One man in Pennsylvania is being charged with 68 felony counts after he went to painstaking lengths to manipulate underage girls through a series of fake Facebook accounts.

According to Attorney General Linda Kelly, the investigation into the activities of William R. Ainsworth began back in September of 2011, after he was arrested for attempting to engage in sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl. After he was arrested, they found that this one lascivious meeting was just the tip of the iceberg. After combing through thousands of online communications, performing 18 searches, and interviewing over 30 children, the state has put together one hell of a story about Mr. Ainsworth.

“We quickly discovered that there was much more to this case than the sexual solicitation of one girl,” Kelly said. “What we found was an intricate web of false Facebook identities that were used to establish online relationships with vulnerable girls, who were then manipulated into sending nude photos to Ainsworth – believing he was a young surfer living in Florida – or physically meeting Ainsworth for sex – under the impression that those sexual encounters would help raise money so the girls could run away to Florida to be with their new online friend.”

Here’s how Ainsworth allegedly constructed his webs of lies:

First, he created two fake Facebook profiles – Bill Cano and Anthony “Riip” Navari. He built up both profiles by creating a network of friends with people in the greater Pittsburgh area. Both of his characters were young surfers who had dropped out of high school and ran away to Florida. He supposedly bolstered the believability of his characters by taking images from around the internet.

Apparently, he amassed over 600 friends between the two fake profiles.

He then used Bill Cano to make contact with young girls. Once he had manipulated them by gaining their trust over a period of time, he would get them to send him nude and sexually explicit photos.

But that wasn’t enough. Here’s where the story takes an even darker turn.

Once Ainsworth had established a community of girls that cared about Bill Cano, he killed him off. Then comes “Rip” Navari, who swooped in posing to be Bill’s step-brother or best friend. He told the girls that Bill had been attacked and killed. It’s pretty easy to see how young girls could get wrapped up in all of this.

Ainsworth then put a third fake character into play, named Glenn Keefer. Keefer’s profile said that he was a “Sugardaddy looking for Sugarbabies,” living in the Pittsburgh area. Ainsworth used Rip to introduce the girls to Keefer. The story was that if they stripped or performed sex acts with Keefer, then he would give money to Rip so that Rip could help the girls fly down to Florida to be with him.

All in all, Ainsworth’s web tangled up 7 victims from the ages of 13-15. Five of those girls ended up sending nude photos and he actually met with two of them (posing as Keefer) for the purposes of sex.

This is a pretty intricate fake identity scam, and if found guilty, Ainsworth is going to pay a heavy price for it. You always hear about stuff like this, and how it could happen. But it’s very rare to see something surface that’s this elaborate. The internet is one of the greatest inventions of all time – but damn, it can be cruel.

According to WPTV Kansas, that’s what happened to Sophia Stockton, a junior at Mid-America Nazarene University in Olathe.

Apparently, Stockton purchased the book through Amazon’s Warehouse Deals program, where shoppers can “get deep discounts on open-box, like-new, refurbished, or used products that are in good condition but do not meet Amazon.com’s rigorous standards as ‘new.’” When she opened it up and a baggie of white powder fell out, she initially thought it might be anthrax.

Ironically enough, the textbook that contained the cocaine was called “Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues.”

She notified the local police department, who ran an analysis on the substance:

Warehouse Deals was created by Amazon to easily move products that aren’t quite showroom quality. It functions like any other “Fulfilled by Amazon” merchant. Amazon specifically says that items that come through Warehouse Deals are inspected carefully:

Prior to offering an item for sale on Warehouse Deals, we verify physical and functional condition.

Amazon says that any product that customers find unsatisfactory can be returned within 30 days for a full refund. I doubt Miss Stockton is unsatisfied with her textbook once she found out it wasn’t full of a biological warfare agent.

She told GardnerEdge: “I have ordered many times from Amazon and this is the first time I’ve seen anything like this. I don’t think that Amazon is at fault in this case. They can’t check every book that goes through their warehouse. I’m guessing that it (the cocaine) was just left in there by the previous owner of the book.”

Or some inspector is really bummed out. I wonder, how many other college students would have called the police?

