How hackers steal credit card information through clothes, wallets

Pickpockets no longer need to touch their victims — they can use cheap technology to read credit cards through peoples’ pants.

Hacker Kristin Paget proved as much with a demonstration at the Shmoocon hacker conference in Washington last week.

With a $50 Vivotech RFID (radio frequency identification) credit card reader, she wirelessly read a volunteer’s credit card standing near her on a stage before using a $300 magnetizing tool to put the data onto a blank card, reports Forbes’ Andy Greenberg.

Paget then used a credit card-swiping iPhone attachment and voila! She stole $15 bucks from her “victim” before paying him back immediately, Greenberg wrote.

Fears that hackers will steal personal or banking information have also sparked an industry of wallets, passport covers and individual credit card holders made of stainless steel or even aluminum foil to block unwanted radio signals from lifting information.

While Paget’s demonstration has been possible for years, questions about contactless payments are rising to the surface as RFID-enabled credit cards become ubiquitous (just look for a triangle made of arches to see if your credit card is RFID equipped).

In Canada, Visa’s payWave and MasterCard’s PayPass make it easy for consumers to tap their RFID-enabled cards on a terminal and pay quickly at thousands of merchants across the country, including Impark and McDonald’s.

The terminals may not accept transactions of more than $50.

MasterCard uses encryption technology and Visa embeds chips to prevent theft over the contactless systems, according to their websites. Both say the cards must be waved very near to the machines to work, and Visa adds that “only secure readers at authorized merchants” can process its cards.

But with the right machine, stealing credit card numbers, expiry dates and transaction codes is as simple as waiting for people to walk by on a crowded street, said project scientist and hacker 3ric (pronounced Eric) Johanson.

Consumers shouldn’t be too worried — at least not yet, Johanson said. Criminals will choose the easiest method to steal credit card information, which at the moment is hacking insecure websites “from the comfort of their own home,” he said.

If data was stolen, it would be difficult to use online as most websites require an address for confirmation, he said. Each contactless transaction involves a unique CCV code, but an “ample” number of those can be collected in just a few seconds, he explained. Scams would only be detected if the consumer used their card before the attacker had time to make fraudulent purchases.

Despite the logistical challenges, it’s just a matter of time before RFID hacks become commonplace, Johanson said.

There are additional steps credit card companies can take to protect consumers, such as demanding a pin number, yet that’s unlikely to happen because it would slow down the payment process, he said.

“My general advice to people is to demand that their credit card companies offer them a non RFID-enabled card,” he added.

By the end of 2012, all Canadian passports will come equipped with RFID technology, according to Passport Canada. The RFID information will only become accessible if bar code on the second page has already been scanned, meaning the passport needs to be open for people to get data. New American passports already have this technology.

Surprisingly Salty Processed Foods (II)

Rice-a-Roni Spanish Rice

Sodium: 1,250 mg

Serving: 1 cup prepared (260 calories) 

Most people don’t equate rice with a salty treat, but this side dish contains more than 50% of your daily amount of sodium. The brand does sell low-sodium varieties, but they still have 650 to 670 milligrams of sodium per cup of cooked rice.

DiGiorno for One Pepperoni Thin Crispy Crust

Sodium: 1170 mg

Serving: 1 pizza (590 calories) 

You know that pizza isn’t always diet-friendly, but even this portion-controlled pizza contains half of your daily sodium for the day. You canmake your own for nearly half the salt.

Surprisingly Salty Processed Foods

Lunchables Ham and Swiss With Crackers

Sodium: 1130 mg

Serving: 1 Lunchable (340 calories) 

This lunch seems like a good thing to pack in a child’s lunchbox, but leave this one on the shelf.

It has nearly half the recommended sodium for an adult, and about 60% of the Institute of Medicine's recommended daily intake for children ages 4 to 8. You’re better off with a ham and cheese sandwich, baked chips, and fruit.

Campbell’s Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

Sodium: 940 mg

Serving: 1/2 cup (70 calories) 

It’s no surprise that soup is on this list. However, even among products known for their high sodium content, this one packs a punch.

One cup of this soup would supply you with 80% of your daily intake of sodium.

Beijing air pollution soars with fireworks smoke

Clouds of smoke from Lunar New Year fireworks sent air pollution readings soaring in the more sensitive measurement system Beijing started using a little more than a week ago, reports said Sunday.

Readings of fine particulate matter called PM2.5 reached 1.593 milligrams per cubic meter on the Jan. 22 eve of the holiday, about 100 times worse than the amount considered good for 24-hour exposure, the city's environmental bureau said.

