[Fatima99]

Real Estate Agent Uses Hilariously Posed 12-Foot Skeletons to Fill Her Properties for Halloween



A real estate agent in Washington D.C. has gone turbo this Halloween by decorating the homes she has been showing with 12-foot skeletons.

54-year-old Donna Kerr felt that people could use an extra laugh this spooky holiday season as the world continues to battle the COVID-19 outbreaks.

“I think it’s like a bit of breath of fresh air—a bright spot in the constant heavy news of the day,” said Kerr, who bought the skeletons at Home Depot for $300 apiece.

“I just wanted to bring a smile to everyone who saw them—the more smiles the better.”

An avid lover of the spooky season, Donna has adorned her own front yard with armies of smaller skeletons in the past.

This October, she used her personal style of spooky décor to festoon her real estate properties with the 12-foot models instead.



This hilarious photo series captures some of Kerr’s decorations in action as the skeletal partygoers are depicted posing by the stove, lounging on the couches, and even washing in the shower.



“They take about two hours to pose,” said Kerr. “It’s really a fun way to get more exposure for clients and for the community to come out and see the skeletons as well.”



The enormous bags of bones work particularly well in homes with unusually high ceilings.



A real estate agent of 23 years, Kerr says she and her team at the Donna Kerr Group always try to make real estate more enjoyable for their clients and their community.

Scottish council buys 18th century bust for $6. Now it could sell for $3 million



An 18th century bust bought for £5 ($6) nearly 100 years ago by a Scottish town council could sell for more than £2.5 million ($3 million).

The bust of landowner and lawmaker John Gordon was sculpted by noted French artist Edmé Bouchardon.

Now, local politicians on Invergordon Town Council are weighing up whether to sell the item, described by Sotheby’s as “brilliant in execution,” according to a council report.

A private individual has already approached Sotheby’s with an offer to purchase the sculpture, the report said, adding that Sotheby’s experts believe it has reached its peak value.

Members of the council will decide the bust’s future on Monday, a statement said, and funds from the sale could then be used to “reactivate” the Invergordon Common Good Fund, for the “benefit of the community,” the report added, though a full consultation with the community would precede any sale.

First displayed in the town hall, the bust was initially valued not for the talent of its sculptor but for its depiction of Gordon, who was said to be the founder of Invergordon – the small Scottish coastal town situated about 300 kilometers (180 miles) north of the capital Edinburgh.

Using a style not widely popularized until many years later, Bouchardon sculpted the bust in 1728 while he was a resident in Rome and Gordon was on his Grand Tour, a European tour undertaken by young, aristocratic and predominantly English men in the 18th and 19th centuries that served as a rite of passage.

Among his other accomplishments, Bouchardon was a sculptor to Louis XV and his 17-foot sculpture of the French king used to stand in the Place de la Concorde in Paris before it was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Despite its illustrious creator, there are few details publicly available about where the bust has been since it was purchased by the council.

According to one local councilor, the sculpture was found on an industrial estate in 1998. Maxine Smith told The Scotsman in 2016 that she stumbled upon the bust 25 years ago when it was being used to hold open a door while she was searching for old robes.

“I managed to get the key from the council. I found the robes and there was this bust just propping the door open,” she said.

“The insurance team got in and we found that it was worth so much money. Back then it was worth about £200,000.”

Once the bust was rediscovered and identified, it was displayed at both the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the council said.

Back in Scotland, however, it remains under secure storage in Inverness Museum & Art Gallery due to the security risks of displaying it.

[lush]

Man Gets Daughter’s Name Tattooed on His Body 667 Times, Sets Guinness Record
091823*

A UK man has set a new world record for the most tattoos of the same name on the body after having his daughter’s name tattooed a whopping 667 times.

Mark Owen Evans originally got his name mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records in 2017, when he was featured for having his daughter’s name tattooed on his back 267 times. However, in 2020, he was dethroned by Diedra Vigil, a 27-year-old woman who had her own name tattooed on her body 300 times. Even though there wasn’t much space left on his back, Evans was determined to get his world record back, so he kept having his daughter’s name, ‘Lucy’, on his thighs. After going under the needle for five and a half hours for all 400 tattoos – 200 on each leg – Mark once again holds the Guinness record for the most tattoos of the same name on the body – 667.


