Weird Facts

Shocking Fact: Did You Know That Breakdance Was Invented By Soviet Army ? [Video Proof]

2009-04-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

Here is an amazing video, showing some cool moves :-) The video is more than 50 years old actually!
Still have some doubts ? There is even a battle in the middle

Just enjoy the video, this really is something )

Weird Facts - Man Charged With Killing Hawk To Help Squirrel

2009-02-20T00:04:00.000-08:00

VIENNA, Va. -- For a Virginia doctor, squirrels are a man's best friend, too. Thomas Shepler, a hand surgeon, shot a hawk to death in his backyard when he said the bird was eyeing a young squirrel that he and his wife had helped raise.

Shepler, 65, said the hawk had previously killed an adult squirrel near his suburban Washington home in Vienna. When the doctor tried to chase away the bird over the weekend by yelling and throwing a crowbar at it, the hawk didn't leave the area. So Shepler got a shotgun and killed it.

A police officer heard the shot Saturday and Shepler was arrested. He was charged with discharging a firearm in public and cruelty to animals. Shepler says he cares about animals and is feeling a lot of anxiety and embarrassment over the shooting.

[Via - KiroTV]

Ark. man left the phone at a McDonald's; he's now suing for $3 million. Guess why?

Ark. man left the phone at a McDonald's; he's now suing for $3 million. Guess why?

2008-11-24T08:48:00.000-08:00

Here's some food for thought: If you have nude photos of your wife on your cell phone, hang onto it.

Phillip Sherman of Arkansas learned that lesson after he left his phone behind at a McDonald's restaurant and the photos ended up online. Now he and his wife, Tina, are suing the McDonald's Corp., the franchise owner and the store manager.

The suit was filed Friday and seeks a jury trial and $3 million in damages for suffering, embarrassment and the cost of having to move to a new home.

The suit says that Phillip Sherman left the phone the Fayetteville store in July and that employees promised to secure it until he returned.

Manager Aaron Brummley declined to comment, and other company officials didn't return messages.

Stick added to the National Toy Hall of Fame - Weird Facts

2008-11-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

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The lowly stick, a universal plaything powered by a child's imagination, landed in the National Toy Hall of Fame on Thursday along with the Baby Doll and the skateboard.

The three were chosen to join the Strong National Museum of Play's lineup of 38 classics ranging from the bicycle, the kite and Mr. Potato Head to Crayola crayons, marbles and the Atari 2600 video game system.

Curators said the stick was a special addition in the spirit of a 2005 inductee, the cardboard box. They praised its all-purpose, no-cost, recreational qualities, noting its ability to serve either as raw material or an appendage transformed in myriad ways by a child's creativity.

"It's very open-ended, all-natural, the perfect price — there aren't any rules or instructions for its use," said Christopher Bensch, the museum's curator of collections. "It can be a Wild West horse, a medieval knight's sword, a boat on a stream or a slingshot with a rubber band. ... No snowman is complete without a couple of stick arms, and every campfire needs a stick for toasting marshmallows.

"This toy is so fantastic that it's not just for humans anymore. You can find otters, chimps and dogs — especially dogs — playing with it."

Longevity is a key criterion for getting into the hall, which the museum acquired in 2002 from A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village in Salem, Ore. Each toy must not only be widely recognized and foster learning, creativity or discovery through play, but also endure in popularity over generations.

While dolls have been around since ancient times, the Baby Doll with its realistic newborn features emerged in the late 18th century and has been through hundreds of incarnations. Today's models can crawl, drink and even talk via voice-activated commands.

"It is generally thought of as lovable and cuddly, even if it can doze off or cry during play," said Susan Asbury, an associate curator. "Toy designers have spent decades making it ever more lifelike and true to form. ... It promotes imaginative play and brings out the nurturing side in all of us."

The first skateboarders in the 1950s cruised walkways on California beaches trying to match the speed, turns and tricks performed by surfers they watched offshore.

Apart from being fun, practicing ollies, grinds and primos "promotes individualism ... artistic expression and it's also very athletic," skateboard icon Tony Hawk said in a video message played at the induction ceremony.

[Via madconomist.com]

Weird Facts: In the 1990s, your family came for dinner. Now they're moving in.

2008-09-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

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The number of parents, siblings and other relatives who live with adult heads of households grew 42% from 2000 to 2007, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Leading the way: parents, up 67%, to 3.6 million.