The reading drew wide publicity in the local media on Sunday. The popular Beijing Youth Daily praised the city government for taking a more critical look at air pollution, while urging residents to consider the environmental effects of setting off fireworks.

The readings moderated under relatively clear skies in recent days. By noon Sunday, before the weeklong holiday ends and people return to work, the level stood at a relatively good 0.039.

Beijing is frequently cloaked in yellow haze that obscures buildings a couple of blocks away. On particularly bad days, schools cancel outdoor activities and hospitals treat more people — particularly the elderly — for respiratory complaints.

The city began measuring the small particles in the air and releasing the readings on Jan. 21, as concern has grown over Beijing's air pollution from all sources. PM2.5 — particles less than 2.5 micrometers in size, or about 1/30th the width of an average human hair — are believed to be the greatest health risk because their smallness means they can lodge deeply in the lungs.

Beijing previously had only given PM10 measurements of coarser particles, which indicated pollution was "light," leading to accusations the true extent of the problem was hidden.

The U.S. Embassy since last year has released PM2.5 readings from a device on its rooftop and some residents have tested the air in their neighborhoods and posted the results online.

The embassy measured more pollution than the city on Sunday, but the sampling stations are 10 miles apart or more.

Beijing says its PM2.5 measuring station is about 4 miles (7 kilometers) west of central Tiananmen Square.

Pythons wiping out Everglades mammals

A burgeoning population of huge pythons — many of them pets that were turned loose by their owners when they got too big — appears to be wiping out large numbers of raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals in the Everglades, according to a study published Jan. 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In this November 14, 2009 photo provided by the University of Florida, University of Florida researchers hold a 162-pound Burmese python captured in Everglades National Park, Fla. Therese Walters, left, Alex Wolf and Michael R. Rochford, right, are holding the 15-foot snake shortly after the python ate a six-foot American alligator. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. 

Bill Cunningham Groundswell

What women are doing on the street in NYC this winter.  See it in your stores next year.

Kama Sutra gets new cover

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Penguin is releasing a new version of the Kama Sutra with a sexy new cover. Part of the publisher’s Classic’s Deluxe line, the cover should appeal to graphic design fans as the title is spelled out in a sexy illustrated letterforms

Created by artist Malika Favre, she told Creative Review that the dust jacket design was very important as this version of the book contains no images.
“The edition itself is a translation of the original text written by Vatsyayana," Favre said.
"There are no pictures inside the book so the challenge was to make the cover sexy, modern and daring without being vulgar or over the top. I decided to create a very bold and playful alphabet that would run across both flaps and front and back cover spelling Kama Sutra.”
Penguin’s Classic series is known for enlisting modern artists and illustrators to update the covers of classic books.

Apple’s Stack of Cash Would Soar 32 Times Higher Than the International Space Station

If you stack every single dollar bill in Apple's $97 billion cash reserves, you would reach 6,583 miles into space. That's about 32 times the altitude of the International Space Station. It would look pretty much like this.

The math: 97 billion dollar bills, 0.0043 inches thick each. Total: 6,583 miles.

What Charlize Theron Doesn’t Get About Black Hollywood

Charlize Theron surely meant no harm. The actress genuinely thought she was complimenting fellow thespian Viola Davis during this year’s Newsweek Oscar roundtable when she told Davis, “You’re hot as shit.’’

Their exchange revolved around Davis’s comments on finding work as an African-American actress. Davis, who has won praise for her starring role in The Help, was attempting to explain the difficult plight of being black and female in the movie industry. “I’m a 46-year-old black woman who really doesn’t look like Halle Berry, and Halle Berry is having a hard time,” said Davis.

No doubt hoping to forge a sisterly bond, Theron rushed in to reassure Davis that she was indeed “hot’’ and naively implied that a simple change of attitude would make a world of difference. Her exact words—“You have to stop saying that, because you’re hot as shit.’’

How sweet of Theron to say, and how thoroughly misguided and offensive as well. Davis was honestly confronting a number of painful and complicated issues faced by many women of color in Hollywood today—issues Theron (who was born in South Africa to parents of European descent) more than likely has never encountered and would have done well to listen to. The Oscar roundtable was the perfect forum for such a discussion, and yet Theron’s verbal charity managed to downplay the importance of Davis’s point. What difference does it make if Davis stops speaking a truth if the reality remains?

