back to article YouTuber cements head inside microwave oven

A YouTube stunt imbecile was rescued by firefighters yesterday after cementing his head inside a microwave. The video of the incident, titled I cemented my head in a microwave and emergency services came.. (nearly died), can be found on the TGFbro channel, as part of an "Extreme Christmas Calendar" series. It has gained more …

  1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    Darwin denied.

    1. Jeroen Braamhaar

      It's a good nomination though, although not (yet) worthy of an Award.

      1. Gatt

        Give it time...

        ....he'll try it again with something else soon enough

      2. The Vociferous Time Waster

        Also that assumes he hasn’t already fouled the gene pool.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Shame it wasn't the sort that heated up as it cured. His brain literally being cooked would have made good viewing.

      1. ibmalone

        A few nasty stories about that mistake, there was a GCSE or A-level student not too long ago who wanted to take a cast of their hands for their project and didn't realise plaster of paris heats as it sets.

        1. Justin Clift

          > ... and didn't realise plaster of paris heats as it sets.

          Hmmm, isn't Plaster of Paris used (with gauze) to make plaster casts? eg for broken limbs and similar

          Asking because I've personally cast body parts (using commercial prepared plaster gauze), and the "heating" isn't anything like bad enough to worry about. Were they doing something really strange?

          1. the spectacularly refined chap

            See this link from the BBC. As I understand it the issue arises with large bulk quantities of plaster. A layer of gauze soaked in plaster simply doesn't have the quantity needed to create harmful heat build up.

            1. Justin Clift

              > See this link from the BBC.

              Holy crap. That poor kid. :(

              1. cray74

                Holy crap. That poor kid. :(

                Gah, and there were pictures of her hands.

                Now I'm wondering why the YouTube rocket scientist didn't bake his head with the plaster. Better heat transfer with the head's large blood supply?

                1. The Indomitable Gall

                  @cray74:

                  " Now I'm wondering why the YouTube rocket scientist didn't bake his head with the plaster. Better heat transfer with the head's large blood supply? "

                  No -- he's lucky that he picked Polyfilla, which doesn't heat up with curing.

          2. Wensleydale Cheese

            "Hmmm, isn't Plaster of Paris used (with gauze) to make plaster casts? eg for broken limbs and similar"

            As I recall, it's applied one thin layer at a time, in strips. There's plenty of time (and surface area) to cool things off between layers.

            A heat insulated microwave packed with the stuff all in one go will be a different matter.

          3. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

            Difference between putting thin layers with the outside exposed to the air and building up slowly and putting your hands into a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff.

            The same way it is trivial to pour a 2 inch thick concrete base for a garden path, trickier to cast a dam wall.

            1. jake Silver badge

              You don't pour concrete.

              You place it.

              And you don't make the foundation for a garden path out of concrete. You use well-packed roadbase and/or sand.

              1. Kiwi
                Boffin

                Re: You don't pour concrete.

                You don't pour concrete.

                You place it.

                All that time I spent working around construction-related industries and never knew. Nor did the architects, engineers, inspectors, concrete-truck drivers, people who removed the air from the concrete after each pour etc etc etc. The only time I heard someone use "place" in relation to concrete was telling someone where to put broken concrete ("place it in the bin over there") - everything else was referred to as "pour".

                And yes, my experience involves buildings over 20 stories high.

                And you don't make the foundation for a garden path out of concrete. You use well-packed roadbase and/or sand.

                Depends on where you live and what you're trying to achieve. I've known a couple where if you're not putting in steel-reinforced concrete your path won't last long (of course, a route that wasn't across in front of the tractor shed (right next to the house unusually - he hated to walk far) would've worked wonders for the brick path he wanted to have!)

                1. jake Silver badge

                  Re: You don't pour concrete.

                  Kiwi, take a gander at:

                  http://deeconcrete.com/concrete/glossary-pq.asp

                  Scroll down to "placing".

                  Re. path foundation: As I describe works everywhere I've ever built a path with pavers. Including the one I drive a tractor over daily, the driveway in front of my garage, and one in Nevada, where the temperature dips into the 20-below F (close to -30C) range regularly during the winter. All are over 15 years old, and holding up quite nicely. The ten year old variation that fords the seasonal creek is going to need replacing in a couple years.

                  1. Kiwi

                    Re: You don't pour concrete.

                    Kiwi, take a gander at:

                    http://deeconcrete.com/concrete/glossary-pq.asp

                    Scroll down to "placing".

                    Who the hell are "Dee Concrete"? What makes you think they're better at defining concrete terminology than the millions of places who assert that "pour" is the correct term?

                    Re. path foundation: As I describe works everywhere I've ever built a path with pavers. Including the one I drive a tractor over daily, the driveway in front of my garage, and one in Nevada, where the temperature dips into the 20-below F (close to -30C) range regularly during the winter. All are over 15 years old, and holding up quite nicely. The ten year old variation that fords the seasonal creek is going to need replacing in a couple years.

                    We only get mild frosts for a few weeks a year where I grew up, which is probably why where your ground stays solid enough with a bit of sand ours turns to sometimes more than a metre of mud (in select places, like where tractors run over them often), thus making sand-based "foundations" rather rubbish in heavy-use areas. Hell, some places need much more than that just for people walking out to a clothesline with a basket of washing.

                    Your area may be much different to ours though, you may not get the near constant quakes (even if some are quite small), your soil may not get as liquid as it gets here at times, and you may be able to get away with these things. Not everyone can.

                    Success over seasonal creeks can vary significantly. When I was not long on farming (14/15yo) I drove a light tractor (tiny wee baby Massey-Fergusson 135, only a tonne and a half or so) across a paddock that clearly had a creek in part of it, but where I drove was dry with no water. A little while later a fertilizer truck came through and the driver followed my tracks. His truck was several times the weight of the tractor and where I found hard dry ground he found that it was only the surface, soft mud deeper down. In the same place, your packed-sand foundation would've failed just as fast as what he dove over, they're usually only a few inches thick and designed to take people walking over them or the odd vehicle, not 10 tonne diggers.

                    1. jake Silver badge

                      Re: You don't pour concrete.

                      Maybe this link will help convince you:

                      http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Placing.aspx

                      Call 'em and ask for clarification. Report back. I'll bet you a plugged nickel the answer is that they tolerate "poured" in the same way that techies tolerate nontechies calling the box that holds the motherboard, power supply, disks, memory, processor, network card(s) etc. "The CPU".

                      We only get mild frosts here in Sonoma. Ground is alluvial from mixed sources. Even when soggy you don't sink much past the topsoil. I'm pretty certain we can give you a run for your money regarding earthquakes. The place in Nevada is high, dry, and cold, also alluvial, and gets plenty of earthquakes.

                      I've built in other corners of the world, with no issues. However, you're right in that if you're building on mud, all bets are off. Stabilizing mud is no fun at all. I can show you buildings built on the mud flats of San Francisco Bay that have pilings driven over 120 feet into the mud. They "float", and were actually designed to sink 5 feet further over their expected lifetime. Think flexible connections for water, power, natural gas, communications & sewer. I'm glad I don't have that problem.

                      1. Kiwi

                        Re: You don't pour concrete.

                        Maybe this link will help convince you:

                        http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Placing.aspx

                        Call 'em and ask for clarification. Report back.

                        No idea who these people are, the organisation only goes back as far as 2006. I've checked with organisations (eg Fletchers and FIrth) who've been around much longer. I'll ask around a few mates still associated with the industry if I remember too tomorrow, but I haven't heard of these guys myself. I do know that no one talked about "placing" concrete back then, it was called "pouring" because that was what the trucks and other machines were doing - pouring concrete. Some into formers (eg for columns), some into holes in the ground (eg foundations). Even a mate who has been a steel fixer for almost as long as I've been alive, and has worked on some interesting sites, calls it pouring.

                        I see in their document "guide to concrete construction" they use the term "This helps compact the concrete near the top of the pour as the vibrator is withdrawn from the concrete." (emphasis mine) - or you can look at http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Residental-Driveways.aspx for "Cool, overcast weather is ideal for pouring concrete. It should not be poured if rain or frost is forecast." (in fact the string "pour" comes up 4 times in that page alone). Their "news feed" off their home page prominently lists "http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11810779" (though that news site probably rates about as high as the flail).

                        More on their site : http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Admixtures.aspx

                        http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Joints.aspx

                        http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Early-Age-Crack-Control.aspx

                        I'll bet you a plugged nickel the answer is that they tolerate "poured"

                        Looks like they're more than happy to use "pour" in relation to concreting. But I'll drop them a line. I'll reference this thread so maybe one of them will speak directly.

