Category: Weirdness
Terrorists stocking up on old SEGA equipment to aid their reign of death
Extremely serious world event blog the New York Times is carrying a quite ludicrous quote claiming that potential terrorists, including bodyguards for Osama bin Laden, were using SEGA cartridges to make detonators for bombs.
Here’s the quote. I’ve put the relevant bit in bold, as it’s only a very small bit and it’s not particularly relevant…
Welsh out-of-office autoreply ends up on road sign
Nid wyf yn y swyddfa ar hyn o bryd. Anfonwch unrhyw waith i’w gygieithu. That’s welsh for “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated”. Certainly not “No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only.”
That’s what Swansea council wanted, but they got an out-of-office autoreply instead, and put it on the sign anyway. That’s what you get for putting the work experience kid on translation duties.
(via BBC)
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Bomb-proof info-bins to hit London
Since the IRA’s bomb attacks in the 80s, there have been remarkably few bins around railway and tube stations in the UK – the fear being that terrorists might stick a bomb in one. Well, now bins are back. A company called Media Metrica has designed BIN 2.0. It’s bombproof, has recycling sections, and feature screens with news, travel, and weather info on them.
It’s been tested in the New Mexico desert over the past five years, and costs £15,000 to produce and £3,000 to install. It’s hoped that costs will be recouped by local businesses sponsoring a bin. In the event of an attack, the bins can be changed to display emergency information, directing people away from danger areas.
(via The Inquirer)
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eBay Nutcase of the Week: Man launches "ObamaAuctions.com" to help fund Barack's push
Your old Nokia 3310 could help Barack Obama become president of the United States of America. We bet you never thought that would happen when taking out the contract in 2001, did you?
That’s the idea behind the alarmingly short-sighted ObamaAuctions.com, a site where users can sell their stuff and pledge a proportion of the funds to the Obama campaign. You could, if you want, buy this anti-cellulite cream – and relax in the knowledge that 75% of the cash raised will go to support Barack’s bid to move into a very nice house in Washington for at least the next four years…
Pensioners 'caught' pirating games
Poor Gill and Ken Murdoch. They’re aged 54 and 66 respectively, and they’ve never played a computer game in their lives. Imagine their shock when they opened a letter from law firm Davenport-Lyons that accused them of downloading an Atari game called Race 07, at 3am on November 26, 2007.
The letter demanded immediate compensation of £500 plus £25 costs, with the threat that that figure could rise into the thousands if legal action began against the couple. Over to Ken:
“A Swiss investigator had identified us as the downloader of this software at 2.59am on November 26, 2007. At 10am that day, I was at a government conference. The thought of me being up at 3am was ludicrous – and there are no kids in our house. The whole thing’s been a nightmare. We have never even played computer games.”
Scientists invent brain-wiping tool for use on feeble mouse brains
If you’ve just been caught doing something by a mouse, science has come up with a useful way to get you off the hook – it can now erase the memories of mice.
This would also mean you could tell a mouse a joke, erase its memory, then tell it the joke again. A mouse could also watch “Total Recall” and be amazed, then erase its own memory of ever having watched “Total Recall” and be amazed by it all over again. Plus you could buy your mouse the same present for Christmas every year and it would never know. The real-world applications for this technology are boundless…
10% of web users take SICK PLEASURE from browsing while on the toilet
What is WRONG with you people? A survey by leading UK internet facilitator Plusnet has found that one-in-ten people have done some web browsing while on the toilet, either at work or risking a written warning by endangering company equipment in the workplace loo.
35% of users regularly go online from the comfort of bed, preferring to anonymously slag a few people off on the internet as a happy and relaxing way to end the day, with 85% of all web users currently hooked up via wi-fi and able to use their PCs wherever they damn well like and TO HELL with public perception…
Dr Pepper follows through with promise to give everyone in America a free can of fizzy pop
Ladies and gentlemen, a large round of applause for Dr Pepper for not backing down on their promise to give everyone in America a free can of the fizzy drink if Guns N Roses managed to release their long-awaited “Chinese Democracy” album in 2008. Sadly, though, the UK isn’t included in the deal.
SFW: Teen mobile nudewave strikes America
Earlier this month, a 15-year-old girl was arrested in Ohio for sending nude pictures of herself to friends via her mobile phone. After a local prosecutor visited the school to talk about the dangers of sending nude photos of minors around, the girl stuck two fingers up to authority and snapped some photos of herself, then sent them to friends…
eBay Nutcase of the Week: American town attempts to sell massive steel bridge
If you happen to be in the market for a massive, ready-made steel bridge, the mayor of Winchendon, Massachusetts has a deal for you.
He’s stuck the local bridge on eBay, for a starting price of $100. If you have the relevant insurance and equipment to move a 90-foot steel bridge, it’s yours. Winchendon doesn’t need it any more as it’s fixing up the area…
