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Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty have caused concern among fans after filming a bizarre video of themselves playing with newborn mice.
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A Japanese company is developing a vending machine that counts wrinkles and skin sags to check a smoker’s age.
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A company claims new technology could save the police hours of time sifting through CCTV footage for suspects, by automatically searching for markings and colours on their clothing.
Saparmyrat Niyazov outlawed opera, ballet and men listening to car radios. He decreed that the month of January should be named after him and April after his mother. He published a book of his spiritual thoughts that became required reading not only in schools, but for all those wishing to pass their driving test. Even for central Asia, the absolute rule of Sapurmurat Niyazov was colourful. He had his face everywhere including watch faces, vodka bottles, statuettes and public portraits on the street.
Some of his demands varied from the strange to the absurd:
Ordered the building of a palace made of ice to accommodate up to 1,000 people in the Turkmen desert.
Built numerous monuments to himself including a gold-plated statue that rotates to face the sun at all times
Plastered his own image on carpets, vodka bottles, watches and launched his own brand of perfume. When he dyed his hair black, he made it illegal to own watches which showed him with grey hair
Banned opera and ballet, long hair or beards for men and the playing of recorded music at any public event
Published a book of spiritual musings or “vessel of knowledge, wisdom and sound thought”, the Ruhnama, and introduced it into the country’s legal code
Changed the name of January to Turkmenbashi, and the name of April to that of his mother
Closed all hospitals except those in the capital, Ashgabat
Decreed the building of a desert zoo host penguins among others
Urged young people not to get gold dentures saying: “Those of you whose teeth have fallen out did not gnaw on bones. This is my advice.”
Via The guardian
The Leak listeners are the Thames Water squad tackling the wastage crisis who use “leak sticks”-steel rods with a wooden earpiece as one end-which they hold against pipes to pick up vibrations from any water escaping. It is a method that has been used for more than a century and allows any sign of leaking water to be heard!
Those clever chaps at Futurelab have created a beta online tool that enables people to think visually! Think of all those mind maps you have done in the past that have been completely disorganized and free form. But with exploratree they will help you create frameworks for futures wheel (my favourite), a compass rose (!) and a pmi!!
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California-based Navigenics’ Health Compass is a USD 2,500 service that combines a genetic health assessment with genetic counseling and information about the latest discoveries in science and medicine. Using just a sample of saliva, the service gives ind
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These are obviously highly specialized services, but their promise has drawn the attention of major investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Sequoia Capital and Google. Opportunities here? How about developing auxiliary services? With a wea
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The book Girl in the Cellar; the Natascha Kampusch Story by Allan Hall and Michael Leidig appeared in November 2006, written in English. Kampusch’s lawyer called the book speculative and premature and planned legal action against it.[33] Together with two