The figures suggest it isn't only elderly parents moving in. The number of parents under 65 in these households increased by 75%, and those 65 and older were up 62%. Both groups outpaced the increase in the number of people in family households overall, which is up 6% since 2000.

"This is just a major trend," says Stephanie Coontz, a family history professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., who directs research at the Council on Contemporary Families.

Coontz suspects that a host of factors — among them higher housing costs and the nation's struggling economy — are prompting families to combine expenses. Also, intergenerational households are more common among the country's growing number of immigrants, she says.

But Coontz also notes that parent-child relationships are closer now than in the past. The downside, she says, is the emergence of the so-called helicopter parent who may hover too closely, but the upside is a tighter bond between generations and, in many cases, closer friendships between grown children and their parents. "I don't know how many of my students have told me, 'This may sound weird, but I talk to my parents more than I talk to my friends.' "

The average size of both families and households grew from 2000 to 2007, the data show, after shrinking slightly in the 1990s. The average family in 2007 had 3.2 people, up from 3.14 in 2000. The average household, which includes those in which someone lives alone, had 2.61 people in 2007, up from 2.59 in 2000.

Among other factors changing households:

• A 40% increase in the number of other live-in relatives, including the head of household's mother-in-law or father-in-law, to 6.8 million.

• A 24% increase in the number of live-in brothers and sisters, to 3.5 million in 2007.

• An 8% increase in non-relatives, including unmarried partners and roommates, to 6.2 million.

• Alaska had the highest percentage change in parents living with householders, up 167%. South Dakota had the lowest, still up 7%.

The Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey collects data from about 3 million U.S. households each year.

[Via - USAToday.Com]

Scientists to use satellites to count kangaroo rats | Weird facts

2008-09-19T06:02:00.000-07:00

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FRESNO, Calif. — Scientists plan to use satellite photos to count Giant Kangaroo Rats, the first-ever monitoring of an endangered species from outer space.

Scientists will examine images taken from the same satellite used by Israeli defense forces to find the circular patches of earth denuded by the rats as they gather food around their burrows. From that they plan to get the first-ever accurate population count of the rodents, a bellwether for the health of a parched plains environment.

By comparing the photos to 30 years of satellite images being released this month by the U.S. Geological Survey, researchers hope to better understand how the population has fluctuated in response to climate change and as the arrival of state and federal canal water turned the arid San Joaquin Valley into a patchwork of intensely cultivated farms and forced Giant Kangaroo Rats to concentrate on higher ground.

The information will help scientists determine when cattle might be used to reduce nonnative grasses, allowing the rats to more easily find food.

This study using satellite technology is taking place on the vast Carrizo Plain, a 390-square-mile desert grassland 150 miles southwest of here that is home to the most concentrated remaining populations of kangaroo rats.

The technology replaces trapping and tedious airplane fly-overs as a means of taking census.

"It allows us to more quickly recognize whether populations are declining where we want them to exist," said Scott Butterfield, a biologist with of The Nature Conservancy. "If they go below a threshold, that is when we would consider intervening."

Giant Kangaroo Rats, nocturnal rodents so named because they hop on back legs, adapted to their desert environment by extracting moisture from seeds and in their nasal passages from the humid air they exhale. For food, they pile seeds from native grasses in circles outside their burrows, which provide shelter for the endangered San Joaquin antelope squirrel and blunt-nosed lizards. Their fat five-inch bodies are a favored source of food for the endangered kit fox.

High rainfall encourages the growth of taller nonnative grasses, which overrun the shorter grasses that kangaroo rats depend on for food. Less food means fewer offspring. When kangaroo rats decline, so do the endangered native plant and animal species that depend on them for survival, the researchers say.

Determining at what point rainfall affects foraging will help the U.S. Bureau of Land Management establish grazing policy to control nonnative grasses and encourage a healthy kangaroo rat population.

"Without them the entire ecosystem would go out of whack," said Tim Bean, a doctoral student with the department of environmental policy and management at the University of California, Berkeley. "It's fairly rare for something so small to be a keystone species. It's easier to track, say, bison."

Farming has taken 90 percent of the kangaroo rat habitat since the middle of the last century.

