Asking folks in an Internet chat room to help crash his high school’s computer was a joke to one student.
School officials and Canton City Prosecutor Frank Forchione didn’t think it was funny.
On Wednesday morning, Forchione filed a felony criminal charge of disrupting public services against Michael W. Stone, 18, of 13634 Mogadore Ave. NW. Uniontown police arrested the Lake High School senior at the school.
“Michael said it was a joke,” Forchione said. “We showed him how we deal with this kind of joke.”
The incident occurred Dec. 2. Using a school computer, Stone created a blog on a Web site that encouraged others to use a link to another site. Once at the second site, Stone told users to “hold down F5 to help crash my school server,” according to police reports.
Forchione said school officials noticed that Lake High’s computer system was slowing down and called a technician who discovered the problem and its source.
School officials contacted Uniontown police, who investigated the case and turned over information to Forchione’s office.
Forchione said he filed charges because students need to know that officials will be aggressive when dealing with computer crime.

Lake senior faces felony charge OR When F5 Is A Crime...

"When a Marquette University Dental School student blogger made some nasty comments about an (unnamed) professor and (unnamed) classmates on his personal blog, the Dental School administration imposed a draconian punishment on him. He was to be suspended from school for a year, lose a prestigious scholarship, and seek counseling for supposed "behavioral problems." The case received wide attention, starting with local talk radio, the local daily paper and reverberated through the blogsphere. Dental School Dean William Lobb, considering the case on appeal, has now reduced the student's punishment. The student now faces probation rather than suspension, will be allowed to keep his scholarship, and will not have to seek counseling. He will have to do 100 hours of community service, and apologize for the blog posts. While this is certainly good news for the student, it leaves open the question of how much freedom Marquette Dental School students have in posting on their personal, non-university connected blogs."

Dental School Blogger Punishment Reduced

The Chicago Police Department is warning officers their cell phone records are available to anyone -- for a price. Dozens of online services are selling lists of cell phone calls, raising security concerns among law enforcement and privacy experts.

Your phone records are for sale

"An article on MSNBC describes what happens when 'View Similar Products' recommendations go bad. From the article: 'The company said it was alerted to the problem early yesterday afternoon after word began spreading among bloggers. When visitors to Walmart.com requested Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series on DVD, four other movies were recommended under the heading Similar Items. Those films included Martin Luther King: I Have A Dream/Assassination of MLK and Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.'"

When Purchase Recommendations Go Bad

"Universe Today has released a free, downloadable PDF book for its What's Up this Week astronomy column. This 400 page ebook has an entry for what you can see in the night sky every day in 2006, as well as additional information on choosing equipment, viewing conditions, and additional resources."

365 Nights of Skywatching...

The Indianapolis Star on Dec. 25, 2005, examined a new low-premium, high-deductible health plan from Indianapolis-based WellPoint for individuals from ages 19 through their early 30s "who are likely to go without health insurance." WellPoint designed the health plan, called Tonik, for young adults who "are without jobs or working in positions that don't provide benefits" and students who no longer receive coverage through the health plans of their parents, the Star reports. WellPoint launched Tonik in California in 2003. Tonik also is available in Colorado and will become available in other states this year. Tonik offers three levels of health coverage: "Thrill Seeker," "Part-Time Daredevil" and "Calculated Risktaker." Monthly premiums under Tonik range from $64 to $123 based on age, location and medical history, and deductibles range from $1,500 to $5,000. Tonik covers limited dental and vision services but does not cover maternity care. According to the Star, Tonik is "part of a new line of insurance products sprouting up as fewer Americans are getting health insurance" from their employers because of increased health care costs.

I don't have health insurance because my company plan is way to much for my pay and this sounds like a better option... What is your plan like?

New WellPoint Health Plan For Uninsured Young Adults Examined, USA

Consumption of caffeinated coffee significantly reduces the risk of developing breast cancer among women who have a specific genetic mutation that greatly increases the chance of being diagnosed with the disease, according to a study published in the Jan. 1 edition of the International Journal of Cancer, Reuters Health reports. Steven Narod, director of the Familial Breast Cancer Research Unit at the Centre for Research in Women's Health in Toronto, and colleagues examined at 40 clinics in four countries the records of 1,690 women who have the genetic mutations BRCA1 or BRCA2 and gave the women a self-administered questionnaire about coffee consumption. Women who drank six or more cups of caffeinated coffee per day were 69% less likely to develop breast cancer than women who drank no coffee, according to the study. One to three cups of coffee per day reduced the risk by 10% and four to five cups reduced it by 25% compared with women who drank no coffee. The researchers found that coffee consumption related to a significant reduction in breast cancer risk for women with the BRCA1 mutation but not for women with BRCA2 (Reuters Health, 1/3). In addition, the study finds that decaffeinated coffee did not reduce breast cancer risk. "We think the effect is through the caffeine on the female hormones," Narod said (Shin, New York Daily News, 1/4).

Coffee Consumption Reduces Breast Cancer Risk For Women With Genetic Mutation, Study Says

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) has introduced a bill that would bar the National Weather Service from competing with the commercial weather industry.

This law would reinstate a 1991 policy that said NWS would not distribute products or services that could be provided by the private sector. This includes specialized forecasts targeting agribusiness, utility companies, boating interests and business needs. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the weather agency, rescinded the non-competition provision in December, upsetting the commercial industry.

Backers of the bill contend that NWS spends too much money mimicking the private sector and sometimes withholds critical information, such as real-time snowfall accumulation reports and hurricane reconnaissance reports.

Santorum objected to NOAA's policy change in December.

"This decision by NOAA to repeal the non-competition and non-duplication policy detracts from NWS' core missions of maintaining a modern and effective meteorological infrastructure, collecting comprehensive observational data, and issuing warnings and forecasts of severe weather that imperil life and property," Santorum said after recommending the new legislation earlier this month.

Keep NWS out of data distribution...

DIY RFID human implants are on the rise. I have found over sixteen instances of midnight engineers implanting RFID tags in their hands. The general excuse is for automation purposes. Examples such as unlocking a computer screen saver or opening doors that have been outfitted with electric deadbolts. In my own case the idea of implanting technology that I have researched and spec'd out was very appealing. The fact that it can actually do something useful is quite secondary. The most rewarding part of this project was learning about RFID at a much deeper level.

Wow .. Will not find this in the pages of MAKE....

Man implants RFID in hand....

Nick Naylor, chief spokesman for Big Tobacco, makes his living defending the rights of smokers and cigarette makers in today’s neo-puritanical culture. Confronted by health zealots and an opportunistic senator, Nick goes on a PR offensive, spinning away the dangers of cigarettes, but he begins to think about how his work makes him look in the eyes of his young son Joey.

Looks like a good movie...

Thank You For Smoking...