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I Link, Therefore I am
by George Simpson, Monday, Apr 25, 2005 8:17 AM EST
A WEST NYACK, N.Y. MAN was found dead at his computer apparently the
victim of trying to keep up with too many professional forums. Childress
H. Wanamaker, 54, an account executive at a New York-based new media
company, died of starvation according to the West Nyack coroner's
office. Wanamaker's emaciated body was found by Loraine, his wife of 26
years, who told MediaPost she had been bringing her husband meals on
plastic trays for weeks, but that he never took the time to eat them.
"He was glued to his computer 24/7," she said tearfully. "He was so
afraid he was going to miss an opportunity to contribute a comment or
start a discussion, that he just stopped eating." She added that
Wanamaker's last words were "OK Picard, stick that in your pipe and
smoke it..."
Computer forensic specialists from SUNY at Cortland discovered that
Wanamaker was subscribed to 48 different forums and networking
communities including one apparently having to do with the elderly
called "oldtimers" and another apparently limited to just 100 people.
They also found that he posted a comment into one forum or another on an
average of two per minute every hour of the day for the past seven weeks.
"He felt under terrible pressure to be part of the online community,"
said his son, Lucian, who says he tried several times to get his
father's attention and lure him away from the computer. "The only time
he even looked up was when I told him I had seen Dane Madsen trying to
steal his car out of the driveway."
Police found what appeared to be an organization chart taped to the wall
of Wanamaker's den with lines linking small photos of people unknown to
the police including a Tom Hespos and an Adam Boettiger. Neither is
considered a suspect in Wanamaker's death.
"Once, I thought I had him," said Lucian Wanamaker, "when I said that
mom had made cookies, but half out of his chair, he just sat back down
mumbling something about two Roman gods; I believe it was Jupiter and
Atlas having some sort of titanic battle. 'Let them eat PIE,' he
bellowed banging on his keyboard."
Computer forensic specialists reported that there was no order or
continuity to Wanamaker's forum postings. "It looks like he just sort of
randomly commented on whatever was in the discussion string at the
time," said Stephen Hall, CUNY-Cortland adjunct professor of intemperate
and impulsive behavior. "He let nothing go by unchallenged by his own
point of view, nor failed to respond to any other community member
asking for advice or a new job. This consumed not only 24 hours a day,
but also, apparently, his physical health."
In what must be a record, Wanamaker was linked into to over 15,250 other
community members, many of whom he exchanged notes with daily. He also
contributed to 375 blogs and was expected to start an online column
about the impact of interactive communications on health, when he died.
A virtual memorial service will be held online at a date to be determined.
RUGBY FLASHER KILLED IN RAILINGS PLUNGE
Apr 15 2005
**
By Paula Murray
A DRUNKEN flasher died when he tripped over his trousers and fell from a
first-floor window on to spiked railings.
Rugby player Gareth Mason, 22, bled to death after suffering 15 wounds
to his neck and chest when a drunken stunt went wrong.
Pal Katie Stansby, 21, told how they had just returned to his flat from
a pub crawl when the tragedy happened. Gareth had dropped his trousers
and stood in the window shouting: 'Who wants some of this?'.
She said: 'He said it as a joke. He said it out of the window but there
was no one out there.
'His trousers and pants were around his ankles and he could not move. He
bent forward and went out of the window. He put both of his hands up,
opened palms and tried to stop himself but he missed the window and fell
through.
An inquest heard Gareth was found to have been'heavily intoxicated',
with a blood-alcohol level four times the drink-drive limit.
Flatmate David Wilson said Gareth, of Aberystwyth, west Wales, had tried
the stunt before.
He admitted that people in the house 'occasionally bared their bottoms'
to people out of their window.
Recording a verdict of misadventure, coroner Peter Brunton said: 'What
would otherwise have been a prank has taken a turn and resulted in death.
'It's not for me or anyone else to criticise. It's doubly tragic because
of the youth of the deceased.'
Later, Gareth's father Tony said: 'I want to warn young people about the
dangers of binge drinking
*Man Drowns While Testing His Depth Finder *
Tuesday March 29, 2005 2:28pm
HILLSVILLE, Pa. (AP)
A man from Boardman, Ohio, is dead following an accident in a Lawrence County quarry.
The Lawrence County coroner says 59-year-old Richard Raeburn was testing his new water depth finder in a quarry when he fell into the water and drowned.
Searchers found Raeburn's body floating in the Mahoning Township quarry last night.
The coroner says it's likely that Raeburn dropped his water depth finder in the water and he drowned while trying to retrieve it.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Snakebite during service proves fatal to ministerBy Shawna Morrison
The minister of a Lee County church died early Monday, hours
after he was bitten by a rattlesnake during a Sunday church service
and refused to seek medical treatment.
The Rev. Dwayne Long, 45, of Rose Hill was a minister at the
small town's Arthurs Chapel, a Pentecostal church where members
practice serpent-handling. Long was holding a rattlesnake during an
Easter afternoon service when the snake bit him on the back of a
finger, Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons said.