What I’m talking about it a concept design that takes forever alone to a whole new level. Meet the FLESHLiPad Holder.

What you’re seeing is a Fleshlight device attached to the bottom of an iPad. For those of you unfamiliar with Fleshlights, you can check out the site (a tad NSFW). As you can see, it’s basically a male sex toy that simulates a vagina. It’s actually a pretty huge industry, as prospective users can build their own or purchase toys modeled after famous pornstars – and yes, they are anatomically accurate.

It doesn’t take a genius to see why a person would want to have one of these devices attached to an iPad – and the mockup makes it pretty clear as well. I must reiterate, this is simply a concept design, but do you really think that this idea will sit around untapped for very long? I don’t think so.

[TvMiller via Geekologie]

So, going by my rule, ants are usually okay. That is, until you give them giant freaking heads.

Detailed in a study published Friday in the AAAS’ Science journal, scientists have uncovered an ancient genetic trait in a certain genus of ant. This led to the creation of an absolutely terrifying mutant ant with a gargantuan head and jaws.

With the help of Ed Yong from Discover Magazine, here’s how my biologically-challenged brain understands the issue.

The Pheidole are a large genus of ant with over 1,100 species. Some of them have a certain “caste” with large heads, called a solider caste. A tiny fraction of those species (like eight) have been known to produce a supersoldier ant, the ones with the giant heads that we’re talking about here.

Researchers discovered that the ability for ants to produce these freaky supersoldiers is actually not limited to these few species. The ability, on a genetic level, to make these giant-headed ants runs through the whole Pheidole genus. It’s just buried deep inside them somewhere.

The team hit some normal ants with a particular hormone and was able to induce the development of these supersoldier ants.

So that clarifies one important point: the researchers didn’t just create some mutant ant out of thin air. They simply activated an expression that is very rare – but already exists.

Here’s how the study explains it in Science Mag -

Complex worker caste systems have contributed to the evolutionary success of advanced ant societies; however, little is known about the developmental processes underlying their origin and evolution. We combined hormonal manipulation, gene expression, and phylogenetic analyses with field observations to understand how novel worker subcastes evolve. We uncovered an ancestral developmental potential to produce a “supersoldier” subcaste that has been actualized at least two times independently in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole.

This potential has been retained and can be environmentally induced throughout the genus. Therefore, the retention and induction of this potential have facilitated the parallel evolution of supersoldiers through a process known as genetic accommodation. The recurrent induction of ancestral developmental potential may facilitate the adaptive and parallel evolution of phenotypes.

In the wild, the giant heads are used to guard and protect their ant colony from enemy ants.

But I think the point here is that people who are much smarter than I am are able to produce terrifying super ants. Awesome.

[Images from The Daily Mail]

Let’s back up a bit. The robot hasn’t really been trained – it’s actually controlled by a human. Oh, that’s cooler? Yeah, you’re right.

Developer Taylor Veltrop spent the better part of 2011 constructing this little gem – a system that allows him to get in the mind of a two-foot tall NAO robot, and use that control to thoroughly satisfy or seriously annoy (honestly, who can tell with cats?) his feline companion.

Veltrop hacked a Kinect and uses two Wii remotes to control the bot’s arms. He then uses a treadmill in correlation with the Kinect to control the bot’s movement. A head mounted display allows him to control the bot’s head as well as see through its eyes.

The result is this: an amazingly elaborate scheme to brush your cat. Enjoy:

And oh look! There are plans for more:

After doing this exercise, it became apparent that the next feature to add is hearing and speaking through the robot. Luckily both the NAO and my HMD have microphones and speakers so this shouldn’t be too difficult.

You can debate whether or not this project deserved a year of someone’s life. Hey, maybe this invention will allow people with extreme cat allergies to interact with kitties via robotic surrogate? Who knows. But one thing you can’t argue is that it’s nice to see a robot given a task that doesn’t threaten human life as we know it.

[Hat Tip to Engadget]

What’s not a shame for 39-year-old Salvatore Miglino of Boca Raton is that his iPhone might just be the key witness in a crime reportedly borne of familial bickering.