                        in the same way that techies tolerate nontechies calling the box that holds the motherboard, power supply, disks, memory, processor, network card(s) etc. "The CPU".

                        I haven't heard it called that for a long time! Though in some respects, especially when you have a lot of external peripherals, that's not too far off the mark really. Much better than those who call the computer the modem and call the monitor the computer or something else.

                        We only get mild frosts here in Sonoma. Ground is alluvial from mixed sources. Even when soggy you don't sink much past the topsoil. I'm pretty certain we can give you a run for your money regarding earthquakes. The place in Nevada is high, dry, and cold, also alluvial, and gets plenty of earthquakes.

                        I didn't actually realise Nevada got any quakes, and I had forgotten you're more around SF area (IIRC - no idea where Sonoma is otherwise :) ).

                        The area I grew up is beautiful soil for all but building on it. Deep volcanic ash. Deep. And very rich. Bedrock is surprising deep in some areas (given the nearby rather large chunk of rock known as Mt Egmont that sticks out of the ground a bit).

                        Stabilizing mud is no fun at all. I can show you buildings built on the mud flats of San Francisco Bay that have pilings driven over 120 feet into the mud. They "float", and were actually designed to sink 5 feet further over their expected lifetime. Think flexible connections for water, power, natural gas, communications & sewer. I'm glad I don't have that problem.

                        I've seen some of that. The last "big" building I worked on (look up Midland Park, Wellington - look at the monstrosity behind it - I knew that thing when it was a hole in the ground) had some fun issues with ground water, even with the bedrock not being too far down. Of course, reclaimed land 'n'all, and what wasn't reclaimed came up during the 1840 quake that raised levels (IIRC along Lambton Quay there's "shoreline 1840" plaques on the footpath - showing where the shore was before that quake - those are inland from the site I mentioned). Not sure how they built the old central police station on there back in.. can't recall the year but a good 100 of them ago, though that was only 4 stories plus a (rather waterlogged by the time I saw it) basement.

                        I don't think we have many of the "floating" buildings here, and I kinda hope - given the nature of these "shaky isles" - that we don't get much more of them, and if we do they far exceed current standards.

                        (Hope this is ready to send - takes a while when you have to wait a few minutes for a page to load.. God willing my connection may improve significantly tomorrow!)

                        1. jake Silver badge

                          Re: You don't pour concrete.

                          The Sonoma Valley's about an hour by road NNEish of San Francisco. Centered roughly here. Nice place, all in all, if you ignore the Rogers Creek Fault, which runs up the West side of the valley.

                          The "floating buildings" actually fare well in earthquakes. They just roll with it, kind of like stick-built homes on slabs.

                          Must dash, I'm getting yelled at from the barn...

                2. kain preacher

                  Re: You don't pour concrete.

                  Kiwi the exception is one you place prefabbed/ pre poured concrete .

                  1. Kiwi
                    Pint

                    Re: You don't pour concrete.

                    Kiwi the exception is one you place prefabbed/ pre poured concrete .

                    That would certainly make sense to me. I'd have no question with "placing" pre-cast slabs.

              2. Antron Argaiv Silver badge
                Thumb Up

                Re: You don't pour concrete.

                And you don't make the foundation for a garden path out of concrete. You use well-packed roadbase and/or sand.

                Sand or "stone dust" in New England, because water freezes. You want it to drain away quickly, before it freezes and disrupts your carefully laid brick/stonework.

          4. ibmalone

            > Hmmm, isn't Plaster of Paris used (with gauze) to make plaster casts? eg for broken limbs and similar

            A bit late with my reply on this sorry, it seems that in gauze form it heats less than just using raw plaster, which is the mistake made by the unwary, raw plaster of paris being a common material in art departments. I'm fairly ignorant of the area, but turned up this, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3746057>. You can get burned with gauze, but it's harder to do. (I think there's just less plaster by mass/volume in gauze, so more mass to heat, and heating probably increases the reaction rate too, so when it gets hotter it keeps getting hotter.)

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        "Shame it wasn't the sort that heated up as it cured."

        No chance. That sort of thing requires effort - it need mixing. Polyfilla comes ready mixed.

    3. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
      FAIL

      I have always thought...

      I have always thought when the call is picked up by the emergency services, there are explicit questions they should ask of which "Is youtube involved?" being one, and if the answer is yes, then the emergency responders should say "Sorry, but we can't help you."

      1. bombastic bob Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: I have always thought...

        "Sorry, but we can't help you."

        then forward the call to the morgue, so they can call in early for rapid pickup. and the subsequent Darwin award.

        1. bitten

          Re: I have always thought...

          The problem is that it is easier to get a bystander put you on YouTube than to get any help

          1. Sparks_

            Re: I have always thought...

            Can't make a call when already started recording video.... Perhaps this is a new phone feature to build in, an emergency services call button on the camera just for such instances. Then the discussion with the dispatcher asking "he's done what?!!" is recorded for posterity.

            Perhaps add an auto-submit to Darwin award comittee button too...

      2. Mark 85

        Re: I have always thought...

        I have always thought when the call is picked up by the emergency services, there are explicit questions they should ask of which "Is youtube involved?"

        Add to that since Youtube isn't always involved: "Did he yell 'Hey ya'll, watch this.'?".* Those last words seem to be very common among some of the recent dead.

        *Usually followed but not always heard by bystanders is: "Oh...s**t!!!!".

        1. F111F

          Re: I have always thought...

          I imagine an call center guy taking these and asking the following questions before dispatching help...

          “Sir, please calm down, I cannot understand you when you’re screaming in pain.” (Picks his nose)

          “Is this emergency a result of YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, Instagram, FaceBook or other social media posting.”?

          “Were the words ‘Hold my phone’, ‘Hey y’all watch this’, or ‘Hold my beer’ uttered by the person or persons in need of help”?

          “If you answered in the affirmative to either of these conditions we are unable to assist you at this time, have a nice day.”

    4. Joseph Haig

      Darwin denied

      ... unless, of course, the five firefighters then took it in turns to kick him in the balls.

  2. chivo243 Silver badge

    Tuber for a brain?

    Mr. Potatohead? Naah, he's got more brains...

    1. David Haworth 1

      Re: Tuber for a brain?

      You beat me to the post.

    2. asdf

      Re: Tuber for a brain?

      I heard a comment that made me laugh on another site where a poster said that emergency services should have plugged the microwave in and put it on the potato setting and pressed go.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Could be worse, could have tried to put his cock in a toaster. You can't beat a bit of brown.

    1. IneptAdept

      I think that would of been a much better prank.....

      Then at least there would be a change of him no longer contributing to the DNA pool

      1. ArrZarr Silver badge
        Coat

        @AC

        Once it goes black, it never goes back?

      2. Mark York 3 Silver badge
        Childcatcher

        FTFY

        Then at least there would be a charge of him no longer contributing to the DNA pool.

    2. el kabong

      They prefer to drill tight holes in wet soap bars and slide their cocks inside, they do it quite often, for fun. Perhaps one they they will post some videos showing us how it's done.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        They prefer to drill tight holes in wet soap bars....

        Out of interest, how do you know?

        1. el kabong

          "Out of interest, how do you know?"

          Caught you!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Out of interest how do you know that they know?

            Furthermore, how would I know that you know that they know and they know that I know.

            QED.

      2. Tigra 07
        IT Angle

        RE: el kabong

        Also out of interest, why would you need instructions on how to drill a hole in a bar of soap?

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Agree

      The imbecile (oxymoron calling YouTube "star" imbecile, I know), got lucky. They used polifilla which sets slowly. If it was real plaster, he would have baked inside. It can get to 60C while setting. Happens every few years to some "artist" trying to create a mold from their hand or feet. 3rd degree burn and missing fingers.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        3rd degree burn and missing fingers

        is that how van gogh lost his ear? I thought he bit it off?

        1. Mikey

          Re: 3rd degree burn and missing fingers

          @AC

          You really think that's what he did to his ear? Seriously?

          I want you to show me how you bite your own ear off, you daft sod. It'll make a great youtube vid!

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: 3rd degree burn and missing fingers

            Everybody knows that, Mikey. In order to reach it, he stood on a chair.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: 3rd degree burn and missing fingers

            @Mikey

            It's one of my go to questions when dealing with hipster arty types to see if they're listening.

    4. Kiwi
      Coat

      Could be worse, could have tried to put his cock in a toaster. You can't beat a bit of brown.

      I don't think you'd be beating anything much for a while after that!

  4. Aaiieeee
    WTF?

    Like me dammit!