Photo: Mark Owen Evans

“I couldn’t wait to claim the record back and dedicate this to my daughter,” Mark told Guinness Records. “I love that I’m literally wearing my record and it goes everywhere with me.”

Evans said that he came u with the idea of setting the unusual record as a way to celebrate his daughter’s birth. He initially set out to have it inked 100 times in the book outline on his back, but thanks to the two talented tattoo artists involved in the project, he ended up with 267 name tattoos. Impressively, the two artists at Dexterity Ink in Wrexham, UK, managed to get it done in just one hour.

Having extended his lead by more than 300 tattooed names, it’s hard to imagine anyone contesting Mark’s record anytime soon, but just in case anyone ever tries, he’ll probably tattoo ‘Lucy’ on other parts of his body to get his record back. He’s got plenty of space, and his daughter has a short name.

Interestingly, the record for most signatures tattooed on the body belongs to Funky Matas, a Florida-based entertainer who has 225 signatures on his back.

[PennySerenade]

'We can't speak': Barenaked Ladies band member on connecting to daughter through music



As a long-time member of the iconic Canadian band, The Barenaked Ladies, Kevin Hearn has played before large audiences all around the world, but his most cherished performances are before an audience of one in a Toronto area group home. That’s where his daughter Havana lives. At nearly every visit, he plays her favourite song, Streams of Lemonade, a take-off on Streams of Whisky by the legendary Irish band The Pogues.

"Music in general to me - in regards to Havana - it's just the way we connect. We can't speak. We can't really have a conversation with words, but we can have a really deep and rich, rewarding conversation with music," said Hearn.

Havana, now 20, was born with a brain malformation called lissencephaly. She’s non-verbal, has limited mobility and endures seizures.



"When we first heard of her diagnosis, after spending a few weeks at the Hospital for Sick Kids, we were distraught," remembers Hearn. "And I went back to the hospital the next day and asked if I could speak to the nurses and the doctors. And I said, 'We don't know what to do. We're in a state of shock. And they said, ‘She's your daughter. All you have to do is love her.' And that was the best advice. And so my mission has always just been to give her the best life she possibly can have and facilitate her happiness."

A vital part of facilitating Havana’s happiness was finding somewhere for her to attend school when she was ready for kindergarten.

"We heard about Beverley School and made an appointment and went in there and it was like you could hear a choir singing. It was like, this is where we belong. This is a place for Havana," said Hearn.

For decades, Toronto’s Beverley School has been catering to young children with exceptionalities. All of the students from kindergarten to Grade 8 have developmental disabilities and many have both physical limitations and complicated medical conditions.

"We are here to provide opportunities and resources to every child,” said Beverley School principal Danjela Malobabic. “It's a place where we have technology readily available that other classes, other schools would not have because there is a level of understanding of what the students need."



By catering the entire learning environment to children with disabilities, the educators at Beverley believe they are able to tap into every student’s potential. Hearn feels it was the perfect place for Havana.

"It's a place where she grew up and she learned,” said Hearn. “Every day they would do activities and try to teach her about the world and nature and everything you could hope for your child. I'm ever grateful for the part that school played in our lives."

As a way of expressing that gratitude, Hearn performs in an annual fundraising concert for the families of Beverley School called Dream Serenade. Aside from Kevin, Dream Serenade has included a wide array of high profile artists including Gord Downie, Serena Ryder, Jim Cuddy from Blue Rodeo, Tom Cochrane, Feist and Matt Berninger from the National. The shows have raised more than $400,000 over the years. That money has gone towards everything from respite care for the parents of Beverley School students, to playground equipment.

"Dream Serenade is a wonderful thing,” said Hearn. ”I'm just honoured to be a part of it every year."

