Interesting article in the Daily Telegraph about computer hacking (requires registration), following last week's hacker conference in NYC. Quotes an expert who suggests that the majority of hacking directed against companies actually stems from insiders within the companies themselves.

Faking the periodic table: How a scientist forged data to invent two new elements.

Got a few e-mails about the Dr. Pepper/Pledge of Allegiance issue that's circulating through e-mail. Here's the text of the e-mail that people are receiving:
Just sharing the info with you that I received!

For those who have not heard, the bottlers/manufacturers of Dr. Pepper and their other products, have started a "new" can campaign. They are putting patriotic scenes on them. One, is the Empire State Bldg. with the pledge of allegiance...but ... they left off the words..."under God". They felt it might "offend" some. I don't know about you, but as a Christian, I am boycotting their products! They said they didn't "have room" for those words, but yet they had room for "indivisible" on the can Please pass this along to others and see if we can get a message out to Dr.Pepper ....ifhaving "under God" on cans offends them, then they don't need our money with "in God we trust" on it!!!
It turns out that Dr. Pepper did quote part of the Pledge of Allegiance on a patriotically themed can, and they did leave out the phrase 'Under God.' But then they only quoted three words from the pledge: "One nation... indivisible." So they also left out all references to the flag, the republic, liberty, and justice.

Here's Dr. Pepper's official response to the controversy: Dr. Pepper

A bird that steals quarters from a vending machine. Is this a hoax? I honestly don't know.

Update: Apparently it's not.

Hackers broke into USA Today's web site and replaced the real news with fake stories. One of the hoax stories was that the Vatican had declared the Bible to be an April Fool's joke.

Read this story in the Mirror: "A WOMAN fooled jail authorities for ten months by going to prison for her older sister. The 33-year-old took the place of her 37-year-old sibling in a fraud case in Zwiebruecken , Germany. The con was only discovered when she absconded on compassionate leave. Both now face jail."

The Center for Disease Control has a Health Related Hoaxes and Rumors page. Worth checking out.

Now this doesn't surprise me: Robbery statistics inflated by liars.

Amusing account of a mud-wrestling hoax perpetrated by Jeff Norman for an episode of "World's Nastiest Neighbors." It involved pretending to be an obnoxious neighbor who staged mud-wrestling matches on the lawn of his suburban home. The neighbors were so horrified that they called the police and had Norman arrested.

From the files of medical quackery: cow urine as a cure for AIDS.