    Why do people refuse to think through the next steps of their action, project, email etc? Doesn't anybody consider the route down before deciding to climbing a tree?

    Thinking that your buddy with an electric drill attempting to remove the plaster encasing your head is somehow a suitable mitigation of any dangers that arrise from this prank is scary!

    The old refain is "what did they expect?" and I suspect they didn't get that far; they got as far as the idea of rising youtube views/likes

    1. Aqua Marina

      Re: Like me dammit!

      So many people are incapable of comprehending that actions have consequences, or even that an effect had a cause they were responsible for. They just go through life one minute at a time dealing with the moment.

      Reminds me of my teenaged uncle who has always considered himself a bit of an inventor. He had the bright idea of building a submarine out of 5 oil drums. He was in the middle one, and the 4 outer ones would be flooded to submerge him in the pond. His solution to surfacing was to have hose pipes going from the outer ones, to the inner one, and he simply would blow into each pipe until the water was pumped out of the outer drums.

      He did live to tell the tale. His next great idea was a pedal copter, but that's a whole different story.

      1. SkippyBing

        Re: Like me dammit!

        'So many people are incapable of comprehending that actions have consequences, or even that an effect had a cause they were responsible for.'

        Because everyone should go full Daily Mail once in a while, I blame the attempt to remove danger from all aspects of life, but especially child hood. If you don't have the chance to fall off a climbing frame and break an arm, or get mildly concussed playing rugby, then when you grow-up you won't have learnt that occasionally some actions may have undesirable consequences.

        As a counter to that I'm sure we've always had adult idiots, I'd just like to believe my former statement so I can feel smug.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      they got as far as the idea of rising youtube views/likes

      And probably achieved it.

      The very issue today is not fake news, it's the idiot ones, which are filling most media (not El Reg which categorize them as such and publish one here and there), and are too often among the most read/viewed.

      I remember something like that to neutralize the proles in a book written by some Orwell...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Like me dammit!

      "The old refain is "what did they expect?" and I suspect they didn't get that far; they got as far as the idea of rising youtube views/likes"

      It worked, they won. There is little disincentive, they have massive amounts of publicity, their channel has probably soared in popularity, hopefully advertising for their channel will now be banned though.

      There was little disincentive, he didn't die and now he is famous.

      1. Munkeh

        Re: Like me dammit!

        Honestly having briefly looked through recent videos on their channel - this is the third or fourth 'stunt' of this type. Previous highlights include same guy filling a bath with gelatine and submerging in it until it set and sitting in a bath with a friend before it's filled with plaster.

        Each has millions of views.

        It's depressing.

        1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: Like me dammit!

          "It's depressing."

          It's Wolverhampton. 'Nuff said.

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Like me dammit!

        "There was little disincentive, he didn't die and now he is famous."

        Which probably means he'll learn the wrong lesson.

        1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

          Re: Like me dammit!

          All money made from that video should go straight to the fire service. After all, they wouldn't have been able to post it at all if it had turned into a snuff movie.

    4. jonfr

      Re: Like me dammit!

      This are normal people. They are really, really stupid and some of them are even stupider than this. Normal people don't think, they just act and then they wonder why they end up dead in the last few seconds of their lives.

    5. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

        Re: Symon

        +1 for the "Fandango" reference - a much overlooked/underrated film

  5. Chris Jasper

    Twat

    YouTube has a lot to answer for in providing a platform for attention seeking twats

    1. Mage Silver badge

      Re: Twat

      Least of the problems with YouTube.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Twat

      YouTube has a lot to answer for in providing a platform for attention seeking twats

      You don't think that this is just the cream of Wolverhampton showing their mettle?

      In an odd sort of way, I'm quite pleased, that after years of amusing fuckwittery from Murica and the Antipodes, somebody has struck out with a bold claim on the gold for Blighty in the Stupidity Olympics.

      1. Chris Jasper

        Re: Twat

        Sadly I think you're right and that we can expect a lot more entries

    3. Bernard M. Orwell
      Facepalm

      Re: Twat

      "YouTube has a lot to answer for in providing a platform for attention seeking twats"

      Yeah! And books have to answer for all the stupid things written in them too! I mean, Mein Kampf! Oh, books, how you fail us!

      "That, and ban them from youTube"

      Much more sensible approach! It's not YouTubes fault that morons exist and use their medium.

      1. Chris Jasper

        Re: Twat

        "Would you stick your head in a gas oven?"

        "Yeah, I saw some guy do it on YouTube the other day, it was mint!"

        At least books required you to read, these days phones come with a youtube icon.....

        1. Jason 24

          Re: Twat

          Last nights Dave Gorman had a simiar vein, "would you a buy product which does not work if it was endorsed by a celebrity"

          A shocking number of people will buy a product, which advertises that it does not work, if it's endorsed by a celebrity.

          Weird.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Twat

            A shocking number of people will buy a product, which advertises that it does not work, if it's endorsed by a celebrity.

            Prime example: the 2016 US Presidential election.

            1. JB27

              Re: Twat

              Hmm, which of the US presidential candidates was highly endorsed by celebrities? Hint, she didn't win.

      2. slimscsi

        Re: Twat

        Yes, because the last time I read a book that contained stupidity it was impossible to close it and my head ended up set in concrete!

      3. Peter2 Silver badge

        Re: Twat

        "Much more sensible approach! It's not YouTubes fault that morons exist and use their medium."

        It is however youtubes fault that he is raking in significant advertising money, which as 100% profit, makes this financially beneficial for the idiot and so therefore encourages repetition of similar stupidity in the future.

        Personally, I think that pressure should be applied quickly and strongly on either this fool or youtube to ensure that the idiot receives the public humiliation he deserves, without receiving the advertising revenue/profit from the views of his video on youtube.

        1. Joe Montana

          Re: Twat

          Any profit made from videos in which an ambulance or the fire service need to be called should be given to the service in question. Idiots should not profit from having to waste emergency service time.

    4. Tom 7

      Re: Twat

      Parliament too - and that harms more people.

    5. Stevie

      Re: YouTube has a lot to answer for

      But it also had the answer, had anyone thought about it long enough.

      They could have sent Mr Microwave Head to that mad Fin with the hydraulic press channel and see if his head would explode "lyke the pay-perrr".

      That bloke and Russian dashcam footage are what make life living sometimes. Viva YouTube!

      PS

      Oh, and I forgot those kids who jump onto corrugated plastic shelter roofs and look surprised when hey plunge right through, or those idiots who ride a skateboard down the railings of a concrete staircase then have the nerve to look surprised when they smash scrote-first into the handrail, then teeth-first into the concrete stairs.

      Ooh, ooh, and idiots who make spud guns from PVC pipe and then fire them with their faces next to them.

    6. Wensleydale Cheese
      Unhappy

      Re: Twat

      "YouTube has a lot to answer for in providing a platform for attention seeking twats"

      This story is currently showing up as top in El Reg's "Most read" list.

      What does that say about us? :-(

  6. Mage Silver badge

    might have prevented us from helping someone else in genuine, accidental need

    It's true it wasn't accidental.

    The need was obviously genuine due to the cluelessness of these folks.

    Pollyfilla is pretty easy to hoke out compared to actual rapid set cement.

    There is a reason why wax replica of people makers do the head mould in two parts and the other parts too. Perhaps they should have done 1 minute of research!

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They might consider

    donating any profits they might make from this and subsequent YouTube exploits to the WMFS Christmas Party Fund or the Fire Fighters Charity.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: They might consider

      and to the local ambulance trust

    2. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Meh

      Re: They might consider

      I'd rather see the local government fine them for deliberately doing something stupid in which emergency services had to rescue them from their own stupidity.

      1. Mark 85

        Re: They might consider

        In the US (but not often enough) people have been fined or charged for the cost of emergency services for needing rescuing after doing some really stupid things. Perhaps the fines/cost recovery need to be mandatory?

        1. J. Cook Silver badge

          Re: They might consider

          Arizona has a 'stupid motorist' law, which (in a nutshell) states that if you are stupid enough to try and cross a flooded road, you get to pay for the cost of your rescue, which is at a minimum several hundred dollars, depending on how much gear the rescuers have to drag out to save your.

          There's been at least one a year since that law was passed, on average.

      2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: They might consider

        Whats the cut off?

        Playing football on a sunday fills a lot of emergency rooms

        Sking?

        Skydiving?

        Cycling in London?

        Road racing motorbikes in Northern Ireland?

        Racing rocket powered cars to make a TV program ?

