PEOPLE ARE FUNNY

A robber intent on taking advantage of unattended cash register in Florida did so with grand aplomb Wednesday, escaping on foot with the bulky machine.

Florida Today reported the robber apparently noticed a cash register was left unattended at a 24-hour pharmacy in Palm Bay, Fla. and decided to simply walk off with the register while employees were busy. Police said it only took seconds for the man, whose image was captured by a surveillance camera inside the pharmacy, to make off with the cash-filled register.

Palm Bay officials said the register was found miles away from the scene of the crime. No information was available about how much was taken from the machine. Florida Today said local police continued to search for the robber and have asked local residents to assist in the ongoing manhunt.

Is an unattended cash register like having a portable safe?

Officials in Hollywood, Fla., are considering changing regulations for a section of North Beach to allow dogs to accompany their owners to the ocean.

A city commission vote is planned to decide whether to start a 60-day trial period to allow dogs on North Hollywood Beach during limited hours, The Miami Herald reported.

"One of the reasons people live in South Florida is to enjoy the beaches," said Lisa Heller, president of the Off Leash Dog Beach of Hollywood Association, a group that supports the move. "I'm sure a lot of people would like to share that with their dogs," she said.

Fort Lauderdale is the only city in Broward County that allows dogs on the beach. Heller said simply driving there is not convenient for Hollywood residents whose dogs want to take a dip. "It takes a half hour to get there and after a half hour in the water, he's ready to go," Heller said. "We'd like to have something in our community."

Just think, you could "share" lots of things with the dogs. But it might feel squishy between your toes.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - She is a latecomer to the information superhighway, but 75-year-old Sigbritt Lothberg is now cruising the Internet with a dizzying speed. Lothberg's 40 gigabits-per-second fiber-optic connection in Karlstad is believed to be the fastest residential uplink in the world, Karlstad city officials said. In less than 2 seconds, Lothberg can download a full-length movie on her home computer - many thousand times faster than most residential connections, said Hafsteinn Jonsson, head of the Karlstad city network unit. Jonsson and Lothberg's son, Peter, worked together to install the connection. The speed is reached using a new modulation technique that allows the sending of data between two routers placed up to 1,240 miles apart, without any transponders in between, Jonsson said. "We wanted to show that that there are no limitations to Internet speed," he said. Peter Lothberg, who is a networking expert, said he wanted to demonstrate the new technology while providing a computer link for his mother. "She's a brand-new Internet user," Lothberg said by phone from California, where he lives. "She didn't even have a computer before." His mother isn't exactly making the most of her high-speed connection. She only uses it to read Web-based newspapers. And young people complain about oldsters being slow.

A boy of 11 with appendicitis was called a "wimp" by a doctor who failed to spot the condition. Liam Stone was taken to hospital by his mum for three days running with acute stomach pains. But each time he was sent home with painkillers because doctors did not spot appendicitis, which can be fatal. Liam's mum Vanessa said Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent, did not even offer a scan or blood test, reports the Daily Mirror. She said: "A paediatrician felt his stomach and asked me: "Is he always a wimp?"" Vanessa added: "I was worried Liam had appendicitis. What hurt me most was my son being called a wimp because I know he isn't." The 38-year-old mum, and husband Robert, eventually took Liam to Maidstone Hospital. He was diagnosed and operated on immediately. Vanessa said she wants to raise awareness and is not seeking compensation. Medway Hospital said: "We take complaints very seriously and investigate them rigorously." My advice? Sell your Medway stock.

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