High Definite/Actual News

A hobbyist codebreaker named Corey Starliper claims to have broken the code to the Zodiac Killer’s infamous 41-year-old “340″ cipher, which confirms that long-time suspect Arthur Leigh Allen was indeed the Zodiac Killer:

According to Robert Graysmith, in “Zodiac”, tips received by police after Darlene Ferrin’s murder indicated that the killing was connected to the U.S Virgin Islands. Starliper believed that the “340” of the 340 cipher was significant, and had some tie-in with the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was then that he found out that 340 is the area code for a portion of the U.S Virgin Islands — not an insignificant connection.

“So that’s what I started with,” said Starliper. “I thought, there’s no way … that Zodiac is going to be prosaic enough not to mention the U.S. Virgin Islands in this code. This is where it gets even creepier. 3+4+0=7. Right. So you get 7+0=7. 707…707 are the area codes for Vallejo, Napa, and Solano. So I figured, why not start this with Caesar code using 3,4.”

This doesn’t mean the 340 is such an easy task to decode, considering the fact that the original 340 cipher is full of symbols: >, +, and ▲ being just a few of the signs found in the code. To combat this problem, Starliper extracted symbols and changed them to letters they could correspond with. For example, a ^ or < symbol could be interpreted as inverted or sideways “V”s.

After two sessions of 6 hours and 3 hours, Starliper was left with this message:

“KILL SLF DR HELP ME KILL MYSELF GAS CHAMBER AEIOUR DAYS QUESTIONSABLE EVERYY WAKING MOMENT IM ALIVE MY PR IDE LOST I CAST GO ON LIVING IN THIS WAY KILLING PEOPLE I HAV KILLD SO MANY PEOPLE CANT HELP MYSELF IM SO AN GRY I COULD DO MY THINK IM ALONE IN THIS WORLD MY W HOLE LIFE FUL O LIES IM UNABLE TO STOP BY THE TIME YOU SOLVE THISI WILL HAV KILLD ELEVEN PEOPLE PLEASE HELP ME STOP KILLING PEOPLE PLEASE MY NAME IS LEIGH ALLEN”.

Many have claimed to have solved this cipher with different results, so if you’re a skeptic, this is your cue.

Via Kottke & Boing Boing

Don’t worry. The police are saying it isn’t suspicious, so it’s definitely unrelated to the News Corp shenanigans. Definitely.

From the Guardian:

Sean Hoare, the former News of the World showbusiness reporter who was the first named journalist to allege that Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead .

Hoare, who worked on the Sun and the News of the World with Coulson before being dismissed for drink and drugs problems, was said to have been found at his Watford home.

Hertfordshire police would not confirm his identity, but the force said in a statement: “At 10.40am today [Monday 18 July] police were called to Langley Road, Watford, following the concerns for the welfare of a man who lives at an address on the street. Upon police and ambulance arrival at a property, the body of a man was found. The man was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after.

Man, what a crazy coincidence.

Via the Guardian’s live coverage

Today, President Obama awarded Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Afghanistan, joining Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta as the only living recipients of the award since the Vietnam War. The Army explains his actions that earned him the highest military decoration offered by our country:

During his last mission, Petry was to locate himself with the platoon headquarters in the target building once it was secured. There, he was to serve as the senior noncommissioned officer at the site for the remainder of the operation.

But things quickly got dangerous for Petry and his team. Insurgents opened fire on Petry and his men.

Petry had fellow Ranger Pvt. 1st Class Lucas Robinson at his side. The two were to clear the outer courtyard of the target building. It was there the two first saw the enemy.

“I remember seeing the guy out of my peripheral vision,” Petry said. “Two guys with AKs at their hip, just spraying. And one happened to strike me right in the thighs. I didn’t know I was hit in both thighs, but it hit my left thigh.”

Robinson was also hit, Petry said. “He was struck right in his ribcage on his left side and he continued along and followed behind me.”

While wounded and under enemy fire, Petry led Robinson to the cover of a chicken coop in the courtyard. The enemy continued to deliver fire at the two Soldiers.

Petry reported contact was made with the enemy, and as a result, team member Sgt. Daniel Higgins moved to the outer courtyard. As Higgins moved toward the chicken coop to meet with the two wounded Soldiers, Petry threw a thermobaric grenade toward the enemy. That explosion caused a lull in enemy fire.

As Higgins evaluated the wounds of both Petry and Robinsion, an insurgent threw a grenade over the chicken coop. The grenade landed about 10 meters from the three Rangers, knocked them to the ground, and wounded Higgins and Robinson.