In Hollywood, where even legendary filmmaker George Lucas had to fight and ultimately use his own money to get an all-black film (Red Tails) made, black actresses still struggle to find quality work. When they do, they are rarely cast as ideals of beauty or objects of desire. On the odd occasion that they are, only a certain look will do. Berry, who is biracial, has long been viewed as Hollywood’s most beautiful black actress, and some would argue that much of her success is based on that belief. Apparently Theron didn’t get the memo that mainstream culture strictly dictates what beauty is—and by those narrow standards, Viola Davis doesn’t fit the bill. Has Davis graced the covers of any of the beauty and fashion magazines that Theron lands with ease, whether she has a project or not? She hasn’t. Davis’s only covers on major publications such as Entertainment Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter also featured her costars from the film or George Clooney. Her “hotness” was apparently not enough to warrant a solo appearance despite the fact that she may soon snag her second Oscar nomination for The Help. The reasons for this are as varied as they are disturbing, and Theron’s overly simplistic advice only underscores the lack of understanding many have around a reality they either don’t comprehend or don’t fully appreciate. 

Apparently Theron didn’t get the memo that mainstream culture strictly dictates what beauty is.

Davis’s work has been consistently stellar throughout her career, yet her most celebrated role to date may just be that of a maid to a white family during the ’60s in the Deep South. Some viewed The Help as another stereotypical representation of black life, but Davis still found a way to shine in her work. Diverse and well-defined parts such as the ones Theron enjoys—a ruthless killer in one film, a dying woman in love in another—aren’t offered to Davis, nor are well-paid endorsement deals with Christian Dior. In the world Davis lives in, you take a role like the one of Aibileen inThe Help because you’ve long given up on the notion that more balanced, nuanced parts about women who look like you are on the horizon. You understand that even in major films that feature African-American male stars, you may not get to costar as the wife, girlfriend, or partner because big studios get more “bang for their buck” when the female is of another race.  

As one studio executive pointed out, “black man, black women, black kids equals black movie.” So when Will Smith does a film like Hitch, Eva Mendes gets to play his love interest and not Viola Davis. As well meaning as Charlize Theron is, she has no clue what it means to be a dark-skinned African-American woman whose beauty is seldom showcased in national commercials for perfumes or on mega billboards on Sunset Boulevard or even celebrated in the latest video by the hottest rappers. In the world Theron lives in, simply not saying something makes it go away. In Davis’s world, it doesn’t.                                                                           

Apple's revenue surges, blows past estimates

Apple Inc reported fiscal first-quarter revenue that blew past Wall Street expectations, fueled by robust holiday sales of its iPhones and iPads.

The consumer electronics giant said on Tuesday its revenue rose to $46.33 billion, handily beating the average Wall Street analyst estimate of $38.91 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.


39 billion!!!  The NFL has revenues of $8 billion/yr.  Wow.

$100 hot dog

Vancouver, known for its bustling street food scene, will also soon be known as home to the “most expensive hot dog in the world” – a $100 cognac-infused sausage topped with oil-seared Kobe beef, lobster meat and a picante sauce.

“When you come up with a $100 hot dog, you’ve got to have a good idea,” said DougieDog owner Dougie Luv of the Dragon Dog.

The foot-long bratwurst is infused with 100-year-old Louis XIII cognac – which has a $2,000 price tag of its own – and must be ordered 12 hours in advance so fresh ingredients can be prepped.

The current titleholder for the Guinness World Record for most expensive hot dog is New York City restaurant Serendipity 3, which introduced a $69 hot dog to its menu in July 2010.

Luv’s creative concoction is named for the Year of the Dragon and for CBC’s Dragon’s Den, on which the Vancouver-based restaurateur will make an appearance Wednesday evening.

Happy b'day, captain.

Radiation from solar flare bombarding Earth today

The sun is bombarding Earth with radiation from the biggest solar storm in more than six years with more to come from the fast-moving eruption.

The solar flare occurred at about 11 p.m. EST (0400 GMT) Sunday and will hit Earth with three different effects at three different times. The biggest issue is radiation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado.

The radiation is mostly a concern for satellite disruptions and astronauts in space. It can cause communication problems for polar-travelling airplanes, said space weather centre physicist Doug Biesecker.

Radiation from Sunday’s flare arrived at Earth an hour later and will likely continue through Wednesday. Levels are considered strong but other storms have been more severe. There are two higher levels of radiation on NOAA’s storm scale — severe and extreme — Biesecker said. Still, this storm is the strongest for radiation since May 2005.

