After 16 years at the typewriter, Les Stewart from Mudjimba (Australia) is a millionaire. On 25 November 1998, he reached his goal of typing all numbers from one to one million - in words (not numbers) on his manual machine. A regular entrant in the record books since he started his marathon task in 1982 as therapy following an accident and serious illness. Seven manual typewriters, 1000 ink ribbons, 19,890 pages, 16 years and seven months later, he finished with the lines

nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine.
one million.

When asked why he has undertaken this time consuming and repetitious task, Les says that he has little else to do now that he has been classed as an invalid, and can no longer work. Besides that, Les enjoys typing and used to be a police typing instructor before his sickness which meant his withdrawal from the force. Typing an average three pages a day with one finger since April 1982, Les said his secret was to type for 20 minutes on the hour, every hour

Les is no newcomer to breaking records: Some years ago he broke the Australian Record of treading water, and then he went on to swim continuously for 30 hours, establishing another Australian record.

World Record for Typing Numbers in Words

A real estate tycoon who owns a nature preserve tried to show off for visitors by jumping on an alligator's back for a ride, but the reptile bit his hand and dragged him into 15 feet of water.
The 8-foot alligator let go of Ronald Bergeron after witnesses pulled its tail. Bergeron, 62, suffered a shattered pinky, a broken ring finger and puncture wounds in his palm.
The multimillionaire developer tried the stunt Sunday while giving a tour of his 5,000-plus-acre preserve to weekend guests who had made large donations to the Boys & Girls Club.
"I always tell them I'm going to wrestle an alligator," Bergeron said Wednesday. "It's part of my Florida cracker culture. My grandfather was a game warden in the Everglades, and I grew up around alligators."
He said he usually rides the alligator for a minute before letting it go.
This time, Bergeron said, "he was rolling and I couldn't keep control of his mouth. He grabbed my hand in his mouth."
Bergeron was pulled under the water before guests grabbed the alligator and pulled it out. Bergeron was driven to a hospital.
He said he never harms the alligators at the preserve, west of Lake Okeechobee in Hendry County.
Animal harassment is illegal. The incident has not been reported to the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, spokeswoman Dani Moschella said.
Bergeron, who also competes in a weekly rodeo, said he was unlikely to give up alligator wrestling. "Too exciting," he said.
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LORETO, Mexico - A race horse ran over and killed a 17-year old boy who was apparently trying to stop it win on a race track in Northern Mexico, police said Monday.
Jose Bernardo Gonzalez died with a shattered cranium during a Sunday event in Loreto in the Pacific state of Baja California Sur, said state policeman Adrian Flores.
The horse was neck and neck with a competitor heading toward the finish line when Gonzalez jumped in its track. Flores said Gonzalez appeared to be trying to affect the outcome of the race, possibly to influence a bet.

Through the wonder of the world wide web, digital imaging and quirky homemade software you can now actually watch paint peel LIVE from the comfort of your home or office.

Watch paint peel.

For the second straight year, a sheep has been stolen from the Natural Resources Trust of Easton, abused, and left inside of a dormitory at Stonehill College.

According to Robert Babineau, executive director of the trust, the sheep was taken Sept. 3, spray-painted in black, dressed in a bra, and placed inside a Stonehill dorm.
''This type of behavior is not consistent with the college's values nor does it represent the overwhelming number of compassionate students who make up our community," David DiNapoli, chief of campus police at Stonehill, said in a press release.
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Jesse Sullivan, the World's First "Bionic Man"

In May 2001, working as a high-power lineman 54 year old Jesse Sullivan had a life changing event -- he was electrocuted so severely that both of his arms needed to be amputated. While recovering from his third-degree burns and surgeries Jesse wondered how he would be able to live a fulfilling life, let alone hug his grandchildren. Thanks to his fighting spirit, and the innovative "Bionic" research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) Jesse now can do many things that most would take for granted, like fishing, mowing the lawn, and yes, even hug his grandchildren.

Are you plagued by Stuck Tune Syndrome? Do you have a tune stuck in your head you just can't get out?
Take heart friend, for your suffering is over. The Maimograph Machine, through complex analysis and calculation, will find an even catchier tune to counter-act the one you already have.