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LG halts sale of Z1-AE007 laptop, suspects defective battery
It's not like LG hasn't had issues with its batteries before, and even after confirming that they were unquestionably safe just last week, the firm has suddenly removed its Z1-AE007 from the market after suspecting that faulty batteries may be included. Reportedly, one of said models "caught fire" in Seoul and presumably startled the graduate student who owned it, but a company spokesperson stopped short of proclaiming that a recall was in order. Furthermore, the individual noted that "the matter should be consulted with the battery maker," essentially shoving every ounce of blame as far as humanly possible away from LG.[Via FarEastGizmos]
Trucker blindly follows GPS, gets wedged in farm lane
At first glance, we seriously assumed that we had mentioned this exact same story before. Turns out, one particular Maxi Haulage driver doesn't tune into Engadget, as he pulled the exact same trick in (almost) the same circumstances. Reportedly, this timber haul was cut short as the driver followed his personal GPS system down a "farm lane" suitable only for (presumably small) tractors, and needless to say, the 45-foot vehicle has been wedged ever since. Additionally, the owner of the property is quite irate, as the mishap is forcing her to drive an extra two miles until rescue arrives. Still, the motorist did cruise right by a sign noting that the upcoming road was unfit for heavy goods vehicles, so at least the sat nav can't take all of the blame this go 'round.[Thanks, Carl H.]
Student hospitalized after suffering leg burns from pocketed PSP
This past month has seen the addition of a number of useful features to Sony's underdog handheld, such as its Skype integration and the soon to be imported GPS functionality. However, a story from a Michigan middle school recently broke the news of a heretofore unannounced ability of the PSP -- instantaneous superheating, with possible leg disfigurement.Apparently, a student had the system turned off and in his pocket in the middle of band practice when, all of a sudden, it melted through his jean pocket, sending him to the hospital with second-degree burns on his leg. Sony has yet to comment on the incident, though their website reminds PSP owners that using third-party batteries and charging equipment is likely to cause such an accident -- as will playing the trombone within a 5 foot radius of the system, apparently.In a beautiful showing of coincidence, the game occupying the system at the time of the meltdown supposedly was, you guessed it, Burnout Dominator.
DS Daily: Destruction
Horror of horrors -- last night, while vacuuming, someone in the house (read: not your current writer!) stripped the cable of the DS Lite charger. After the tears and accusations, it occurred to us that hinge cracks and falls aren't the only accidents that can befall our beloved handhelds. Anything similar happen to yours? We know lost games can be a problem, and we've heard about lost styli. Tell us about the worst things that have happened to your handhelds. What did you do? We'll be calling Nintendo today and hoping some kind soul will send a new charger over.
When cheap attachments attack
For as much as we report about weird things you can attach your Wiimote to, we've never felt a desire to bring one of these kind of kits into our offices willingly. Maybe it's our incredible imagination that allows us to visualize we're actually holding a bat when playing Wii Sports and causes us to feel no need for such attachments. Whatever it is, after viewing this video, we're glad we only had a brief amount of time to interact with any of these type of accessories.Now, the above video is either going to be incredibly painful to watch or downright hilarious, depending on what kind of person you are. However, note that we're not buying that sound effect of glass shattering near the end. We're fairly certain the TV didn't break, as it's not really shown after the accident. [Thanks, Michael!]
