Robot Dick To Appear At Con

This should be a great con.

Wait. Philip Dick? Awwww.

A man, his hands, the sun and a chair. Let the party begin.

From here:

“City Hideout,” from Dutch design studio OOOMS, is a portable temporary dwelling made to fit one seated adult. The collapsable metal box resembles the kind of streetside sheds that commonly house electrical devices such as streetlight controls, new-age parking meters, and small generators. The hideout can be easily assembled on any corner or rooftop as the ultimate urban camouflage.

…by this. Just check it out, and give it a second.

… a 73 year old Kenyan potato farmer.
Daniel M’Mburugu was tending his crops when a leopard attacked him. Here’s how he handled it:

M’Mburugu had a machete in one hand but dropped that to thrust his fist down the leopard’s mouth. He gradually managed to pull out the animal’s tongue, leaving it in its death-throes.

Hello, hospitality suite. The new thing in Taipei is an industry of upscale hotels that caters to patrons who want a short term poon pad. They call them love “motels” but these places are far from the seedy velvet painting Knotty Pine types. From the article:

Normally, a receptionist sits in a booth at the entrance of the building greeting drivers and directing them to a room. A garage door automatically opens and closes once the car enters. Any room service is delivered to a special area outside the door, after which the wait staff leaves and notifies the guests by telephone that the food has arrived. I MORE has a separate hallway accessible only to the housekeeping “or guests in need of an escape route”

And for those that don’t quite know their shit:

The motel also hired two actors to demonstrate 48 positions for an instructional program that plays on one of the many available adult channels.

If you were thinking of buying a house, this should give you pause. From the AP article:

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people’s homes and businesses — even against their will — for private economic development.

The 5-4 ruling represented a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex. They argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas.

As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue.

This open letter to the Kansas School Board takes it to task for teaching “Intelligent Design” (Biblical Creationism tarted up in scientific dress) in schools. The author points out that there are several competing theories that Kansas could teach its students, including the popular thesis that the universe was created by a “Flying Spaghetti Monster.” There are pictures, too.

From it:

I’m sure you now realize how important it is that your students are taught this alternate theory. It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming to long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t.