        1. The Indomitable Gall

          Re: They might consider

          @Yet Another Anonymous Coward

          [ Re: pursuing compensation for the emergency services. ]

          " What's the cut-off? "

          I would say that performing a stunt in a professional capacity without a completed form signed by a suitably qualified risk-assessor and without the requisite safety equipment on-site is already illegal. And not warning the emergency services and/or the local council in advance of a potentially dangerous stunt too... but as the notification would have needed to include a risk assessment form, they wouldn't have been able to do that anyway.

          The problem here is the way the so-called "gig-economy" takes amateurs and pays them, but still treats them as amateurs.

          Sunday-league football, skiing, skydiving and cycling are mostly amateur affairs. Professional sports, on the other hand, are generally expected to have medical and crowd-control staff on-site, and are generally expected to pay for that.

          Road racing on open roads is illegal, so I'll assume you're referring to closed-road events, where the organiser is again responsible for maintaining suitable response provision just in case there's an accident.

          Rocket-powered cars for TV... well, again, TV has health-and-safety obligations. However, I do believe it's a bit of a different question whether you're talking about a competent professional racer like Guy Martin or a hyperactive middle-aged-"lad" TV-presenter like Richard Hammond. Top Gear was highly irresponsible letting Hammond go in that thing, and really the show should have been closed down permanently at that point.

  8. Hans 1

    I read somewhere that a study found the average IQ of generations declining, starting with the 80's ...

    I do hope the emergency services take this opportunity to teach these pranksters a lesson all while contributing to the effort ... 2 weeks voluntary work at the ER service sounds about right!

    1. MrRimmerSIR!

      Average IQ

      Presumably the average is always the same, as by definition 2/3rds are between 85 and 115.

      I had a conversation with a friend recently who stated that she was sure that a larger percentage of the population had a below-average IQ now than 10 years ago.

      1. Cab

        Re: Average IQ

        Nobody done this one yet ?

        Three people, IQ's 100, 100, 100 = average (mean) 100

        Three people IQ's 80, 80, 140 = average (mean) 100

        Two people below average IQ in second example, no-one has below average IQ in the top one.

        The only problem I can see is that your friend is assuming someone, somewhere is getting higher IQs (whether this actually relates to intelligence is an entirely different matter), and I'm not seeing much evidence of that these days.

      2. Lee D Silver badge

        Re: Average IQ

        "I had a conversation with a friend recently who stated that she was sure that a larger percentage of the population had a below-average IQ now than 10 years ago."

        Though completely misunderstanding the concept of an IQ, you can understand what she means, though! That's quite a good line.

        1. SkippyBing

          Re: Average IQ

          I remember shouting at the TV when the BBC had some national IQ survey programme on. At the end they concluded the national average IQ was 112, which implies they hadn't read even the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry.

          1. Stevie

            Re: Average IQ

            The first paragraph of most Wikipedia entries is incomprehensible blither. I commend the reader to the article on mechanical stress, or perhaps the one on transcendental numbers.

          2. Kiwi

            Re: Average IQ

            At the end they concluded the national average IQ was 112, which implies they hadn't read even the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry.

            There shouldn't be much of a problem with that. The average Kiwi IQ is about 110, whereas the average Ozzie is about 20 - thus they're helping to raise the global average IQ for everyone else :)

            If a "national average" IQ is expressed as a global average, then it can easily be <>100.

            (Not that IQ seems a great test - I sit here on 140+ (taking the average of tests I've done over the years) which means my savings ATM doesn't even rate to $1/IQ point, whereas these guys appear to have IQ's that rate below "functional amoeba" and yet they're worth millions!)

    2. Alan Johnson

      'I read somewhere that a study found the average IQ of generations declining, starting with the 80's'

      Perhaps surprisingly the opposite is true:

      http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/2013/02/is-our-collective-iq-increasing/#.WiqYenlpGpo

      I take the Flynn effect to be a comment on the difficulty of defining let alone measuring intelligence rather than the population if genuinely getting smarter.

      1. ibmalone

        We have a winner, IQ may be defined relative to an average, but that average was fixed when the tests were designed. So the average now can change. It's not really my field, so my thoughts on the cause of the Flynn effect are uninteresting, but another odd aspect of the definition is its linear relation of intelligence to age: it implies the average 4 year old is 1/3rd more intelligent than the average 3 year old, and that there's the same relative intelligence for the average 16 and 12 year olds, 40 and 30 year olds and 80 and 60 year olds.

    3. Alistair
      Windows

      @ Hans1

      My interpretation is :

      The sum total of intelligence on the planet is a constant.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        "The sum total of intelligence on the planet is a constant."

        While the population is increasing. That sounds about right.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      never mind EVERYTHING, JUST LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF CLICKS, MAAAAN! :/

    5. Mark 85

      This stuff has nothing to do with IQ but more with common sense.

      1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

        Another thought is that it's easier for idiots to be seen now.

        30 years ago, these guys would have maybe just made the local news, with no video evidence to tantelise.

  9. Chris King
    Facepalm

    Darwin doesn't always reclaim his own...

    Sadly, this kind of stupidity is not unique, and rarely results in anyone being taken out of the gene pool.

    Icon, for that "Where DID my glasses (and eyebrows) go ?" moment.

    1. JimboSmith Silver badge

      Re: Darwin doesn't always reclaim his own...

      Kid at my school decided to have a stab at making his own fireworks out of magnesium and zinc. He'd filed down a magnesium pencil sharpener and something made out of Zinc one night. He'd just combined a small amount of the two when a spontaneous redox reaction (if I remember my chemisty correctly) took place and he got lit up. He lost most of both eyebrows, a lot of his fringe and had to sit in A&E for a long while to be seen. He wasn't in school the next day and rumours circulated that he'd died in the explosion. The chemistry teacher was incensed.............that this idiot hadn't remembered the lesson we'd had on redox reactions.

      This was before the internet and I dread to think what he'd have tried had we had it back then.

      1. Kiwi
        Mushroom

        Re: Darwin doesn't always reclaim his own...

        This was before the internet and I dread to think what he'd have tried had we had it back then.

        You'd probably have tried sitting on your arse all night watching stupid people do stupid things in youtube, and not much else - if the average person today is anything to go by!

    2. jonfr

      Re: Darwin doesn't always reclaim his own...

      This has been explained in a future documentary (it wasn't planned as such).

      https://youtu.be/-N9nVLXMhPc (Idiocracy)

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Another problem due to modern technology

    A hundred years ago the emergency services wouldn't have been summoned in time, and the world's average IQ would have increased (by a tiny amount).

  11. ukgnome

    Ahhh that old prank that we ALL did when we were young.

    said no one ever

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Send them the bill

    I think that's the best way to get the message across that stunts like these are not appreciated. Send them a bill to roughly cover for time and effort wasted over something they clearly brought upon themselves. Maybe that way they'll actually stop to think a moment before trying out the next "cool idea" which pops up.

    1. imanidiot Silver badge

      Re: Send them the bill

      That, and ban them from youTube. They've clearly demonstrated they can't be trusted to be sensible about what they do to get "views" on the platform, so to protect them from themselves, ban them for life.

      1. NukEvil

        Re: Send them the bill

        Can we ban fat people from universal healthcare? I mean, they've clearly demonstrated they can't be trusted with taking care of their own bodies, and fatties tend to have to visit the hospital more often than normies, so I don't see any logical reason my taxes should pay for their healthcare.

        1. bombastic bob Silver badge
          FAIL

          Re: Send them the bill

          "Can we ban fat people from universal healthcare?"

          Why not just ban 'universal health care' instead, i.e. "you pay for it yourself". Problem goes away. Works for me.

          But if you're going to ban "fatties" then why not ban SMOKERS? Smoking is a voluntary activity, it irritates the CRAP out of most people, etc. so let's just BAN their 'universal health care' and slowly make society as UN-FREE as possible. (that last part was the REAL point)

        2. Kiwi
          Black Helicopters

          Re: Send them the bill

          Can we ban fat people from universal healthcare? I mean, they've clearly demonstrated they can't be trusted with taking care of their own bodies, and fatties tend to have to visit the hospital more often than normies, so I don't see any logical reason my taxes should pay for their healthcare.

          I'm one of the "fatties". Even when I've been fit, doing heavy labouring jobs that require a LOT of walking while carrying loads over 40KG (and often over 60), swimming every other day (IIRC I averaged 15 lengths of a 50metre (Olympic size) pool each time), eating fairly healthy etc etc etc. Never could shake the excess poundage.