According to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Miglino went to the home of his estranged mother-in-law, 66-year-old Cheryl Hepner, to pick up his 3-year-old kid for his court-mandated visitation. Apparently, Miglino and Hepner’s daughter are in the midst of a divorce.

After a brief discussion, Hepner allegedly pulled out a .22 caliber Beretta and shot Miglino twice – in the shoulder and the rib cage.

Luckily for Miglino, he had expected some sort of confrontation (although by the sound of his voice, obviously not any involving firearms), so he hit the record button on his iPhone before getting out of his car. The 90-seconds of footage has just been released by investigators and is making the rounds on the internet.

In the video, we don’t get much in the way of visuals. But the audio paints a pretty vivid picture of what happens:

According to the CBS local affiliate in Miami, operators received two distinct 911 calls – one from Hepner and one from Miglino. As you would expect, one doesn’t exactly corroborate the other:

Hepner: I tried to grab the gun and shoot. I don’t know.
911: Did you guys scuffle for the gun?
Hepner: Yes he had me down on the floor on the ground outside.
911: Did he pull the gun on you or did you pull it on him?
Hepner: No he pulled the gun on me and he’s got it and he drove away.

///

Miglino: Oh my God. I’m shot.
911: Ok
MIglino: I took the gun away from her. I have it.
911: Where are you shot?
Miglino: On my shoulder and on my side. I can’t believe she shot me!

The Broward Sheriff’s Office says that the gun jammed, and that’s probably the only reason that Miglino is alive. Hepner has been charged with attempted first-degree murder.

“The victim knew that something wasn’t right,” a BSO spokesman said. “He knew that there would possibly be a confrontation, he had the foresight to hit record on his iPhone. Thank goodness he did.”

[Via The Smoking Gun]
[Image Courtesy]

For just $35, you can have your site permanently inked into Mr. Vaillancourt’s skin, as well as linked to from his fast-growing list of sponsors on his personal site, back2thelight.com. Major sponsors (the ones that get the large tattoos in the prime real estate seen above) have to shell out $500.

According to his site, more than half the money he raises for the project will go towards charitable organizations to help in places like Haiti and Somalia.

Those who know me will agree that I’m a spontaneous guy, a man of real conviction and passion who’s not afraid of getting involved in unconventional projects. I want to break a world record and become the man with “the most Websites tattooed on his body.” But more importantly, I want to help others. That’s why I’m going to donate more than half the money raised through the project for Haïti.

Vaillancourt already has over 15,000 URLs tattooed all over his body, and he claims that over 16,000 more have already reserved a spot. Apparently, the first 50,000 URLs will be inked traditionally, as black text. The second half will be tattooed in fluorescent ink so that he can be “very noticeable in nightclubs.”

Each 100 URLs take about an hour to tattoo, so the entire 100,000 will end up costing Vaillancourt between 10,000 and 12,000 hours of his life. The entire project will hopefully generate a total of around $3.5 million.

While “over half” the money will go to charity, the rest will go to paying old debts and helping him raise his son, he says. With almost 150,000 likes on his Facebook page, it looks like Vaillancourt is generating enough publicity to make his goal a reality.

Apparently, a Samsung Galaxy S II caught fire inside someone’s pocket. The incident was reported on the xda-developers forums, by a friend who seemed to be seeing at least a little bit of humor in the situation:

My friend almost lost his nuts! He said he heard a sound, a burning sensation on his leg and as he pulled this piece of junk out of his pocket he smelled burning. There was smoke coming out of his pocket and out of the phone. LoL, He said he was scared.

You think? One time a friend secretly dropped a lit firecracker in my front pocket. I imagine the situation was similar.

According to the report, the victim hadn’t even had the phone for longer than two weeks and hadn’t recently used it either – it was just sitting, cold in his pocket. He posted some photos of the melted device to prove his story. From the looks of those photos, it appears that the battery may be to blame for the incident:

It appears that iPhones aren’t the only smartphones spontaneously blowing up these days. Two high profile reports emerged earlier this week about Apple devices smoking and catching fire. The first came from Australia, where a group of passengers were startled when one of their iPhone 4s began smoking and emitting a red glow. Luckily, they were in the process of landing. Officials are still investigating the cause of the incident.

