If you'd still be environmentally conscious despite a zombie apocalypse, we've got the wheels for you. The chainsaw bike has a minimal carbon footprint and offers get great mileage while also clearing the way of the flesh eating undead. Designed by a Russian man (you can bet he's not much of a "people person") you won't have to pedal or steer with this beauty.
You'd part a crowd like Moses through the red sea.
The Kony 2012 video by Invisible Children has gone viral since its launch on Monday (it’s been viewed by over 38 million people) but Ugandan outrage is growing in kind. The compelling film suggests that Africa's longest-running conflict is still raging in the northern part of Uganda, despite the fact that the LRA (the Lord’s Resistance Army controlled by Kony) was ousted in 2006 and has moved to neighboring countries.
The aim of Invisible Children’s campaign is to make Kony famous by coating cities around the world with posters, encouraging supporters to tell everyone about the atrocities he’s committed. The strategy is to turn the fight against the LRA into an issue of national interest in Washington, applying pressure to bring the warlord to justice. The film appears to have united people across the globe against Kony but despite the nobility of its aims, its validity as a piece, well as the integrity of Invisible Children has been called into question.
Dr Beatrice Mpora, the director of Kairos, a community health organization in Gulu, a Ugandan town that was once the centre of the rebels’ activities, said, “What that video says is totally wrong and it can cause us more problems than help us. There has not been a single soul from the LRA here since 2006. Now we have peace, people are back in their homes, they are planting their fields, they are starting their businesses. That is what people should help us with.”
Meanwhile, Rosebell Kagumire, a respected Ugandan peace and conflict journalist agreed: “This paints a picture of Uganda six or seven years ago, that is totally not how it is today. It’s highly irresponsible”.
Another of the video’s key claims is that domestic and international pressure will help maintain the funding to keep the 100 American military advisors in Uganda. In response, Javie Ssozi, an influential Ugandan blogger, said, “Suggesting that the answer is more military action is just wrong. Have they thought of the consequences? Making Kony ‘famous’ could make him stronger. Arguing for more US troops could make him scared, and make him abduct more children, or go on the offensive.”
Critics have also pointed out that the film only quotes three Ugandans - two of whom are politicians. They suggest that instead of showing the film maker's five year old son saying Kony is a bad guy, it should have said something about the root causes behind the 30 year conflict.
Thrust into the spotlight, Invisible Children is also facing speculation about its finances. Of the £6 million (HKD 73.6M) the charity spent in 2011, less than £2.3 million (HKD28.2M) went to helping people on the ground. The rest was funneled to “awareness programmes and products”, management, media and elsewhere.
Another much talked about concern, meanwhile, is that Charity Navigator has given Invisible Children a rating of two out of four for accountability and transparency. Fred Opolot, a Ugandan government spokesman, had this to say about the charity’s financial intentions: “It is totally misleading to suggest that the war is still in Uganda. I suspect that if that’s the impression they are making, they are doing it only to garner increasing financial resources for their own agenda.”
Whilst we don’t believe that is Invisible Children’s intention (and we think they’ve been wise to spend the majority of their funding on awareness – just look at this campaign) the critics raise some interesting points. It’s always worth knowing as much as you can about a charity before you commit money and effort to back it. So stay tuned – there’s a long way to go before April 20.
Lithuanian engineer Julijonas Urbonas has devised a way to thrill you and then kill you by designing a roller coaster that spins you to death. The 'Euthanasia Coaster' is a theoretical machine engineered to ‘humanely, with elegance and euphoria, take the life of a human being’. It's designed to subject the rider to a series of unique experiences, from euphoria to thrill and from tunnel vision to loss of consciousness. Ultimately, at 100m/s, the passenger would die from a lack of oxygen reaching the brain. In keeping with the theme, the carriage is painted black.
The NFL has recently been under investigation regarding defensive co-ordinators offering up bounties (cash rewards) for injuring or taking players out of the game. Coaches have repeatedly said they would never ask a player to hurt another, but payers have leaked stories of secret meetings held the night before games to set cash amounts on different players. Defensive Co-ordinator Williams, now with the New Orleans Saints, is the main source of this controversy, with Matt Bowen a strong safety coming forth with the Williams stories. We know that this is wrong in many ways especially regarding sportsmanship - but it's hard to not find it a smidgen cool.
At first glance we thought this mask was part of a Stormtrooper Halloween costume. How wrong we were. It gives CPR to your iPhone by converting your breath into electricity thanks to tiny wind turbines.
