Now, this would make a great T-Mobile ad.

From Gizmodo

The life of 20-year-old Emine, and her 24-year-old husband Ramazan Çalçoban was pretty much the normal life of any couple in a separation process. After deciding to split up, the two kept having bitter arguments over the cellphone, sending text messages to each other until one day Ramazan wrote "you change the topic every time you run out of arguments." That day, the lack of a single dot over a letter—product of a faulty localization of the cellphone's typing system—caused a chain of events that ended in a violent blood bath (Warning: offensive language ahead.)

To find out more on the story...
The surreal mistake happened because the ex-husband's cellphone didn't have an specific character from the Turkish alphabet: the letter "ı" or closed i. While "i" is available in all phones in Turkey—where this happened—the closed i apparently doesn't exist in most of the terminals in that country.

The use of "i" resulted in an SMS with a completely twisted meaning: instead of writing the word "sıkısınca" he wrote "sikisince." Ramazan wanted to write "You change the topic every time you run out of arguments" (sounds familiar enough) but what Emine read was, "You change the topic every time they are fucking you" (sounds familiar too.)

Emine then showed the message to her father, who—enraged—called Ramazan, accusing him of treating his daughter as a prostitute. Ramazan went to the family's home to apologize and was greeted by the father, two sisters and a lot of very sharp knives.

Injured and bleeding, Ramazan found Emine and killed her with another knife. He later killed himself in jail.

Apparently it's not the first incident of this kind caused by the damned dot on top of the letter i. The local press has pointed out that the faulty localization of cellphones in Turkey is causing "serious problems" when it comes to certain "delicate words" in Turkish, and they are calling to enhance localization of technology to avoid these mistakes.

Alternatively, the press could ask for banning knives from the homes of demonstrably stupid people. Click Here To Read More

Look The Other Way

At approximately 8:15 a.m., an eighth grade 15-year-old boy, identified as Lawrence Fobes King (“Larry”) was shot in the head by another student in a computer lab classroom. King was transported to St. John's Regional Medical Center and was listed in serious condition. Examiners had declared King brain dead. King was kept on life support until February 15, 2008, so his organs could be donated. It was reported that King was shot because he was openly gay and sometimes dressed in a "feminine" manner. Prosecutors have discussed charging the shooter with premeditated murder with enhancements for the use of a firearm and commission of a hate crime.

On that regard, you better watch this:



From JustJared:

CNN host Anderson Cooper just blogged about a shooting at a junior high school computer lab in California that happened two weeks ago. Consequently, as a result of a hate crime, 15-year-old Lawrence King was shot to death.

Anderson, 40, posed the question, “When does bullying become a hate crime?” Here’s his entry:

“We are focusing on a story that hasn’t received the attention it deserves. The story is about a young man named Lawrence King. He was 15 years old. On the morning of Feb 12, a classmate of Lawrence’s allegedly walked into the computer lab in front of some two dozen other students and shot Lawrence in the head. He was declared brain dead later at the hospital. According to authorities, this was not a random killing, it was a hate crime. Lawrence had recently told people he was gay, and apparently wore clothing that was viewed as effeminate. According to many accounts he had been bullied repeatedly, and some parents have even claimed students knew of threats to Lawrence’s life. At this point it doesn’t seem clear how much school officials knew of the bullying, but a full investigation needs to be done. If this had been an African-American student bullied by a teenage skinhead would it have received more attention? Would school officials have taken it more seriously if it had been a Christian campus leader attacked by another student because of his/her religious beliefs? I don’t have the answers to those questions, but I do think they are worth asking. Bullying is a problem in schools across the country. We’ve seen this time and time again. Is enough being done to stop it?”

In response to this hate crime, both Democratic presidential candidates released statements regarding this tragic event:

Click on the following link

Said Hillary Clinton, “I was deeply saddened by the recent death of 15-year-old Lawrence King who was killed at his school in Oxnard, CA. No one should face intimidation or violence, particularly at school, because of their sexual orientation or the way they express their gender identity.We must finally enact a federal hate crimes law to ensure that gay, lesbian and transgender Americans are protected against violent, bias-motivated crimes. We must send a unified message that hate-based crime will not be tolerated.”