A few days later, a man in Brazil had a bad morning when he awoke to his iPhone 4 on fire, only inches away from his face. It’s thought that the battery could be the issue in those cases as well.

So look out, guys. It’s not just the radiation that could hurt your reproductive prowess when you carry your smartphone in your pocket.

[Via RegHardware]

Okay, planes are probably not killing your devices, but apparently an iPhone blew up during an Australian flight landing in Sydney. Passengers on Regional Express flight ZL319 were startled when someone’s iPhone went demonic and started smoking profusely and glowing red.

Here’s the airline’s official statement on the incident, which they are calling “self combustion”:

Regional Express (Rex) flight ZL319 operating from Lismore to Sydney today had an occurrence after landing, when a passenger’s mobile phone started emitting a significant amount of dense smoke, accompanied by a red glow. In accordance with company standard safety procedures, the Flight Attendant carried out recovery actions immediately and the red glow was extinguished successfully.

All passengers and crew on board were unharmed.

The matter has been reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) as well as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for investigation and directions. The mobile phone in question appears to be an Apple iPhone (see picture below) and has been handed over to ATSB for analysis.

As promised, they provide a photo of the malfunctioning device. Although it’s unclear whether the device is an iPhone 4 or and iPhone 4S, what is clear is that something happened to this thing. It kind of looks like part of it exploded. Check it out:

There have been sporadic reports of iPhones running hot and “exploding” in the past, and The Next Web suggests that the battery housed on the right side of the device could be to blame for the problem.

Whatever the issue, I’d like to think that it’s the planes fighting back. For too long, people have secretly been activating their devices on takeoff and landing – against the wishes of aviation officials (however suspect they might be). It looks like the planes have begun to take matters into their own hands. Be warned: if you use your phone while landing it will be spontaneously combusted.

But Craigslist, like most of the internet, is also a place for scams, manipulation and other seedy activities. We’ve heard stories of jilted lovers trying to hire hitmen on the site as well as oblivious drug dealers trying to liquidate product. And of course let’s not forget about the infamous Craigslist Killer.

This unbelievable story begins on Craigslist and ends with two shallow graves in the woods. Hold on, everybody. This is a weird one.

In Caldwell, Ohio, a 16-year-old high school student and a 52-year-old Akron man have been arrested in conjunction with a shooting that occurred back on November 6th.

According to the shooting victim, a South Carolinian, he had come to Noble county Ohio in response to a Craigslist ad for a general labor job on a 688 acre cattle farm. He said that he was told he’d be living on the farm, and thus was instructed to bring all of his belongings with him. He reportedly met two men for breakfast in a nearby city and they set off together, supposedly for the farm.

The men eventually pulled over, explaining to the victim that they would have to take the rest of the journey on foot due to the impassable roads ahead. As they were walking through the woods, one of the men pulled a gun on the victim, who was able to deflect the barrel aimed at his head and begin running away. As he was fleeing, he was shot in the elbow.

The victim waited hours in the woods until he felt the coast was clear, and he eventually made it two miles to a residence where he was taken in. The authorities were then notified of the situation.

Authorities think that this was all part of bigger scheme that involved phony Craigslists ads. The suspects are thought to have placed the ads with the intention of getting unsuspecting workers out to their farm where they would rob them of all their possessions and kill them.

This is the working theory because shortly after the shooting incident, authorities found a shallow grave in woods nearby, which they think was meant for the South Carolina man. A day later, they found another shallow grave near the first – but this one was occupied.

It’s thought that the dead man could be a Florida man, who was reported missing by his twin sister after he also responded to a similar Craigslist ad. Autopsies have yet to determine this, but authorities suspect that there could be more victims. They don’t really know if this phony ad killing scheme is limited to these two, or extends to others. We don’t know much more right now because today a judge issued a gag order.

What have we learned here? Well, for one, that people are f*cking crazy.

I’m sure that once everything about this comes to light, the Lifetime movie is not far behind. I don’t know, can it be as compelling as a film about a med student that kills hookers he find on Craigslist escort ads? I don’t know – it’s a pretty sinister story.

Is Billy Baldwin available?