Rick Roll'd

The first worm to infect the Apple iPhone has been discovered spreading "in the wild" in Australia.

The self-propagating program changes the phone's wallpaper to a picture of 80s singer Rick Astley with the message "ikee is never going to give you up".

The worm, known as ikee, only affects "jail-broken" phones, where a user has removed Apple's protection mechanisms to allow the phone to run any software.

Bad Luck......

Friday the 13th has traditionally been when the superstitious take extra care and double check everything they do.

Now experts at the Glasgow Science Centre are looking into the global phenomenon to determine if there is any science behind the superstitions.

You're Lion...

A German thief stole a van, only to discover after he sped off that there was a circus lion in the back. 

Caesar, Circus Probst's ferocious five-year-old star, was being transported a Mercedes van when the vehicle was stolen.

The thief drove off, but abandoned the vehicle with the engine still running after crashing into a road sign. It was unclear whether the thief's sudden awareness of the animal in the back of the van had inspired him or her to abort the mission.

Falling!

Autumn leaves are being dumped in landfill sites each year because they are being classed as “litter”, it has emerged. 

Councils say they are unable to compost even those from otherwise clean suburban streets because of fears they may be “contaminated” with rubbish and cigarette ends.

It means that local authorities in England and Wales are paying up to £1.5 million collectively in landfill tax every year just to dispose of autumn leaves, it is estimated.

Good Heavens!

A US judge has ordered South Carolina not to issue a vehicle number plate with a Christian image and slogan.

The state legislature had approved a licence plate with a cross in front of a stained glass window and the words "I Believe" written along the top.

Kim Jong-Bill.

Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader known for shunning air travel has six luxurious private trains and 19 stations for his exclusive use, despite eight million of the country's people facing starvation. 

 The trains are equipped with conference rooms, bedrooms and high-tech communication facilities, intelligence sources have said.

There are also 19 stations across North Korea exclusively for Kim's trains, which have a total of 90 carriages Kim uses the trains when he makes inspection visits to local army units and factories or travels abroad.

Analysis by South Korean and US intelligence authorities was obtained by US spy satellites and U-2 reconnaissance planes and the testimonies of North Korean defectors, the South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said.

 

And.....Congratulations!

A woman in South Korea who has tried to pass the written exam for a driver's license with near-daily attempts since April 2005 has finally succeeded - on her 950th time.

Having spent more than 5 million won ($4,200) on application fees, Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60 on Wednesday.

It's the minimum score that will now allow her to take the driven part of the test, but it's enough.

"I believe you can achieve your goal if you persistently pursue it," Cha was quoted Earlier this year. "So don't give up your dream, like me. Be strong and do your best." 

Flip-Qing Heck.

The green jade seal, belonging to the emperor Qian Long (1736-1795) fetched £3.6 million, six times its estimate, at the auction on Wednesday following frantic bidding by eight competing collectors.

News of the sale was greeted with anger on the Chinese internet, where the country's growing nationalism frequently finds its voice.

"Bandits have seized our treasures and are now selling them off at auction for ridiculous profits. How can we tolerate such behaviour?" wrote one user of the Sohu Internet portal. "The Chinese government must get fully involved in this matter." The seal, lot 136, was the prize object in a 261-lot sale which raised a total of £8.3m.

Why Is Everybody Here?!

A Brazilian man who was thought to have been killed in a car crash shocked his mourning family when he turned up alive at his funeral. 

Relatives of bricklayer Ademir Jorge Goncalves, 59, had identified him as the victim of a car crash on Sunday night, police said.  

What family members didn't know was that Goncalves had actually spent the night at a truck stop drinking a sugarcane liquor known as cachaca with friends.

He did not get word about his own funeral until it was already happening on Monday morning - at which point he rushed to the funeral to let family members know he was not as dead as they thought.

Three Pointer.

Tony and Aimee West ordered a three-tier sponge cake decorated with white and dark chocolate icing and flowers.

The couple were astonished when they cut through a layer of chocolate icing but then hit a block of white polystyrene underneath.

Not Far Grom-it.

Google has unveiled its latest "doodle" on its homepage, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Wallace and Gromit.

When users click on the Google logo, they are directed to a results page featuring the Aardman Animations characters created by Nick Park.

Something Fishy's Going On...