French Shale Gas Company Discovers Hydrogen Gas Well that Could Start Renewable Revolution in Coal Country

Oct 31, 2023



A mining pit in the Lorraine Basin – Hydrogen Fuel News

Millions of tons of pure hydrogen have been found underneath the earth in Northern France, prompting interest in a renewables gold rush of the rarest kind.

Despite being the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen is almost always attached to something else (oxygen for example). Deep underground, geologic forces can create sometimes massive pockets of hydrogen gas that if extracted like shale gas, can be burned to power airplanes, trains, heavy machinery, and steel production, all with the only direct emission being water.

The story that is now sweeping international energy headlines began when Jacques Pironon and Phillipe De Donato, directors of research at France’s National Centre of Scientific Research, were out assessing methane stores using a state-of-the-art probe in France’s Lorraine Basin.

They realized they had reached a previously unknown hydrogen gas deposit when readings from the probe showed 20% hydrogen at 3,300 feet (1,100 meters) down—much higher than they would ever imagine finding in normal conditions.

CNN broke down the “rainbow” of colors used to describe hydrogen fuels. Brown hydrogen is produced from coal operations—so little climate friendly-value there. “Green” hydrogen is made through electrolysis, or water splitting, and powered by renewable energy, yet this kind of production is small-time and expensive.

Still, at the moment pure hydrogen is the best hypothetical solution for heavy machinery that requires high-octane fuels for long-distance transportation.

That’s why interest in geologic hydrogen like the kind found in France, known as both “white” and “gold” hydrogen, can reach feverish intensity: just look at Mali.

In 1987, in the village of Bourakébougou, a driller was left with burns after a water well unexpectedly exploded as he leaned over the edge of it while smoking a cigarette, reports CNN. The well was capped until 2012 when a village entrepreneur hired Chapman Petroleum to come and investigate the strange gas which in the daytime shone with a blue color like sparkling ocean water, and at night like golden dust.

Today, Bourakébougou is powered entirely by the hydrogen in this deposit which has a purity of 98%—the highest ever recorded.

Geoffrey Ellis, a geochemist with the US Geological Survey, has been studying hydrogen deposits ever since the discovery in Bourakébougou, but remained convinced that finding extractable deposits on land and shallow enough to reach was going to be almost impossible.

Following a paper published on the Bourakébougou site in 2018, scientists and entrepreneurs rushed to try and find deposits and more information about how they form and where best to look for them.

Ellis believes based on estimates that there are tens of billions of tons of white hydrogen out there.

“Most of this is almost certainly going to be in very small accumulations or very far offshore, or just too deep to actually be economic to produce,” he told CNN. But if just 1% can be found and produced, it would provide 500 million tons of hydrogen for 200 years, he added.

In France’s Lorraine Basin, once a hotbed for European coal mining, De Donato and Pironon are preparing to drill down to 3,000 meters, or more than 2 miles underground, and assess the potential for white hydrogen extraction, specifically to find out how much is there. They already estimate that at that depth the purity could be as high as the wells in Mali.

The two are working alongside the energy company La Française de l’Énergie (FDE), which has existing wells, equipment, and operational licenses across a wide area of land in the Lorraine Basin’s Grand-Est Region. The company has already submitted an application for exclusive rights to use their shale gas wells to extract the white hydrogen if it is there, meaning it’s possible no new mining pits need be dug.

Foods that mimic Ozempic revealed — the best ones for weight loss

Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro have radically transformed the world of weight loss.

Health experts know there are plenty of foods — probably in your pantry right now — that affect the body like those medications.

Semaglutide is the active ingredient in those drugs, which work by mimicking GLP-1, a hormone in your body that’s produced when you eat.

GLP-1 stimulates the release of insulin and slows down food moving from your stomach into your intestine. It also sends signals to your brain, telling it that you’re no longer hungry.

While GLP-1 lasts only a few minutes, semaglutide lasts for days, suppressing appetite and leading to significant weight loss.

Some high-fiber foods cause your digestive system to respond similarly.