          However, my ultra-fit ultra-healthy friends were the ones in and out of hospital, not me. Mostly sports-related accidents, but I've known some to have other ailments brought on by the unnatural levels of "health products" they'd bombard their bodies with.

          Most of my accidents have been work-related, about half of them due to equipment failure (most of which could not reasonably have been foreseen, eg a poorly cast part leading to a critical part of the steering mechanism on a near new (less than 3 years old) forklift breaking). Total ER visits for me is 7 including when I got into something toxic as a toddler and broke myself up badly doing "stupid teenage stuff" as a stupid teenage. I have people I know who've done more than that this summer! (counting from when it got hot, not from the 1st Dec).

          (Chopper because mate of mine needed one not long back while mountain-climbing - how many fatties need expensive mountain rescues each year eh? )

    2. Mage Silver badge

      Re: Send them the bill

      Don't know about elsewhere. Here the Fire Service CAN charge thousands of Euro if they decide it was stupid etc. My House insurance covers Fire Service charges. I think they can charge for chimney fires as that is lack of maintenance.

      There is no charge if your house is burning down and not your fault!

      1. Jason 24

        Re: Send them the bill

        A friend had an amount added to his council tax billl after mostly destroying his flat by putting tea lights on top of the TV (before flat screens!). The tin part melted through the plastic and dropped red hot wax all over those lovely electricals.

      2. Wensleydale Cheese

        Re: Send them the bill

        "Here the Fire Service CAN charge thousands of Euro if they decide it was stupid etc."

        The UK Ambulance Service can certainly charge. In the late 70s a colleague was injured in a traffic accident and taken to hospital in an ambulance and received a bill for that ttip. When he queried that he was told that it would have been free if he'd had an accident at home, but traffic accidents were different, insurance was involved and he should claim on the insurance company.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Send them the bill

          A lot has changed since "the late 70s" ... Thatcher became PM in '79, for one example. Using that as what they can do today is somewhat suspect. Not doubting you, just pointing out the obvious.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Send them the bill

      If he pays his taxes he will have paid for the call out.

  13. Khaptain Silver badge

    Confused

    Speaking to the BBC, Watch Commander Shaun Dakin of the West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) said: "All of the group involved were very apologetic, but this was clearly a call-out which might have prevented us from helping someone else in genuine, accidental need."

    It was definitely genuine and I am quite sure it was accidental in the fact that this was not the intended outcome.. I see no reason that the Fire Brigade would consider this as anything else.. Kids climbing then falling out of trees, cooks forgetting to turn of the stove etc are all genuine and accidental. No one intentionally expects their life to be put in danger.

    Even though this was a prank stunt, the need for calling the services, and consequently saving the guys life remain the same...

    1. imanidiot Silver badge

      Re: Confused

      If such a call had genuinely come in, they should have just left the guy to go help the other person(s) first.

      1. Mark M.

        Re: Confused

        Nah, The firepersons should have just grabbed the biggest disc cutters that they had in the back of the fire engine, fired it up and used it on the defunct microwave.

        5 minutes, job done and a testament to the delicate skill of the firepersons that they didn't take his head off or cut it open. the brown-stained trousers of the blockhead afterwards isn't their problem.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Confused

          "the biggest disc cutters"

          That'd be about 2.5 inch, and now I'm even more confused. ... although the thought of beating on the microwave encased casting with a brass mallet does bring a certain sense of whimsy.

          1. Kiwi
            WTF?

            Re: Confused

            "the biggest disc cutters"

            That'd be about 2.5 inch, and now I'm even more confused.

            Bloody hell you guys must have some tiny tools over there! I've never seen a cutting disk smaller than 4", and that's one nearly due for replacement!

            1. jake Silver badge

              Re: Confused

              A disk cutter cuts disks out of thin metal, usually for jewelry making, See:

              http://www.ottofrei.com/jewelry-tools-equipment/forming-tools/disk-cutters-hole-punching

              The device you describe is called a cutting wheel. It is mounted on a circular saw, or a die grinder, or a power saw. I've got cutting wheels ranging from 18 inches (walk behind concrete cutter) to as small as half inch, for use with my Dremel.

              1. Kiwi
                Pint

                Re: Confused

                A disk cutter cuts disks out of thin metal, usually for jewelry making, See:

                http://www.ottofrei.com/jewelry-tools-equipment/forming-tools/disk-cutters-hole-punching

                Really? See https://www.worldofpower.co.uk/stihl-ts420-petrol-14-66-7cc-disc-cutter.html for a 14" petrol-powered disc cutter

                Or there's the 16" model at http://www.ronsmith.co.uk/stihl-disc-cutters-ts800-16inch.html

                There are a few sites that refer to the small tools you mention, but the majority of sites show much larger power tools under the heading "disc cutter"

                Of course, you could find out the proper definition by visiting this specialist site...

                Or you could visit this page at icky-pedia (is there a form of Godwin's law that means I just lost the argument by quoting that place?)

                The device you describe is called a cutting wheel.

                Nope, it's called a disc cutter (among many other names),

                It is mounted on a circular saw, or a die grinder, or a power saw.

                Most of the ones I've used have been mounted on angle grinders, even up to IIRC 14".

                Mostly I agree with your definitions, but sometimes you seem to be a bit off compared to the rest of the world. Must be that weird language you yanks call "English" :)

                1. jake Silver badge

                  Re: Confused

                  Go to duckduckgo, look up "cutting wheel" and "disk cutter". What do you see? Serious question ... do they adjust the results according to the local vernacular of the user? Would make some sense, but might get a trifle confusing sometimes ... first of all, define "local" :-)

                2. jake Silver badge

                  Re: Confused

                  Interesting. So they do adjust for vernacular. I see things the way I describe it ... So much for using TehIntraWebTubes to settle internet forum arguments! I'll post links later, it's critter feeding time here at Chez jake.

      2. Kiwi
        Coat

        Re: Confused

        If such a call had genuinely come in, they should have just left the guy to go help the other person(s) first.

        They often do - prioritise things like "threatening their life and others", "threatening their life", "threatening serious long term harm", threatening serious short term harm" and so on down to "he'll have a hard time of it (especially after he finds he cannot get to the bathroom in time), will probably have a few anxiety attacks, but is unlikely to suffer any actual injury - he can wait. At least we know he ain't going anywhere for a while".

        --> Me going through the trapped guy's wallet hunting for some of his internet millions...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Confused

      Putting your head in a microwave full of plaster is not accidental. It was done as the challenge was "to nearly die". He was scared to do it because he might die. There was no purpose to the activity at all other to show that he was doing something that might make him die.

      That is not accidental, it is deliberate. A kid climbing a tree, he never meant to fall. It would reasonably be expected that most children climbing trees come down safely and the purpose is the tree climb - exercise, adventure etc. A Cook leaving a stove on is accidental. The purpose of turning the stove on was to cook, not to leave it on to burn the house down. It was an accident.

      1. Stevie

        Re: the challenge was "to nearly die".

        Shame no-one thought to test how harmless the Gas of Life is by feeding Captain MiocrowaveHead some through his breathing tube before the butinski fire brigade got to work.

        Valuable science could have been done.

    3. VinceH

      Re: Confused

      "Even though this was a prank stunt, the need for calling the services, and consequently saving the guys life remain the same..."

      Yes, the need to save his life remained the same - but it was not accidental. At best, the word "unintentional" is a better fit, because as you say this wasn't the intended outcome, but accidental is being far too kind to stupid.

      It was a quite deliberate act of incredible stupidity, by an idiot who didn't think through what he was doing.

      1. The_H

        Re: Confused

        "It was a quite deliberate act of incredible stupidity, by an idiot who didn't think through what he was doing."

        And on that basis maybe we should include in the same category: idiots who smoke in bed; people who insist on riding motorcycles at 100mph on narrow country roads; anyone who goes up Helvellyn in trainers; anyone who takes to the oggin in anything less than 40ft long (with twin motors), etc etc

        Personally I don't think they should have called the fire service. If I'd seen what was going on I'd have called in good old Photonicinduction. "I ain't 'aving it!!!" to add a few kilovolts to the situation. Problem solved, one way or another.

        1. diver_dave

          Re: Confused

          The_H

          See you Helvellyn and raise you Snowdon horseshoe, in November, in heels.

          An interesting Saturday afternoon when I was in Venture Scouts and were helping the

          local Mountain Rescue team.

          Have a good weekend all.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Confused

            I'd always wondered what the venture scouts got up to, but walking up Snowdon in high heels? No wonder you found it an interesting afternoon. Nowadays I suspect the scout leaders would be in prison for that :o)

            1. diver_dave

              Re: Confused

              Touche...

              I asked for that!