The Carrizo Plain National Monument is California's largest remaining undisturbed tract of grasslands similar in biology and geography to the San Joaquin Valley, and it supports many plant and animal species that once thrived on the valley floor.

"Carrizo is like a Yosemite for grasslands, and there are decisions people are learning to make to manage it in a way that preserves its natural state," Bean said. "Since the kangaroo rat is so important to its function, we've got to get a handle on it."

[Via - WRAL]

Weird Facts: Slovakia's women's ice hockey pummels Bulgaria 82-0

2008-09-10T02:45:00.000-07:00

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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) -- With more goals than minutes in the game, Slovakia's women's ice hockey team claimed an amazing 82-0 victory over Bulgaria in Olympic qualifying.

Slovakia outshot the Bulgarians 139-0 during the 60-minute game, played in Latvia. The margin of victory is a record for a women's International Ice Hockey Federation-sanctioned event.

"We took it as training," Slovakia coach Miroslav Karafiat said after Saturday's game.

Janka Culikova led Slovakia with 10 goals, while Martina Velickova scored nine. Fourteen different players scored at least one goal.

Slovakia, which also beat Croatia, Latvia and Italy, advanced to another qualifying group with Germany, Kazakhstan and France. The winner will secure a spot at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Bulgaria was eliminated after scoring one goal and conceding 192 in the tournament.

The Slovakian men's team clinched its biggest ever victory against the Bulgarians 14 years ago when they won 20-0.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press.

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Weird Facts: Help-wanted ad for nanny: `My kids are a pain'

2008-09-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

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NEW YORK (AP) - It was an unusually honest ad for a live-in nanny, a 1,000-word tome beginning, "My kids are a pain." But it worked, attracting a brave soul who's never been a nanny before.

"If you cannot multitask, or communicate without being passive aggressive, don't even bother replying," Rebecca Land Soodak, a mother of four on Manhattan's Upper East Side, wrote Aug. 19 in her advertisement on Craigslist.

"I can be a tad difficult to work for. I'm loud, pushy and while I used to think we paid well, I am no longer sure."

This being the age of instant communications, the ad took on a life of its own, making the rounds of parenting blogs and e-mail inboxes and inspiring an article in Thursday's New York Times.

Soodak, a 40-year-old painter whose husband owns a wine store, eventually hired Christina Wynn, a 25-year-old University of Virginia graduate, to take care of Rubin, 12; Ellis, 9; and Shay and Cassie, both 6.

"I made a commitment to stay in the job for at least a year," Wynn told the Times. "I met the oldest child, but not the others, which my mother said was crazy - to accept the job without meeting all the kids. So we'll see." She noted that one of the pluses is that the children are all in school for several hours each day.

Some other excerpts from the listing: "If you are fundamentally unhappy with your life, you will be more unhappy if you take this job, so do us all a favor and get some treatment or move to the Rockies, but do not apply for employment with us."

And this: "Also, if you suspect all wealthy women are frivolous, we are not for you."

And this: "I have all sorts of theories on how to stack my dishwasher, and if you are judgmental about Ritalin for ADHD, or think such things are caused by too much sugar, again, deal-break city."

No word yet on whether a sequel to "The Nanny Diaries" is in the works. Meanwhile, Soodak tells the Times: "I hope she likes it here. I sent the ad to one of my old sitters and she said she felt it was pretty accurate, which sort of stung a little bit."

[Via - MyWay.Com]

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How to Start an IT Consulting Business

2008-09-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

IT, or informational technology, refers to the development and use of computer-based technology. This can mean many different things, starting with the design of computer software and ending with the transmission of information over the Internet or via specialized networks. A consulting business can cover several aspects of the industry or focus on just one, depending on your areas of expertise.

granted by: New York IT Consulting

Step1
Decide what type of services you will offer. This depends mainly on your knowledge, although it's possible to start an IT consulting business by joining forces with experts in other fields and offering a more comprehensive service. In any case, you still need to make up a list of services offered and a list of services you won't be able to provide (so you can turn down or refer work as soon as you are asked).

Step2
Decide what type of IT company you want to start. If you work on your own and freelance for companies, you will have to file your own taxes. If you form a corporation, you will be entitled to tax breaks and government help that you would not have as an independent worker.

Step3
Set up a website that looks professional. Have a professional do it for you if you don't have the knowledge, and make sure the site is optimized for search engines. Your website should offer a good view into what your company does, what type of problems you can solve and what the credentials of the people in the team include.