“Whenever my family finds out that I’m studying obesity or diabetes, they say, ‘Oh, what’s the wonder drug? What do I need to take? What do I need to do?'” Frank Duca, of the University of Arizona’s Cancer Center, told NPR this week.

“And I say, ‘Eat more fiber.'”

High-fiber foods like rye bread can safely mimic the effects of Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs.



Because fiber is digested more slowly than other compounds in food, it moves through the small intestine more slowly and is broken down when it reaches the large intestine.

There, fiber triggers the release of GLP-1 plus PYY, another hormone that decreases appetite. Because this process takes hours, it can suppress appetite for a long time and reduce between-meal cravings.

“PYY regulates satiety — that is, how long you wait between meals,” said Duca. “The release of PYY, in addition to the GLP-1, can increase the length of time between meals.”

But not all fiber is created equal, and foods with added fiber aren’t necessarily helping you control your appetite. Fermentable fiber, according to Duca, is the best kind for controlling appetite and weight.

Barley is rich in beta-glucan, a fiber that can promote weight loss.



Beta glucan, for example, is a fermentable fiber found in barley, oats and rye and it’s been shown to promote weight loss in animal studies.

“At least in our settings, it was only beta glucan that was effective,” Duca said.

Other fermentable fibers include the dextrin in wheat products; oligosaccharides in beans, peas and lentils; and pectin in apples, pears and green bananas.

“Just being aware of how much fiber you’re eating and increasing it, that’s a huge step to improving your health,” Duca said. “Then once you get into the habit of eating more fiber, you can be more specific about adding more beta glucan and barley.”

And Duca notes that foods with added fiber might not have the kind of fiber that promotes weight loss.

“Companies are hearing that they need to increase the fiber in their foods, but then a lot of times, they’re adding fiber that isn’t super beneficial for you,” he said. “It’s the type of fiber that just passes right through you, without triggering the release of any hormones.”

https://nypost.com/2023/10/31/lifestyle ... ight-loss/

[Misstee]

Sheep living with a mob of kangaroos rescued and sheared after five years
By Ben Hooper







Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A sheep that wandered away from its home five years ago was rescued from a Victoria, Australia, reservoir area by a team of volunteers -- and received a long-overdue shearing.

Melbourne Water said in a Facebook post that the sheep, named Sugar, was lost in Sugarloaf Reservoir Park before being rescued in an operation led by Georgia Duncan, Melbourne Water's water supply operator.

Melbourne Water said Sugar had been in the park for at least six months.

Duncan was accompanied by volunteers from Vets for Compassion and Forever Friends Animal Rescue Sanctuary.

The sheep "underwent a professional shearing to remove the excessive wool growth he has experienced during his time in the reservoir," Melbourne Water said.

The Forever Friends Animal Sanctuary said Sugar had wandered away from his home about five years ago and had recently been living with a mob of kangaroos.

"It seems like his kangaroo friends took good care of him, and Sugar will soon get to spend the rest of his days with Georgia," the sanctuary said.

Sugar was taken to a new temporary home at the Forever Friends Animal Sanctuary and will eventually live out the rest of his days in Duncan's care.

[goldie0608]

Chemistry Students Explode Pumpkins to Infuse Halloween With Science and Chemistry



The Washington College held its annual exploding pumpkins bash, using science to infuse Halloween with excitement and inspire kids to be more interested in chemistry.

The Maryland school’s Chemistry Club delighted the crowd with their gourd detonation, reveling in science-based fun.

The event, which is conducted in conjunction with the American Chemical Society and a Chemistry Honor Society, draws students from Kent and Queen Anne’s County public schools, and combustion-loving Eastern Shore community members each year ahead of Halloween.

Students put together several experiments to test the best way to either explode designs into pumpkins to create unique jack-o-lanterns or generate emissions of various ooze and smoke to come out of unique designs.

This year, methods used to induce cool explosions and Halloween-themed demos included glow-in-the-dark luminol, color changing acid and base paired with dry ice, liquid nitrogen, and elephant toothpaste.

The oozing pumpkins caused a frenzy without any detonation, by using a foamy substance caused by the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, using potassium iodide or yeast and warm water as a catalyst.

