We love Wired magazine, and their blogs are pretty good too. Recently the “Threat Level” blog, concerning privacy, security, politics, and crime online covered the stories around recent Citibank ATM heists. It hasn’t really been publicized, but nearly $200,000 was stolen by ATM thefts in just three days on the Upper East Side of Manhattan from Citibank ATMs, prompting investigations by the bank and the FBI. Chasing down and capturing the Eastern European cyberthieves has proved challenging, but the real goal is the man behind it all, a mysterious Russian mobster with powerful connections. The quest to stop these thieves has proved difficult, and produced such scenes as a man being arrested with over half-a-million stuffed in bags and boxes, and thieves chasing an FBI agent through the streets of New York. Read more about at the link below!

[Story]

In the 1960s, civil rights leaders marched on Washington D.C. for jobs and freedom, fighting for the fundamental civil rights and equality for all in America. Just over a decade ago, the Million Man March shared that spirit, pushing African Americans to vote and become more politically active (using the rights gained by past civil rights leaders). Other “million” marches have included those against gun violence, lost jobs, and for strengthening families. These are all valuable causes, but the existence of a “Million DJ March” shows that the concept of a “million man march” has now officially jumped the shark. They don’t want to fight for rights, or equality, but “recognition” and money…

According to the Million DJ March website, on August 30th of 2008 DJs will “descend on Washington to celebrate decades of service to the entertainment industry. They will listen to speeches from leaders of music groups, founding DJs, and Civil Rights activists all on the dawn of a new election year.” The site continues to say that “disc jockeys will gather from all over the world to discuss the current state of the DJ, and highlight the true integral importance of their role.” But when you read through that you realize what it’s all about, namely some DJs looking more recognition and money.

We think this whole thing is a joke, and hope it is. The “Press” page only says “Pardon us while we reconstruct… It just gives you a reason to come back!!!” leading us to believe that our current post is probably the most visible and complimentary coverage out there.

We doubt there are even a million DJs in the world who would want to participate in this march, and figure it’ll be a tremendously small event.

[Million DJ March]

Need a fun time-waster? Like art? If you answered yes to either you should check out Mr. Picassohead, a site that allows you to make art like Picasso (and share it with the world). Picasso has a distinctive style that is difficult to emulate, so the website provides the user with art pieces you just add to the canvas. Let your creative side flourish!

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Now most people have never used a phone sex service, but everyone knows about them, advertised in the back of men’s magazines and referenced in popular culture. Well this interesting gallery of photos contains the images and words of some workers from the “phone sex industry,” operators who are paid to sound sexy over the phone. We’re sure that the people who use these kinds of services would be both disappointed yet not shocked by what the pictures reveal, men and woman who are probably far from the ideal man or woman painted in their minds. But we suppose that’s why they call it “phone sex” and nothing else.

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This is a fun little site that will estimate how long you can survive the vacuum of space. Contrary to popular belief and some movies, being ejected into space won’t immediately kill you or make you explode. Done right, a human can survive in space for a little while, but even seconds will have tremendously bad effects. The movie Sunshine has a scene in which some characters have to move through the vacuum of space without suits, and even with insulation they receive pretty serious injuries. (It’s a great movie too, we knew we’d get to plug it somewhere!) Even though the movie’s premise seems ridiculous, the director of 28 Days Later doesn’t disappoint. That’s just an aside however, click the link below and find out how long you could survive in the vacuum of space.

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The Cuban Revolution has a very interesting article on the reasons the rich and famous (particularly athletes, musicians, and the like) go broke, often spectacularly like Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, Johnny Unitas, and most recently Evander Holyfield. The Toronto Star recently wrote about the financial mishaps most NBA players encounter, estimating that 60% of NBA players go broke five years after retiring from the NBA. Now no one is shedding tears for most highly paid athletes, but they do often encounter financial problems, losing their expensive houses and fleets of cars. After all is said and done, what is the primary cause of this? Poor money management (obviously), particularly becoming accustomed to spending tremendous amounts of money without paying attention to the fact that for these men and women (musicians, athletes, lottery winners), the flow of money will dry up and soon reality will set in. Previously we wrote about how Shaq spends nearly $1 million a month, so the fact that many athletes “go broke” is starting to make some sense…

[The Cuban Revolution] via [Freakonomics]

Interested in politics, polling, or statistics? Check out FiveThirtyEight, a very well done site that monitors and analyzes political polling data for the upcoming Presidential election. The site is a statistician’s dream, and is constantly updated with new information. We all know that polling isn’t perfect, but watching this site as the election and campaigns progress could be both informative and fun. Currently the site puts Obama slightly ahead of McCain in electoral votes (274.4 to 263.6), but the nearly equal popular vote makes this race far too close to call, especially now. As we approach the general election we’ll see how these numbers change and pan out.

[Link]

Rick Seaney recently compiled a list of fees that hypothetical airline fees that could be a reality in the future. Even though the list of “Top Ten Totally Crazy Airline Fees — That Don’t Exist — Yet!” seems crazy, we’re sure many Americans never thought they would ever have to pay a fee to check in bags (something that American Airlines recently started). The scariest part of the list is the fact that if gas keeps rising in price and airlines try to keep fares low, they just might create new fares to recoup the difference. If you have been paying any attention, you know that airlines are not doing so well. The list is broken up into four pages on the ABC News site, but we have it here in one convenient post after the jump!

