Turns city network into Hornby set
By John Leyden A Polish teenager allegedly turned the tram system in the city of Lodz into his own personal train set, triggering chaos and derailing four vehicles in the process. Twelve people were injured in one of the incidents. The 14-year-old modified a TV remote control so that it could be used to change track points, The Telegraph reports. Local police said the youngster trespassed in tram depots to gather information needed to build the device. The teenager told police that he modified track setting for a prank.
"He studied the trams and the tracks for a long time and then built a device that looked like a TV remote control and used it to manoeuvre the trams and the tracks," said Miroslaw Micor, a spokesman for Lodz police."He had converted the television control into a device capable of controlling all the junctions on the line and wrote in the pages of a school exercise book where the best junctions were to move trams around and what signals to change.
"He treated it like any other schoolboy might a giant train set, but it was lucky nobody was killed. Four trams were derailed, and others had to make emergency stops that left passengers hurt. He clearly did not think about the consequences of his actions," Micor added.
Transport command and control systems are commonly designed by engineers with little exposure or knowledge about security using commodity electronics and a little native wit. The apparent ease with which Lodz's tram network was hacked, even by these low standards, is still a bit of an eye opener.
Problems with the signalling system on Lodz's tram network became apparent on Tuesday when a driver attempting to steer his vehicle to the right was involuntarily taken to the left. As a result the rear wagon of the train jumped the rails and collided with another passing tram. Transport staff immediately suspected outside interference.
The youth, described by his teachers as an electronics buff and exemplary student, faces charges at a special juvenile court of endangering public safety.
Authorities on foot and all-terrain vehicles searched a residential neighborhood near Camp Lejeune today for a shallow grave holding the body of a pregnant Marine. They say the main suspect in her death is a comrade she had accused of rape.
The Onslow County sheriff says information from another woman, a former Marine, left investigators certain that 20-year-old Lance Corporal Maria Frances Lauterbach is dead. But they haven't found her remains.
Military and civilian investigators are seeking the key suspect in the death, Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean of Clark County, Nevada. Sheriff Ed Brown says the 21-year-old had declined to meet with investigators and apparently left the area without telling his lawyers where he was going.
That's an additional charge, right?
The search was focused on a wooded area not far Laurean's home. Laurean has not been charged with a crime.
Authorities say Lauterbach reported the rape in April. Brown says he doesn't know if Laurean might be the father.
The sheriff hinted Friday morning that a positive outcome was still possible. But he said that was before detectives received news of Lauterbach's death from an unidentified female witness who is a former Marine. Naval investigators say there's no indication Lauterbach sought witness protection services available from the Marines.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2008 00:00 ||
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As of this morning, the burned remains of this woman have been found and a letter to the suspects wife explaining his side of the story was also found. The search for him continues.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/12/2008 8:47 Comments ||
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Naval investigators say there's no indication Lauterbach sought witness protection services available from the Marines.
Lame. The individuals could have and should have been separated by distance, organization, and direct orders. Door. Horse. Barn.
#3
There was a double homicide last year involving a love triangle and gang ties. As of last I knew three ex-Marines (I'm not using "former" in their case) are facing the needle for killing a pregnant girl and her roommate. It was pretty sordid. Google the Carrither's (sp?) murder, etc and you can see for yourself.
#4
Right on Procopius2k, I knew a civilian that worked w/the USAF. He caught his wife (who also worked w/the USAF) having an affair w/another GS Co-worker. They all worked in the same building - the USAF would not separate them even though the husband brought this up along w/the applicable divorce papers to his senior leaders - dumbfounding. They could've had a violence in the workplace incident from lack of inaction.
Gladiators and bullfights are a thing of the past when men were not civilised, said the Supreme Court on Friday refusing to grant permission to a traditional Pongal sport in Tamil Nadu where intoxicated bulls were made to run amok into a crowd after being blinded with chili powder.
Terming such a practice "barbaric", the Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan said, "It's a cruelty both to animals and human beings."
The decision of the Court was hailed by animal rights activists as a "progressive" step towards preventing cruelty against animals. "The Supreme Court decision not to allow the cruel event is wonderful," said former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi. "It is a progressive step towards the fight against jallikkattu, an act of cruelty to animals," she added.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
01/12/2008 00:00 ||
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...where intoxicated bulls were made to run amok into a crowd after being blinded with chili powder.
That'll spice up a slow Saturday night, I betcha.
Posted by: Clains, Dark Lord of the Munchkins ||
01/12/2008 17:12 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Turns city network into Hornby set
Authorities on foot and all-terrain vehicles searched a residential neighborhood near Camp Lejeune today for a shallow grave holding the body of a pregnant Marine. They say the main suspect in her death is a comrade she had accused of rape.