“We take immense pleasure in sharing the wonders of chemistry with our students and the promising leaders of tomorrow,” said Sarah Arradondo, Assistant Professor of Chemistry.

“For nearly a decade, our campus has eagerly anticipated in the annual tradition that unites the community through captivating autumn experiments and thrilling displays of chemical phenomena.”

Washington College’s Chemistry department regularly conducts events and activities to engage the local community in the wonders of using science in an effort to encourage more interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related degrees and careers.

[HogwartsExpress]

Electronic wolves with glowing red eyes watch over Japanese landscapes



Amid the tranquil landscapes of Japan, where the haunting howls of real wolves fell silent in the echoes of the past, an eerily familiar sound now resounds.

"You're not getting away with this!" warns the synthetic wolf in a chilling human voice at 60 decibels.

Its mechanical neck swivels, a movement akin to a living creature scanning its territory. A blend of tech and tradition, it's designed not to fool humans, yet terrify potential pests.

An evolution in defense, Monster Wolf, bearing lifelike proportions and glowing red LED eyes, emerges as a testament to human ingenuity. It stands as a guardian at the crossroads of technology and tradition, confronting wildlife intrusions into human domains. Beyond its role as a 21st-century scarecrow, Monster Wolf stands as a symbol of adaptation in a world, offering a modern response to age-old challenges.

About 180 Monster Wolves have been deployed across the country, Ohta told ABC News. Their primary task? Presenting a formidable, albeit artificial, deterrent to these creatures and filling the void left by their vanished natural enemies. According to Ohta Monster Wolf can be useful on golf courses, near highway entrances, and railroad crossings.

"I think it's much more cost-effective to threaten with a machine and drive it away from the village than the cost of a lot of people going out and exterminate it," Ohta said.

src: https://news.yahoo.com/gma/electronic-wolves-glowing-red-eyes-102408593.html

Girl, 12, with two huge toes struggles to walk or wear shoes due to rare condition

The youngster, from Malaysia, was born with Macrodystrophia Lipomatosa (MDL) - otherwise known as gigantism - which enlarged the first and second toes on her right foot



A 12-year-old girl has been treated for a rare condition which left her struggling to wear shoes or even walk.

The unnamed youngster was born with Macrodystrophia Lipomatosa (MDL), otherwise known as gigantism, which enlarged the first and second toes on her right foot. The non-hereditary condition causes the progressive enlargement of the fibrofatty tissue, making them reach abnormal sizes.

She was diagnosed with MDL at birth, but had not attended a follow-up visit to the doctors since. The girl’s parents, who live in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, took her to hospital as her foot deformity had worsened over time. The young patient’s condition made it difficult for her to wear shoes.



It also left the girl, who is the third of four children, with walking difficulties. Her medical team said: “Plain radiographs and MRI findings revealed the accumulation of fatty tissue around the first and second toes, medial and lateral aspects of the first metatarsal, extending up to the medial plantar arch of the foot.

"MDL is a very uncommon kind of congenital localised gigantism, and surgical consultation is frequently performed for cosmetic reasons." To enhance foot functionality and alleviate any issues with wearing footwear, the medical team carried out a successful reconstruction operation.

As a result of the surgical intervention, the patient can now wear shoes and walk without any difficulties. Her family has no previous history of MDL or any other congenital conditions. In 2021, the Mirror reported the case of an eight-month-old girl from India, who was born with the same disorder.



Writing in the medical journal Cureus, researchers wrote the girl was otherwise completely healthy. "This was not associated with any delayed attainment of developmental milestones," they said at the time. Ultrasounds revealed that the excess size of the girl's toes was down to fatty tissue in the immediate area.

It was the first time researchers reported seeing the condition in all 10 toes. They said the best treatment option for the little girl was unknown, as the condition is so rare. Researchers previously added: "It is important to report such anecdotal cases to get knowledge about their clinicopathological behaviour and standardise optimal treatment options since prospective studies are not feasible due to rarity of the disease and paucity of data."

