Elderly Amish Man Caught on Film With Prostitute, Blackmailed
When a 75-year-old Amish widower slept with a prostitute, he -- we feel certain -- felt pretty bad about it the next morning. As if that guilt weren't enough for the old man, the prostitute and her boyfriend demanded $67,000 from him, claiming that they had filmed the scene with wall-mounted cameras and would upload the recording to the Internet. The pair was later arrested and, we can only imagine, the Amish man abhorred technology more than ever.
Bank Robber Gets Away With the Help of Craiglist
In October, a bank robber -- wearing a safety vest, blue shirt, face mask and goggles -- eluded police with the help of Craiglist. Just outside the bank, while the robbery was in progress, stood a group of men who were responding to a Craiglist day labor opportunity. As the advertisement required, they were all wearing safety vests, blue shirts, face masks and goggles.
Nude New Zealander Arrested After Responding to Fake Sexy Text Message
Late in 2007, a Wellington, New Zealand man received a racy text message from two anonymous "ladies," giving him only an address and a request that he show up naked. Well, he indeed showed up naked... at the home of one appalled, unsuspecting New Zealander. Both the nude Romeo and the sadistic texter were arrested, though neither were prosecuted.
Fake Craiglist Ad Costs Man Most of What He Owns
Last Spring, a post appeared on an Oregon Craigslist board stating that the owner of a specific house was leaving all of his worldly possessions (still in said house) to whoever wanted them. When homeowner Robert Salisbury rushed home -- on a tip from a woman suspicious about the offer of a free horse -- he found his house being ransacked by 30 strangers. We suggest he take that horse and collect some vengeance Clint Eastwood-style.
17-Year-Old Jailed for Stealing Virtual 'Furniture'
When a 17-year-old Dutch boy hacked into several accounts on the Second Life-style site 'Habbo' in 2007, the the law got involved. The boy was discovered to have stolen $5,800 worth of virtual furniture and knick-knacks. Apparently, crime -- whether actual or virtual -- does not pay.
Phishers Going After Your Phones in New 'Vishing' Trend
Over the past year, sneaky spammers have begun to forsake the worn-out territory of e-mail in favor of cell phones' fertile frontier. The result? "Vishing." Get it? Voice mail phishing. It might be more ominous if it didn't sound like a James Bond villain saying, "Wishing."
Burglars Break Into Restaurant, Steal HDTV, Leave Money / Food Behind
Around Halloween of last year, a truckload of thieves drove into -- that's right, into -- a Pennsylvania Mexican restaurant, where they -- apparently uninterested in the cash register -- stole a mid-grade 47-inch HDTV and fled the scene. We've all heard about how this generation is lacking in ambition, but this generation's thieves, too?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
rickstsx said 12:21PM on 2-27-2008
I got the red ring of death on my first xbox360. I had the extended warranty with Best Buy and they replaced it. I then bought another xbox360 with the gift card they sent me. Thankfully, no problems yet after two months... The problem is that you can't place burnt DVDs or fake DVDs in your xbox360. It will play them, but then break your system. Don't place these cheap things in your console. It's well worth paying the 15 - 20 dollars for real DVDs.
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micah said 12:25PM on 2-27-2008
My Xbox360 just failed on me after only 14 months since the purchase. Of course even before I was treated the ring of death, I would receive regular disc read errors and games freezing up on me.
Don't get me wrong, I am happy that it is being repaired for free, but many people experience this repeatedly and are having to mail 360s several times before its finally replaced completely (thats 4-6 weeks without the console each time you send it out.
I just wish they would take a page out of Nintendo's and Sony's playbook and make a durable system.
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AT said 12:33PM on 2-27-2008
I am now on my 8th xbox360. I created an interactive story model for everyone to share in my experience. http://flypaper.net/viewModel.aspx?id=569
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KROW said 12:35PM on 2-27-2008
Well... I'm on my 6th XBOX 360! the big problem with the systems is cooling. Heat builds up in the 360 causing the heat tape or heat paint they place over the prossor to bubble up and cause a melt down on the prossor
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MessiahAmp said 12:48PM on 2-27-2008
I'm on my 4th or 5th Xbox360. Plus, I'm sure that these studies don't account for HDD failure which is pretty much the same as having the three red rings since your XBox is pretty much a pretty DVD Player without it.
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Kris said 12:53PM on 2-27-2008
I love my PS3
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hbshue96 said 12:57PM on 2-27-2008
My XBOX 360 hasn't failed once and i have had for over a year!!! Sucks For All Of You!!!!!!!
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Joseph Leslie said 12:58PM on 2-27-2008
Let me guess! Are thse fine products "CRAFTED WITH PRIDE IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA"?