              Seriously. We ended up looking for a couple. Eventually finding them with him in a tee shirt, and,her in a light blouse, skirt and heels...

              But it's sunny they said...

              Gurrr... Didn'tt mind picking up genuine problems but objected to idiots.

              DaveA

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Confused

          "people who insist on riding motorcycles at 100mph on narrow country roads;"

          Vincent's test riders did that. There are parts of Cambridgeshire where you can see if anything is coming, including on side roads, for miles.

          "anyone who takes to the oggin in anything less than 40ft long (with twin motors)"

          That's just prejudice. A good solid 30 footer with sails and a decent auxiliary Diesel with manual start is much better than a lightweight 40 footer with a pair of engines that won't start if the batteries go flat.

          My point is that a little knowledge is the dangerous thing, and that people who really think through what they are doing may be perfectly safe doing something that would kill a less instructed person.

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: Confused

            "anyone who takes to the oggin in anything less than 40ft long (with twin motors)"

            I've taken my Monterey 28' from San Diego to Alaska powered with a single 4-banger Perkins diesel (Lateen rigged when I have the mind to sail), and as far as 100 miles off shore in search of Albacore. To date, I have had no problems. On the other hand, I have rarely taken my '59 Owens Tahitian 40' outside the Golden Gate, despite her pair of stroked 283" 300HP Flagship engines. She's a cocktail cruiser, and not designed for open ocean work. Horses for courses & all that.

            Am I the only one who got hungry at the thought of oggin?

        3. bombastic bob Silver badge
          Devil

          Re: Confused

          A few years ago some friends of mine went to a national park in the USA to hike up a ~10k foot mountain. The park ranger inspected their gear first, before letting them go onto the trail, to make sure they had everything they needed beforehand. The point was to make sure they weren't going to need a rescue after attempting something they shouldn't have. Also made sure they had poo-bags and would bring their trash back with them. That's right, no "public poo-ing" in national parks. No digging latrines, either.

          (I just thought I'd point that one out, in the context of doing potentially dangerous things when you're unprepared)

        4. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: Confused

          "anyone who takes to the oggin in anything less than 40ft long (with twin motors)"

          People have been doing that for centuries before even single motors were a thing.

    4. Lamont Cranston

      Re: Confused

      I don't think many of us can see much "need" for the emergency services to have saved his life. Lucky for him that they're obliged to, really.

  14. jay_bea

    Learning from Experience

    Doesn't everyone have those - "maybe I didn't think that through" moments? I have certainly had my share, although they have diminished as I have got older (and wiser?). My list of things that I learnt by experience include: don't cycle down steep hills with no hands on the handlebars (I was 5), keep fingers well away from the sharp end of axes (14), a foot is not a vice, check the washer fluid before driving on winter roads. The only difference now is that our stupid mistakes are captured, intentionally or otherwise, for everyone else to see and judge.

    Now, should I get a ladder to put up the Christmas lights, or just stand on my office chair?

    1. Callam McMillan
      Joke

      Re: Learning from Experience

      You should stand on your office chair obviously... Don't forget to oil the casters too so they don't squeak. Record it for YouTube as well - we'd love to see the resulting, err, Christmas lights!

      Joke Alert - Just in case any Darwin Award candidates think I'm being serious

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Learning from Experience

        "Joke Alert - Just in case any Darwin Award candidates think I'm being serious"

        No! The Darwin Award candidates should think you're serious.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Learning from Experience

        You should stand on your office chair obviously... Don't forget to oil the casters too so they don't squeak. Record it for YouTube as well - we'd love to see the resulting, err, Christmas lights!

        Instruction unclear. Got d*ck stuck in the ceiling.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Learning from Experience

      Yep!

      I was 15 ( way back in the 80's ) and we decided to steal a light and a PIR sensor from a local council building. It was a damp foggy night, we crept up to the light and I volunteered to cut the cable.

      Now, you see when you're 15 you very much haven't got a f**king clue about anything. Despite my ability well practiced confidence to write Z80 assembler, the simple basics of mains electricity seemed to be missing from my young and very stupid brain. The PIR unit was working because it was fed with mains, it simply had a solenoid to trigger the power up to the security light.

      So with cutters in hand I reached up and snipped the live cable. The only things I remember were a blinding white flash, a deafening bang as a live 240v cable was cut and blew the nearest breaker/fuse! It was sheer good luck that I'd taken my Dad's rubber grip cutters not the metal handle ones, so I was spared being thrown 10 feet across the car park. I remember stumbling around in the dark with my eyes temporarily blinded by the flash and all I could hear was my mates shouting, "F**king hell, you utter dick. Run you stupid prick before the Police arrive!".

      Someone guardian angel must have been looking out for me to make me take the rubber cutters that night, else I might very well not be here to tell this criminal and utterly moronic tale of teenage stupidity!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Learning from Experience

        Speak for yourself. At 15 I and many other people know exactly what would happen if you cut through a live cable. We would also know not to be stealing from a council building.

      2. H in The Hague

        Re: Learning from Experience

        "... a deafening bang as a live 240v cable was cut ..."

        I used to do a bit of work for Corus/Tata. One of their plants, in Wales I think, suffered a partial power failure. There was a public footpath across the site, surrounded by fences, and with a cable bridge across it. When they went to investigate they discovered that some would-be copper thief tried to cut through a cable - a 10 kV cable! Fortunately it was an armoured cable so the short was between live and the earthed armour but it must still have created a significant fire ball (see YouTube for examples). What was left of the blade of the hacksaw they found by the cable bridge looked ... interesting.

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: Learning from Experience

          "What was left of the blade of the hacksaw they found by the cable bridge looked ... interesting."

          Don't just tell half the story. What was left of the would-be thief and where was that found?

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Learning from Experience

        > I was 15 ( way back in the 80's )

        A teacher friend, now long retired, once told me the staff were asked to watch some CCTV taken in the school from a camera looking down the length of a long corridor, to try and identify a miscreant who had broken into the school over the weekend and vandalised various bits of equipment. The reason there was only footage from a distant camera was because the miscreant (and mates) decided to nick a hacksaw from the metalwork lab and saw through the trunking carrying the cable from a closer camera. What they didn't realise was that the trunking also carried a power cable - not sure if for the camera itself or something else.

        Needless to say, the staff all made the appropriate "oh gosh - I hope he wasn't hurt" responses as the one of the most disliked scroats in the 5th form lost his eyebrows to a large flash a few minutes after starting sawing. The metalwork teacher even went as far as to praise his sawing technique - and had obviously learnt something. :-)

      4. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Learning from Experience - flashes and bangs

        Speaking of flashes and bangs, I grew up on a military base. We found a "stun grenade" Being a bit of a know-it-all, 11 year old expert me declared that there was no technology that could achieve star-trek phaser like stun and it was quite obviously just a very loud banger. Why didn't we just lob it, cover our ears and find out exactly how loud it was?

        Well, we realised why they are called FLASHbangs. Absolutely f***ing paralysed. Apparently there IS a technology that can achieve that sort of effect. Decades later I could recall the bowel loosening effect and the flash freezing of your last image on your retina so clearly that when I saw my kids playing CoD I could confirm that yes, that is pretty realistic ... if the subwoofer were powerful enough to make you soil yourself.

        1. W4YBO

          Re: Learning from Experience - flashes and bangs

          Back in the late eighties, an associate gave me a device that looked like a large firecracker (TP or bog roll core sized) with a short tube and string taped to it. The official looking label stated "Ground Burst Simulator", but heck, it was only a firecracker.

          After carrying it around in my briefcase for about two weeks, I finally got out to a firing range. "Hell yes, I wanna see it go off" the range master said. So I jerked the string as the instructions stated, and threw it about 50 feet. We ducked down behind a couple of concrete shooting benches until it started making a whistling noise. As we peeked over the concrete, the descending whistle stopped. Then it went off! We saw the shock wave! We also found a piece of gravel partly embedded in a railroad tie a dozen feet from the explosion.

          I've seen flash-bangs set off, and they are dazzling, but I've never heard an explosion like the "Ground Burst Simulator." I later learned, from the aforementioned associate under threat of bodily harm, that it was supposed to simulate an artillery ground burst.

          1. J. Cook Silver badge

            Re: Learning from Experience - flashes and bangs

            (O.O)

            @W4YBO: Are you still allowed to go to that range after that? :D

            1. W4YBO

              Re: Learning from Experience - flashes and bangs

              He allowed me back after our ears stopped ringing, about a month.

    3. Stevie

      Re: Learning from Experience

      Doesn't everyone have those - "maybe I didn't think that through" moments?

