To Leave Work Early 136

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 23, 2010 @11:42AM from the take-this-job-and-spark-it dept.

A Florida woman was sentenced to nine months in jail, followed by five years of probation, for starting an office fire so she could get out of work early. From the article: "Pasco sheriff's investigators said Michelle Perrino, 40, started a fire at Bayonet Point Oxygen on May 12, 2009. Perrino drew suspicion when she mentioned the fire's origin — a filing cabinet — during an employee meeting. Employees had not been told where the fire started." I hope she had the good sense to start the fire on Friday so she could have a long weekend.

Brain Training Games Don't Train Your Brain 151

Posted by timothy on Wednesday April 21, 2010 @03:03PM from the maybe-it-just-takes-more-than-6-weeks dept.

Stoobalou writes with this excerpt from Thinq.co.uk: "A new study has shown that brain training games do little to exercise the grey matter. Millions of people who have been prodding away at their Nintendo DS portable consoles, smug in the knowledge that they are giving their brains a proper work-out, might have to rethink how they are going to stop the contents of their skulls turning into mush."

Comment Re:Just in time, but outsourced (Score 1) 432

by blophyus on Friday April 16, 2010 @04:47PM (#31876964) Attached to: I mailed / filed my tax return form ...

that is very simplistic. The only way the is actually true is if you don't declare any deductions.

Not necessarily. I take the normal deductions for a person of my age and marital status, but since I freelance on the side, I always owe a bundle to the gub'mint. Not quite the same thing; but as in coding, TMTOWTDI.

At any rate, I agree with the parent: 'tis better to give than to receive. Getting money back seems nice, but really, you've just given an interest-free loan to Uncle Sam. Would he do the same for you?

3rd Grader Accused of Hacking Schools' Computer System 344

Posted by samzenpus on Friday April 16, 2010 @02:37PM from the give-that-kid-a-gold-star dept.

Gud writes "According to The Washington Post a 9-year-old was able to hack into his county's school computer network and change such things as passwords, course work, and enrollment info. From the article: 'Police say a 9-year-old McLean boy hacked into the Blackboard Learning System used by the county school system to change teachers' and staff members' passwords, change or delete course content, and change course enrollment. One of the victims was Fairfax Superintendent Jack D. Dale, according to an affidavit filed by a Fairfax detective in Fairfax Circuit Court this week. But police and school officials decided no harm, no foul. The boy did not intend to do any serious damage, and didn't, so the police withdrew and are allowing the school district to handle the half-grown hacker.'"

New 2D, HD Sonic Game Coming In 2010 123

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday September 10, 2009 @11:57PM from the now-with-more-speeding-pixels dept.

Anonymouse writes "Sonic the Hedgehog is going back to his roots, but with a fresh coat of HD paint. 'An all-new 2D side-scrolling High Definition Sonic game is coming with a 2010 release date, according to a new teaser trailer from Sega.' Sega's Ken Ballough had this to say: 'Old-school Sonic fans have long asked to see Sonic return to a more 2D style of gameplay. Many liked the daytime stages in Unleashed but wanted to see a game that plays purely similar to the early games of the Genesis. Project Needlemouse is that critical first step that brings Sonic back to his 2D roots.'"

Comment Discipline? (Score 1) 785

by blophyus on Friday July 31, 2009 @04:27PM (#28901577) Attached to: School System Considers Jamming Students' Phones

If this school had a problem with kids kissing, would they wire their jaws shut?

Rather than implement a costly and complicated technological solution, what this school needs to do is implement some good old-fashioned discipline. If a teacher catches a kid misusing a cell phone, just give the kid a day of detention. That'll get old pretty quickly.

We should be teaching children that obnoxious social behavior has consequences and giving them a chance to learn why such rules exist. The "blocking" solution will just enrage them.

Related: how many of you work at companies who block certain web sites and personal email accounts? And how does that make you feel about your employer?

Comment Exactly what "services" are you shopping? (Score 1) 297

by blophyus on Wednesday March 11, 2009 @03:07PM (#27155315) Attached to: How To Keep a Web Site Local?

I would love to know what kind of site it is that's getting "slammed by people from all over the world" but which "couldn't possibly be of interest" to anyone but the residents of Jerkwater, USA. Because -- clearly -- these users think that it is of interest to them.

You certainly have a problem, but I'm not sure it's the one you think it is. Sounds like you should expand the scope of your site, gain a billion world-wide users, and stop turning potential users away.