The Observer, September 7, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 2
News you can't use
College student hopes to break hugging world record
A Utah college student may have broken the Guinness World Record for most hugs in an hour by huging 765 people.
Jordan Pearce, 18, spent less than one hour a week ago breaking the world record, but the event took months of planning.
After applying to Guinness World Records with specific plans for the event, Pearce and her family had to make sure that the event was supervised by two prominent community officials and covered by news media.
District Judge Lynn Davis and state Sen. Curt Bramble tagged along to count the hugs, which officially required that Pearce wrap her arms and hands around the person. The previous record was 612 hugs in one hour.
But the hour was not without its hitches. A young boy kicked and screamed to avoid hugging Pearce. One man spilled his drink on her. One girl refused to let go of her blue sucker.
After unofficially breaking the record, Pearce said, "I feel like I'm on cloud nine."
The record won't become official until Guinness receives photographs, video, and written statements from witnesses.
Teen hacks iPhone, then trades for new car
There were big rewards for the teenager who cracked the iPhone so that it would operate with networks other than AT&T. The teen was able to trade his revamped iPhone for a brand-new car.
George Hotz, 17, of Glen Rock, N.J., worked over 500 hours before he unlocked the phone to other service providers. He recently made a deal with a Louisville-based mobile phone repair company, CertiCell, in which he received three new 8 GB iPhones and a Nissan 350Z.
"This has been a great end to a great summer," Hotz wrote on his blog.
Hotz also made a deal with Terry Daidone, co-founder of CertiCell, to receive a paid consulting job at the company.
"We do not have any plans on the table right now to commercialize Mr. Hotz's discovery," Daidone said in a statement.
