How long does it take stolen credit card data to go around the world? Because of the internet, about 15 minutes.

The best use for Bluetooth is being able to pass secret notes to your friends during boring meetings.

Catholic high school principal wants his female students to stop dressing like "Catholic schoolgirls".

The internet is the cause of 1 in 10 British couples with marital difficulties according to this article. (But at least these people should be easily able to find new partners via the internet...)

Digital bullying is becoming very common among British schoolchildren with mobile text messaging. (I would think that it should be fairly to catch and punish the perpetrators, since the threatening messages can be traced back to the sender.)

This counter-terrorism class for ordinary citizens will teach you how multiple ways to take out a hijacker with just a can of Coke, among other tricks. Not bad knowledge to have if you're on an airplane or in some other situation where you're unarmed. (Via Plastic.)

The "Black Death" of the Middle Ages was probably not the disease we now call the bubonic plague.

A presidential candidate in France slapped a kid on national TV who attempted to pick his pocket. As a result, his poll ratings have increased. For once, I think the French populace is showing more common sense than Americans would in a similar situation.

The all-you-can-eat buffet is a classic dining institution. But it's not a trivial task to devise the optimal eating strategy. (Via ALD.)

Spammers are using all sorts of deceptive subject headings and other techniques to trick you into opening their unwanted e-mail.

Liberal Bay Area parents who grew up in the 1960's apparently have no problems advocating restrictions on what their kids can read on the internet.

"Linux for the masses": MSNBC of all places has a nice review of the Lycoris Desktop/LX Linux distribution. The review is quite positive, and the author recommends this as an excellent starting point for a Linux novice.

Your nanny cam is beaming wireless images that eavesdroppers can watch up to a quarter mile away.

Those flu-like symptoms you think you're experiencing might really be post-orgasmic syndrome.

Twins seeking twins: I'm surprised that no one had thought of doing this earlier. (Here's the website.)

Inside the Magic 8-Ball: These intrepid investigators dissect a Magic 8-Ball in order to answer questions like "What is the distribution of positive to negative answers?" and "What does the mysterious blue fluid taste like?"

All games, all the time: The G4 all-video-game TV network is set to launch soon. (IMHO, this sounds like a business model doomed to fail. Who wants to watch other people play video games all day? But then, I thought the Golf Channel was a dumb idea as well...)

Cybercrime up in China: The mainland Chinese "Ministry of Public Security" reports that computer crime has increased dramatically (over 40-fold) during the past 4 years. Of course, they include in their definition of cybercrime both conventional computer crimes (such as computer embezzlement or spreading viruses) as well as "harming national security" with a computer (for instance, by attacking Party leaders, promoting Falun Gong, or stirring up "splittist" and "separatist" sentiments). It's nice to see that classic overblown Cold War rhetoric remains alive and well in the "Chinese People's Daily"...

The Amazing Orwellian Spider-Man: Some building owners in NYC are suing Columbia Pictures for digitally altering the appearance of their buildings in the upcoming "Spider-Man" movie. They claim that Columbia has used special effects to remove the Samsung advertisements on their buildings and replace them with ads for USA Today. Columbia (which is owned by Sony, a competitor to Samsung) has not commented on the lawsuit. USA Today's response was basically, "Hey, they just picked us -- we didn't pay anyone for this."

Voice mail theft is surprisingly easy.