Parsons said the congregation prayed for Long, but no one -
including Long - sought medical treatment. Long died early Monday at
his home.
"We don't anticipate any charges at this time," Parsons said.
"That's their belief," he said.
The practice of serpent-handling began in the early 1900s. It is
done as a matter of obedience to God. Serpent-handlers take
literally the words of Mark 16:17-18: "And these signs shall follow
them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall
speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands
on the sick, and they shall recover."
Serpent-handlers believe that when people die of a snakebite
they receive during a service, it was simply their time to go.
Long is survived by a wife, five children and two grandchildren.
Parsons said another Lee County man died about two years ago
after being bitten by a rattlesnake during service at a Pentecostal church in Tennessee.
Pet spider kills its owner
Killer ... a poisonous Black Widow spider
From ALLAN HALL
in Berlin
A MAN who lived in his own "zoo" of lizards and
insects was fatally bitten by a pet black widow
spider - then eaten by the other
creepy-crawlies.
Police broke in to Mark Voegel's apartment to
find spider Bettina along with 200 others,
several snakes, a gecko lizard called Helmut and
several thousand termites had gorged on his body.
Neighbours alerted police after becoming alarmed by the stink.
And horrified officers were met by a nightmare scene.
A police spokesman said: "It was like a horror movie. His corpse was over the sofa.
"Giant webs draped him, spiders were all over him. They were coming out of his nose and his mouth.
"There was everything there one could imagine in the world of reptiles.
"Larger pieces of flesh torn off by the lizards were scooped up and taken back to the webs of tarantulas and other bird-eating spiders."
Loner Voegel, 30, never invited people back to his "jungle" home, a small apartment in the German city of Dortmund.
Police described it as a cross between a botanical garden and the butterfly breeding ground in the serial killer movie The Silence Of The Lambs.
One tarantula had built a nest the size of a swallow's in a corner of the ceiling.
Voegel also had a boa constrictor and several poisonous frogs from South America.
Spider expert and animal cruelty officer Gabi Bayer said he kept reatures "that should never be allowed in a private home".
She said: "He had spiders so aggressive they are the equivalent of a pit-bull in the animal world."
The reptiles were allowed to roam free in the flat.
The heating elements on two tanks containing spiders and their termite nacks had exploded and dislodged the metal tops allowing them to escape.
Voegel is thought to have been dead for between seven and 14 days. A post-mortem will be carried out in the next few days. But authorities believe Bettina alone was responsible for Voegel's death.
More of these cute stories can be found at http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/horrific_humanity2.html
if interested.
by George Simpson, Monday, Apr 25, 2005 8:17 AM EST
A WEST NYACK, N.Y. MAN was found dead at his computer apparently the
victim of trying to keep up with too many professional forums. Childress
H. Wanamaker, 54, an account executive at a New York-based new media
company, died of starvation according to the West Nyack coroner's
office. Wanamaker's emaciated body was found by Loraine, his wife of 26
years, who told MediaPost she had been bringing her husband meals on
plastic trays for weeks, but that he never took the time to eat them.
"He was glued to his computer 24/7," she said tearfully. "He was so
afraid he was going to miss an opportunity to contribute a comment or
start a discussion, that he just stopped eating." She added that
Wanamaker's last words were "OK Picard, stick that in your pipe and
smoke it..."
Computer forensic specialists from SUNY at Cortland discovered that
Wanamaker was subscribed to 48 different forums and networking
communities including one apparently having to do with the elderly
called "oldtimers" and another apparently limited to just 100 people.
They also found that he posted a comment into one forum or another on an
average of two per minute every hour of the day for the past seven weeks.
"He felt under terrible pressure to be part of the online community,"
said his son, Lucian, who says he tried several times to get his
father's attention and lure him away from the computer. "The only time
he even looked up was when I told him I had seen Dane Madsen trying to
steal his car out of the driveway."
Police found what appeared to be an organization chart taped to the wall
of Wanamaker's den with lines linking small photos of people unknown to
the police including a Tom Hespos and an Adam Boettiger. Neither is
considered a suspect in Wanamaker's death.
"Once, I thought I had him," said Lucian Wanamaker, "when I said that
mom had made cookies, but half out of his chair, he just sat back down
mumbling something about two Roman gods; I believe it was Jupiter and
Atlas having some sort of titanic battle. 'Let them eat PIE,' he
bellowed banging on his keyboard."
Computer forensic specialists reported that there was no order or
continuity to Wanamaker's forum postings. "It looks like he just sort of
randomly commented on whatever was in the discussion string at the
time," said Stephen Hall, CUNY-Cortland adjunct professor of intemperate
and impulsive behavior. "He let nothing go by unchallenged by his own
point of view, nor failed to respond to any other community member
asking for advice or a new job. This consumed not only 24 hours a day,
but also, apparently, his physical health."
In what must be a record, Wanamaker was linked into to over 15,250 other
community members, many of whom he exchanged notes with daily. He also
contributed to 375 blogs and was expected to start an online column
about the impact of interactive communications on health, when he died.
