Top 10 hacking scandals of 2011

As more and more celebrities join the social networking bandwagon, they also become increasingly vulnerable to hacking. From heads of states to Hollywood celebrities, this year saw a series of hacking incidents involving high-profile victims. Check out the top 10 most controversial ones...

Selena Gomez's Twitter and Facebook fans woke up to an uncharacteristic post about her boyfriend Justin Bieber. The venomous post screamed "Oh yeah, JUSTIN BIEBER SUCKS!!!!!!!". The teen singer immediately clarified that it was a case of hacking and she had nothing to do with the post.

Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher, who used to host the celebrity prank show, Punk'd, got a taste of is medicine his Twitter account @aplusk was hacked. A tweet sent to his followers said, "Ashton, you've been Punk'd. This account is not secure. Dude, where's my SSL?"

Kim Kardashian went into a panic mode when her Twitter account was hacked by internet pranksters this year. On discovering fake tweets posted by an imposter, the socialite appealed to bosses of the site to help restore the security on her account.

In one of the biggest data breaches, Sony admitted to an external intrusion which exposed personal information of 77 million PlayStation Network users. The PlayStation maker warned users that the hackers might have access to customers' vital information, including names, birthdates, physical and e-mail addresses, and logins, handles and credit card details.

 

Hackers defaced a website belonging to Blackberry maker Research in Motion soon after the company revealed its plans to support police investigating the London riots. The hackers posted on the blog: "No Blackberry you will NOT assist the police." Blackberry took off the blog briefly and restored it to its original form.

In one of the most shocking security breach incident, around two lakhs Facebook accounts were hacked in Bangalore. The users' photos and videos were morphed and the sleazy links mailed to friends and families overnight.

A scam on Lady Gaga's Facebook page fooled many fans into clicking the link to win an iPad. The contest rules and registration were presented as a link to a Blogspot page. "Lady Gaga's new iPad comes out in 3 days! So for the next 72 hours we will be hosting a massive giveaway to all the Mother Monster fans. Sign up and receive your special Lady Gaga edition iPad in time for the Holidays!" hackers posted on her Facebook page. The presence of the fake iPad offer didn't go unnoticed, and was taken down within an hour.

 

Hackers played a cruel joke on French President Nicolas Sarkozy when they posted a fake resignation letter from his Facebook page. The post, which went out to more than 350,000 'friends' of the head of the state read like this: "Dear compatriots, given the exceptional circumstances our country is experiencing, I have decided in my spirit and conscience not to run for office again at the end of my mandate in 2012".

 Thailand's Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, fell victim to the hacking menace when her Twitter account was hacked. Her followers received tweets criticizing her political experience and incompetence. The tweets also suggested that she was her brother's (former Prime Minister - Thaksin Shinawatra) puppet.

While celebrities and popular figures have been the target of hackers, it was media house Fox News who faced their ire in July this year. In a gruesome joke, the hackers tweeted the death of president Obama. Some of the tweets read like this: @BarackObama has just passed. The President is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed. President Barack Obama is dead." This was followed by more on the same lines claiming that Obama was shot at a restaurant while campaigning.

Top 10 Unbelievable Prison Smuggling Stories

People have been smuggling things from explosives to exotic birds into prisons for years.

Here's oddyfunny list of the best ways to smuggle banned goods into prison.

    The inmate who had condom stuffed with 30 items crammed up his anus

  

Florida prison officials found 17 Oxycodone pills, 1 cigarette, 6 matches, 1 flint, 1 empty syringe with an eraser over the needle part, 1 lip balm container, 1 condom, 1 CVS receipt, and a coupon ... in Neil Lansing's, 34, rectum.

The woman who tried to sneak husband out of jail in suitcase

Police in Chetumal, Mexico say a woman was caught trying to sneak her common-law husband out of a Mexican prison in a suitcase following a conjugal visit. Prison guards checked the bag of 19-year-old Maria del Mar Arjona and found inmate Juan Ramirez Tijerina curled up inside in the fetal position.
Her husband is currently serving a 20-year sentence for illegal weapons possession

The obese inmate who tried to smuggled gun under his fat rolls

A 500-lb. inmate at a Texas prison was able to sneak a gun past prison guards after cleverly using his fat flab to his advantage. George Vera smuggled an unloaded 9mm pistol past several frisks and searches by wedging the gun between his fat folds.