Step4
Look for steady work from a single company (or two) rather than small jobs from many different ones. While the small side jobs are great as extras, they may not provide enough income to keep up with payroll and business expenses. Working as an IT consultant for a single company means steady revenue and more peace of mind.

Step5
Visit the website of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) for information on setting up a consulting practice that takes advantage of the latest developments in the industry (see Resources below). The ITAA website also offers data on policy issues and membership opportunities for more direct support.

Gunshot victim sues to get prosthetic leg back | Weird Facts

2008-09-04T01:10:00.000-07:00

ALLIANCE, Neb. - After being shot five times last weekend, a western Nebraska man had to go to court to get his prosthetic leg back from prosecutors. The Box Butte County Attorney's office gave Val McCabe's leg back Wednesday after a judge ordered it returned.

McCabe, 58, shot during a roadside incident on Friday, was listed in good condition at a hospital in Scottsbluff. Prosecutors wanted to run tests on the leg and the bullet lodged inside.

McCabe, who lost his leg below the knee in a railroad accident roughly 30 years ago, filed his lawsuit Tuesday.

McCabe lawyer argued it wasn't practical for him to replace the specially built, $28,000 prosthesis.

Alliance Police removed the bullet from the leg before returning it. No arrests had been made by Wednesday.

Via - Yahoo.news

Weird facts: Nigerian man to divorce 82 wives

2008-09-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

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A Nigerian religious leader with 86 wives has accepted an Islamic decree ordering him to divorce all but four of them, local authorities say.

A spokesman for the emir of Bida told the BBC that Mohammadu Bello Abubakar, 84, agreed on Saturday to comply with the decree.

Last week one of Nigeria's top Islamic bodies, the Jamatu Nasril Islam, sentenced him to death.

The sentence was lifted but he was threatened with eviction from his home.

Earlier, Mr Abubakar had challenged Islamic scholars, saying there was no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives.

"I have not contravened any established law that would warrant my being banished from the land... There is no law that says one must not marry more than four wives," the AFP news agency reported him as saying.
Inside "Baba's" house
Many of the wives live three to a room, some have seven children

"All my wives are with children and some of these are people I have married and stayed with for over 30 years. How can they expect me to leave them within two days?" he reportedly told local newspapers.

The former teacher and Islamic preacher lives in Niger State with his wives and at least 170 children.

Niger is one of the Muslim majority states to have reintroduced Sharia punishments since 2000.

Several people have been sentenced to death for adultery by Sharia courts but none of these sentences have been carried out.

[Via - BBC]

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Kentucky politician jailed after joke | Weird Facts

2008-08-30T02:34:00.000-07:00

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weird facts - Politicians are known for lame jokes. But when Otis "Bullman" Hensley tried a generations-old Appalachian jest on a woman and two girls at the grocery store, the family thought it was downright criminal.

Hensley, who earned notoriety for oddball antics as a longshot gubernatorial candidate, spent three days in jail in this eastern Kentucky coal town last week after being arrested over the wisecrack.

"Jay Leno makes jokes every night and makes millions," Hensley said in his thick Appalachian accent. "I make one joke and go to jail."

He could have faced as many as 10 years in prison, but a charge of attempted unlawful transaction with a minor was dismissed on Monday.

The ordeal began last week when Hensley's wife sent him to a local grocery store to buy ground beef. While there, Hensley encountered a woman with her two nieces, ages 11 and 13. "I offered to trade her a fattening hog for those girls," Hensley said. "I meant it as a joke. I've said it a million times. Most people get a kick out of it."

The woman didn't laugh. Instead, the family obtained a warrant for Hensley's arrest from the local prosecutor, claiming the comment was intended to entice the children into illegal sexual activity.

On Tuesday, the girls' father accepted an apology from Hensley and shook hands with him in a Harlan County courtroom. The man declined to discuss the case with reporters afterward.

Prosecutor J.D. Smith asked the judge to dismiss the charge, saying both sides want to put the matter behind them.

"He absolutely meant no harm," Smith said of Hensley. "It was a joke to him."

Appalachian scholar Loyal Jones said the jest Hensley made has been around for generations and actually is intended as a compliment.