Man follows GPS directions onto train tracks, into dummy hall of fame
Once again proving that "people be stupid," a Bedford Hills, New York man allowed his GPS to navigate him onto train tracks... while a train was approaching. Entering a long line of folks like Cherry Tree Guy and the Narrow Lane Invader, this mentat in question apparently followed directions to "turn right" onto a set of tracks, which he then inexplicably became stuck on. Upon noticing the speeding locomotive heading towards his car, the man jumped out of the vehicle and tried to warn the engineer by waving his arms frantically -- to no avail. The train slammed into the truck at 60 MPH and pushed the vehicle more than 100-feet, damaging 250-feet of track. The man was unharmed, though we understand his ego has filed for divorce.[Thanks, Dr. Mark]
Girl unwraps iPod, finds heavy-handed social commentary instead
As the unfortunate trend continues, yet another kiddo has found their Christmas PMP replaced with something that's, well, not a PMP. In today's episode, we find a Washington, D.C. girl that unwrapped an iPod earlier this week and discovered that the only Apple product tucked within was the inner packaging. Instead, a clever note was stashed inside (presumably with a paperweight of some sort) that read: "Reclaim your mind from the media shackles. Read a book and resurrect yourself. To claim your capitalistic garbage go to your nearest Apple store." Oh, and just in case you really needed more than one guess as to where this thing came from, here's a hint: it was sold by the same retailer who passed on Wii demo units due to "safety" concerns.[Via TUAW]
Man charged with manslaughter in "exploding battery" case
In one of the more bizarre turns we've seen stories take, new information has come to light in the recent exploding battery death we reported on. It turns out that the LG battery which had initially been blamed for the "accident" wasn't the cause at all, rather, a co-worker of the victim has admitted to hitting the man with a 15-ton hydraulic rig while driving in reverse, and has been charged with manslaughter. Kwon Young-sup, who had originally reported that he had heard an explosion and discovered the man's body, has now told police that he invented the story as a cover-up for an accident. So, you can now return to placing calls on your LG without fear -- but watch your back on the job-site.[Via Sky News, thanks Barry T, image courtesy of Yonhap News]
Korean man killed by exploding cellphone
South Korea, which has already seen two people supposedly struck by lightning drawn to their cellphones, has now experienced its first death due to an exploding handset battery. According to the AP, a quarry worker was found dead Wednesday with the remnants of an LG mobile melted into his shirt pocket, much like the welder who died under similar tragic circumstances this summer in China. For its part, while acknowledging that one of its phones was indeed the culprit, LG reportedly claimed that dying due to such an accident was "virtually impossible."[Image courtesy of Yonhap News, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Welsh village under attack by GPS-blind drivers
We tend to shed a tear or two for humanity each time one of these stories crosses our radar, and unfortunately, this one had us bawling. Apparently, residents in Llangadog have been frustrated time and time again as drivers of large trucks came rumbling through blindly following directions spat out by navigation systems. Wide vehicles have now failed to successfully traverse a very narrow road and not destroy any property in the process not once, not even twice, but three times, leaving a previously restored building in the community damaged (thrice) by recklessness. Reportedly, around £1.5 million ($3.12 million) is being spent to beautify landmark properties in Llangadog and Llandovery, but there's mounting concern that GPS-reliant motorists could reverse any progress by striking buildings as they attempt to squeeze through. It sounds as if signs are being erected to inform drivers of their navigator's cluelessness, but who knows if folks will actually take their eyes off of the LCD long enough to notice.[Thanks, Josh]
GPS leads driver into tight spot, stays wedged for three days
Every few months, we happen upon yet another story involving a motorist who simply believes that their GPS system would never, ever lead them astray. This go 'round, a Czech lorry driver continued down an incredibly narrow lane at the request of his sat nav, and even though his ginormous camion was clearly too large to make it around the 90-degree turn, he threw common sense to the wind and continued onward. Needless to say, his ride ended up wedged so tightly he couldn't reverse his way out, so he decided to set up shop for three whole days rather than calling for "an expensive weekend rescue." Interestingly enough, the fellow managed to acquire food after befriending a couple that lived nearby, and while we're sure he uttered Michael Scott's words in a different tongue, we've little doubt that "the machine knows!" was heard by nearby wildlife shortly before this situation turned sour.
Rogue vehicle leaves motorists stranded in car park
We've definitely heard of cellphones causing certain keys to not work properly, but this story just takes the proverbial cake. For reasons unknown, a small family car left in a UK car park was found to be intermittently sending out signals which blocked over a dozen other key fobs from functioning. Reportedly, the vehicle's owner was "unaware of the problems his car had been causing," but the malicious whip had been setting off alarms and leaving motorists without a way to unlock and / or crank up their own rides. Interestingly, there's no mention as to what exactly was wreaking all that havoc, but the owner of the ill-willed motorcar has reportedly promised to fix the issue (or call off the prank). [Via TheRegister]
Fire temporarily takes out several HD networks
If you noticed any outages earlier this week -- particularly when trying to view A&E HD, The History Channel HD, YES HD and NFL Network HD -- chances are an early morning fire at a Stamford, Connecticut building were to blame. Reportedly, the fire broke out in a building "that houses facilities for several programmers and a company that does uplinking for them," and while it took less than a day for A&E HD and The History Channel HD to resume operation, the other two channels took a bit longer to get back on track. Nothing like a brief outage to make you realize how critical HD is to your well being, eh?
