U.S. Cops Recover Hitler Bookmark Stolen in Spain

PHOENIX (Reuters) – U.S. police recovered a stolen bookmark once reportedly given to Adolf Hitler by his mistress Eva Braun and arrested a man in a sting operation, authorities said on Wednesday.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said officers arrested Christian Popescu, 37, outside a coffee shop in Bellevue, Washington, on November 25, as he allegedly attempted to sell the 18-carat gold bookmark to undercover agents.

The bookmark was reportedly given as a present to Hitler by his long-term mistress in 1943 to console the German dictator after the German defeat at the hands of Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad, ICE said in a news release.

It was among several items that had been due to be sold off by an auction house in Madrid, Spain, in October 2002, which were stolen by thieves.

Popescu made an initial appearance in court on Wednesday, charged with sale or receipt of stolen goods. He faces up to ten years in jail and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

Say "Merry Xmas KKK!" With a Nice Burning Cross Light

As the season for joy nears, people are already getting ready for their Xmas lighting decoration. And if you are a store manager at the American Family Association, that means a burning cross in your doorstep. Because nothing says "Let's celebrate Jesus' birthday" better than the symbol of his dead in glowing LED glory, 210 of them. Seriously, we are suckers for weird, tacky, and wonderful lighting fixtures and lamps, but somehow this seems like a no-no. No.

Philips Won't Sell Home Theater Equipment in North America Anymore

Back in April, Philips announced plans to hand over its television promotion, sales and manufacturing to Funai. Now the company has expanded those plans to what sounds like all of their home theater products, including DVD players, Blu-ray players and surround sound equipment. Oh, you'll still see Philips DVD players for sure, but it won't really be Philips. So have a good time dropping that little factoid to your favorite, know-it-all salesperson next time they gush about the Philips brand name.

Nokia N96: The Bruce Lee Edition

We have to apologize up front that you can't get this phone here because Nokia has decided [wrongly] that only people in Hong Kong appreciate Bruce Lee.

And would pay over the top money to get a special edition phone with Bruce stamped all over it. That doesn't mean we can't tease you horribly though because we desperately want one too.

This is the N96, Nokia's flagship multimedia phone Hong Kong-style: a Limited Edition Bruce Lee mobile with his face and signature carved on the back, and bundled with numerous accessories and a cool Bruce Lee action figure from Enterbay.

However, it does cost an estimated £800 here [Chinese]. The only consolation we can offer though is possibly the best promo video for a phone we have ever seen. BruceLeeN96adv01 and BruceLeeN96adv02

Verizon Staff Accessed Obama Cellphone Data, Became Ex-Verizon Staff

Several Verizon Wireless employees stumbled upon the Pandora's Box of personal cellphone accounts, that of President-Elect Barack Obama, and couldn't help sneaking a peek. Luckily, the account was old and out-of-use, there's no indication that email records, voicemails or call contents were monitored, and at the very most the employees only got to see billing records, according to Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam. Oh yeah, and the employees are now fired.

PERSONAL CELL PHONE ACCOUNT OF PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA ACCESSED BY UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYEES

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam made the following statement today:

"This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-Elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account. The account has been inactive for several months. The device on the account was a simple voice flip-phone, not a BlackBerry or other smartphone designed for e-mail or other data services.

"All employees who have accessed the account – whether authorized or not – have been put on immediate leave, with pay. As the circumstances of each individual employee's access to the account are determined, the company will take appropriate actions. Employees with legitimate business needs for access will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action.

We apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day."

YouTube Now Playing Widescreen Videos

Since November 25^th, Youtube, everybody's favorite internet video site has undergone a slight change—everything has gone widescreen! That's right, now you can watch a dog humping a baby in 16:9, rather than the original boring ol' 4:3. Though, if you'd rather stick to boring ol' 4:3, that's not going away either.

UMich VIVACE Hydropower System Makes Energy From Slow Currents

A new hydropower prototype from the University of Michigan could end up using even slower river and ocean currents to generate energy. VIVACE, which stands for Vortex Induced Vibrations for Aquatic Clean Energy, can generate power from as little as 2 knots, making it more useful than most turbine and water mill systems out there, which need an average of 5 to 6 knots to operate efficiently.

The system works by harnessing “vortex induced vibrations,” the thrumming caused by the flow of liquid or air over rounded objects. A cylinder placed underwater is subject to the current and starts to vibrate as liquid sticks and creates eddies on the object's opposite side. It's the same scientific principle that caused the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows bridge in 1940.