Eighteen-year-old gets to play Strad Cello

It is considered one of the greatest cellos in the world, a beautifully preserved product of Antonio Stradivari that was once owned by Nicolò Paganini and most recently by Bernard Greenhouse, a founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio. Mr. Greenhouse played the cello for a half century, and after his death last year, his familydecided to sell it, hoping it would go to a deserving musician.

They got their wish, and a record price.

Christopher Reuning, the rare-instrument dealer in Boston who handled the sale, said on Saturday that the cello had been sold last week for “a fair bit above” the minimum bid price, which was slightly over $6 million. He declined to specify the exact amount. Mr. Reuning said the amount exceeded the previous record of $6 million.

The purchaser was a “patroness of the arts from Montreal,” who declined to be identified further, Mr. Reuning said. He said she has decided to lend the cello, known as Countess of Stainlein, ex-Paganini of 1707, to Stéphane Tétreault, an 18-year-old player from Montreal with a budding career.

Mr. Reuning delivered the cello to the buyer on Friday, and Mr. Tétreault tried it out at her home. The instrument remains with her while the loan arrangements are worked out. Mr. Tétreault has been playing a 250-year-old British instrument by an unknown maker, also on loan to him.

Mr. Tétreault has entered several competitions with modest success and is playing the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Orchestre Métropolitain of Montreal this year.

“He eats, sleeps and breathes cello,” Mr. Reuning said.

What Barack Obama didn’t say to Bruins goalie Tim Thomas

Tim, I was saddened to have missed you on Monday. We had the jet and the rendition protocols and everything all set up for your arrival.

In between negotiating the world’s hot spots and trying to stave off economic ruin, I like to take 30 seconds for myself each day. Just to veg out. During that precious time, it was brought to my attention that you’re unhappy with the job I’m doing. Bummer. I admit it, I was a little put out, mainly because I don’t like having to answer “Who said what now?” over and over again to a whole bunch of questions from the press.

It got worse when I went off script and wondered aloud if you were “the Canadian kid with the concussion.” I hate it when they laugh at me, Tim.

But Tim, I want to assure you that the number of capital letters in your clarifying statement has impressed upon me how important your concerns are. I want to take some time here to address a few of the suggestions listed on the note attached to the rock you threw through the Oval Office window.

First, it is simply impractical to redraw the tax code every year by a show of hands. Washington is not as big as you seem to think, and your idea for ferrying every single American into the city on black helicopters won’t work. For the last time, there are no black helicopters. I know it’s old school, but we use wiretaps to keep tabs on you.

Second, I agree that property ownership is a keystone of civic responsibility, but I don’t think you’re going to get a lot of takers with your ‘Vacate public housing and move into our national parks’ campaign. What about the people who end up in Alaska? As I’ve noted, there are no black helicopters to get them up there. I’m also not sure how this fits in with your plan to outlaw pants on women. Won’t it be cold?

I don’t understand your idea for replacing our water supply with grain alcohol. I’m fuzzy on the science of your ‘poisoned fluoride’ theory, but I’m pretty sure that an entire nation that’s drunk after it’s taken a morning shower isn’t good for productivity.

You may be on to something with this national service brainwave, but the Joint Chiefs and I are leery of using recent high school graduates to launch a sneak attack during spring break in Pyongyang. Believe me, we war-gamed that idea over and over and it only ends one way — with a whole lot of angry bar owners in Palm Beach. I need Florida, Tim.

And while I understand that forcing everyone working in government to wear a white wig and dentures made of wood is a romantic reminder of the Founding Fathers, it’s just not workable given our current budget constraints. Do you know what dentists charge to rip out viable teeth, Tim? I was also shocked to hear the going rate for a full head of human hair. It’s a scandal, and one that I may address once I’ve taken care a bajillion more important things.

Whatever you think of me, you know I’m not one to shut down a healthy debate. It’s the life blood of the republic, I’d suggest, perhaps even moreso than your suggestion to “add more banjo” to the national anthem.

However, I’m going to have to issue a flat ‘No’ when it comes to the idea of launching a nuclear attack on Canada “just to prove to the rest of them that we’re not chicken.”

We’re not chicken, Tim. Chicken’s the last thing we are.

But that won’t turn silver to gold, will it, Tim? No, it won’t. All it will do is dirty up a bunch of oil we’re probably going to need some day very soon. I asked the Delta Force guys tailing you to work the other day, “Say, what’s Tim driving?” And even all the way up in that helicopter, they were 100 per cent sure it wasn’t a Prius. So maybe there’s some wiggle room in your position here.

