h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In some parts of Africa, white is the colour of death.

I'm deeply offended...

...Oh, wait a minute...

...I'm not!

I *have* a life!

RF

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/30/ncrusoe30.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/30/ixhome.html

I just posted this in the "What made you smile today" thread so, if you have alread read it ...

I just got this by email today and, because it made me smile - I had to share .....

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4754996

same story but told for kids ....

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/kids/2005/03/owen.html

I have checked it out on Snopes and they verify the story.

It is a real story that illustrates our differences don't matter much when we need the comfort of another. We could all learn a lesson from these two creatures. Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk the path together.

Feisor,

That really did make me smile (and cry like a baby). My kids will really love this (especially as I've bookmarked the link to the official diary site! )

It caught my eye on teletext but I can't find a link yet. The US is working on an anti gravity travel machine.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1676969.html?menu=
"Stockholm is to introduce library book dispensers on the city's underground rail system to encourage commuters to read."

idea.


Also, on the gravity drive thing:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/06/hyperdrive/

Don't think I'll put my money into that hyperdrive. I have heard similar before, about people claiming to reduce gravity with a rotating superconductor. Don't think anyone has been able to redo those experiments yet. I hope they read The First Men In The Moon by H G Wells to see the possible dangers of this.

well, to be fair, the superconductor isn;t the rotating bit.
Of more concern is the number of apparently unfounded and incomprehensible theories they've devised to support this.
On the other hand, they could well be correct. If not, I'm sure something interesting will come out of it, even if it is proof that this method doesn't work.

Goodness, how embarrassing... http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1545143.htm

'Firemen in a small Japanese town have been left red-faced after a party to mark the end of a fire awareness promotional event ended in a blaze that badly damaged their station.'

Oh, OK, two things have caught my attention.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4597692.stm

It's the mental picture of a cow fallng out of an ATM that bothers me. (No, I may not be exactly sober as such.)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4594376.stm

'Scientists' have concluded that violent games make people more aggressive after studying only 39 people. When will it end? I've a good mind to lamp them one, but I'll have to play Doom for a bit first so I can get angry enough.

http://news.com.com/Create+an+e-annoyance%2C+go+to+jail/2010-1028_3-6022491.html

Annoying people over the internet is now a federal crime. I'm sure a few on here will be in trouble.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3191923,00.html

Thankfully that's not a h2g2 researcher (I hope)

I like that first comment:
The headline should have been "Till depth do us part"

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200601/kt2006011617112710160.htm

"By the 2010s, Korea is expecting to see robots assisting police and the military, patrolling the neighborhoods and going on recon missions on the battlefield."

Thought Feisor and magwitch might enjoy this one after the hippo/tortoise story

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4627950.stm

I was just going to post that one myself!

Awwwwww

Driving to work today, there was a report that a prisoner in an Australian jail had escaped by going on a crash diet and squeezing through the bars, and eventually scarpering over the walls to freedom. It's one of those stories that instantly puts kudos onto somone who probably doesn't deserve it. Still, it made me laugh out loud.

Here we are - proof that stupidity is not a finite resource.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1551512.htm

I know this is all over the news here in the UK - but I find it amusing it's made the news headlines in Aussieland:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1552201.htm