Good week for:
Chutzpah, when somebody set up a rogue ATM—a machine disguised as an ATM that actually steals card numbers and PINs—at the Defcon hacker conference in Las Vegas. The machine was eventually discovered by some of the 8,000 computer-security professionals attending the convention.
Cardiologists, after the Wisconsin State Fair introduced two new taste treats: chocolate-covered bacon on a stick, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches dipped in pancake batter and deep-fried.
Perfection, after China released a list of 100 health requirements for would-be astronauts. Candidates for future space missions must have no scars, cavities, runny noses, or bad breath. “The bad smell would affect their fellow colleagues in a narrow space,” said health official Shi Bing Bing.
Bad week for:
Tweeting without a review by legal counsel, when a Chicago landlord sued former tenant Amanda Bonnen for defamation after she complained in a Twitter message that her apartment was moldy. She was accused of publishing “a false and defamatory tweet.” Bonnen had 20 followers on Twitter.
Birthers, who published online the “Kenyan” birth certificate of Barack Obama. Unfortunately, the document contained some glaringly obvious signs of forgery, including the fact that it was stamped “Republic of Kenya,” even though a country with that name did not yet exist when Obama was born.
Every college in America, after a graduate of New York City’s Monroe College sued her alma mater for the $70,000 she spent on tuition, saying she has been unable to find a job since earning her degree in April.