Tim, we’re not so far apart, you and I. We both care about America’s future, except your future is the one that happens after the Russians invade. I’m hoping for the other one.

I’d be happy to talk about this and more in greater depth in a place, as you suggest, “where the satellites can’t see us.” I’m not much of a woodsman, Tim, so I trust that “the pit” you’re referring to is where we cook our dinner, not some sort of trap. Does this meeting have to be in Idaho? And do I really have to approach your bunker “alone, on foot and naked?” Because Idaho’s a lost cause for me and I’d hoped to skip it during a busy electoral year.

Please know that I’m looking forward to further dialogue with you, Tim. If you need to contact me again just open your front door and wave a tea towel. The Secret Service will know what that means.

Throw a football...

...and you get to live here:



Tom Brady's house.

Paterno: three days of public memorials scheduled

Toronto’s tiny cube house gets six offers – and a buyer with two children

The tiny, towering box house on Coxwell Ave. has sold for “well over” the asking price of $349,000 — to a couple with two young children.

The couple, an architect and interior designer, beat out five other bidders with vision rather than money, by bringing their own architectural plans to the table, says listing realtor Jennifer Scaife.

They were “exceptionally passionate” about the house and presented expansion plans, including addition of a second pod, that were “well in line” with the grand plans the owner and designer, architect Rohan Walters had for the property when he first built it on a tight budget back in 2003, she added.

The final price tag can’t be disclosed yet because the offer is conditional until next Friday, but it’s believed to have gone for over $400,000.

There was one “significantly higher” offer, but Walters “opted instead to follow his heart and welcome a young family. Children, and the hope for the future that they represent, are very important to him,” said Scaife.

“He wanted children to grow up and experience this.”

The crazy house on stilts is made up of three 16-by-16 foot floors of eco-friendly heated concrete slab. The 800 square foot detached house sits on a bowling-alley like 23 by 205 foot piece of property on busy Coxwell Ave.

The stilts minimize vibrations from passing streetcars and serve to lift the unusual home up to street level where it has delighted children, and perplexed their parents, for almost a decade.

The house has radiant heating which is not only easier on the environment but makes the place cheap to keep. Utilities average just $95 a month and taxes are just $1272, although those are expected to jump significantly, especially once the couple completes their expansion plans.

Some 75 people showed up at weekend open houses and only one asked: “How can people live like this?” said Scaife. “The rest ‘got’ the house.”

It has no furnace, basement or closets — which would have made it somewhat of a fit for the highest bidder, a single person. By adding a second pod — pending city approval — it’s expected the buyers would add family friendly amenities, like a kitchen and closets. There is not a single one in the place.

And the current kitchen is just a counter and sink tucked under the stairs. There are no cupboards and the tenants who now live there are taking the only shelf with them.

“In the end, Rohan went with his heart, rather than cash.”

Definition of irony

Because this past Christmas fell on a Sunday, nearly one Protestant church in 10 in the U.S. reported having canceled Sunday services that day out of fear of low attendance, as parishioners remained at home with family. 

(The poll, by Lifeway Research, noted also that other churches, while not canceling, had left services to their second-string clergy.) [Washington Post, 12-23-2011]

They really are nutbars

A November report by Muslim scholars at Saudi Arabia's highest religious council (Majlis al-Ifta' al-A'ala), presented to the Saudi legislature, warned that ending the ban on females' driving would cause a surge in prostitution, pornography, divorce and, of course, homosexuality 

(and the scholars added that, within 10 years, the country would have "no more virgins"). [Daily Mail (London), 12-1-2011]

Gay Takeovers

Mayor Jose Benitez of Huarmey, Peru (population 16,000), speaking at the opening of a water works in November, warned residents about strontium in the water, which he said suppresses male hormones. 

He reminded residents that nearby Tabalosos, which is lately popular with gays and lesbians, shares the water supply and that Huarmey could turn gay, too. [Daily Mail (London), 11-24-2011]

Utah school passes on 'cougars' as mascot

A Utah school district has decided against using "Cougars" as a mascot for a new high school in part because of the negative connotation of the word in popular culture.

Canyons School District Superintendent David S. Doty says the selection of "Chargers" as mascot was driven by the desire for originality, despite a poll of some future students that showed 26 percent in favor of using the cougar.

At least three Utah schools, including Brigham Young University, use cougar as a mascot.

Doty says public comments reflect a desire to be different, but he also notes that some see the word cougar as carrying a "negative double entendre."