"I've heard many variations of that," said Jones, retired director of Berea College's Appalachian Center. "You might hear 'That's a good looking boy; I'd trade you a pocket knife for him' ... Political correctness has ruined country humour."

In Kentucky, citizens can obtain arrest warrants simply by filing a complaint with local prosecutors. Defence lawyer Karen Davenport said no investigation is necessary for police to make an arrest when the charge involves an alleged sexual offense.

In the Hensley case, Davenport said, the arrest was unwarranted because he had done nothing criminal.

In the last two gubernatorial campaigns, Hensley travelled the state with a giant Fiberglas bull on which he attached a sign proclaiming that, if elected, he would "chase the bull out of Frankfort." He received 3.3 per cent of the vote in 2003, his best showing.

[Via - CBC.ca]

Amtrak train runs out of fuel, 80 passengers stranded for 2 hours

2008-08-26T03:21:00.000-07:00

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SAN DIEGO - It was the little engine that couldn't - because it was thirsty for fuel.

Officials say a planned quick train trip down the U.S. west coast turned into a long haul for more than 80 Amtrak passengers Sunday night when their Los Angeles to San Diego train ran out of fuel.

Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said the train sat for about two hours on the northern edge of San Diego before another engine came along to push it the last several kilometres into the train station.

The train, which had left Los Angeles at 8:30 p.m., didn't get to San Diego until 1:15 a.m. Monday, two hours late.

Cole described having a train run out of fuel as "an unusual occurrence" and said Amtrak officials will be looking into how it happened.

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Baby whale seems to think yacht is its mother | weird facts

2008-08-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

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SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- A lost humpback whale calf that bonded with a yacht it seems to think is its mother will likely die within days if it doesn't find another mother to adopt it, a wildlife official said Tuesday.

The 1- to 2-month-old calf was first sighted Sunday in waters off north Sydney, and on Monday tried to suckle from a yacht, which it would not leave. Rescuers towed the yacht out to sea, and the calf finally detached from the boat, but the creature returned to an inlet near Sydney Tuesday morning, New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesman John Dengate said.

The calf can't survive without mother's milk for long, Dengate told Australia's Fairfax Radio Network.

"It's probably a question of days rather than weeks," he said. "It's a very grim prognosis."

Artificial feeding would be impossible, so the calf's only chance is to find another female whale to accept it, he said.

"If a lactating female with a calf goes past and this calf approaches that animal it may accept it, but ... it's a very slim chance," Dengate said.

[Via - AP]

Illinois sheriff does jail time - voluntarily | Weird Facts

2008-08-21T06:09:00.001-07:00

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WAUKEGAN, Ill. - The Lake County sheriff is behind bars — voluntarily.

Sheriff Mark Curran said his goal is to talk to inmates so he can see the jail from their perspective. That way he can try to solve potential problems, such as safety issues, and better understand the inmate experience, he said.

Real inmates bunk together in a cell, but Curran will sleep in his own cell for safety reasons. He was locked up Wednesday.

"I want some introspection but let's be realistic. I'm never going to be able to completely create that scenario," Curran told The Associated Press by telephone from jail.

Curran said he's also trying to draw attention to the fact that jails are overpopulated with the mentally ill, the uneducated and repeat offenders. Rehabilitation needs to be a focus, he said.

So far Curran said he has met several inmates, not all of whom appeared to realize he was sheriff. For those who do recognize him, he said he'll have to work to gain their trust.

"There might be some skepticism amongst them," he said. "You break down the walls as much as you possibly can."

Unlike the other inmates, Curran gets to leave on a date he chooses: Aug. 27.

[Via Yahoo.news]

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How to Compare Different Credit Cards

2008-08-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

Before you apply for your next credit card, take the time to compare different cards. By making an informed decision you may save yourself money and frustration in the long run.

Step 1
Compare the current and ongoing interest rates of different Credit Cards before you apply. Though many banks may offer a low introductory interest rate, it is important to know how high the interest rate will increase once that period has ended.

Step 2
Look for additional fees, such as application charges or annual fees. Many times lower interest rate credit cards may be offset by a high annual fees or charges.

Step 3
Check to see if the interest rate differs for services such as cash advances or balance transfers. Many times, the rate may be as much as twice the normal APR.

Step 4
Keep in mind that many credit cards charge you additional fees for purchases made in a foreign country. This is a detail not to be overlooked, especially if you plan to travel or make purchases from overseas vendors.

