New Orleans resident Ronald Richard was mowing the lawn when he felt a hard object hit him in the chest -- precisely where he'd been keeping his pink Swarovski-encrusted (just kidding) RAZR. It was only after Richard took off his sweater that he discovered the .45-caliber slug and realized that the phone had literally taken a bullet for him. According to paramedics, the angle of the bullet and the modest stopping power of the cellphone were all that stood between the man and serious injury or even death. Instead, this lucky gent got away with little more than a fairly significant bruise and an excuse to pick up that Aura he's been coveting.

Filed under: Cellphones

RAZR stops a bullet, its owner reports "feeling lucky, punk." originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

(Credit: Disney-Pixar)

Disney is fighting a piracy war over its acclaimed film Wall-E against a company that its venture capital arm invested in, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The infringing company, 56.com, a Chinese video sharing site that's similar to YouTube, hosted several full-length bootlegs of Wall-E that were freely available on the company's site. The bootlegs were added by users of the site months ago, but only recently have they been fully removed from its pages.

Piracy in China is nothing new, but the fact that 56.com featured Disney movies on its site is ironic, considering Disney's venture capital division, Steamboat Ventures, invested in the video sharing company back in 2006. Although the exact amount is unknown, the Journal claims the investment is substantial, but less than $30 million.

John Ball, founder and managing director of Steamboat, told the Journal that his company was aware that pirated content was commonplace on the site when it made its investment in 56.com, but he was confident that the video service would remove illegal material quickly and "help the legitimate evolution of digital content online."

A quick search of 56.com yielded no results for "Wall-E" on Friday, but it wasn't difficult to find copies of other prominent films in their entirety. But now that Disney has been affected by 56.com, it will be interesting to see if any more of the company's films crop up on the popular Chinese site.

Chicken owners liken it to having their very own widescreen TV in the backyard, with an always-looping Chicken Channel. Chickens are curious and very involved in their surroundings, following humans and dogs and cats around the yard and seeking attention, even a backrub.

Fiona Mitchell says the four hens she got in July for her Bedford Hills yard fit right in with her two dogs and two cats. "Everybody seems to find their own space," she says. "We're one big happy family now."

Demetra and Sal Restuccia couldn't be happier with the five Rhode Island Reds they got last year. "Oh, I love my chickens," Demetra says. "They have such personalities. They're funny - they talk all the time. They'll tell you everything that's been going on for the day. They're hysterical."

Gallery: Marantz's IS301 wireless iPod dock elegantly cuts the cord

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Marantz's IS301 wireless iPod dock elegantly cuts the cord originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.