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Kathy Masciotro said 1:06PM on 2-27-2008
I am in the process of returning XBOX 360. Is is only covered under new warranty for a short time. I feel it should be covered indefinitely since there was such a rush to get them out and there is and has always been a problem with it since purchase. I am still waiting for box to return for repair and I wont have it for a month. New ones should have been replaced instead of repair
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jim said 1:08PM on 2-27-2008
I feel that this is a tactic by Sony to discredit and confuse the public to the truth about the real failure rate. Sony fanboys have been know to vote upwards of 50 times in polls like this one, . . . anything to shed a negative light on the xbox, and a positive one on the PS3. . . . I have all 3 next gen consoles, and while my 360 sometimes gives me a dirty disk message, . . my PS3 on the other hand, freezes all the time and I have issues with the bluetooth controllers staying connected.. If you go to the PSU forums, you will see that this is not uncommon, and the Sony fanboys would rather go through brain surgery than admit that their console has issues.....The truth WILL come out, and all this nonsense that is being spewed will be forgotten.
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mattj2474 said 1:20PM on 2-27-2008
I am currently on my third 360. After the first two failed,I opted for the 360 elite and that one has failed. The one thing that I hate about this whole process is the fact that I bought a Best Buy Warranty and then Microsoft extended the warranty. I thought that sucked.
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Brian Fitz said 1:21PM on 2-27-2008
We had our xbox 360 a little over a year before it broke down. It cost $107 to get fixed by Microsoft. 16% is way too low. We know at least five different people who have had trouble with the 360.
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mattj2474 said 1:23PM on 2-27-2008
Sorry I mean to say that the elite has not failed. The first two did though.
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Lizzychan said 1:26PM on 2-27-2008
Jim, I've owned a ps3 for just over a year now with no serious problems. I've had a few game freezes with it but I suspect that its more the game and not the system. I've never had problems with the controllers, they work like a dream. Plus the ps3 has been tested by being put in a sauna for 72 hours being played or running blue ray movies and not crashing, shutting down or producing errors, I'd like to see the XB 360 go through something like that. Check out the link below if you don't believe me.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/15/extreme-ps3-stress-test-garners-praise-from-sony/
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Gerry314 said 1:30PM on 2-27-2008
I have had two systems crash with the red ring of death. My first one crashed three months into owning it, the next one within eleven months. I had to buy a new one while the broken one spent three weeks in repair because my sons christmas gift was Rock Band and my second system crashed in November, so I bought a new system. Now I have two. Good idea if one dies I have another to rely on. I love the games and the system, but the breakdown is horrible.
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ellen said 1:32PM on 2-27-2008
we r waiting for our 3rd xbox to be repaired....
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TR said 1:34PM on 2-27-2008
Its been well known for a while that they have a high failure rate.
My original 360 had broken and gotten the red ring of death, but like others have mentioned, probably because of cooling issues (mine occured after too many long nights in a row gamin with friends) but have had no problems since
Also, I dont see what he big issue is. At first I admit I was mad when it happened, but since I had gone through Best Buy I didn't even have to get a card or wait or anything, they simply switched my console with an in-stock one and sent me on my way.
This report also seems a lil misleading specifically the line "SquareTrade's study tracked 1,040 Xboxes over six to ten months after Microsoft's warranty expired. In that time, 171 claims were filed." The original warranty applied to the original systems, which had the most problems, and for the most part seem to be corrected. Microsoft also did the right thing to those whose had expired, giving them rebate checks and extended the warranty to 3 years from date of purchase. (neither of which is mentioned above)
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Alan said 1:44PM on 2-27-2008
I had owned a x box 360 for a month or so when it failed. I contacted best buy where I bought it from and a representative said they have had a few customers bring back failed x box's. So I went back to best buy and got credit back and used it to buy a playstation 3 console. I have had no diffilculties with PS3. The PS3 also has blu-ray and the graphics are much better than x box 360. I was wise to not get another x box 360.
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BearsFan99 said 1:57PM on 2-27-2008
Nintendo's Wii is much better. It usually takes 3-5 restarts to get a game to work but that the cause of that might be all the scratches on the back of the disk. If only my nephews and niece could learn to handle a game disc by the sides and not touch the back of them!
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remedy419 said 2:00PM on 2-27-2008
I brought my ring of death xbox360 to the ups store in the white 'coffin' box they gave me to send it in, and the guy at the ups store said "hey is that another xbox 360". Shocked, I asked "how did you know?". And he said "ive processed at least 15 for return deliveries this week...." Screw Microsoft!!!
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