Posts Tagged ‘News’
15-Year-Old Kid Tricks Apple App Store [Smart Kids Rock]
I love smart kids. I love tech folks who stick it to THE MAN.
These days, despite protestations from iHoles worldwide, Apple is THE MAN. Especially when it comes to the iPhone app store.
Here’s what happened: according to Gizmodo, Nick Lee, a 15-year-old kid, was selling an iPhone app called Handy Light. It looked like one of probably thousands of “colored flashlight apps” that are in the app store.
BUT! Handy Light had a secret feature — “hidden code that made it a full tethering application—a program that allows you to use your iPhone as a 3G modem.” This is something that AT&T charges $20 a month for. But if you have Handy Light, you can do it for free — well, ok, a one-time charge of 99 cents.
A couple of points:
- Cellphone carriers who charge for tethering are annoying.
- Apple’s claim that they filter apps in order to protect users now sounds silly. Especially when they rejected a farting app. (They eventually approved it, I think.)
- It’s great that kids are still programming. Computers in schools are mostly used now as gaming machines.
- This is NOT evil hacking. This is a kid who figured out a way to buck the system.
According to Gizmodo, Apple removed Handy Light from the app store, but anyone who downloaded the thing can keep using it. Not sure if it’s possible to load your own apps onto the iPhone. If so, I hope the kid released the source code so people can keep doing this on their own. It may be a violation of AT&T’s agreement (I have no idea if it is or not); if so, that’s their problem.
GO! SMART! KIDS! David Lightman! Represent!
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukXXcOn7V7o]
How a 15-yo Kid Tricked Apple With a Disguised iPhone Tethering App (Gizmodo)
Wargames DVD image via Amazon.com
Not Having Kids Led To Murder [Laughing Instead of Crying]
CNN is reporting that “Fertility issues were at the center of former TV chef Juan-Carlos Cruz’s motivation in the alleged murder-for-hire plot to kill his wife“. In other words, not having kids led to murder.
See, I always thought it was the other way around.
This isn’t a funny story, of course, and that joke was in poor taste. But whatever. Let’s think about this for a minute.
I admit that I can’t completely relate to people who are desperate to have children and are unable to do so. I have two kids, and no fertility treatments were involved. Part of me doesn’t get the idea of fertility treatments — some people go through a lot in order to have a child themselves rather than, say, adopting, or just not having kids. But in the interest of trying to be an enlightened live and let live kind of guy (ha ha) I’m willing to accept the idea that there are feeling I can’t comprehend because I’ve never been in the same situation.
That said, the idea that not being able to have a child would drive a man to hire someone to kill his wife seems far-fetched. It was SO IMPORTANT to have kids? Again, why not adopt? How long are you going to try? Ever heard of Kate Gosselin? She did some sort of procedure and ended up with six more kids. SIX. KIDS. The Octo-mom? Hello? Even twins seems like a lot to me.
Hell, one kid is a lot. Maybe, before desperately trying every fertility treatment in town, potential parents should spend some time with a large family. Preferably one with very young children. Who don’t sleep. And talk. A lot. Maybe one of the kids is a biter. Another one wets the bed. Nightly. Still another likes to flush things, like mom’s shoes, down the toilet. At least once a week.
Maybe then they would see that having kids? Not the only way to go through life.
Now, a disclaimer of sorts. I love my children. I wanted to have them. They are cute, they are annoying, blah blah blah. But in the same way that it shouldn’t matter if a woman in public life has kids, and that we should stop referring to single women as unmarried as if being married is a goal for a woman, it would be nice if people would stop thinking about children as something that they need. You aren’t “childless.” You just don’t have kids. Or maybe whether or not you have children is even an issue.
I personally don’t even like to ask people if they plan on having kids. Which I guess is a good thing, since, according to CNN, not having kids can lead to murder.
Sources: Inability to have child behind TV chef’s murder scheme – CNN.com
Does It Matter If A Woman In Public Life Has Kids? – Jezebel
All the Single Ladies – Maureen Dowd, New York Times
Jon and Kate Plus 8 DVD Image via Amazon.com
Dad Says Son Is Not A Terrorist, Just A Little Dopey [I f—ed up]
If there’s one thing a father longs for, it’s the ability to tell a reporter that his son is not a terrorist.
A Delta flight from Paris was diverted to Bangor, Maine, according to ABC News, when a passenger named Derek Stansberry “created a disturbance”. Derek is from Apollo, Florida. I don’t know why, but that amuses me. Derek is in FBI custody, according to ABC.
So whom do you call when a 26-year-old does something incredibly stupid, like taking pills before boarding a plane, then passing a note to a flight attendant that says “Forgive me, I f—ed up, I’m sorry,” followed by telling federal air marshals that you have a bomb? Duh. You call his dad.
Stansberry’s father, Richard, told ABC News his son is a former Air Force reservist. The elder Stansberry said he was notified late Tuesday by authorities that his son was involved in the incident.
“He’s not a terrorist,” said the elder Stansberry of his son. “I just found out and I am in total shock,” he said.
According to ABC, the FBI says that Derek Stansberry did not have any explosives on him. They also said Stansberry had lied about having a fake passport.
Video report from ABC News:
via Delta Flight 273: No Bomb Found on Diverted Delta Flight After FBI Investigation – ABC News
Father and Son Charged With Robbing Pharmacy
A father and son have been charged with robbing a pharmacy in Toms River, New Jersey, according to the Asbury Park Press.
The family that steals together, stays together.
Maybe they got tired of waiting for the health care reform bill to pass?
(Image from Archive.org, from the Andy Griffith Show, an episode called The Robbery. Andy and Opie were not, as far as we know, involved in this crime.)
Father, son charged with pharmacy burglary in Toms River | APP.com | Asbury Park Press.
Dad And Son Bomb Bank Together
Another father and son crime — bank bombing.
Bruce Turnidge and his son, Joshua, are both accused of planting a bomb at the West Coast Bank branch in Woodburn in December 2008 that killed a Woodburn police captain and an Oregon State Police trooper.
Since people died, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Father, son face hearings in Ore. bank bombing [Gazette Times]
Dad Helps Son Escape Prison
Brian Rigby helped his son with his jailbreak, and got himself arrested.
Osceola County investigators say 21-year-old Michael Rigby ran two miles to his grandmother’s home after getting out of the jail. The grandmother then allegedly called the fugitive’s father, Brian Rigby (pictured right), who gave his son a car and money to aid his escape.
Sounds like grandma helped too, but she’s free. She just made the call, maybe that’s not as serious a charge. Not condoning the illegality of it all, but this is definitely a dad willing to go all out for his son.
Father of escaped inmate arrested for helping son get away – WDBO Local News on wdbo.com
Dad Punches Dad at School Event
Parents’ night at school is always fun. You get to meet other parents, the teachers, maybe punch someone in the head.
Wait, what?
A Connecticut papa punched a fellow parent during an “open house” at a North Haven Middle School. “Rodney Rivera, 32, got into a fight over a debt he believed he was owed, police said. The victim and his wife called police from a classroom, the New Haven Register reports.” He was charged with “third-degree assault, breach of peace and threatening.” A woman who lives with Rivera, Catherine Sullivan was also arrested “on a breach of peace charge.” I guess she didn’t actually hit anyone.
I always figured I’d embarrass my children by playing Slayer when his friends come over. Beating up other dads isn’t even on my list.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0AGUywHntw]
Source: NBC Connecticut via DetentionSlip
Image: Internet Archive