With three Soldiers taking cover in the coop, an insurgent threw yet another grenade. This time, the grenade landed just a few feet from the three Soldiers — much closer than the earlier grenade.

“It was almost instinct — off training,” Petry said of his response to the situation. “It was probably going to kill all three of us. I had time to visually see the hand grenade. And I figure it’s got about a four-and-half second fuse, depending on how long it has been in the elements and the weather and everything and how long the pin has been pulled. I figure if you have time to see it you have time to kick it, throw it, just get it out there.”

That’s when Petry picked up the grenade and threw it away from him and his buddies. As it turns out, he did have the time to save all three of their lives — but not time to save his hand.

The grenade exploded as he threw it — destroying his throwing arm.

“I actually didn’t think it was going to go off,” Petry said. “I didn’t really feel much pain. I didn’t know it had gone off and taken my hand until I sat back up and saw it was completely amputated at the wrist.”

Thanks to a prosthetic hand and the unbridled desire to continue being a badass, Sgt. 1st Class Petry was able to re-enlist with the Rangers last year.

Derek Jeter got his 3,000th career hit today at Yankee Stadium with a home run off of the Rays’ David Price in the bottom of the 3rd inning. He is only the 28th player in MLB history to do so.

The fan that caught the ball, 23-year-old Christian Lopez, returned it to Jeter (despite its estimated $250k value) and has been awarded by the organization for his generosity:

Lopez will receive four tickets to a suite for every remaining game at Yankee Stadium this season (including any possible playoff games) plus first row Legends Suite tickets to Sunday’s game. He will also receive an assortment of bats and jerseys, plus the opportunity to meet Jeter.

Video

Facebook just officially announced their new video chat addition to Facebook through the use of Skype. The service will be available through a plugin that should take “between 10 and 20 seconds to install”.

Other additions include group chat and a new buddy list for Facebook chat.

Story here.

BRB, killing whoever I want in Florida.

Story here.

During the Casey Anthony trial today, which I admit I’m not following very closely (or at all), Matthew Bartlett tried to be slick and give state prosecutor Jeff Ashton a subtle middle finger. Unfortunately for Mr. Bartlett, the trial is being viewed by a ridiculous amount of people and there are dozens of cameras in the courtroom. Judge Belvin Perry decided to bring Matthew Bartlett back into the courtroom after today’s session and proceeded to son the shit out of  him for 12 minutes, concluding the tongue lashing with a 6-day prison sentence and hundreds of dollars in fines.

Via

Say what you will about the National Enquirer, but they really know how to break an affair in the most ironic way possible.

The king of stings was secretly filmed on a date with 30-year-old Kristyn Caddell, a TV reporter more than 20 years his junior, in an “undercover sting operation arranged by the National Enquirer.” From The Daily Mail:

Hansen, 51, has allegedly been having an affair with Kristyn Caddell, a 30-year-old Florida journalist, for the last four months.

Last weekend he was recorded taking Miss Caddell on a romantic dinner at the exclusive Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manalapan, before spending the night at her Palm Beach apartment.

Secret cameras filmed the couple as they arrived at the hotel for dinner and then drove back to her apartment – where the pair left, carrying luggage, at 8am the following day.

Hansen lives in Connecticut with his wife Mary, 53, but he has been spending more and more time in South Florida investigating the disappearance of James ‘Jimmy T’ Trindade – and allegedly sleeping with Miss Caddell.

Via

A Reuters investigation has discovered that over 2,000 business are registered at a single-family home in Wyoming.

The house at 2710 Thomes Avenue serves as a little Cayman Island on the Great Plains. It is the headquarters for Wyoming Corporate Services, a business-incorporation specialist that establishes firms which can be used as “shell” companies, paper entities able to hide assets.

Wyoming Corporate Services will help clients create a company, and more: set up a bank account for it; add a lawyer as a corporate director to invoke attorney-client privilege; even appoint stand-in directors and officers as high as CEO. Among its offerings is a variety of shell known as a “shelf” company, which comes with years of regulatory filings behind it, lending a greater feeling of solidity.

Read the full article here.

From The Daily What:

The New York Senate tonight passed the controversial Marriage Equality Act after the crucial 32nd, and 33rd, votes were secured. New York thus becomes the 6th state to legalize same-sex marriage, with the other five being Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Iowa. (Same-sex marriage is also legal in the District of Columbia.)

Pic via