A Russian woman in St Petersburg killed her drunk husband with a folding couch, Russian media reported on Wednesday.
St Petersburg's Channel Five said the man's wife, upset with her husband for being drunk and refusing to get up, kicked a handle after an argument, activating a mechanism that folds the couch up against a wall. The couch, which doubles as a bed, folds up automatically in order to save space. The man fell between the mattress and the back of the couch, Channel Five quoted emergency workers as saying.
The woman then walked out of the room and returned three hours later to check on what she thought was an unusually quiet sleeping husband. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
12/30/2008 16:41 ||
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#1
Looks like phucking with Murphy's (bed) Law can be a real biatch.....
In the past few years, people seem to have forgone the conventional phone conversation in favor of punching in short text messages on tiny keypads, all while mobile phone carriers have cashed in lucratively. In 2008, 2.5 trillion messages were sent from cell phones worldwide, up 32 percent from the year before, according to the Gartner Group and reported by The New York Times.
But what also went up in the last three years was the price -- doubling from 10 to 20 cents per message while the industry consolidated from six major carriers to four.
Sensing a potential rip-off, Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, began to take a closer look at the doubling of prices American carriers were charging customers.
Kohl soon discovered that text messages are essentially very small files, costing carriers close to nothing to transmit. "Text messaging files are very small," the Democratic senator said, "as the size of text messages are generally limited to 160 characters per message, and therefore cost carriers very little to transmit."
Srinivasan Keshav, a professor of computer science at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, told the Times, "Messages are small. Even though a trillion seems like a lot to carry, it isn't."
Text messages aren't just tiny, they're also free riders tucked into control channels, or space reserved for operation of the wireless network. The channel uses space whether or not a text message is inserted. This explains why a message has limited character space. It must not exceed the length of the message used for internal communication between tower and handset to set up a call.
AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile explained their pricing plans in a request made by Kohl, but failed to relay information about the cost of text messages. T-Mobile and AT&T said their message costs are unimportant, since they are part of a package deal.
With a $10 or $15 monthly plan, users can bring the price per message to a penny, if they use the monthly allotment.
In addition to Kohl's investigation, 20 class-action lawsuits have been filed around the country against AT&T and the other carriers, alleging price-fixing for text messaging services. Timothy McKone, AT&T's executive vice president for federal relations, told the senator that the suits had been filed "since your letter was made public" and said that he was "eager to clear up any misunderstanding."
#3
So I guess we don't need to worry about costs for R&D, tower maintenance, equipment upgrades, redundancy, etc.
Sure text messaging takes up a small amount of bandwidth, yet the 'roaming', streaming video, photos and internet access demanded by the mobile phone user is usually included in the plan at either 'break even' or even a loss in some cases.
Text Messaging pays the bills. Kind of like going to a restaurant for a big steak dinner (break even or loss) and staying around for a few drinks (lots o' markup).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/30/2008 14:19 Comments ||
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#4
I think she's giving me a chest message.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/30/2008 14:29 Comments ||
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#5
What a coincidence, text also begins and ends with a "T".
#7
Text messaging was about the only way to communicate after Katrina and Rita. Landlines were out, and cell systems were so overloaded that you could not get or keep a connection long enough to complete a call. But text packets would 'get in line' and wait for an opening, and were small enough to get through before the system choked again. Or something like that - they worked and nothing else did.
#8
Nobody, especially the telcos, anticipated texting would be anything other than a fringe geek hobby. It costs the Telcos almost nothing and is a massive revenue stream. Probably THE most profitable activity for any business, anywhere.
#9
Strange that my dirt-cheap one-payment-per-year Tracfone allows me to receive as many text messages as I want at no extra charge at all. I spend about 8 cents to send one, which is seldom since my correspondents don't know how to read the texts they get. I have My Yahoo sending me texts about all kinds of deadlines, comes in very handy, especially when traveling. Once I was hiking deep in a canyon of the Rio Grande, my cell phone said "No Service" and yet I received a text message in that very remote place. I looked up & could see a mountain top 50 miles away over the edge of the canyon. Very cool.
