A New York State Police spokeswoman says 16-year-old Matthew Beighey has been charged with unauthorized use of a computer and third-degree identity theft. He was ordered to return to court Wednesday.

The school district says the teenager temporarily blocked teachers' ability to enter grades at the high school in upstate Clifton Park. They needed technical support to regain access.

Last fall, the 16-year-old sophomore was accused of posting personal information on 250 district employees on his personal Web site. And now police say he built an application to shut teachers out of the grading system.

State Police spokeswoman Maureen Tuffey said Beighey was arrested Wednesday and charged with two misdemeanors: unauthorized use of a computer and third-degree identity theft. He was issued an appearance ticket and ordered to return to court Wednesday. His parents could not be reached for comment.

District spokeswoman Kelly DeFeciani said the student never got access to the grading system, but he temporarily blocked teachers' ability to enter grades.

"If I log on with an incorrect password three times, it locks me out," she said. The district's user names all are easily determined based on a specific number of letters from their first and last names, she said. The employees have unique passwords that enable them to access the grading and attendance system.

The student built a computer application using teachers' names that entered false passwords three times, she said, making it impossible for teachers to get into the system. They would then have to call the technical support staff to unfreeze their access.

"We began seeing, at 12 o'clock at night, we'd have a group of teachers locked out," DeFeciani said. "He actually went through and created a user ID and started throwing in random passwords. Teachers weren't able to get in and enter their grades."

Teachers were able to change their passwords and will file year-end grades on time.

The student has been disciplined, although DeFeciani declined to say how or whether he was still able to attend classes. She did not disclose his identity but said he was the same student who had accessed personnel records in October.

The files contained Social Security numbers, drivers' licenses numbers, home addresses and other data on past and present transportation employees, many of them bus drivers.

He was charged with identify theft, a felony, for using another student's identity to access the district's computer system. Beighey was 15 at the time, so his case was referred to Family Court and his name was not publicly released. Tuffey would not discuss the resolution of the earlier case, saying any incident that occurred when Beighey was 15 would be sealed.

At the time of the earlier incident, Beighey informed the district of his own actions through an anonymous e-mail. The data he retrieved accidentally was left on an unsecured part of the computer network.

At the time, the district said the student previously had been disciplined for violating the acceptable use policy for using district computers.

16-year-old Matthew Beighey

Link to Video and pictures of closet:

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/06/11/cant-afford-a-home-rent-a-walk-in-closet/?ncid=AOLDSN00280000000004

Saturday, June 13, 2009

ATM ripped out of bank wall

MICHAEL PARSONS

Irish Times

“AUDACIOUS”, WAS how gardaí in Co Kilkenny described a spectacular early morning bank raid in the town of Graiguenamanagh yesterday.

Four masked men stole a JCB mechanical digger and drove it into the front of the Bank of Ireland branch – partly demolishing it. They fled in two stolen cars with a trailer bearing an ATM, believed to have contained “a substantial sum of money ”.

The raid occurred at about 5.30am across the street from a Garda station which, like many in rural areas, operates on a part-time basis, and was closed at the time.

A man who lives just yards away “heard a digger going and knew something was being knocked down”. He leaned out of an upstairs window in his house and managed to film the incident on his mobile phone camera.

Gardaí, who arrived at about 6am, are examining the footage as well as CCTV film from the bank.

An eyewitness who did not wish to be named told The Irish Times he came across “four men wearing black balaclavas” on the street outside the bank. They told him to “f*** off”, and he saw them place the ATM on a green trailer. The one-storey building was badly damaged and engineers were due to inspect it. Supt Gerry Redmond said once the structure was deemed safe to enter, his priority would be to remove remaining cash from safes inside.

Supt Redmond appealed to the public to be on the lookout for the stolen vehicles used by the gang to escape. A blue hatchback Volkswagen Golf, registration number 08 D 29796, had been stolen in Mooncoin, Co Kilkenny, during a burglary on Thursday morning. And an “old style” blue BMW, for which he had a partial registration only of “94 D”, and a “flat green trailer” were stolen in the Graiguenamanagh area yesterday morning.

The JCB was stolen from a building site on the edge of the town. Supt Redmond said the gang could have gone east into Co Carlow, or towards New Ross and south Co Wexford.

The people of Graiguenamanagh are unlikely to have banking facilities for some time. Bank of Ireland is the only bank in the town, and a spokeswoman said customers should avail of services in neighbouring towns.

Perhaps reflecting current antipathy towards financial institutions, local people expressed little sympathy. One young man said he was “delighted” by the “cheeky” raid; an older man said the raiders had “done no worse than the robbers in charge of the banks”. Another said: “I’m not one bit sorry; the f****** have been robbing us for long enough.”

Onlookers agreed that the scale of the damage meant the bank would have to be entirely rebuilt. One man described it as “a terrible eyesore; you wouldn’t see the like of it in communist Europe.”