Step 5
Know what the penalty will be if you charge purchases over your credit limit or make a late payment. These fees may be large and they do earn interest.

Compare the Fringe Benefits

Step 1
Find a card that gives you something in return, such as cash back rewards or airline mileage.

Step 2
Contribute to a cause you care about by selecting a credit card that donates to your university or a favorite charity each time you make a purchase. In many cases, your alumni credit card may serve as alumni dues for your alma mater.

Step 3
Find a credit card to suit your personal style. Many companies are now offering different designs for their credit cards.

Puerto Rico corpse kept upright for 3-day wake | Weird Facts

2008-08-19T01:54:00.000-07:00

weird facts
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing — even in death.

A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing upright for his three-day wake.

Dressed in a Yankees baseball cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped upright in his mother's living room.

His brother Carlos told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper the victim had long said he wanted to be upright for his own wake: "He wanted to be happy, standing."

The owner of the Marin Funeral Home, Damaris Marin, told The Associated Press the mother asked him to fulfill her dead son's last wish.

Pantoja was found dead Friday underneath a bridge in San Juan and buried Monday. Police are investigating.

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How to Avoid Common Search Engine Optimization Mistakes

2008-08-19T01:12:00.000-07:00

Unless you're a very strange person, you put your website up for the world to see. You want visitors for fun and profit! Why aren’t you getting them? There are lots of answers. The lack of an audience is not one of them. Do you like ray guns? Dinosaur jokes? If the Web has demonstrated one thing, it’s that there’s pretty much no topic that doesn’t have its share of devotees. Let's talk about the mistakes to avoid, step by step.
by California SEO

1. Optimize your coding if your site uses outdated HTML or generally wacky code. Examples include using the bold tag instead of the strong tag, visible HTML tabling, frames and anything else that makes the site look bad, you won't get as many visitors. Comply with the most recent universal HTML standards.

2. Use your titles. Search engines display your titles as links back to your site. If the title says “Index,” that doesn’t tell anyone a thing. Why should they click through? Search engines also give titles a great deal of weight when judging keyword relevance. Don’t stuff your titles with keywords but don’t avoid using them, either.

3. Use social media to promote your site. If your site doesn’t have any social media tools or connections, it’s automatically at a disadvantage. Get a blog, at least. Add buttons that let your visitors report interesting content to social aggregators like Technorati and Digg.

4. Include interesting, well-written content. You can have the most technically search-optimized site in the world, but if real people don’t want to read any of it, it will never improve by much. Search engines want sites that people want to visit. Ethical SEO is as much about increasing this “organic” appeal as good coding. You would think this step would be obvious, but unfortunately, the casual nature of web browsing (You can do it in your underwear!) lulls people into being a bit careless when they put content up.

5. Hire someone if you don't have skills. If you're considering hiring an full-blown SEO firm, see how their other clients rank and have responded to the company's services. Take this guys as an example: California SEO

UK: Two drunk Russian pilots arrested | Weird Facts

2008-08-16T02:24:00.000-07:00

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Two Russian pilots who were about to fly a Boeing 767 were arrested at Manchester Airport early today on suspicion they were drunk.

The pair were picked up as they prepared to get in to a 200-tonne empty passenger plane to Moscow.

Security officers alerted police when they smelled alcohol and claim the pair were struggling to stand up as they waited for their jet.

Police went to a hangar where the empty Aeroflot passenger jet was just being towed out after being repaired.

The co-pilots were breathalysed at the scene and sources say they were well above the legal limit for flying.

The legal limit for flying is 20mg of alcohol compared with 35mg for driving.

The pair, 47 and 55, were arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol while acting as crew members.

The jet had no passengers on board at the time and it is understood it was being taken back to Moscow.

The men were taken to the airport police station and later transferred to Cheadle Hulme police station, where they remained in custody.

A security officer told the M.E.N: "They were coming through security when one of the officers smelled that their breath was rather sweeter than it should be. It was reported to the police.

"They went to board their aircraft which was being towed out of the hangar to go back to Russia. It had just had its undercarriage fixed. They were breathalysed.

"You could see they weren't right as they were waiting for the plane to be towed from the hangar. They could not actually stand up on their own. They were holding onto the side of the bus that had taken them to the hangar. They were swaying. That's why we got the police involved straight away."