#11
"Strange that my dirt-cheap one-payment-per-year Tracfone allows me to receive as many text messages as I want at no extra charge at all. I spend about 8 cents to send one"
Do tell, Anguper Hupomosing9418. Feel free to e-mail me some more info about that phone, if you would, please. :-D
Wonder if you can transfer your own number to their phone? (On the other hand, I give my cell number out so seldom - and don't know it myself unless I look it up - that it probably wouldn't make any difference.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/30/2008 19:46 Comments ||
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#2
Well, some Noni juicers have been jailed for claiming the vile crap cures cancer, but death seems a bit harsh.
I tasted a sample of noni juice once. It lukes like prune juice, has the consistency of diesel fuel, and tastes a little like both.
#6
Lookit the guy: did he immigrate from the Planet of the Apes? Most disturbing is that this protest is taking place outside the New Zealand Embassy and Nail Salon (ala Flight of the Conchords).
Posted by: regular joe ||
12/30/2008 9:58 Comments ||
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#7
Those Pasteurization extremists have always looked a bit primitive.
A British World War II hero who fought valiantly in North Africa despite severe wounds has died 68 years after he was "posthumously" awarded the nation's highest combat honor by officials who thought he had been killed. Eric Wilson, who had been the oldest living holder of the Victoria Cross, died at age 96, according to obituaries published Tuesday in The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Jenny Hunt, a warden of St. Mary Magdelene church in Stowell, where Wilson lived, said he died Dec. 23.
Wilson had been reported killed in North Africa in 1940, but was later found alive and trying to tunnel his way out of a prison camp. He went on to further service in Africa and Burma. His family was notified in August 1940 that he was killed while staying with his machine gun, though wounded and ill, in a futile effort to repel a larger Italian force. The Victoria Cross was awarded two months later.
Wilson was commanding a company of the Somaliland Camel Corps when Italian forces attacked their position in what was then British Somaliland. Italy had declared war only the day before.
"The enemy attacked Observation Hill on 11th August 1940," the citation read. "Capt. Wilson and Somali gunners under his command beat off the attack and opened fire on the enemy troops attacking Mill Hill, another post within his range."
"He inflicted such heavy casualties that the enemy, determined to put his guns out of action, brought up a pack battery (artillery) to within 700 yards, and scored two direct hits through the loopholes of his defenses which, bursting within the post, wounded Capt. Wilson severely in the right shoulder and in the left eye, several of his team also being wounded. His guns were blown off their stands but he repaired and replaced them and, regardless of his wounds, carried on, while his Somali sergeant was killed beside him.
"On 12th and 14th August, the enemy again concentrated field artillery fire on Capt. Wilson's guns, but he continued, with his wounds untended, to man them. On 15th August two of his machine-gun posts were blown to pieces, yet Capt. Wilson, now suffering from malaria in addition to his wounds, still kept his own post in action. The enemy finally overran the post at 5 p.m. on the 15th August when Capt. Wilson, fighting to the last, was killed."
In April 1941, however, he was found alive in a prisoner of war camp in Eritrea. Wilson and his fellow prisoners had nearly finished digging an escape tunnel when the Italian soldiers fled the camp ahead of the arrival of British troops.
Wilson later served in North Africa as adjutant of the Long Range Desert Group, a motorized force that harassed Italian positions; he later served in Burma as second-in-command of the 11th King's African Rifles.
Two years ago, Wilson commented: "'What is bravery? I don't know. You just did what you had to do."
Retiring from the army in 1949 with the rank of lieutenant colonel, Wilson became a colonial officer in Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania), which became independent in 1961. On returning to London, he was deputy warden and then warden of London House, a residence for foreign students. He was honorary secretary of the Anglo-Somali Society from 1972 to 1977 and helped organize relief for Somalia when it was hit by famine in 1975.
He is survived by his wife and three sons. "I told you I was hardcore."
The British authorities are investigating how a United Kingdom (UK) citizen flew to Pakistan using his sister's passport before he was discovered by Pakistani officials and sent back. How'd you bag him, Mahmoud?
It was easy. Their mustaches weren't even close.
According to a report in The Times, 26-year-old Kasim Raja from Moseley, Birmingham, travelled to Pakistan unknowingly on his younger sister's passport. Following the incident, security at Britain's Birmingham airport was criticised as 'a total failure'.