Whoops, I'm level 20
If you've ever been ganked by a twink in 10-19 WSG, you might chuckle at poor Neflm's predicament. He accidentally leveled his Witching Stave-wielding Warlock twink to 20. Apparently all it takes to kick a twink out of the battlegrounds... is 200 experience.Of course, this is exactly what that XP toggle is for, if Blizzard ever chooses to implement it. Or if you want to go the other direction, you could just award experience in the BGs, which would definitely put a stop to twinking forever (and make Neflm's problem much more common).But he can't be too distraught-- even if he's accidentally leveled his 19 twink to 20, there's always the chance to be a terror at 20-29. As even he says, in the comments, "at least Stonetalon should be a cakewalk."
UK drivers caught texting could get 2 years behind bars
UK Drivers caught texting or operating a range of gadgets behind the wheel -- including MP3 players and GPS systems -- could face a new maximum of two years in prison. Currently the crime is punishable by £2,500 fines or community orders, although the most common offense is using a mobile phone whilst driving, which results in a £60 fine and three points on a license. Shifting to a higher category of dangerous driving from the previous category of careless driving might not solve the problem of people ignoring the current restrictions: if the current problem is poor enforcement, then it's hard to see extra deterrence making a difference. But hey, the cops over there seem to think that hovering drones and unbridled surveillance does the trick in other areas of criminality, so who are we to argue?[Via PocketPCThoughts]
Friday Video: Wii hates Lego dudes
If you happen to be made of Lego bits, apparently, the Wii is not for you. In fact, all technology may well hate you and your cunningly fitted pieces. This short comedy video by YouTube user Metalzora, who specializes in the plights and perils of Lego people, features that thing we all fear -- high-flying Wii remotes destroying our televisions. We can only guess someone didn't replace their wrist strap.
Non-recalled Nokia phone battery explodes, injures woman
While Nokia and Matsushita were busying settling the disputes that arose when the phone maker had to recall some 46 million handset batteries, a lady in India has been injured by a Nokia-branded cell that's not on that list. Located in eastern India, the woman noted that the BL-D3 series battery "blew up about 10 minutes after it was put on charge," resulting in a "ball of fire" that led to minor burn injuries to the user. According to Nokia, the incident was "isolated," and if it finds that the handset, battery, and charger are original, the 30-year old victim will supposedly be compensated.
$1.4 million IBM server falls off forklift, finger pointing ensues
Yeah, we've seen our fair share of pricey accidents, but this one is just brimming with ridiculousness. Reportedly, a mysterious IBM server that was headed to the US Patent and Trademark Office managed to fall off of a forklift managed by federal contractor T.R. Systems. The firm claims that the mishap occurred after the forklift "hit the raised surface at the entry door of the warehouse," but rather than taking the fall for the incident, it's seeking damages in excess of $1.4 million from IBM for Big Blue's shoddy packaging. Not surprisingly, IBM has stated that it will "defend itself vigorously" in the case, but there's no word on whether the traditional shipping cartons will be replaced with armored iterations in the future.
Teenager hit by train whilst texting, somehow survives
Granted, this isn't the first run-in we've seen involving trains and an SMS-minded individual, but the former story certainly didn't involve a train coming into contact with a human. This time, however, an 18-year old Ohio resident managed to get carted away from a devastating collision after being struck by an oncoming locomotive. The kid apparently waited for one train to pass, but rather than double-checking for anything coming in the opposite direction, he simply forged ahead. Consequently, he was thrown 50-feet and knocked unconscious mid-sentence, but is thankfully recovering in a Cincinnati hospital.[Via Switched]
Nissan shows off even more safety developments
For those who value ultra-low insurance premiums, Nissan is quickly making a case to be a front-runner in your next car buying decision. Just days after showing off a concept vehicle with anti-drunk driving technology, the firm is now demonstrating a number of other non-alcoholic safety features including a lane departure prevention system, bumper sensors that release a hinge to lift the engine hood slightly and soften the impact if a pedestrian is hit, and a gas pedal that lifts to warn of possible collisions. Granted, some of these devices are already being implemented on a number of rival automobiles in one form or another, but Nissan will reportedly be installing the aforementioned features into its vehicles within the next year or so, and yes, that includes vehicles destined for the US.