And in 2015, Mohammad Kaleem became known as the 'Boy with the World's Biggest Hands' before he underwent dramatic surgery to reduce them. The eight-year-old was born with a condition which caused his hands and arms to keep on growing until they looked like giant's hands, and weighed a colossal two stone between them.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/girl-12-two-huge-toes-31329941

Woman replaces work milk with her own breast milk to exact revenge on thieving colleague

What do you do when someone starts stealing your milk at work? Start labelling it? Set a trap? One woman decided the best plan of action was to switch it for her own breast milk

Few things are more frustrating than a work thief. Most of us are more than happy to share in the office, but if you suddenly realise someone has been using your things without asking, it can be incredibly frustrating. But the reality is - it's very hard to catch someone in the act.

But one mum took matters into her own hands after she realised someone had been helping themselves to her favourite coffee creamer, which she had bought a full bottle of, only to find it was quickly depleting.

Office worker Savannah had left the bottle in the communal fridge, and when she realised one of her colleagues had been helping themselves she decided to replace the liquid with her own breastmilk to teach them a lesson.

A week later, she attached a note to the bottle, revealing: "Good morning! To whomever has been enjoying my coffee creamer all week... surprise! You've been drinking my breast milk. Hope you've enjoyed. Cheers!" Hilariously, the mum also added: "P.S. It's organic. So no worries."

The cheeky note, which was shared on Reddit, left people equally gobsmacked and in stitches. Many even started sharing their own experiences, with one person saying: "Someone used to always steal my juice from a pitcher that should have lasted me a week or two. My name was on it, but that didn't matter. I put a big label on it saying 'lab experiment' and it worked. No one took anything out anymore."

A second person shared: "'I left string cheese in my car in the summer for three days, then I put it in the fridge at work. Someone ate it!" A third added: "I would have put a laxative or something worse in there to punish the thief. They should learn not to touch what they didn't bring!"

Another woman whose homemade lunch, which was created for her by her chef husband, kept getting pinched from the work fridge, and decided to start labelling her food. However, when that didn't work cameras were installed in the kitchen.

After a week, she asked the IT person to screen-grab her colleague, who she said is a "middle-aged woman who doesn't seem to like me", holding her lunch. She then admitted to pinning up a photo of the lunch thief stealing her food. According to the woman, she had been up for a promotion, but was subsequently fired.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/woman-replaces-work-milk-breast-31331201

[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 1
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -6)
3:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)
on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[ozswede]

Colorado judge chides company that tried to pay $23,500 settlement in coins

A Colorado judge chided a welding company that tried to pay off a $23,500 settlement with a subcontractor by sending the money in loose coins that weighed 3 tons (2.7 metric tonnes).

Judge Joseph Findley ruled Monday that JMF Enterprises “acted maliciously and in bad faith” by delivering a custom made metal box containing the coins that was too heavy to be carried in the freight elevator at the offices for Fired Up Fabrications' lawyers, let alone with the forklift required to carry it, according to court filings.



Findley ordered JMF to pay by a more conventional method like a check. He also said JMF would now have to write a larger one — to pay an extra estimated $8,092 to cover legal fees for the ensuing dispute over whether it had the right to pay in coins.

One of the subcontractor’s lawyers, Danielle Beem, told Denver's KCNC-TV, which first reported the judge's order, that the coin payment was a “symbolic middle finger.”

Lawyers for JMF said the settlement agreement did not specify how the money was to be paid and said it had no intention of harassing Fired Up Fabrications, noting that both parties were “very close friends” before the lawsuit.

“The form of the settlement in this case is a reference to their shared career field and is intended to satisfy the settlement, albeit in an uncommon form,” they said in a September court filing.



Findley said photographic evidence showed JMF apparently took the extra step of taking coins separated in boxes by denomination and then “dumping them loosely and randomly” into the container.

“The amount of time and expense required to remedy the payment attempt would have the effect of significantly reducing and offsetting the net amount of the settlement to be received by Plaintiff in the form of costs and inconvenience,” Findley said.