The gang members who stashed cell phones in their backsides

A Mexican prison gang all got caught hiding cell phones inside their backsides. Guards were tipped off by one of the gang member's mother who complained to them that her son couldn't get good reception in his cell. After not finding any cell phones in their bunks, they had them all x-rayed, where they found the devices neatly packed away. No wonder her son had crappy reception.

The inmate whose family melted drugs drawn into children's coloring book

Three inmates and their loved ones tried to smuggle drugs into a New Jersey jail on the pages of a children's coloring book. The drug called subozone, is normally used to treat heroin addiction but is classified as a controlled dangerous substance, and was dissolved into a paste and then painted into the coloring book. Scribbled at the top of the offending pages were the words "To Daddy".

Charged in the case were prisoners Zachary Hirsch, Charles Markham and Paul Scipione. Also charged were Markham's mother, Debbie Longo, of West Wildwood, New Jersey, and Katelyn Mosbach, of Trevose, Pennsylvania, who was still being sought.

The Columbian inmates who trained drug smuggling pigeons

Inmates and their accomplices in Columbia used trained pigeons to smuggle both drugs and cell phone parts into the prison courtyard. The plan was foiled only because prisoners got greedy and overloaded cargo, causing the pigeons to be found by police a block away from the prison.

The strippers who were smuggled into a Miami jail posing as paralegals

Wealthy drug lords behind bars in a Maximum Security Federal Detention Center in Miami figured out a way to get strippers into prison. They had their expensive lawyers hire the strippers and pose them as paralegals or legal assistants. Supposedly, the women not only would take off their tops and let the men touch them, but they also snuck in items such as Playboy magazines, alcohol, and money.

The prison guard who attempted to deliver a heroin burrito to inmate

Sometimes the criminals aren't the ones behind the bars, they are the ones outside of them. Los Angeles County Sheriff deputy Henry Marin, 27, attempted to bring a heroin-stuffed burrito into a courthouse jail for an inmate. Supposedly, this wasn't the first time the sheriff deputy engaged in this type of conduct and is now no longer watching prisoners or delivering burritos.

The arrested man who had a gun hidden in his rectum

Michael Leon Ward from North Carolina was arrested and apparently stashed a .38 barrel revolver in his rectum. According to police, the unloaded 10-inch weapon was not discovered until after the suspect had been booked into a cell in the county jail and had a thorough strip search. Thankfully the gun was unloaded.

The father who had heroin stored in his anus to be given to inmate son through french kiss

A Colorado father and his inmate son tried to come up with a plan to smuggle heroin into prison. The plan was made through a series of phone calls between the two but, little did they know, authorities were listening. The plan was for the heroin to be brought into the prison by a female accomplice and then give to the son via a mouth-to-mouth kiss. The father, Mr. Donald Denney, 56, unable to locate a woman with a clean record to visit the prison, decided he would do it himself. Needless to say, authorities were waiting, and after a search found the heroin firmly planted where it shouldn't have been. 

Strangest Circuses in The World

Forget any fear of circus clowns. The strangest shows on earth feature backflipping cats, race-car stuntmen, and burlesque puppeteers.
At London’s Hoxton Hall, acrobats scamper up each other’s shoulders to form a pyramid—although it hardly looks human. The performers are unrecognizable beneath elaborate ant costumes complete with antennae and googly eyes.

Circuses have always been a bit offbeat, but they’ve morphed well beyond the classic three-ring spectacle of clowns and animal tamers. Today’s strangest circuses are small and innovative. Some, like the Insect Circus, push the boundaries by incorporating burlesque or performance art, while others are reviving near-extinct sideshow traditions for a new generation.

“Circuses were once the biggest shows in town,” says Marc Hartzman, author of American Sideshow. “People didn’t have the same mediums of entertainment that we have today.” As audience interest drifted in the 1970s, circuses began adapting, particularly in the U.K., the U.S., France, Canada, and Australia.