Raja passed three security checks unchallenged before boarding a flight to Islamabad. It was only on arrival that passport control staff noticed the error and he was sent back to the UK. The paper said Swissport, which handles check-in procedures for the airline at Birmingham, has promised to investigate.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If they checked him closely, it would be profiling, and we can't have that.
#3
How this happened? Very simple. British policemen had instructions not to ask veiled women to lift their burkhas. Pakistani policemen hadn't and had no qualms on it.
#4
Uh, yeah, JFM is probably right. The guy was probably using his sister's burqa as well as her passport. You'd think the Brits would learn but I guess not.
#5
In fact I was wrong. After more careful reading it looks like the guy picked his sister's passport by mistake and the police officers at airport didn't even check he looked like in the photo.
Bummer! there goes my New Years resolution.
GIVING up alcohol can have serious side effects and people should find out if they are dependent on drink before going cold turkey in the New Year, rehabilitation experts warn.
Figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that one in 10 Australians consume alcohol at levels harmful to health in the long term, while one in five consume alcohol once a month or more at levels considered to be harmful in the short term.
Odyssey House NSW chief executive officer James Pitts said people with an alcohol dependency could suffer serious withdrawal symptoms such as seizures, convulsions, cramps, vomiting, delusions and hallucinations.
Even in less severe cases, alcohol withdrawal could lead to tremors, sweating, nausea, confusion, irritability or anxiety, he said.
"While giving up alcohol is an admirable New Year's resolution, withdrawing from any drug you're dependent on, including alcohol, can have serious health consequences if it's not managed properly,'' he said.
"The real danger is that many people don't realise they are dependent on alcohol and may not seek advice from a healthcare professional before stopping drinking.
"We urge anyone who is concerned or even just curious about their alcohol use to visit the Odyssey House website to take an anonymous five-minute test that will show whether they are drinking at risky levels and might need help to stop drinking safely.''
Mr Pitts said the test was used by healthcare practitioners worldwide and allowed people to find out instantly if they had a problem by answering 13 multiple choice questions.
He said it was free, but people were asked to make a donation to help fund Odyssey House's work helping more than 800 people each year with drug and alcohol problems.
"Alcohol misuse is taking hold of Australian society like never before and Odyssey House now treats more people for alcohol than for illicit drugs,'' he said.
"While we don't know the exact causes, people may be turning to alcohol to drown their sorrows or using it as a legal drug to self-medicate their problems.''
#1
If it's like most tests of its kind there is no way to answer that clears you of alcohol dependency.
Its like getting a DUI and going to the 'evaluation' session, there is no way you are going to not get labeled an alcoholic if you have more than 3 drinks a week.
Tell them you drink 5 or 6 drinks a night sometimes and watch them begin to salivate.
#4
bigjim, see, the problem is you admit to drinking at night.
See, I only admit to drinking during daylight hours. It's much safer, since I am less likely to trip over the bottles and cans on my way to the bathroom than I am after 8 pm.
#7
I think that's dawdling service but please don't break my nose for saying so. Gotta love Robert Duvall. If he says to have a drink I'm having a drink.
in 1985 i was refereed by court for evaluation for drug and alcohol dependency. testing to be done at a local treatment facility. we sat down and they asked about 15-20 questions. at the end, the lady told me she was going to advise the court that it was her professional opinion that i receive treatment at her facility. i answered " well Duh... like there was any way you would have possibly not suggested i come and be forced to pay you the big bucks for your 'treatment'"
she and i argued for a few minutes, and eventually just to prove me wrong, she advised the court that no treatment was required.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
12/30/2008 23:55 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
In the past few years, people seem to have forgone the conventional phone conversation in favor of punching in short text messages on tiny keypads, all while mobile phone carriers have cashed in lucratively. In 2008, 2.5 trillion messages were sent from cell phones worldwide, up 32 percent from the year before, according to the Gartner Group and reported by The New York Times.
The British authorities are investigating how a United Kingdom (UK) citizen flew to Pakistan using his sister's passport before he was discovered by Pakistani officials and sent back. 
