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iTunes packed with iPhone hints

Apple's newest jukebox software is overflowing with references to the now not so mythical iPhone

It's only been out for a couple of weeks, but already Apple fanatics have stripped the newest version of iTunes bare, revealing more mobile references than you can shake an iPod at.

Code for iTunes 7 shows prompt windows asking questions like "Are you sure you want to manually manage music and videos on your mobile phone?"

While it's not enought to properly confirm the iPhone to us, it proves Apple's got more up its sleeve than the limited 100-song iTunes offering of Motorola's handsets.  [ MORE ]

Super-Luxury Homes Hit Market for $100M

PALM BEACH, Fla. - Donald Trump's property for sale here has all the big-time extras one might expect. Pricey marble and 24-karat gold fixtures decorate bathrooms. There's a gargantuan fountain in the driveway and 475 feet of oceanfront out back.

Perhaps the biggest thing about the home, however, is its price tag: $125 million. And (sorry Donald) that price has already been trumped. A home in Aspen, Colo., is now listed at $135 million. Another home in Lake Tahoe, Nev., was recently listed at a flat $100 million.   [ MORE ]

Iva Toguri D'Aquino, 90; 'Tokyo Rose' in WWII

Iva Ikuko Toguri D'Aquino, 90, an American woman branded "Tokyo Rose" during World War II, imprisoned for making treasonous radio broadcasts and decades later exonerated with a presidential pardon, died Sept. 26 at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. No cause of death was reported.

Although nearly a dozen female broadcasters were given the moniker during World War II, Mrs. D'Aquino was the one most tarred by the name Tokyo Rose, which, along with the name of Japanese War Minister Hideki Tojo, came to personify Axis infamy in the Pacific.

Taunting millions of servicemen with stories of infidelity on the home front, false reports of battle outcomes meant to demoralize them and frequent spins of pop songs to keep them listening, the broadcasts of Radio Tokyo were notorious instruments in the propaganda war.  [Full Story at WashingtonPost.com ]

At Church, an 'ATM for Jesus' - Los Angeles Times

Link: At Church, an 'ATM for Jesus' - Los Angeles Times.

At Church, an 'ATM for Jesus' Pastor Marty Baker's 'Giving Kiosks' are catching on. Members say they use credit cards for everything else -- why not tithing? By Richard Fausset, Times Staff Writer September 28, 2006 AUGUSTA, Ga. — Pastor Marty Baker preaches that the Bible is the eternal and inviolate word of God. On other church matters, he's willing to change with the times.

Jeans are welcome at Stevens Creek Community Church, the 1,100-member evangelical congregation Baker founded 19 years ago. Sermons are available as podcasts, and the electric house band has been known to cover Aerosmith's "Dream On." A recent men's fellowship breakfast was devoted to discussing the spiritual wages of lunching at Hooters.

NPR: Mosques Update Approach to Ramadan Planning

All Things Considered, September 22, 2006 · After centuries of relying on actual sightings of the moon to determine the start of Ramadan, many mosques in the United States are switching to a more scientific method, relying on astronomical calculations to determine the advent of the new moon. Many Muslims say the move will remove some of the uncertainty in planning for their holy month celebrations. [ Listen at NPR ]

Pa. Farm Discovers a Four-Legged Chicken

Pennsylvania Farm Discovers Henrietta the Four-Legged Chicken Among 36,000 Other Birds

SOMERSET, Pennsylvania Sep 22, 2006 (AP)— Henrietta the chicken was living inconspicuously for 18 months among 36,000 other chickens at Brendle Farms until a farm foreman discovered she had four legs.

Brendle's 13-year-old daughter, Ashley, named the bird Henrietta after the discovery. It has two normal front legs and, behind those, two more feet. They are of a similar size to the chicken's front legs, but do not function. The chicken drags her extra feet behind her.  [ MORE ]

Women Arrested After Bizarre Sex Sting

Police Officer Pretending to Be a John Arrests Suspected Prostitute Who Pretended to Be a Cop

SYRACUSE, N.Y. Sep 22, 2006 (AP)— An undercover police operation took an odd turn Thursday when a Syracuse police officer pretending to be a john met a suspected prostitute who pretended to be a police officer.  [ MORE ]

Students Flashily Mine Gov Data Mining

Summer is typically slow-going in the journalism world, but a team of journalism students at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism was hard at work, researching and building out a package of stories on data privacy that included two interactive pieces

One Flash piece is a interactive video-based time line that follows a woman named Brook Alexander through her daily routine in D.C., where she checks her email, drives, takes the Metro, goes shopping and works out. Along the way, she leaves breadcrumbs of data that make their way into corporate and government databases. You get to watch her quotidian activities then read where that data goes, what the privacy policy is, and how the federal government can access the data. You might also learn that Safeway uses web bugs in its promotional emails.  [ MORE ]

Man Who Claims Toupee Caused Attack Sues

Link: ABC News: Man Who Claims Toupee Caused Attack Sues.

Conn. Man Who Claims He Had Heart Attack Over Ill-Fitting Toupee Sues Wig Shop

MILFORD, Conn. Sep 16, 2006 (AP)— A man who claims he had a heart attack during a dispute over an ill-fitting hairpiece that didn't match his hair color is suing the wig shop.

Paul Lewis claims he suffered a heart attack after refusing to pay for the hairpiece that was not only the wrong size but also the wrong color. He is seeking more than $15,000 in damages.

Murder Suspect: Goat Turned Into Corpse

Nigerian Axe-Murder Suspect Says Killed Goat Transformed Into Brother's Corpse

LAGOS, Nigeria Sep 15, 2006 (AP)— A Nigerian murder suspect accused of killing his brother with an axe told police investigators he actually attacked a goat, which was only later magically transformed into his sibling's corpse, officials said Thursday.