A painter by trade, Mark Copeland founded the U.K.-based Insect Circus in 2002, designing fantastical costumes for the acrobatic “ants,” a winged trapeze duo that go by the names of Baron and Baroness Flutterby, and others. He is especially proud of a stag beetle shell worn by three performers. This lumbering six-legged “insect” takes on a matador in an act that resembles a Spanish bullfight.

Still other circuses get their strange factor from sideshow elements like sword-swallowers and actual insects. Adam G. Gertsacov, creator of Acme Miniature Flea Circus, practices a craft that dates back to the late 1800s. After graduating from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, he wandered from circus to circus until he got some career-changing advice. Legendary clown Avner Eisenberg told him to “focus on the fleas,” and Gertsacov hasn’t wavered since. He trains 12 fleas at a time to perform tricks like being shot out of a mini cannon into a Hula-Hoop dubbed “the hoop of death.”

For truly death-defying stunts, look to Delhi, India, where the Diamond Maruti Car Circus has become infamous for performing while hanging out of speeding vehicles. For 25 cents, you can peer over the edge of a pit and watch performers on motorcycles and in cars zoom in circles as they grab hands and stand up on their seats—an unbelievable performance that also qualifies as one of the

Even in an age of entertainment overload, the world’s strangest circuses share the ability to keep you on the edge of your seat. Here’s a sneak peek at their shows.

The Mill by Ockham’s Razor, England

This circus is built around one of mankind’s most humble yet revolutionary inventions: the wheel. Suspended from a 23-foot-high rig, performers execute aerial stunts around a large wood and metal wheel. Only five aerialists manage to keep this prop in constant motion throughout the entire performance.

Strange Factor: A high-flying human-scale hamster wheel, suspended from the ceiling by only rope. 

 

Moscow Cat Circus, Moscow

Any owner will admit that cats can be fussy and difficult to train. But with no more than kind words and gentle gestures, veteran circus performer Yuri Kuklachev coaxes his cats into tricks ranging from handstands to aerial acrobatics. It’s a talent his oldest son—now his sidekick—has inherited.Strange Factor: Kuklachev’s cats perform alongside human mimes in variety shows including The Nutcracker and Cats from Outer Space.

Sideshows by the Seashore, Coney Island, New York

Sideshows highlighting freakish abilities used to be everyday entertainment. But now Coney Island amusement park is the only venue in America where you can experience a traditional 10-in-1 circus sideshow. It’s a squeamish throwback that’s been entertaining crowds since 1985 and fits in well with Coney Island’s reputation for the outrageous.
Strange Factor: A snake charmer named Serpentina who performs with a 15-foot albino Burmese python.

Circus Monoxide, Australia

Traditional aerial and juggling acts may be part of the lineup, but each show also comes with an unconventional theme that provokes audience members. (Superb & Broken dramatized the search for passion and meaning in everyday life through three characters, including a neat freak and a father who dreams of donning red sequins.) A live band plays throughout the show, building up the anticipation for stunts like performers being catapulted out of a bus.Strange Factor: A bathtub act during which a female aerialist plunges in and out of the water.

Diamond Maruti Car Circus, Delhi, India

So much for fastening a seat belt—these stuntmen perform tricks while hanging out of speeding vehicles. For the ticket price of 10 rupees (25 cents), you can watch as the cars race around in a pit accompanied by motorcycles. The show promises a view so close that you could give the performers a high five.
Strange Factor: An act called “The Wall of Death,” in which performers race their motorcycles and cars, stand up on their seats, and hold hands with each other.
 

007, San Francisco

The international man of mystery has run off to join the circus—at least that’s what this troupe would have you believe. With high-flying acts and futuristic dancers, James Bond and his Bond Girls put on a campy show complete with a hero-versus-villain plot that entails aerial stunts and theatrical fights.Strange Factor: Aerial Bond girl dance sequences, accompanied by psychedelic lights, music, and disco ball.

Acme Miniature Flea Circus, New York

Inspired by Hubert’s Flea Circus in Times Square, which closed in 1957, Adam Gertsacov pieced together the tricks of the flea trade from his circus mentors. The Acme Miniature Flea Circus’s bloodsucking insects have tumbled their way through four different countries and 38 states since the mid-1990s. The only thing Gertsacov asks from his audience? No dogs allowed.
Strange Factor: Two fleas race to a finish line while pulling a chariot. Other less fortunate fleas are shot out of a mini cannon into a Hula-Hoop called the “hoop of death.”