Giant jellyfish have capsized a 10-tonne fishing boat after its crew tried to haul in a net full of the stinging creatures off the eastern coast of Japan.

Dozens of Nomura's jellyfish sunk the Diasan Shinsho-maru boat and sent its three-man crew into the sea, The Mainichi Daily News reported.

Crunch Time.

Christine Challinor, 70, was driving to church on Sunday morning when the beech crashed onto the bonnet of her Volkswagen Polo.

The front of the car was completely crushed by the trunk - meaning she would have been killed if the vehicle was just a few yards further along the road.

And This One Does....

A civilian passenger in an air force display plane accidentally activated the ejector seat while reaching for something to steady himself during a mid-air manoeuvre.

The novice flier instantly shot through the jet's perspex canopy and was blasted 100 metres into the sky by the rocket-powered emergency chair.

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Out of this world.....

A number of English vineyards have signed up to make use of a satellite imaging service to boost harvests.
The satellite measures a vineyard's reflectivity in a number of colours in the visible and infrared.

The Oenoview system, first launched in France last year, analyses the images to determine vine leaf density, soil water content and grape bunch sizes.

It's a joke...

X Factor judge Simon Cowell says he is "praying" Irish twins John and Edward Grimes do not win the ITV talent show.

"If they win, it will be a complete and utter disaster," he said. "I'd probably sulk for about six months [and] get on a very fast plane out of the country."

A Bit Robotic

The M1 Motorway has turned 50, years and years of cars driving at 70mph is now celebrating its fiftieth birthday, Harold Watkinson, the transport minister, was there when work started on the St Albans to Birmingham route.

Money Money Money!

A man has admitted banking more than £285,000 in pay over a period of five years - from a company he has never worked for.

Anthony Armatys accepted a job with Avaya Inc., a New Jersey-based telecommunications company, in September 2002 - but then changed his mind.

Stuck In The Middle.

When a family struck a coyote at 75mph they assumed they had killed the animal and drove on.They didn't realise this was the toughest creature ever to survive a hit-and-run.

Eight hours, two fuel stops, and 600 miles later they found the wild animal embedded in their front fender - and very much alive.

All Wrapped Up.

The 22-year-old Norwegian was stopped in a routine check by Danish customs after arriving on a ferry from Copenhagen.

After finding a tarantula in the man's bag, customs officials decided to give him a full body search that revealed 14 stockings - one for each snake - taped around his torso.

Not Paw At All. (Sorry).

EyePet, from Sony, is a game enabling players to view themselves on screen with their virtual animal of choice in their own living room.

Players are filmed by camera connected to their PlayStation 3 console and can give commands to their creatures simply by moving around in front of their TV.

Gulling Around?

Peter Hitchener, who was broadcasting on Australia's Channel Nine, somehow managed to keep a straight face despite the sudden appearance of the seagull.

It loomed large on the screen behind him after it wandered in front of a camera used to film a Melbourne backdrop for the studio.

A Room With A Pew.

A Herefordshire church caught a Japanese tourist eye whilst on a sightseeing tour.

In fact, the businessman was so swept away by its charms that he has built an extraordinarily detailed replica on the 21st and 22nd floors of a skyscraper hotel 6,000 miles away in the Japanese city of Osaka.

Hmmm...4 Left

The average Briton cheats death five times within their lifetime, a new study claims.

Two fifths of people over 60 have survived a potentially fatal road accident.

The next most common escape is just missing being struck by lightning, which 36 per cent have experienced. 

Six in ten believe they have a guardian angel.

Hairy Scary.

Yu Zhenhuan, 32, from the northern Chinese province of Liaoning, has hair on 96 per cent of his body because of a hormone imbalance. At the age of seven he was cast in movies, such as Little Hairy Boy's Treasure Adventure. Ouch.

Balloon-Attic.

Colorado police say they have evidence that the parents of a boy mistakenly believed to have been carried away by a metallic helium balloon are guilty of a hoax. Suspicions were aroused when the child was asked on TV why he had stayed hidden in his attic and he replied: "We did this for a show".

It's A Catty Cat World.

The man who invented the foldaway Brompton bicycle has been honoured by the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace for his lifelong obsession.Andrew Ritchie invented the diminutive bike in 1979 and has been tweaking the design ever since.

