Regardless of what the UN / Taser thinks, the fuzz around Clinton, Connecticut aren't too fond of taser-like weapons being in the hands of teenagers. Case in point: a 14-year old with a certain knack for wandering around the intarwebz and filling his brain with all sorts of hacktastic methodologies managed to stumble upon directions (what, these?) for transforming a vanilla disposable camera into something "capable of zapping people with an electrical charge." School Resource Officer Kyle Strunjo even said that the improvised weapon was "potentially capable of a 600-volt shock," though it wasn't actually used on anyone before it got swiped by the boys in blue. Chin up kid, you've got a future waiting for you yet.

[Image courtesy of DIYLive, thanks Ninad]

Next time you're reaching down for that iPod or Zune (or anything else for that matter), take care that you don't alarm the authorities with any suspicious movements -- or you could end up like the UK's Darren Nixon. Apparently, the mild-mannered mechanic was on his way home from work when the Bobbies surrounded him and drew their guns, believing that the MP3 player in his pocket was a firearm. According to the Daily Mail, Mr. Nixon was tracked on CCTV, arrested at gunpoint, swabbed for DNA, fingerprinted, and thrown in a cell -- all for listening to a bootleg of Chinese Democracy on a 4GB Philips GoGear. Said Darren, "I was really shocked when I saw the guns. They were pointing them right at me. It was a pretty scary experience. I had no idea what was going on." After the team of Mentat cops realized their mistake, they couldn't even offer an apology, said Nixon, "They just dropped me off at home and said a quick 'sorry for any inconvenience', and that was all I got from them, which I thought was pretty out of order." Once again, a hot serving of sweet justice.

[Via CrunchGear]

Believe it or not, Chicago policeman Thaddeus Martyka isn't the first cop to chase down a crook with the help of a Segway, but nevertheless, the two-wheeled wonder is to thank for yet another arrest. Whilst patrolling the streets and enjoying the summer breeze, the officer heard shots fired and decided to wheel over and see what the commotion was all about. Sure enough, the baddies were found scurrying away from the scene of a crime, and while one suspect managed to escape, the other wasn't so fortunate. Purportedly, the Segway reached a top speed of 12.5mph, which proved plenty fast to capture (and likely humiliate) at least one of the ill-willed individuals.

[Image courtesy of PoliceOne]

We certainly can't say that we'd voluntarily place ourselves on a Segway in order to patrol Long Beach, but officer Jose Miguez managed to utilize the breakneck (ahem) speed available on the two-wheeled Personal Transporter to arrest a horrifically embarrassed 13-year old carjacker. Notably, the Segway was no match for the Mercedes-Benz's engine at first, but after the obviously unlicensed driver and his partners in crime leaped from the car just before it slammed into a utility pole, their worn legs were no match for the potent battery-powered engine. Sure, it doesn't sound like the most exciting police chase ever witnessed or anything, but it's not everyday you see a Segway extending the long arm of the law.

[Via Wired]

Considering just how chaotic a police scanner can become when the crime lords decide to hit the streets, we can't fault the boys in blue for showing up at the wrong address or completely missing a shoplifter with a projector in his shorts, but this one's just absurd. Apparently, a Manchester man had his home invaded by squads of armed police after a pistol-wielding Lara Croft mannequin served as cause for concern. The officials mistook the ominous silhouette for an actual gunman, and took it upon themselves to rush in and attempt to save the day. Interestingly, the homeowner was actually arrested for "suspected firearms offense," but he's currently speaking to lawyers about "a possible claim for wrongful arrest." Man, publicly humiliating yourself and begging for a lawsuit -- now that's a full day's work.

[Thanks, Dan G.]

Sure, it's easy (and sadistically enjoyable) to bust on Best Buy, especially when it considers frugal shoppers "devils" and shoos away loyal customers holding down the fort for a PS3, but the latest knock against the retailer will be even tougher to shake. While it's no surprise that BB cashiers aren't the easiest to deal with when bringing back demolished goods, a pair of sisters also realized major holes in the company's personality screening process over at Geek Squad. Reportedly, a hired technician actually set up a cameraphone to record one of the siblings whilst she was taking a shower, but obviously wasn't sly enough to hide the "blinking red record light" from view. Subsequently, the violated duo supposedly ganked the internal flash card, made haste for a Verizon store to confirm the contents, and of course, phoned up the boys in blue to come take care of business. Needless to say, the shady criminal is now facing "two counts of invasion of privacy and one count of child molestation," but apparently it's still not a crime to charge clueless customers outrageous rates to tackle the simplest of tasks. Sheesh, where's the justice?

[Via Digg]

Now that South By Southwest Interactive is coming to a close, the SXSW music festival is getting underway -- a perfect time and place for Microsoft to get the word out about its floundering Zune. Except when a viral marketer charged with putting up those distinctive magenta Zune logo posters around town is instead became charged with, oh, what, vandalism of public property? Microsoft's primary PR firm on Zune, Edelman, had no comment on this matter at the time of press, but we hear the viral marketer in question will get either three days in jail, or three appearances in front of a judge (whichever comes first).

Update: Microsoft gave us a ring with the following: "We can confirm that an employee of a marketing agency engaged by Zune was cited for hanging promotional posters at SXSW. We've launched an internal investigation and will cooperate with local authorities and festival organizers in all regards. Zune is committed to lawfully and respectfully promoting its products and services." Ok, so who's the moran / evil genius behind this thing?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Here's a tip for all you privacy freaks out there: Skype isn't nearly as secure as you might think. Just ask Kobi Alexander, wanted by the Feds on charges of financial fraud, who was nabbed found by a private investigator earlier this week. Moshe Buller, the private investigator who's been trying to locate Alexander, tracked him down when Alexander's Skype call was traced to a computer in Sri Lanka. Alexander, the former CEO of the scandal-ridden Comverse, had been on the lam from U.S. authorities for a few weeks, and at one point his mugshot graced the website of the FBI. But fear not security-mongers, our friends at Ars link to a year-old study out from George Mason University that says that VoIP can be secured. Or not.

Update: Ryan points out in the comments that Bloomberg News is reporting that Alexander may have left Sri Lanka before actually being arrested.

Update 2: We traded emails with the Bloomberg News reporter, Jonathan Ferziger, who's been following the case, and who told us that Alexander was not arrested, according to Sri Lankan police spokesman Rienzi Perera. Ferziger added that Moshe Buller, the private investigator who's been on the case, "presumably knows where he went, although he hasn't said so publicly."

[Via Ars Technica]