The Aeroflot Boeing 767 remained at Manchester Airport this morning.

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said: "Police at Manchester Airport arrested two men under suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol while acting as crew members.

"The men, aged 47 and 55, both from Moscow, were arrested at approximately 3.10am today.

"Inquiries are ongoing."

[Via Sighns of the Times News]

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The Brit women cop who worked as 100 pounds-an-hour hooker! | Weird Facts

2008-08-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

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London, Aug 14 ANI: A Brit female cop has been suspended after her colleagues found that she was working as a hooker.

The 28-year-old serving officer was arrested, along with eight women and six men, by the officers investigating prostitution and police corruption across Greater Manchester, Northumberland, Cleveland, Co Durham and the Scottish Borders.

She offered services as a 100 pounds-an-hour escort on a website.The women cop, who worked for Northumbria force, is one of the so-called Notorious Girls on a website run by Neil Lock and wife Natalie. "It is amazing that a serving officer got mixed up in this. She must have known she was gambling with her career,"

The Sun quoted a source, as saying. "If she is found guilty in a court or of an internal disciplinary offence then she is finished. She could never work as an officer again," the source added.

However, Lock and his wife, both 27, who live in a villa in Galashiels, Selkirkshire, with their two young children, insist that they are not acting illegally. They claim payments to the escorts are for "companionship" only and anything else is "a matter of choice between two or more consulting adults".

[Via World of news]

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Weird facts - Debate coaches lose cool, 1 pulls down his pants

2008-08-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

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weird facts
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An argument between two debate coaches that was caught on video was not the sharp-witted dialogue typically associated with college debate teams. Instead, the two traded profanity-laced barbs and one of them pulled down his shorts, exposing his underwear.

An eight-minute segment of the argument, in which each cursed repeatedly and one student near the camera can be heard crying, was posted on YouTube on Aug. 2 and has garnered more than 100,000 hits.

"In 18 years of taking part in debates, I have never seen an incident like this one," said Gordon Stables, first vice president of the Cross Examination Debate Association, which sponsored the March tournament in Wichita, Kan., where the argument took place.

Stables, who is also director of the University of Southern California's debate squad, said the association was investigating.

In the video, Fort Hays State University debate coach William Shanahan is shown arguing with Shanara Reid-Brinkley, debate coach at the University of Pittsburgh, during the competition's quarterfinals.

The argument, which appears to be at least in part about race, is punctuated with frequent cursing and name-calling. Shanahan, who is white, and Reid-Brinkley, who is black, scream criticisms about one another's body language during students' debates.

At one point Shanahan screams as he jumps up, then yanks his shorts down to his knees and points his rear end at Reid-Brinkley.

Phone messages left for Reid-Brinkley and Shanahan were not returned Thursday. Officials at Pitt and Fort Hays State, a university of about 9,000 students in western Kansas, said they were investigating.

[Via Yahoo.news]

Weird Facts - Sweet Home Alabama...England?

2008-08-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

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weird facts
LONDON (Reuters) - Council chiefs in Birmingham were left red-faced when they mistakenly used a picture of their U.S. namesake in Alabama on thousands of official leaflets.

Pamphlets about recycling in the West Midlands bore an image showing the skyline of the city in the Deep South.

Under the headline "Thank You Birmingham!," the picture showed office blocks in the U.S. city, rather than its own distinctive Rotunda tower and the curvy Selfridges store.

The council said it had made a mistake, but had no plans to recall the leaflets.

"We accept that the wrong photo was used but the text and detail contained in the leaflet is wholly correct which is the most important message as we strive to further improve our green credentials," the council said Thursday.

[Via Yahoo.news]

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R.I. man finds cocaine in used police cruiser | Weird Facts

2008-08-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

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weird facts — A Burrillville town councilor got more than he bargained for when he bought a used police cruiser at auction. Kevin Blais bought the 2004 Ford Crown Victoria in an online auction from the Hartford, Conn., public works department.

He was cleaning it last week when he noticed a cracked area on the one-piece molded seat assembly.

When he removed the seat assembly to clean the floor, he found a plastic bag containing a substance that local police later confirmed was cocaine.

Blais speculates that a suspect stuffed the drugs through the crack to prevent police from finding them. Burrillville Lt. Kevin San Antonio says Hartford police were "apologetic" when he told them of the discovery.