Here’s the list:

No. 1 — Lavatory Licensing: Until the mid-1970s, pay toilets were common in the United States (and for those who like trivia, credit for their demise must go to the Committee to End Pay Toilets In America — seriously). So what’s to stop the airlines from resurrecting this scheme?

Perhaps they’d treat lavatory fees like current checked-bag charges: the first trip to the bathroom is free, but look out for that $25 tariff for the second visit.

Drawback: Remember, American Airlines now charges for every checked bag; if it institutes a similar lavatory assessment, passengers just might want to skip the beverage service (assuming it stays free …)

No. 2 — Nausea Tax: The weather is stormy and it’s starting to feel as though the captain is showing us all the tricks he learned back in his days as a stunt pilot. What wouldn’t you give for a nice clean paper bag? Well, what would you give? $5? $10? I’m just asking before the airlines beat me to it.

Maybe this really is something worth paying for; ask anyone who’s had the experience of reaching into the seatback pocket only to discover an ABUB ( airline-speak for an “already-been-used-bag.”)

Drawback: Will an additional fee be required for toxic bag disposal?

No. 3 — Oxygen Tariff: It’s one of those terrifying moments — the oxygen masks appear! Better have your MasterCard ready (credit this idea to political cartoonist Steve Benson of the Arizona Republic, who captioned a recent cartoon: “In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, an oxygen mask will drop from the compartment above your head. For $15, you can activate it …”)

This could be a real money-maker for the airlines, since I suspect everyone will be reaching for those masks once they add up all the fees and surcharges on their airline ticket: The total cost of a flight has been known to make grown men faint dead away.

Drawback: Let’s just hope that plastic tubing can hold the weight of the oxygen mask as well as a credit card reader.

No. 4 — Seatback Stipend: Tired of the eternal struggle between passengers who want to put their seatback down as far as it will go, and the passengers who are tired of having a stranger’s head in their lap? Well, once you pay this fee, you can slam your seatback down wherever and whenever you like.

Drawback: Once the other guy starts paying a fee to prevent the passenger in front of him from lowering his seatback, we’re going to have trouble.

No. 5 — Kiddie Corral Cost: Traveling with a child? Sorry, but you’ll have to pay this fee so the little ones can travel in their own separate section. Childless passengers may applaud this move — but maybe parents will, too, since no one will be able to identify which misbehaving imp is theirs.

Drawback: Flight attendants supervising the Kiddie Corral may qualify for “hazardous duty” pay.

No. 6 — Fat Fee: Charging passengers by the pound. Gate agents would have scales near the boarding area, and to be really fair about this, they would assess fees on everyone who weighs more than 100 pounds (we could call this fee the Super-Model-Exempt Surcharge).

Drawback: Since hardly any of the airlines serve meals or free snacks anymore, passengers may lose weight on flights; will they then be due a refund?

No. 7 — Beverage Cart Start Charge: Ever notice that when you’re dying of thirst, the beverage cart begins service 25 rows ahead of you? Be first in line, by paying the cart start charge; flight attendants begin service at your row, for a price.

Drawback: As we all know, those aisle jamming carts never begin service until you have to use the facilities, but I ‘m sure the airlines could come up with a fee to address this situation as well.

No. 8 — Board First Fare: You’ve already paid one fee to get that seat with the extra legroom, but if you’re not among the first to board, the overhead bins will be filled so you’ll end up stuffing your carry-on under the seat in front of you, and — bye-bye legroom. Don’t let this happen with the “board first” fee.

Drawback: Watch the airlines collect these fees from all the passengers; watch chaos ensue.

No. 9 — Bag Finder Fee: Losing your luggage will be a thing of the past with this special (and hefty) fee that includes a GPS device attached to your bags. Never mind that the government and airlines can’t agree on a way to put a navigational system equivalent to a cell phone on our planes — a system that would help out with the horrendous Air Traffic Control situation — no, they can’t do that! But if putting a GPS device on bags allows them to collect another fee, you can bet they’ll figure that one out.

Drawback: This doesn’t mean your bag will never go “missing” — of course it will. But at least the airline will know where it winds up, so you can go and get it.

No. 10 — Pilot No Talk Toll: Not sure why, but every pilot seems compelled to rhapsodize about the glories of the Grand Canyon for 400 miles or so. If you’re tired of the travelogue, pay this fee and never worry about missing a single line of dialogue from “Snakes on a Plane” ever again.

Drawback: You’ll probably miss the pilot’s announcement about the new “pay to deplane” fee.

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[ABC News]

Brent Stirton is an amazing photographer who specializes in provocative imagery. He’s a photojournalist, often covering fairly shocking scenes while creating stunning photographs. The gallery currently features (mostly tame) images of war, an effort to capture a gorilla, and more interesting subjects. It’s a must see, if only to help you view the world in a new lens.

[Photo Journal]

Sadly, the above picture is not a temperature map of the US but instead is a highly useful image from gasbuddy.com. The map shows the areas of the US with the highest and lowest gas prices. Prices are denoted by the color of each area, green being the lowest and red the highest. It even allows you to enter your city or zip code in order to look at prices in your immediate area. This site is really handy in helping you find the price difference between gas stations around your home, sometimes saving you a decent amount per gallon just by sending you a couple blocks further than your usual stop. Hopefully this helps some of you deal with the current, and rising, price of gas.

[Link]