Barack Obama is on the same page, adding, “It was heartbreaking to learn about Lawrence King’s death, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. King’s senseless death is a tragic example of the corrosive effect that bigotry and fear can have in our society. It’s also an urgent reminder that we need to do more in our schools to foster tolerance and an acceptance of diversity; that we must enact a federal hate crimes law that protects all LGBT Americans; and that we must recommit ourselves to becoming active and engaged parents, citizens and neighbors, so that bias and bigotry cannot take hold in the first place. We all have a responsibility to help this nation live up to its founding promise of equality for all.”

The L.A. Times also has a write-up of last week’s memorial service for King: “At a memorial attended by more than 500 people in Port Hueneme, Lawrence “Larry” King was remembered Friday as a sensitive child who liked to draw, paint and crochet. One Christmas, he helped his mother crochet hundreds of scarves so that U.S. troops in Afghanistan wouldn’t be without a holiday gift.”

You can also visit the website that King’s family set up: RememberLarry.com.

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Ennis Has Left The Building.

Among the sad turnmoil surrounding Heath Ledger's demise, one thing calls my attention: this oh-so-New-Yorkish bit from the NYT:

The building at 421 Broome Street was sold for $4.8 million in 1999 by Ho Hwa Properties Inc. to Red Tulip, L.L.C. Calls to a phone number listed for Junia Hissa Neiva, a Brazilian painter who is listed as an owner of Red Tulip and of the building, went to an answering machine that was full and could not accept new messages.

It's as if Manhattanites had only waited the minimum necessary to start with real estate quandaries: "Yes, he's dead but, how much was his lease?," "Poor kid... so.. er... when's the open house?"

I mean, is it relevant to young thesp's death if the apartment was owned by Mary-Kate Olsen or not?

Ah, NY's obsession with realty. We wish we knew how to quit it.



Red pill, blue pill?

... Click Here To Read More

Mother Puss and Posh Mice

"Who moved my cheese? Oh, well, I'll nurse on this cat instead."



One thing comes to mind: Another unsuspecting baby to send over to Kevin Federline.

Image from Boy Culture. Click Here To Read More

Bad News, Bear

This Just In: Famous cyberhitchhiker Mortimer, the travelling bear, has been kidnapped in Colombia by the FARC guerrilla. Please be kind to share this proof of life with the bear's next of kin. (Tinsley Mortimer?)

Cyberspace is not the place to rely on the kindness of strangers. Click Here To Read More

Times are a-changin'

A few signs that times might be catching up wtih us:

- Big Bird's early DVD's relegated to adult section. In which, with a name like that, we foresee a great future.

- Born to be wired. Hollywood young'uns just can't wait to have their first OD, can't they?

- This isn't your grandma's nude calendar. ...Or is it?

- My old mule ain't what it used to be. Drug mule, that is.


Big Bird and Adult Videos: Birds of a feather...? Click Here To Read More

News Quiz: This note has legs.

"Authorities To Return Amputated Leg To South Carolina Man

MAIDEN, N.C. -- Authorities say a South Carolina man who mistakenly lost his amputated leg when it was sold in a barbecue smoker at a public auction will get the appendage back.
John Wood had been battling to regain custody of the leg from Shannon Whisnant. Whisnant found the leg in a barbecue smoker he purchased at an auction of Wood's belongings last week.
Wood's leg was amputated three years ago after an airplane crash. He had been keeping the leg so it could be cremated with him when he dies."

From the following sentences, choose the one that better completes the previous newsnote:

a) This is the most ridiculous redneck feud over a human body part since Tommy Lee and Kid Rock fought over Pamela Anderson's ass at the VMA's.

b) Paris Hilton released a statement expressing her simpathy, claiming she knows what it feels to go through life not knowing where your legs are going to end up next.

c) It's been rumoured that Lindsay Lohan has demanded the right to personally inspect the barbecue smoker closely, thinking that could be the place where she left her dignity.

d)The former owner of the leg said it'd be sad to see his limb go, but on the other hand he seemd optimitstic since he has been offered custody of Britney's kids.

Click Here To Read More