La Soirée, London

Filled with bizarre acts, La Soirée is a prime example of a contemporized variety show that borrows from circus, burlesque, and vaudeville traditions. Look for roller skaters doing tricks, rocker stuntmen, and puppeteers whose decidedly adult work has been described as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert meets Moulin Rouge as written by Pedro Almodóvar.Strange Factor: An opera-singing drag queen named Le Gateau Chocolat belts out renditions of everything from pop-rock to opera.

The Insect Circus, England

In 2002, Mark Copeland stumbled upon a book about circuses and began working on paintings that played with scale, eventually creating a series in which insects took over the roles of circus animals. And like that, the idea of a real creepy-crawly circus was born. The 10 circus members wear elaborate insect costumes for classic hat tricks, air stunts, and comedic numbers.
Strange Factor: A wasp tamer performs with two life-size wasps. Each wasp balances on a high wire and jumps through hoops.

10 of the Best – and Worst 9/11 Tattoos

It’s been a decade since the twin towers fell. Life has changed as nobody would’ve imagined. As the nation begins to pay tribute to the fallen, we take a look at ways in what New Yorkers have done to keep their loved ones’ memories alive.

We start with the more permanent memorials — in loving memory tattoos of those who were affected the most. These are fine folks who simply wanted to express their pain in a more unique way — getting tattoos with loaded meanings to them and something to remind them for a lifetime.

A soldier with a 9/ 11 tattoo stands with other soldiers with U.S. Army Able Company, 3-509 Infantry Battalion inside protective shelter during an afternoon rocket and mortal attack on Combat Outpost (COP) Zerak on Jan. 22, in Zerak, Afghanistan. Getty Images / Spencer Platt.

A soldier with a 9/ 11 tattoo stands with other soldiers with U.S. Army Able Company, 3-509 Infantry Battalion inside protective shelter during an afternoon rocket and mortal attack on Combat Outpost (COP) Zerak on Jan. 22, in Zerak, Afghanistan. Getty Images / Spencer Platt.

 Most offensive tattoo ever!

Another super hero tattoo.  

World's Smallest People

This list of shortest people includes people who have been described or claimed as "shortest" in their lifetime or profession. Listed here are those in Top 10 

Ajay Kumar (World's Smallest Actor)


Indian comedy star Ajay Kumar has been officially recognized as the world's smallest actor. Kumar, who is just 2 feet 6 inches tall has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records after starring in 50 films over 13 years.

Better known by his stage name Unda Pakru, the tiny star has become a household name in his native Kerala. Having earned fame and a small fortune through his acting, Ajay was even considered an eligible bachelor by families keen to find a good husband for their daughters. His marriage in 2005 to wife Gayatri who at 5ft 1in is more than twice her husband's height was broadcast on local television across India's southwestern states.

Chen Guilan & Li Tangyong (World's Shortest Couple) - 2ft 4in and 3ft 7in


Two Chinese newly-weds are hoping to get into the record books as the world's shortest couple Chen Guilan, 2ft 4ins, of Shunde city, China, married Li Tangyong, 3ft 7ins in October 2007.

Edward Nino Hernandez (Previous World's Smallest Man) - 2ft 31⁄2 in


Edward Niño Hernández was officially named as the world's shortest living man on September 4, 2010, by the Guinness World Records. At 24 years of age Hernandez was 0.7 m (2ft3 1⁄2 in) tall and weighed 10 kg (22 lb). Hernandez lives in Bogotá, Colombia, and hasn't grown a millimeter since his 2nd birthday. Why his growth has halted, however, remains a mystery.

Hernandez's reign ended on October 14, 2010 when Khagendra Thapa Magar of Nepal turned 18. (Photo by Piers Calvert).