Conceived by Joao Paulo Lammoglia, the AIRE mask works so long as it's connected to an iOS-powered device and you're breathing normally. It would be perfect if we lived in a post apocalyptic world that still had a 4G network up and running. Otherwise, not so much.
They should've gone with "how villains charge their phones".
Do you like small breasts? If so, you could be in trouble with the Australian government which has banned adult films showing small mammaries because they could be indicators of child porn. Although it seems ridiculous that someone could mistake a porn star for a victim of child pornography, The Australian Classification Board has rejected multiple adult films on this basis.
Whilst the law doesn't outlaw porn with small breasts per se, the ACB has the right to ban an adult films depicting a woman that could be under 18 - and this is where small breasts come unstuck. Their defense is "think about the children" - but isn't that what they're trying to stop?
Scottish Spirits has created a three year old whisky and put it in a can for classy guys always breaking scotch bottles. They offer a blend as well as a single grain scotch - and we're pretty sure you won't be able to tell the difference. It means you can take your box of wine and your whisky in a can, bounce around in your 4X4 to your favourite camping spot and everything will still be intact.
Scottish Spirits clarify, "'We've put whisky in a can', not 'we've put good whisky in a can'". Don't expect a smooth taste but it's great for emergencies. Just make sure your in-laws don't catch you drinking it.
A Swedish man survived for more than two months trapped in a snowbound car despite temperatures dropping as low as -22F (-30C). He has the "igloo effect" to thank, the layer of air between the snow and car that kept him insulated.
A French fast food restaurant has flipped a new burger on to its menu called the "Dark Vador" which celebrates the 3D release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The only downside is that to get your hands on one you have to go to France and lay down 5 euros at Quick. They also have burgers that pay homage to Darth Maul and other Star Wars characters but they're nowhere near as recognizable as the Dark Vador. It's not burnt it's just a tad on the darkside.
Scottish Spirits have created a three year old whisky and put it in a can for us classy guys that are always breaking scotch bottles. They offer a blend and a single grain scotch and we're pretty sure you won't be able to tell the difference. So now you can take your box of wine and whisky in a can, bounce around in your 4X4 to get to your camping spot and everything will still be in its respective container. Scottish Spirits said "we've put whisky in a can", not "we've put good whisky in a can". Don't expect the smooth taste of any Glenn but it's great for emergencies. Just make sure your in-laws don't see you chugging whisky from a can and enjoy.
The Mile High Club is not easily joined but it's become a whole lot easier thanks to a Cincinnati-based service which is scheduling flights explicitly for that purpose. A pilot takes you and a very special guest up into the air just to fulfill your carnal desires - and tick one off the bucket list.
If you have problems performing with a stranger close by then it's not the service for you - the only thing separating you from the pilot is a thin curtain. Moreover, the 300-horsepower Piper Cherokee Six is about the same size as the overhead compartment on a 747. It's basically a flying car and your cabin is roughly the size of a love seat - but that's all you need.
Some will classify it as cheating your way into the Mile High Club because it's not much of a challenge. There's no covert-ops mission to the washroom to bend her over the toilet - and there's no chance of landing on the TSA naughty list - but it'll be a hell of a lot of fun. Oh, and Champagne and chocolates are also provided.
It’s only available in Cincinnati so Hong Kongers will have to make do with Cathay for now but it could be worth a look in if you find yourself Stateside.
When officials asked for the Welsh translation of a road sign, they thought the reply was what they needed.
Unfortunately, the e-mail response to Swansea council said in Welsh: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated". So that was what went up under the English version which barred lorries from a road near a supermarket. "When they're proofing signs, they should really use someone who speaks Welsh," said journalist Dylan Iorwerth. Read more via BBC
This is quite the big deal in the west, but us Hong Kongers are used to it...
Why would you install a woodburning stove in your car? You'd have to ask Pascal Prokop, a Swiss man who built and installed the wood-fired stove himself and got an operating permit from the Swiss technical inspection authority. It's warm but we're pretty sure Volvo cars come with heaters.
The number of pregnant Chinese women travelling to Hong Kong to have their children, known as "birth-tourists", has more than doubled in the past year. Hong Kong's public hospital chiefs say the number of mainlanders taking advantage of superior medical care and generous benefits in Hong Kong has leapt by 108 per cent year-on-year.
