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Shady Plastic Surgeon May Have Used Human Fat to Power SUV

by Dan Reilly, posted Dec 23rd 2008 at 6:42PM

Remember that scene in 'Fight Club' when Brad Pitt and Ed Norton are stealing bags of human fat from a plastic surgeon? Well, an article from Forbes.com says that a shady Beverly Hills plastic surgeon was doing the same thing, only he was using the flab for fuel, not explosives.

Lawsuits against Dr. Craig Alan Bittner uncovered the claims that he was turning the medical waste into biodiesel to power his Ford SUV and his girlfriend's Lincoln Navigator. Although there's no mention of how Bittner did it, the triglycerides in the different types of fat, including human, can be turned into diesel fuel. A gallon of the stuff can be turned into the same amount of gas, which is why many companies are working to utilized the process to offset transportation costs and help the environment.

Bittner wrote on his now extinct Web site, lipodiesel.com, "The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel--and I have more fat than I can use. Not only do they get to lose their love handles or chubby belly but they get to take part in saving the Earth." While it sounds like innovation, it's actually a crime -- Bittner is being investigated by California's public health department for using the medical waste, which is illegal.

Wired sheds even more light on the inconsistencies in Bittner's story, including the fact that his girlfriend's Lincoln doesn't run on diesel, so the process wouldn't work. What's scariest is that the supposedly green doctor is hiding in South America while he's being sued for letting his girlfriend and assistant perform unlicensed surgeries that left at least three patients disfigured. Gross! [Source: Forbes and Wired]

VP Stole $65M from Fry's Electronics to Pay Gambling Debts

by Dan Reilly, posted Dec 23rd 2008 at 5:12PM

With the exposure of all the shady dealings of bankers and lawyers going on right now, it was only a matter of time before scandal hit the tech world. An executive at Fry's Electronics is accused of stealing $65 million from the company in illegal kickbacks and commissions. A large chunk of the money went to pay off gambling debts.

42-year-old Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, known as "Omar," rose from a computer salesman to vice president of merchandising and operations at the company. Siddiqui was caught after another executive saw confidential spreadsheets and high commission bills on Siddiqui's des and alerted the IRS. His scheme was to act as a middleman with clients and charge them almost rates up to ten times higher than normal salesmen. It's suspected that the rip-offs began in 2005.

Although nobody seemed to be aware of his gambling habits, it seems they should have -- apparently, he was "known around the office for driving fast cars, carrying wads of $100 bills in his pocket and boisterously rooting during sports events he watched on the four TV screens in his office." According to bank statements obtained by the IRS, Siddiqui spent $162 million in three years at the MGM Grand and the Sands in Vegas.

Siddiqui is currently out on $300,000 bond, waiting to be charged next month with wire fraud and money laundering. He's currently being monitored by an electronic bracelet and isn't allowed in Vegas, where he would fly to using the Fry's corporate plane. Well, it was good while it lasted, right Omar? [Source: The San Jose Mercury News]

Huffington Post Casually Ripping Off Other Sites?

by Dan Reilly, posted Dec 22nd 2008 at 4:54PM


With tons of blogs out there, it's no surprise that people will occasionally lift the content of others without giving the proper credit. On a small level, it's certainly not the end of the world, but when a leading Web site starts thieving from other popular publications, things can get a little hairy. That's exactly the situation the Huffington Post has found itself in after being accused of pilfering posts by the Chicago Reader.

The problem stems from HuffPo's new Chicago-focused site reusing entire concert previews from the Reader, Time Out Chicago, and The Onion's Decider without permission. To avoid complete plagiarism, it included links to the original story, which it said is good promotion for the destination sites. Reader editor Moser is definitely not a fan, saying:

You want to do a post that says, "According to Jessica Hopper, Bon Iver rules, check 'em out, go here for the info," fine. But taking an entire concert preview is bush league. Doing it as a practice is just beneath contempt.

HuffPo claims it was just an editorial oversight and has since changed the posts to a format resembling other aggregators like Digg and Google News, but the Reader has the screenshots to prove their case. We can't imagine it'll be stealing from any other local publications soon, but it's worth keeping an eye on the Huffington Post to make sure. If nothing else, it could start a pretty sweet Web war. [Source (See? We take this seriously, too): Wired via Propeller]

Scientists Might Be Able to Watch and Record Dreams

by Dan Reilly, posted Dec 12th 2008 at 10:22AM



If your idea of fun is letting people see what you dream and picture in your head, you might want to sign up for this study. A group of Japanese researchers successfully displayed an image using electrical signals from the brain, a revolutionary feat they hope will let them visualize dreams.