Police: Man blames his infant for hit-and-run

David Ponzer

Man wins $1M -- no wait -- just $5K

Published: June 12, 2009 at 3:31 PM

OSHAWA, Ontario, June 12 (UPI) -- Video poker games that told an avid player near Ottawa twice he had won prizes totaling $1 million were wrong, and the man took home $5,000 instead.

Jun 12, 8:33 PM EDT

The vet said Jack had swallowed a large amount of dried, harvested marijuana. After some medication to induce vomiting and a night of rest Jack was back to normal.

Waddell told police about the drugs and joked they could borrow Jack to find them if they paid the $1,500 vet bill.

LINK TO VIDEO OF DOG:

http://video.ap.org/?f=PAREA&pid=SbhshgtGoYd_8lycCeNeAXBhwxrDdAZX

Police say gas station robbery suspect left key clue behind -- a piece of paper with his name, address

by The Grand Rapids Press

KENTWOOD -- As an armed robber fled from a Speedway gas station Tuesday, he probably did not realize the clue he left behind.

It landed him in jail less than 90 minutes later, when officers staked out his apartment.

How did police know where to find him? He left his address at the scene of the crime, authorities say.

The 42-year-old robber entered the Speedway at 4404 Eastern Ave. SE about 1:20 p.m., telling the clerk he had a gun, police said. He held the weapon under a piece of paper.

After getting cash, the suspect dropped the paper as the clerk made a motion toward the weapon. Speedway employees and police soon discovered the paper apparently contained the robber's name.

Witnesses also gave Kentwood Police a description of the getaway van.

Grand Rapids officers staked out his Traditions Apartments residence at 43rd Street and Breton Avenue SE. The suspect drove up to the complex about 2:30 p.m.

He bailed from the van as police moved toward him but was captured after a brief chase.

Police later determined the gun was a homemade fake.

Kentwood Police Chief Richard Mattice said the suspect's arrest could be important in solving other crimes. Investigators were looking for links between the man and several other robberies, including one at a Kentwood party store.

Meet the smallest girl in the world

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Jyoti Amge does her homework, with refreshment close at hand

Tiny Jyoti Amge is already a 'mini' celebrity in her hometown of Nagpur, India.

But she has one big claim to fame - at just under two-foot tall the teenager is the smallest girl in the world.

Standing just one foot 11.5ins at 15-years-old, she is half the size of her two-year-old nephew.

"When I tell people my age they don't believe me," she said.

Weighing just 12lb - only 9lbs more than her weight at birth, Jyoti dreams of becoming an actress and is believed by many to be the reincarnation of a goddess.

"When I was three I realised that I was different to the rest of the kids," she said.

"I thought that everyone was bigger and I should get bigger too."

Jyoti Amge and her school friends

Jyoti has her own mini grey uniform and school bag and even a tiny desk. But she looks like a doll next to her teenage classmates.

When I was three I realised that I was different to the rest of the kids

She said: "I am proud of being the smallest girl. I love all the attention I get.

"I'm not scared of being small, and I don't regret being small.

"I am sure there are many people in this world who are dwarves like me.

"I'm just the same as other people. I eat like you, dream like you. I don't feel any different."

Despite her tiny size Jyoti insists on living as normal a life as possible - including going to the local school where she is an average and sometimes naughty student.

"I used to get stressed and couldn't go out much but now I like going out and speaking to people," she said.

"When I first went to school everyone was so big I used to get scared but I'm okay now, I like it.

"I have a different desk and chair that were made for me. I'm a normal student.

"I would like to be an actress when I grow up. My dream is to do films." Jyoti has already had a taste of fame in a pop video for Indian star Mika Singh.

"They asked her to appear in the video for a song on his album," said her mum Ranjana Amge, 45.

However, Jyoti's dreams of stardom could be ruined because of fractures to both her legs that have never healed due to problems with her size.

"First I could walk, but I slipped on ice during a holiday and hurt my leg. Because of that I'm not able to do anything. I find it strange that my legs just don't heal. They should heal quickly. I don't like it, it causes me pain."

Doctors believe Jyoti is a pituitary dwarf but have never been able to pinpoint her condition.

Jyoti's mum said: "No-one knows why she is so small. We consulted a specialist and he said she will be this size all of her life.

"Jyoti is small, yet cute, and we love her very much."

People in the region of India where the family live flock to see the pretty teenager and some even treat her as a goddess.

Ambitious Jyoti dreams of making it as a Bollywood actress.

She said: "I would love to act in films. I would love to travel to London and to see the different world there.

"I want to see America as well. I'd love to work in a big city like Mumbai."

Now Jyoti is to be featured in Channel 4's Bodyshock series on Thursday, June 11 at 9pm.

Beer Proves Once Again To Be Deterrent To Crime

                                 UPDATED VERSION

This guy was lucky the beer was lite