A Welsh View

Woman Killed After Getting Trapped Behind A Bookcase

The body of a missing US woman has been found by her family, wedged upside down behind a bookcase in her room. The woman had tried to reach behind the bookcase to adjust the plug for a TV set and got trapped.

Her family spent nearly two weeks searching for her and feared that she had been kidnapped from the house. Her body was eventually discovered when her sister noticed a foot protruding behind the bookcase in her bedroom.

"I'm sleeping in the same house as her for 11 days, looking for her. And she's right in the bedroom," the woman's mother, Connie Weber, told the St Petersburg Times newspaper.

The family told the newspaper they had noticed a strange smell from her room but had blamed it on rats.

Read more. [Thanks Dragun]

Meeting The Scobles

This afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting the Scobles (Robert and Maryam). I had met Robert once before when he came to visit Newport last year but I didn't get to meet Maryam. I met her this time around and she's great. She talked about Half Moon Bay, where they now live, and the famous cheese cake shop in which the cheapest cake is $100! I was also impressed that she knew about Threadless where I buy a lot of my T-shirts.

Talking to Robert was really interesting as he so knowledgable about the tech industry and knows so many people. We got to have a few Aussie beers in Walkabout whilst watching the Man Utd - Chelsea game. Robert also interview me whilst walking around Newport which I wasn't expecting. I should have suspected something when he started getting his camera out. Look out for it on the Scoble Show in the near future.

Video: Boeing 747-400 Takeoff

Call me a nerd but I love anything to do with planes. Here's a video of a Boeing 747-400 taking off. The video includes the engines start-up procecdure, taxi, take-off and some inflight scenes.

Video Ship vs Bridge

The captain of this very large ship completely trashes it by sailing into a low bridge. View another video here. [via]

British Police May Start Monitoring Conversations On The Street

Not only are we one of the most spied-on nation in the world with 4.2m CCTV cameras filming us on average 300 times a day, police and councils are now considering monitoring conversations in the street using high-powered microphones attached to CCTV cameras.

The equipment can pick up aggressive tones on the basis of 12 factors, including decibel level, pitch and the speed at which words are spoken. Background noise is filtered out, enabling the camera to focus on specific conversations in public places.

The devices are used at 300 sites in Holland and police, councils and transport officials in London have shown an interest in installing them before the 2012 Olympics.

Meeting Robert Scoble

I'm off to meet ex-Microsoftie and now Vice President of Media Development at Podtech, Robert Scoble in a little while. He's in Newport for a couple of days visiting his brother-in-law before heading up to London. We met up last year in one of Newport's oldest pubs but unfortunately it doesn't open in the day on a Sunday so we'll have to settle for Wetherspoons. At least they've got a great beer selection.

Robert points out a great thing about blogging. Wherever he goes in the world, he can almost guarantee that he will be able to meet up with at least one person for a beer.

Video: Hole In The Head

A guy with a rather large hole in his head. I wonder if it's the result of that flesh-eating bacteria? [via]

Video: How Cocaine Is Made

Here's a video showing how cocaine is made. Besides the coca plant you also need some quick lime, cement, ammonia, sulphric acid and a few gallons of gasolinhe!