The scientists from ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories are the first people to ever visualize what we see by studying brain activity. The study focuses on the process in which the retina recognizes an image, converts it into electrical signals that are interpreted by the brain's visual cortex. So far, they've only been able to recreate simple images -- in this case, the letters of the word "neuron" -- but they hope the technology will let them watch and record dreams.

We're not exactly sure if this will be used to determine why people dream or have applications in psychotherapy, but it's pretty interesting stuff. While we're fine keeping our dreams to ourselves, would you let scientists watch what you picture at night, provided they don't tell your significant other? [From: Daily Mail]

Trippy WTF Animated Images That Will Bug You Out

by Dan Reilly, posted Dec 12th 2008 at 9:30AM


Whether you're bored at work or high at home, or vice versa, you can enjoy some psychedelic time wasters courtesy of our friends over at Urlesque. We're not exactly sure what kind of reaction you're supposed to have here, but our reactions ranged from perplexed to unimpressed to straight up freaked out (seriously, what's with that dinosaur and the kids thing?).

Anyway, we'd advise you not to check these out if you're prone to seizures or terrible nightmares. If you're cool on those fronts, go ahead and ride the digital snake. [From: Urlesque]

'World of Warcraft' Restaurant Opens in China

by Dan Reilly, posted Dec 11th 2008 at 11:44AM


Balancing reality and virtual worlds can be a problem for some gamers, but one Beijing restaurateur is hoping it leads to a booming business with his 'World of Warcraft'-themed eatery. Geeks need to eat too, right?

The entrance to the restaurant is a recreation of the Dark Portal, the intro animation from 'WoW: The Burning Crusade.' Once you get inside, the walls are lined with pictures and TVs showing scenes and footage from the game, and the dishes get their name from WoW's characters. To top it all off, the main dining area, "The Hall of Snow Storms," features a large tree at its center and warriors clad in replica armor, which we assume is to protect diners against food poisoning and slow service.

Do you, or does anyone you know, play 'World of Warcraft?'



The owner of the establishment says he opened it as a comfortable meeting place for other people who love the game like he does. We're sure the restaurant will be popular, especially in China where games like this have massive audiences, provided the game's creators, Blizzard Entertainment, let it stay open. Maybe the next step will be to open a 'Second Life' diner that looks and functions exactly like a normal diner accept everyone becomes a hundred times cooler, sexier, and more confident once they get inside. [From: WoW Insider]

15 Dangerous E-Mails You Should Delete Immediately

by Dan Reilly, posted Dec 7th 2008 at 2:18AM



Yes, we know we've covered the biggest e-mail scams before, but criminals never stop coming up with new ways to mess you up via the Internet, so we've decided it's time for an update -- this time focusing on specific e-mails to watch out for (that is, if you want to avoid everything from garden variety financial scams and computer viruses to flat-out ID theft). As always, remember there are variations on each of these cons, so be wary of anything even resembling what you read in the following pages....

Dangerous E-Mails You Should Delete Immediately 16

by Dan Reilly, posted Dec 7th 2008 at 12:00AM



Would You Fall for This?

We think this one's so obvious that we saved it for last. After all, who in their right mind would actually enter their credit card number into an e-mail asking if their credit card number has been stolen? It's such a transparent scam that it made it onto failblog.org, a site that catalogs these sorts of numskulleries. [Related Link: How to Avoid ID Theft]

Dangerous E-Mails You Should Delete Immediately 4

by Dan Reilly, posted Dec 7th 2008 at 12:00AM



Cheaper Gas

Once again, scammers are going for what's in the news and people's innate desire to save some bucks by highlighting gas prices in spam e-mails. Either they're offering gas cards with locked-in rates or they're hawking gizmos that increase your mileage. Just don't believe it, ok? Especially since now that gas prices are low again, you won't really need these huckster discounts.

Dangerous E-Mails You Should Delete Immediately 5

by Dan Reilly, posted Dec 7th 2008 at 12:00AM



F.B.I. Vs. Facebook

Yes, there are more important matters to worry about than Facebook's recent redesign -- namely, an e-mail with a message that says "F.B.I. vs. Facebook," which includes the above picture and has a link to download the Storm Worm botnet, that nasty piece of malware that connects infected computers and uses them for identity theft and spam. Make sure not to open any e-mail with this subject and make sure to delete it immediately. If you do accidentally open this e-mail, don't click on any links within it and delete it immediately. Lastly, before you open another e-mail, make sure you have some sort of anti-virus software installed.

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