      Occasionally.

      This one springs to mind.

      And this one.

      And this regrettable affair.

      What was the question?

  15. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    But, but, but... the likes!!!

  16. edwardbr

    They should have just turn the microwave on... to loosen the filler...

    1. Patrick R

      Can't turn it on while the door is open / removed.

      ... now that's security.

      1. Kiwi

        Can't turn it on while the door is open / removed.

        ... now that's security.

        Screwdriver in each of the holes where the door catches would go (has to be both as you have to operate both interlock switches), and you're fine...

        ...fine dust blowing across the floor if you happen to discover that those switches (used to) contain mains power and while it theoretically shouldn't be possible you managed to put the screwdriver in contact with phase...

  17. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

    Am I the only one who, after watching this, feels a little bit less proud about being a member of the human race?

    1. SkippyBing

      Speak for yourself, I self-identify as a dog.

      1. Oz
        Holmes

        With a name like SkippyBing I'd have expected you to self-identify as a Kangaroo ;-)

        1. TRT Silver badge

          SkippyBing! Sounds a bit like a broken clockwork microwave timer.

        2. Korev Silver badge
          Coat

          "With a name like SkippyBing I'd have expected you to self-identify as a Kangaroo"

          That's a bit roo'd

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Self-identify as a dog you say? Time to pay a little visit to the vet I think. snip snip.

        1. WolfFan Silver badge

          Self-identify as a dog you say? Time to pay a little visit to the vet I think. snip snip.

          Come on over here, monkey-boy, and try that. http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/growling-wolf-royalty-free-image/138699017?esource=SEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect

          Damn shaved apes, small ears, small nose, no fangs... and no sense.

          1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

            Damn shaved apes, small ears, small nose, no fangs

            But an unfortunate desire to play with mixing fire and metal ores to make pointy things..

      3. WolfFan Silver badge

        Speak for yourself, I self-identify as a dog.

        Cuz, you still hang out with those idiot shaved apes. Us wolves know better.

        1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

          Us wolves know better

          Don't know whether it's true but one wildlife expert told me that wolves *hate* domesticated dogs. They think it's something to do with that they smell "off" compared to a wolf, but enough like a wolf to trigger the "must kill/drive away the diseased wolf"..

          Having said that, when we visited a wolf sanctury, my wife and I were the only ones that the wolves licked the hands of[1] - although that might have been in more of a "I'll get a taste now to remember for later when we get free" sense. Either that or "you smell of small furry crucnchy cat-things"..

          [1] The wolves (all undomesticated but raised in captivity and/or rescued from zoos) wore a harness with chains being held by two separate people. The wolves were allowed to select which people they wanted to greet. Most people just got a sniff, we got licked. There was a strict "no greeting the wolves if you think you are pregnant" rule for the women - apparently the wolves pay them lots more attention than the sanctury were happy with..

      4. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

        I self-identify as a dog.

        Why be a dog when you could just as easily pretend to be a cat? All it takes is to be able to successfully fake affection until the treats/food/attention is delivered..

        Oh - and the desire to cough up furballs in the middle of the landing carpet so that the unwitting food-provider walks over them in bare feet in the middle of the night.

        1. Kiwi
          Unhappy

          Why be a dog when you could just as easily pretend to be a cat? All it takes is to be able to successfully fake affection until the treats/food/attention is delivered..

          Mine prefers jumping on your bed in the middle of the night, then running off. From the highest point in the room. Right to your guts.

          And if that doesn't work expect to find any exposed body parts have had a visit from Santa. Santa CLAWS that is. (actually we now call the little devil "satan claws")

          Oh - and the desire to cough up furballs in the middle of the landing carpet so that the unwitting food-provider walks over them in bare feet in the middle of the night.

          Mine went one better. Getting into bed after a long day, very tired, roll over towards the middle and wtf? Cat had decided to get the hairball out while she was under the blankets!

          (El Reg, your icon department lets us down by not having a suitable icon for such levels of disgust!)

      5. netminder

        On the Internet nobody knows your a dog.

        1. TRT Silver badge

          Re: On the Internet nobody knows your a dog.

          Pr0n0 time...

          Boom-chikka-chihuahua

        2. Long John Brass
          Black Helicopters

          Nope

          Not only do they know you are a dog. They have the licence plates of all the cars you have chased.

        3. Kiwi
          Headmaster

          On the Internet nobody knows your a dog.

          That's ok, they don't know my B dog either. My C dog on the other hand....

      6. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Speak for yourself, I self-identify as a dog.

        I am a male presenting, trans-gendered lesbian.

      7. This post has been deleted by its author

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Attention seekers

    As a natural introvert, I've always passionately hated attention seekers. When it got serious enough to call emergency services, why did they keep the camera rolling? Was it an emergency or not? The sort of thing you from five year olds, when mummy is not looking at them wiping their own arse or something. Truly truly pathetic.

  19. Anonymous South African Coward Bronze badge

    Gives new meaning to "Blockhead"...

  20. captain_solo

    Many emergency medical calls involve people who have spent decades doing stupid things to their bodies. This guy just packed a lifetime worth of such into a single afternoon.

  21. Terry 6 Silver badge

    I never expected

    "spackling paste"

    How do you spackle with it?

    I did eventually give in and consult WikiP. Ho Hum.

  22. netminder

    Cement heads

    The stunt was redundant, they were already cement heads to begin with

  23. Black Rat

    Pulls up a seat at the freakshow next to the ghost of George Carlin ...

    So who's on next?

  24. Chris G

    Inexperienced

    Clearly these clowns have little experience of home decorating and the consequent filling that requires.

    Polyfilla is made with Portland cement and limestone, the limestone gives it a degree of elasticity so that it sands well but resists knocks that would crack and break cement. That makes it much more difficult to break up a large chunk of it, particularly when contained in a tin box.

    For some humans, having a bigger brain than other primates just enables them to feck up with a little more imagnation.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A YouTube stunt imbecile

    ah, but what a blessing for media, particularly on Friday morning! More imbeciles! More clicks! More stupid comments!

    ...

    ok, never mind the comments...

  26. Stevie

    Bah!

    Damn. I was expecting to read:

    Firefighters simply plugged in the microwave and set it to "potato (mushy)". After jumping around for a bit with sparks from his amalgam fillings shooting out of the breathing tube, the idiot's head exploded, shattering the cement and allowing the microwave to be salvaged almost undamaged.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You laugh, you criticize, you condescend

    But most of you have no idea what it's like to live in Wolverhampton. He was probably hoping to die

  28. 101

    How dumb can you get?

    I'm embarrassed for the human race. They should have left him there. No one would question it.

    (ps: It's time to update the emojis. Animation would be nice.)

    1. Kiwi
      Flame

      Re: How dumb can you get?

      (ps: It's time to update the emojis. Animation would be nice.)

      Time to update the number of downvotes we can give - you need one for "animation", one for "would be nice", and a dozen for "emojis".

      At least.

      Per commentard..

  29. Spanners Silver badge
    Flame

    This video should be demonetised

    All the money this has raised, possibly the whole channel, should be removed and given to some suitable charity.

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Any reason why they saved him?

    Surely they're not like Doctors and bound by the Hippocratic oath?

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They should send him the bill

    When the victim is 100% to blame for his own need for help, he should pay for their services - plus a surcharge to help defray the cost of providing services to those who need them through no fault of their own.

    Then maybe people would think twice about doing such things. Or maybe they'd think twice about calling for help, but if he'd died at least we wouldn't have to worry about him doing something equally stupid next month once he cashes in from all the views his video generates (I specifically didn't watch because I don't want to pay an idiot for being an idiot - the exception would be if he had a video where he castrated himself so he wouldn't impose his obviously inferior genes on the human gene pool)

  32. Bob Dole (tm)
    Coffee/keyboard

    Just another..

    Just another Johnny Knoxville wanna be.

    And, no, I'm not viewing the vid. Wouldn't want to support the behavior by giving them what they want.

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Satan make me famous he begged!

    and so was born the legend of

    The Muppet In the Microwave Mask

  34. DougW
    Trollface

    Was he plastered?

  35. Peter X
    FAIL

    Response to BBC reporter

    A response is here. To quote the end part...

    "

    Reporter: There are some people who've seen what you've done and think, "what a complete idiot. You're time wasting for the fire service". What would you say to those people?

    Jay Swingler: I don't care! Like. There... what about people who drink and drive? What about people who drink and start fights in the street at night? Is that not wasting police time as well?

    In fact I wasn't wasting their time. They saved my life.