The term cougar in popular culture can refer to women in their 40s who have sex with younger men.

And we thought walking uphill to and from school was bad....

Children in Indonesia have been filmed risking their lives by crossing a collapsed suspension bridge to get to school.

Three bridges in the district of Lebak have given way recently due to flooding.

When the 162m-long bridge that connected Ciwaru village to Sibagi village broke, school children were left with few alternatives for getting to lessons on time.

Muhammad Ikhwan, a 10-year-old student, said he felt forced to choose crossing the collapsed bridge rather than walking 5km.

"It's far if we don't use the bridge. Yes, it's about 5km to walk," he said.

The bridge was built in 2004 and is the only access that connects the two villages over the Ciberang river.

Residents have called for more action from the local government to repair the crossing.

Museum set to sue over lingerie stunt

Paris's prestigious Musee D'Orsay is threatening to sue a lingerie company after three models paraded around the museum in bras and knickers.

Works by artists such as Van Gough and Renoir had to compete with models from lingerie firm Etam for the eyes of bewildered spectators.

The models were filmed for a video intended as a viral marketing campaign. It starts with the girls waiting outside the art gallery in trench coats.

Once the models are inside the gallery they shed their overcoats to reveal their scantily-clad bodies to astonished art lovers.

However, the museum was unamused by the stunt and has called the incident "a serious infringement of the Orsay's rights and the rights of others".

The museum's director has reportedly threatened legal action against Etam if the lingerie maker does not remove the video from its website.

Floating offshore parks planned for cities

A nature-packed floating super park has been proposed for cities like New York and London.

The Sea Tree would be a multi-tiered structure comprising of layered green habitats especially for wildlife.

Dutch-architects Waterstudio believe they would provide valuable living areas for birds, bees, bats and other small animals.

They say new opportunities for extra city parks are rare, so open space such as rivers, seas, lakes and harbours should be utilised.

They propose using offshore technology similar to oil rigs to construct the Sea Trees.

Waterstudio hopes oil companies might be persuaded to donate them to cities to show "their concern for a better city environment".

The giant floating towers would be moored to the seabed with underwater cables.

Architect Koen Olthuis said: "Underwater, the Sea Tree provides a habitat for small water creatures or even when the climate allows it for artificial coral reefs.

"The beauty of the design is that it provides a solution and at the same time does not cost expensive space on land, while the effect of the species living in the sea tree will effect a zone of several miles around the moored location."

Waterstudio claims that the first Sea Treet will be completed by January 2014 for an undisclosed client.

'Face' captured in Northern Lights

A photographer trying to capture the Northern Lights in Canada was astonished to see a face in one of his pictures.

Jonathan Tucker, 25, snapped the image in Marsh Lake in Yukon, Canada with a 30 second exposure on his camera.

It was only later that he noticed "strong facial features" such as a nose, chin and smiling mouth among the swirling green lights.

The spectacular light display lasted for an hour but Mr Tucker, from Yukon, only spotted the face when looking at his photographs later in the day.

He said: "When you look at this photo you can certainly see very strong facial features like the nose, eye and chin.

"The face even looks like it has hair and to me it looks like it's smiling. I was shocked. This is very rare."

Madonna has never cooked a meal

Madonna has never cooked a meal herself because she has employees to look after kitchen duties for her.

The Material Girl admits she lacks culinary skills and even her teenage daughter, Lourdes, is a better chef than she is.

In an interview with America's ABC network, the singer is asked whether she has ever cooked by herself and she replies, "I don't think I've ever cooked a meal entirely by myself... I have a cook, my daughter likes to cook. My nannies cook, my housekeeper cooks, the drivers cook, everybody cooks."

When asked if she can cook anything at all, Madonna adds, "No! But I do everything else! Do I have to do everything?"

Klum set to divorce Seal

Supermodel Heidi Klum is set to divorce her soul singer husband Seal, according to reports.

The German beauty married Seal in 2005 and they have three children together - daughter Lou and sons Henry and Johan. The Kiss From a Rose hitmaker also adopted Klum's eldest daughter Leni from a previous relationship.

The couple is famous for renewing its wedding vows every year with a romantic ceremony, but now editors at TMZ.com claim Klum is preparing to file divorce papers amid rumours the pair has split.

The runway star is allegedly expected to file a petition at Los Angeles Superior Court as early as next week citing irreconcilable differences for the break-up.

Klum and Seal were last pictured together on vacation in Aspen, Colorado after Christmas.

Representatives for both stars had yet to respond to requests for a comment as WENN went to press.