Khagendra Thapa Magar (Previous World's Smallest Man) - 2ft 2in


Khagendra Thapa Magar (born October 14, 1992), son of Rup Bahadur and Dhana Maya Thapa Magar, was the shortest man in the world, measuring 0.67 m (2ft 2in).Formerly the shortest teenager in the world, Magar took the title of shortest man from Edward Nino Hernandez when he turned 18 on October 14, 2010. Magar is a primordial dwarf. He lost the title of "World's Shortest Man" on June 12, 2011, to Junrey Balawing of the Philippines.

Jyoti Amge (World's Smallest Girl) - 1ft 11i


15 year old Indian teenager Jyoti Amge is the smallest girl in the world at a weight of 11lbs (around 5kg) and height of 1 ft 11 inch (around 58 cm). She has a form of dwarfism called achodroplasia and will never grow any taller. Instead of being unhappy Jyoti is proud to be small and loves all the attention she is getting. People flock to see her and some even treated her like a goddess. Jyoti hopes that she could one day break into Bollywood as an actress.

Junrey Balawing (Current World's Smallest Man) – 23,5in


A Filipino man who stands less than two feet tall got an 18th birthday gift from Guinness World Records - the official title of world's shortest man. Junrey Balawing, a blacksmith's son from the village of Sindangan in the southern Phillipines, stands just 23.5 inches tall and mysteriously stopped growing when he was two months old, his parents said. Balawing got the title of world's shortest adult man from Guinness officials at a ceremony in his coastal town, where he was fed with roast pigs, cake, balloons and gifts.

Stacey Herald (World's Smallest Mother) - 2ft 4in


The world's smallest mother is about to give birth for the third time - despite warnings she is risking her life.

Stacey Herald, who is just 2ft 4in tall, was told that becoming pregnant could kill her, but bravely defied doctors to have two babies half her height. The 35-year-old from Dry Ridge, Kentucky, in the U.S. suffers from Osteogenesis Imperfecta, which causes brittle bones and underdeveloped lungs, and means she failed to grow. Mrs Herald, who uses a wheelchair, and her husband Will, who is 5ft 9in, are eagerly awaiting the birth of their third baby, due in the next four weeks.

Currently as wide as she is tall, she cannot hold her daughter because her belly gets in the way, and has to rely on her husband to do most things around the house. She admits being pregnant is ‘uncomfortable' and leaves her bedridden for weeks on end. By the time the new addition, a boy, is one, he will already tower over his mother. But despite all the obstacles, the mother and father, a trainee priest, say they want even more children. The couple met in 2000 while working for a supermarket in their home town.

Aditya "Romeo" Dev (World's Smallest Bodybuilder) - 2ft 9in


Meet Aditya "Romeo" Dev, who at just 2 ft 9 in. (0.84 m) is the world's smallest bodybuilder. Pint-sized Romeo is well-known in his hometown of Phagwara, India – for his ability to lift 1.5 kg dumbbells – despite his overall 9 kg body weight. Every day, crowds flock to the local gym to see the mini-muscleman in training. While most dwarfs have large heads compared to their bodies, Romeo is perfectly proportioned, and despite his diminutive stature has triceps, biceps, calves and thighs that would make many full-grown man blush. He was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records in 2006 following three months of intense exercise.

Shannon Bobbitt (World's Shortest Professional Basketball Player) – 5ft 2in


Compared to the other members of this list, Shannon may look like a giant, but in the basketball world where every inch counts, she is known for being the shortest professional player ever. One of eight children and a native of the Bronx, New York, Bobbitt honed her basketball skills on the neighborhood project courts of Harlem. Following a stellar college career in which 5'2" Bobbitt won two Division I national titles at University of Tennessee. She decided to enter the WNBA and began her professional basketball career playing point guard for the Los Angeles Sparks.

Gul Mohammed (Shortest Man Ever Documented) – 1ft 10in


Gul Mohammed (February 15, 1957 – October 1, 1997) of New Delhi, India, according to The Guinness Book of World Records, was the shortest adult human being whose existence and height have been independently verified. On July 19, 1990, he was examined by Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India and he stood 1 foot 10.4 inches (57 cm) tall and weighed 37.5 lbs (17.0 kg). He died on October 1, 1997, from respiratory complications and after a long struggle with asthma and bronchitis, acquired due to heavy smoking.