    "

    It's a compelling argument! Although, not wishing to pick nits, but no one ever said he was wasting _police_ time, since they weren't called. But otherwise, a rock solid square lump of an argument.

    Honestly, when I heard about that flat-earther launching himself in a rocket to prove the Earth's flatness the other week, I did not think someone would out stupid him so soon.

    And re people arguing about various dangerous things other people get up to, such as riding motorcycles fast, etc, they do at least have a "fun" factor to them. Ride bike crazy fast... dangerous... but you can see the fun and excitement.

    Stick head in bag in cement in broken microwave. Wait for it to set. Nope... call me old fashioned, but I'm really not seeing how that works for anyone, although I'm possibly more troubled that this clown has a YouTube channel and presumably people watch it? Why? Exactly how dull does your life need to be that looking at that would be worthwhile?

    Grumpy grump. Lawn etc etc.

  36. sanmigueelbeer
    Thumb Down

    The things people have to do in order to achieve some kind of "attention" ...

    Some people dress provocatively, while some people stick their head in a microwave full of cement.

    I D I O T

  37. Mark M.

    Awards?

    Darwin award? No

    Blockhead of the year award... yes. In more than one sense.

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just as there is an offence for wasting police time, there should be one for this. Morons - as a tax payer I'm funding this....,

  39. Kiwi

    Go to duckduckgo, look up "cutting wheel" and "disk cutter". What do you see? Serious question ... do they adjust the results according to the local vernacular of the user? Would make some sense, but might get a trifle confusing sometimes ... first of all, define "local" :-)

    I normally use DDG but normally with JS turned off. I did the previous searches with google for some odd reason. Hopefully that'll mean my search is a bit more "pure" in this case as I didn't pollute it.

    Here are the first 4 results for "cutting wheel" via DDG with JS On. Please excuse my not linkifying the links :)

    https://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Wheel/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3ACutting%20Wheel (various cutting disks mostly 4.5", about half-way down the page is something closer to what you're referring to I think)

    http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=9&pub=5574933636&toolid=10001&campid=5336728181&customid=&icep_uq=cutting+wheel&icep_sellerId=&icep_ex_kw=&icep_sortBy=12&icep_catId=&icep_minPrice=&icep_maxPrice=&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg (first few are for much smaller wheels, larger tools start later in the page)

    https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cutting-wheel.html (mainly 4.5 -7" on the first few lines, some not identified by size)

    http://www.cutting-wheels.com/ (their graphics show lots of large cutting tools)

    I'll change browser (from Pale Moon to Waterfox) for the next search - DDG with JS for "disk cutter" (with quotes, both searches, btw). First 4 results :

    https://duckduckgo.com/y.js?u3=https%3A%2F%2Fr.search.yahoo.com%2Fcbclk%2FdWU9RjRCRjkwMzQ4RUMyNENBQyZ1dD0xNTEyOTA1Mjk1NDc4JnVvPTc5MDk2MTM4MjExNjA5Jmx0PTImZXM9dXZUYmN0NEdQUzhXQ2ZxcQ%2D%2D%2FRV%3D2%2FRE%3D1512934095%2FRO%3D10%2FRU%3Dhttps%253a%252f%252fwww.bing.com%252faclick%253fld%253dd39aVSue6nqMeI_pZjsYHnijVUCUyDHUntYx9DJJcKKzEM394al%2D794ONJx_ms7v7BHDPl4o1EaKdEWe9NVa91XVQPS2%2DAuWbKiz%2Ddq7B2tI5RxRFjmkH87R4Q138XfTGLJVd6hZCU5MDQG2Q60aHrKEECZ3lxyRmCcTpHDEFQ22bUaE0V%2526u%253dhttp%25253a%25252f%25252f19.xg4ken.com%25252ftrk%25252fv1%25253fprof%25253d571%252526camp%25253d157594%252526affcode%25253dcr5364187%252526kct%25253dmsn%252526kchid%25253d160000636%252526cid%25253d79096138211609%252526queryStr%25253d%25252520%25252522disk%25252520cutter%25252522%252526kdv%25253dc%252526criteriaid%25253dkwd%2D79096146864946%25253aloc%2D134%252526adgroupid%25253d1265537954570837%252526campaignid%25253d291320625%252526locphy%25253d2510%252526url%25253dhttp%25253a%25252f%25252fwww.cooksongold.com%25252fJewellery%2DTools%25252f%2DRange%25253dDisc_Cutters%25252f%2DSize%25253d0%25252f%2DType%25253d0%25252f%2DBrand%25253d0%25252f%2DFont%25253d0%25252f%252526prdsearch%25253dy%25253f%2FRK%3D2%2FRS%3Dmx3m0pTGk9R0YCTLjS.u.C98YOw%2D (advert for jewellery tools)

    http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=9&pub=5574933636&toolid=10001&campid=5336728181&customid=&icep_uq=disc+cutter&icep_sellerId=&icep_ex_kw=&icep_sortBy=12&icep_catId=&icep_minPrice=&icep_maxPrice=&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg (seems to be all small stuff like you mention)

    https://www.etsy.com/market/disc_cutter (as above)

    https://www.amazon.com/disk-cutter/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Adisk%20cutter

    Most of the first lot of DDG results agree with you on this, only about 3/4 of the way down did I start to see stuff referring to the larger power tools.

    Slight difference with turning JS off but that may be altered due to my previous search. I see an Alibaba link come into the #6 spot for larger blades, then about 15 or so a reference to farm machinery.

    Interesting results - different search engines give very diiferent results. DDG is my main engine of choice but I use google if I am not seeing what I wish (DDG struggles with limiting searches to NZ sites, which may also be impacting on the results in this case).

    Depends on where you live and who you ask. A few years back "scientists" published results of a study where they claimed they'd recently discovered NZ had 4 english dialects. I could name several more than that just from growing up - with differences based on race, church affiliation/religion, what sort of town you were in (smaller rural, dormitory, larger city etc), age group, type of school (public etc, poor/rich and so on), type of work (farming vs office vs mechanic vs....) and a whole lot of other factors. Some NZ accents are actually quite different to others, eg anyone in the North Island can pick someone from Gore (vs Invercargil) based on how they pronounce certain words or sounds.

    So not too surprising even in supposedly standardised industries you can find significant differences in definitions. Especially when we have most of the Pacific between us!

    (Made the mistake of leaving a couple of the wrong bits of JS on, 4th time through that captcha bullshit (at least 4th time, so far) - about time a tech site got that shit fixed isn't it El Reg? It also does stupid stuff like wiping out the text of the message and often breaking the reply link, such as in this case!))

  40. kain preacher

    I see el reg is getting articles from the comment section.

  41. 0laf

    Is he handing over his income from this 'stunt' to some blue light related charity?

    Should have helped out this particular fud by tipping him in the nearest deep body of water. Concrete oven would have worked well at that point.

  42. Pat Harkin

    YouTube? Not surprised.

    Sometimes when I watch YouTube I get an urge to cement my head into a microwave instead.

    The videos which really annoy me aren't the pillocks like this, it's when I'm trying to find out how to do something - let's say "Bold text in Word" and I get a helpful video which starts off

    "Hi! I'm Tad Bratwurst! <Don't care who you are just tell me the keyboard shortcut> Thank's for watching this video <Get on with it> and if you like it, don't forget to subscribe to my channel <Not looking likely Tad> Today I'm gonna show how to bold some text in Word. <Evidence thus far not terribly supportive of that claim, Tad> This is a common problem. I've had lots of friends ask me this <You need a more diverse set of friends>. It's really quite easy and you can do it in less than a second <And yet we're 4 minutes into this video> First of all, you need to have Word installed on your PC.... [Several minutes later] SO as you can see all you have to do is Click File, open your file, press ctrl-F to find your text, drag with your mouse from left to right - some people say right to left works too, I'm not sure, it doesn't always seem to work with this mouse then click Home on the Ribbon, sorry , on the Toolbar, make sure the font face and size are the ones you want, if they aren't I show you how to change them in one of my other MasterClass Videos, and then click the bold icon. Hope you enjoyed that, that's all for today, and don't forget to subscribe!"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: YouTube? Not surprised.

      I upvoted that, but it might cause flashbacks and even PTSD trauma in sensitive people.

  43. Scott 53

    Someone else had a better headline

    YouTuber tragically survives after cementing his head into a microwave

    https://thenextweb.com/media/2017/12/08/youtuber-tragically-survives-after-cementing-his-head-into-a-microwave/

  44. Simon Harris
    Joke

    YouTuber sticks head in the microwave

    Comes out a baked potato.

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