Hartford police spokeswoman Nancy Mulroy said Friday that based on their past experience with drug suspects, Blais' speculation is almost certainly correct.

"It's not unusual that perpetrators or suspects try to hide stuff in the cruisers before they go to booking, where they know they'll be searched," she said.

[Via - WRAL]

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Flu poses greater risk than terrorism | Weird Facts

2008-08-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

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A flu pandemic poses greater threat to Britain than terrorism, government risk assessment to warn

National Risk Register illustration of the "high consequence risks" facing the UK

Hundreds of thousands of Britons living abroad would return to the UK if there were a worldwide flu pandemic, the government suggests today.

A Cabinet Office report, which identifies a global flu pandemic as the most serious threat facing Britain, says that officials are drawing up plans that would help them cope if some of the 12 million Britons living abroad were to return home to increase their chances of surviving in the event of a worldwide emergency.

The report, the "national risk register", lists all the most significant risks facing Britain over the next five years. The government has published the information in this form for the first time to help organisations and individuals take appropriate precautions.

Gordon Brown promised that the register would be published when he unveiled his national security strategy earlier this year.

The register does not rank the risks it mentions in order of seriousness. But a chart showing risks according to the relative likelihood of them happening and the relative impact they would have suggests that a flu pandemic scores highest when impact and likelihood are both taken into account.

However, the chart does not include the threat posed by terrorists using a nuclear device because there is no historical precedent for this kind of attack.

The report says that flu pandemics occurred three times in the 20th century and that experts agree that there is a "high probability" of another occurring.

The World Health Organisation estimates that between 2 million and 7.4 million people would die globally.

Within the UK, up to half of the population could become infected and between 50,000 and 750,000 people could die as a result, the report said.

"Normal life is likely to face wider social and economic disruption, significant threats to the continuity of essential services, lower production levels, shortages and distribution difficulties," it says.

"The emergence overseas of an influenza pandemic or other widespread infectious disease may result in a proportion of the British nationals who are not normally resident in the UK (approximately 12 million) choosing to return to the UK. Some returning British nationals would not have the means to support themselves and their return would have a short-term but significant impact upon areas in which they settle."

On terrorism, the report confirms that the national threat assessment currently stands at "severe", meaning that some form of attack is highly likely.

"Many of those networks and individuals who are judged to pose a terrorist threat share an ambition to cause large numbers of casualties without warning," the report says.

It says that the transport system seems to be the most likely target for a terrorist attack, with rail and underground stations "popular targets". But, for any individual, the likelihood of being attacked is "still very low".

[Via guardian.co.uk]

Weird facts: Police reopen 7,000 cases after DNA error

2008-08-08T01:34:00.000-07:00

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CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian police will re-examine 7,000 crimes solved through DNA evidence after a mistake forced detectives to free a suspect wrongly accused of murder.

Police in the southern city of Melbourne withdrew charges against Russell John Gesah, accused in July of the 1984 murders of a 35-year-old mother and her nine-year-old daughter.

"It's obviously an embarrassment and we would rather not be in this position," Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland was quoted as saying in Australian media on Thursday.

DNA is supposed to be the most accurate method of proving guilt through evidence samples taken at crime scenes, with the likelihood of matching genetic markers among people said to be around one in 7 billion or greater.

Police last month said a DNA sample taken from the murder scene, where Margaret Tapp was strangled and her daughter Seana raped and later killed, matched Gesah after comparison with 400,000 other DNA profiles on a national database.

Gesah was arrested and faced court, but a later check found the DNA evidence used against him was taken elsewhere and mistakenly tested with samples from the Tapp murder scene.

Overland said every crime solved by DNA in the state since the testing technology was introduced 20 years ago would now be reviewed to check no other bungles had occurred.

"We need to refine our processes and our practices, and that is now happening as a result of this case," he said.

Victorian Law Institute spokesman Michael Brett Young said Gesah had been wrongfully painted as a villain because of police mistakes, possibly damaging public faith in the legal system at a time when corruption scandals were already undermining authorities.

"Really he's been convicted in the court of public opinion due to the actions of the police and the media," Young said on Thursday.

Criminal lawyers said the mistake would almost guarantee future challenges to the accuracy of police DNA evidence.

(Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by David Fogarty)

[Via Reuters]

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