A virtual memorial service will be held online at a date to be determined.
RUGBY FLASHER KILLED IN RAILINGS PLUNGE
Apr 15 2005
**
By Paula Murray
A DRUNKEN flasher died when he tripped over his trousers and fell from a
first-floor window on to spiked railings.
Rugby player Gareth Mason, 22, bled to death after suffering 15 wounds
to his neck and chest when a drunken stunt went wrong.
Pal Katie Stansby, 21, told how they had just returned to his flat from
a pub crawl when the tragedy happened. Gareth had dropped his trousers
and stood in the window shouting: 'Who wants some of this?'.
She said: 'He said it as a joke. He said it out of the window but there
was no one out there.
'His trousers and pants were around his ankles and he could not move. He
bent forward and went out of the window. He put both of his hands up,
opened palms and tried to stop himself but he missed the window and fell
through.
An inquest heard Gareth was found to have been'heavily intoxicated',
with a blood-alcohol level four times the drink-drive limit.
Flatmate David Wilson said Gareth, of Aberystwyth, west Wales, had tried
the stunt before.
He admitted that people in the house 'occasionally bared their bottoms'
to people out of their window.
Recording a verdict of misadventure, coroner Peter Brunton said: 'What
would otherwise have been a prank has taken a turn and resulted in death.
'It's not for me or anyone else to criticise. It's doubly tragic because
of the youth of the deceased.'
Later, Gareth's father Tony said: 'I want to warn young people about the
dangers of binge drinking
*Man Drowns While Testing His Depth Finder *
Tuesday March 29, 2005 2:28pm
HILLSVILLE, Pa. (AP)
A man from Boardman, Ohio, is dead following an accident in a Lawrence County quarry.
The Lawrence County coroner says 59-year-old Richard Raeburn was testing his new water depth finder in a quarry when he fell into the water and drowned.
Searchers found Raeburn's body floating in the Mahoning Township quarry last night.
The coroner says it's likely that Raeburn dropped his water depth finder in the water and he drowned while trying to retrieve it.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Snakebite during service proves fatal to ministerBy Shawna Morrison
The minister of a Lee County church died early Monday, hours
after he was bitten by a rattlesnake during a Sunday church service
and refused to seek medical treatment.
The Rev. Dwayne Long, 45, of Rose Hill was a minister at the
small town's Arthurs Chapel, a Pentecostal church where members
practice serpent-handling. Long was holding a rattlesnake during an
Easter afternoon service when the snake bit him on the back of a
finger, Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons said.
Parsons said the congregation prayed for Long, but no one -
including Long - sought medical treatment. Long died early Monday at
his home.
"We don't anticipate any charges at this time," Parsons said.
"That's their belief," he said.
The practice of serpent-handling began in the early 1900s. It is
done as a matter of obedience to God. Serpent-handlers take
literally the words of Mark 16:17-18: "And these signs shall follow
them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall
speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands
on the sick, and they shall recover."
Serpent-handlers believe that when people die of a snakebite
they receive during a service, it was simply their time to go.
Long is survived by a wife, five children and two grandchildren.
Parsons said another Lee County man died about two years ago
after being bitten by a rattlesnake during service at a Pentecostal church in Tennessee.
Pet spider kills its owner
Killer ... a poisonous Black Widow spider
From ALLAN HALL
in Berlin
A MAN who lived in his own "zoo" of lizards and
insects was fatally bitten by a pet black widow
spider - then eaten by the other
creepy-crawlies.
Police broke in to Mark Voegel's apartment to
find spider Bettina along with 200 others,
several snakes, a gecko lizard called Helmut and
several thousand termites had gorged on his body.
Neighbours alerted police after becoming alarmed by the stink.
And horrified officers were met by a nightmare scene.
A police spokesman said: "It was like a horror movie. His corpse was over the sofa.
"Giant webs draped him, spiders were all over him. They were coming out of his nose and his mouth.
"There was everything there one could imagine in the world of reptiles.
"Larger pieces of flesh torn off by the lizards were scooped up and taken back to the webs of tarantulas and other bird-eating spiders."
Loner Voegel, 30, never invited people back to his "jungle" home, a small apartment in the German city of Dortmund.
Police described it as a cross between a botanical garden and the butterfly breeding ground in the serial killer movie The Silence Of The Lambs.
One tarantula had built a nest the size of a swallow's in a corner of the ceiling.
Voegel also had a boa constrictor and several poisonous frogs from South America.
Spider expert and animal cruelty officer Gabi Bayer said he kept reatures "that should never be allowed in a private home".
She said: "He had spiders so aggressive they are the equivalent of a pit-bull in the animal world."
The reptiles were allowed to roam free in the flat.
The heating elements on two tanks containing spiders and their termite nacks had exploded and dislodged the metal tops allowing them to escape.
Voegel is thought to have been dead for between seven and 14 days. A post-mortem will be carried out in the next few days. But authorities believe Bettina alone was responsible for Voegel's death.
More of these cute stories can be found at http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/horrific_humanity2.html
if interested.
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