PREVIOUSLY ON "NOW IN THE NEWS"
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Smooching YouTube celebrities
Talk about becoming famous for all the wrong reasons. And of course I'm talking about appearing in a scandalous video on YouTube.
A Chinese couple was videotaped hugging and kissing in a subway station and now plans to sue the subway's operator after the clip was posted on YouTube, essentially giving a cheap thrill to lonely viewers around the world.
In total it's a three-minute video and was watched over 15,000 times in about two days.
A local newspaper said, "A mocking voice can be heard in the background of the video. It has extremely embarrassed the couple."
The man in the video is quoted as saying -- Now every time I walk into a metro station I feel uncomfortable.
Nah, I think he's just worried that pretty soon we'll discover his sex videos!
The love-detecting phone
So Valentine's Day has come and gone but if you are in a new relationship, maybe it was the first time your partner said "I love you." And it can also be a scary time. Does your partner really know what that word means? Better yet, was the word "love" actually meant?
In South Korea, a new device can detect the level of passion in a person's voice. I'm not making this up. It was in the news a couple days ago.
The cellphone called the "Love Detector" uses technology that is supposed to analyze voice patterns to see if the person on the other end is speaking honestly and with affection.
Bonnie, go into your office and I'll call you and let's see what happens.
An added feature is that if you have a video conference with your phone, the device displays what's called a "love meter" bar.
After the call, a text is sent and it gives the complete details of the level of affection, surprise, concentration and honesty of the other speaker.
The service costs subscribers a flat fee of about US$1.59 per month.
A rep for the phone company said, "We created this service because we thought people would want to know what others were feeling about them."
I hope no one in South Korea is listening right now when I say - this is a really cool idea. It's a very exciting idea. I can't wait for this to come to Canada. Do you think it also reads sarcasm?
Paragliding pooch
There are many things that owners want to do with their dogs. Why you'd ever want to go paragliding with yours is beyond me, but that's what an Australian man did and he'll live to regret it. And he's very lucky he lived.
The 42-year-old man strapped his Chihuahua to his chest and went gliding. The two crashed into a tree shortly after taking off and miraculously the dog lived.
A police rep said that the man claims this was just another "routine flight" with his pooch. However, things didn't go off without a hitch when they got entangled in a tree about 35 metres off the ground.
Luckily the high flyer had a cellphone with him and called police and the two were rescued. The man had a few cuts and scrapes and the dog seemed to be just fine.
It's believed that next week the man is enrolling the dog in flight school and will be flying jets in the coming weeks. Next time you get on a plane, ask who the pilot is.
Canadian Criminal File
This time we're heading to Ontario where a couple weird news stories have happened in the past few weeks.
First, in the nation's capital of Ottawa, be careful how you cross the street. Many of us take for granted the ability to cross wherever we please. But dozens of people picked the wrong day, time and place to jaywalk.
During a one-day crackdown of jaywalkers, officers issued 108 tickets. How much was the fine? They were $75 each. It doesn't seem like a lot, but for people just wanted to cross on their own, it was quite a nightmare. The charges come as people are allegedly violating a civic and provincial law. Crossing against a red light costs you $50 for violating the province's Highway Traffic Act and $25 from the City for crossing a roadway "when prohibited."
What is the fine for talking to Jay Leno on that segment of the Tonight Show?
A little out of Ottawa is the city of Ancaster. And employees at a restaurant didn't think too much of two men who showed up at the eatery to fix up its ATM. Everything seemed on the up and up. The two men, dressed as servicemen packed up the machine and took it with them.
But when the real repairmen showed up two days later, they realized something was wrong. Police say two men posing as repairmen took the machine.
On an unrelated note, never has an ATM been stolen from a doughnut shop.