Charlie Castle was one of about 50 schoolchildren who released balloons during an end-of-term farewell at his school near High Wycombe in July.The Queen came across it about 14 miles away, in the grounds of Windsor Castle.A letter from Buckingham Palace to Charlie said the Queen was "so happy it was your balloon she found".A numbered ticket was attached to the balloon, naming Charlie's school.

Magical.

Fashion Designer Mr Louboutin, whose luxury shoes retail for up to £1,500, thinks Barbie has "cankles", or fat ankles, and is planning to make his new dolls even slimmer.

Teens Look For The High Life

Yesterday two teenage thieves tried to take a helicopter for a joyride while the unlocked aircraft was parked in a field in east England. The pilot returned from a meeting to find numerous fire-extinguishers missing. He then discovered the culprits had also undertaken the first stages of starting the engine.

The Bride and Gloom.

A wedding photographer has been ordered to refund and apologize to a couple after a judge described photos of their big day as "woefully inadequate".Marc and Sylvia Day paid Fresh Images £1,450 for this picture. Do you think it's worth the money?

Feeling Sky High

The 2ft tall teenager, Khagendra Thapa Magar, is a full head and shoulders shorter than He Pingping of China, who at 2ft 5in is the current holder of the world's smallest man title. He is now waiting for official recognition from Guinness World Records, after his 18th birthday today.

One Week Old.

If you're a regular visitor to PicStitch, you may have noticed a few changes going on everyday and just little odds and ends coming up. We would like to say thanks for bearing with us during our first week, and we hope you shall return in the future.
This week has been a tough one with bits of HTML flying all over the shop, not to mention shoddy formatting of the posts and things. We're constantly adding things and it takes a while to smooth out the rough edges, and we hope to end up with a shiny, polished site.
You may have seen a change in our domain name, which has switched from 'PicStitch.blogspot.com' to 'PicStitch.net'. 
We are INCREDIBLY proud of what we have created, and would love a bit of feedback.
Thanks, seriously.
Thing One and Two.

Who's Bad?

The late Michael Jackson's "new" single was written back in 1983 by himself and Singer/Songwriter Paul Anka, it has emerged today. Anka told celebrity website TMZ that Jackson then "stole the tapes" from his studio in order to claim the song as his own.

Anka told celebrity website TMZ that Jackson then "stole the tapes" from his studio.

Up, Up, And Away!

This week, Xombie, created by Masten Space Systems, has prevailed in its second attempt to qualify for a $150,000 prize from NASA. Their first attempt, ended at the halfway point due to an engine leak, but today the rocket went the full distance.

Also, we would like to thank you who are reading this, and we would love you to tell your friends about this. Just email us at PicStitch@live.co.uk, and we'll include your name on the site. 

Appreciated!

Mmmm...Medal I Have?

Film maker Steven Spielberg has been awarded the 2009 Liberty Medal for his artistic and humanitarian achievements, in Philadelphia. The medal was established in 1988 to honor those whose actions represent the founding principles of the United States. 
Spielberg was praised for "inspiring millions to better understand the abiding call of liberty".

Princess Pigelette.

Paris Hilton has reportedly placed an order for a £3,000 Royal Dandie pig, who will be delivered by hand next month.

The black, white and pink newborn will be nine weeks old when it is introduced to Hilton, and has already been named as 'Princess Pigelette'. Swine.

A Nobel Man.

US President Barack Obama  said today he was honored and humbled to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and also stated he would accept it as a 'call into action' to work with other nations to solve the problems of today.

'It is a bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment to peace and harmony in international relations.' said former President Jimmy Carter. He will travel to Oslo, Norway, in December to collect the prize.

A Note Worthy Set Of Stairs.

Overnight, a team transformed the stairs leading out of the Odenplan subway in Stockholm, into a giant functioning piano keyboard which, when stepped on, plays aloud a musical note. Many people have posted videos on YouTube of them playing simple tunes on the steps. Now...where can i get one of these?

Swine Flu Suit.

A Japanese company, Haruyama Trading Co., has developed a suit that it claims protects the wearer from the deadly H1N1 strain of influenza. The suit is coated with titanium dioxide, which reacts with light to break down and kill the virus when it comes into contact with it. Awesome.

Thing One, with help from Thing Two.