[rflash8]

Security expert reveals surprising way to make your password stronger: use emojis



Need a stronger password?

Experts say to use emojis.

On a computer, it turns out that emoticons are considered a symbol, which can beef up your passwords and make them more secure in combination with letters and numbers.

“When intruders try to brute-force a password containing letters, numbers and punctuation marks, there are fewer than a hundred variations for each symbol they need to pick,” Stan Kaminsky, with the cybersecurity giant Kaspersky, told The Sun.

“But there are more than 3,600 standardized emojis in Unicode, so adding one to your password forces hackers to go through around 3,700 variants per symbol.”

In theory, a password with five emojis, he said, is actually the same as a traditional passkey with only nine characters. Seven emojis, he added, is equivalent to 13 “regular characters.”



Even better, emojis might be easier to remember than a “jumble” of letters, numbers and punctuation, and they often aren’t used in a “brute-force” attack, which is when hackers attempt to log in to an account using a long list of potential passwords.

However, Kaminsky warned that not every site will allow emojis in passwords, and including many emojis in a passkey could slow down the login process.

He recommended not using emojis that could “give you away” — such as frequently used emoticons — and encouraged adding one or two emojis to a traditional alphanumeric password.

“Of course, using emojis is no substitute for traditional security tips: using long passwords, a password manager and two-factor authentication (2FA),” he added.



Psychologists have encouraged people to use affirmations as login passwords to bring positivity into their lives — at least for a brief moment during sign-in.

“The key is to choose a new password that reflects the state of mind you wish to establish,” Dr. Mariah G. Schug, a Psychology Today contributor, previously suggested.

[Alessa9]

'Spider webbing' is the latest sinister dating trend you need to avoid - experts reveal all
Single people, beware. Experts have revealed there is a new toxic dating trend doing the rounds. Find out how all about 'spider-webbing' and how to avoid being stuck in an unhappy relationship as a result



Heads up singletons: there's a new dating trend doing the rounds that you really need to avoid. It's called spider-webbing, a term being used to describe an accumulation of toxic behaviours that become intricately woven together to the point where you can no longer see through them - like a web.

Spider-webbing weaves together a number of different behaviours, including ghosting, love-bombing, breadcrumbing, and gaslighting, and describes what happens when we're affected by all of them at once.

"Spider Webbing is a term used to describe a complex network of manipulative behaviours woven over time, which can entangle individuals in a tumultuous and unhealthy relationship, often leaving them feeling trapped and emotionally distressed," explains Emma Hathorn, in-house dating expert and luxury dating site, Seeking.com, told The Independent.

So how can you tell if it's happening to you? There are a few clear warning signs. First, is if your relationship feels like an emotional rollercoaster. "If you're experiencing intense highs and lows that leave you feeling uncertain, it could be a sign you're subject to some Spider Webbing tactics," suggests Emma.

Love bombing is also something to look out for. If someone first showers you with attention, gifts, and romantic gestures and then swiftly stops, it may be a sign of their true character. Similarly, if your partner moves from one extreme to another and fluctuates from hot and cold, then you may be a victim of bread-crumbing, which is also a part of spider-webbing.

The third sign you should watch out for is gaslighting, which is when your partner attempts to gain control over your narrative of events. According to Emma: "They might deny things they said or did, or lead you to believe you're being irrational and to question your reality."

They may also try to use 'therapy speak' on you, which is another form of manipulation. Dr. Sarah Bishop, a UK-based clinical psychologist, told HuffPost: "For example, they may blame their bad behaviour on how much they love and care for you, rather than reflecting that they can choose whether to express their affection in a more healthy and balanced way." Other, more obvious signs, could be things like receiving constant criticism from your partner.

Emma advises to adress worries with your partner if you feel safe to, as open communication can lead to positive changes in behaviour. But at the end of the day, you might just need to trust your instincts. "Our intuition often serves as a powerful warning system. If your inner voice is sounding the alarm, it's essential to take these feelings seriously – remind yourself of what your standards are, raise them – and then raise them again."