Bizarre News

[ThunderTitan]

And that's why women should be allowed long nails... they just abuse them...

[asandir]

this is why I don't "get" art

Art lovers check out wacky Turner Prize winners

Pickled cows, elephant dung paintings and a transvestite potter - the Turner Prize deserves its reputation as one of art's most controversial awards.

Now art lovers can decide for themselves if the prize rewards pretentious twaddle or cutting edge British art.

Almost a quarter of a century of Turner prizewinners went on display on Monday at London's Tate Britain museum.

The Turner enrages traditionalists who argue that it is a travesty of modern art, but the show attracts up to 120,000 visitors a year intrigued to see what all the fuss is about.

In 1995, the "bad boy" of British contemporary art Damien Hirst won with a pickled cow.

In 2003, transvestite potter Grayson Perry wore a frilly Shirley Temple dress to accept his award.

Chris Ofili used elephant dung to adorn his 1998 winning entries.

Pop star Madonna swore live on television when presenting the award in 2001 to Martin Creed, who won with a bare room containing a light that switched on and off.

[ThunderTitan]

If you'd get it it wouldn't be art, would it.

[asandir]

no, it would be useful

Ratatouille sparks French rat craze

The kitchen capers of a rodent who dreams of becoming a top Parisian chef in the box office hit Ratatouille have sparked a new craze for pet rats in the French capital.

"Since the film came out, there is no question there is a real fashion for rats," said Gerald Moreau, 25, who runs a group that promots the long-tailed rodents as domestic animals.

Visits to his website have tripled and sales of rodent accessories have jumped 40 per cent since the movie's French release.

Children are driving the craze - seeking out soft-coated rats with floppy Dumbo ears like Remy, the hero of the Pixar comedy.

Parents are seeking out tips on choosing and caring for a rat.

"Rats are much smarter, much more interesting than hamsters or mice," Mr Moreau said.

"They recognise their name and grow very attached to their owner. They play with you like a dog or a cat."

But Mr Moreau, who has 19 pet rats, tells parents to think twice before taking one home.

"They're very sociable animals, and they need a lot of cuddles and play time," he said.

[Omega_Destroyer]

My friend's fiance had a pet rat or two awhile back. Used to take it for walks in the park. Not sure if she still has them or not.

[asandir]

Mystery doorstep sculptor revealed

Billy Johnson is the creator of the carved stone heads. (AFP: Paul Baker)
A mystery over the unexplained appearance of a string of gargoyle-style stone faces in northern England was solved overnight, when the artist behind them was named.

The sculptures, which all have a carved symbol which apparently spells "paradox" and a riddle, have been left outside homes and businesses across the northern county of Yorkshire over the last few weeks.

The story was picked up nationwide, with the stone heads appearing in a number of national newspapers and broadcasters including the BBC.

But the culprit was finally identified overnight as Billy Johnson, who makes the stone heads using fossils and rocks found on beaches.

"Using minimal hand tools, Billy works with natural materials in a fluid and responsive way, bringing out the beauty of each individual piece," said the website of Paradox Carving.

"Each of the larger head pieces is completed by twilight," it added.

"Paradox Carving explores hypnagogic concepts love, madness and evolution. He started his latest work on August 24, 2007 and it is a long-term project."

Twelve of the heads had been left in the villages of Goathland and Kilburn in north Yorkshire, four in Arthington in west Yorkshire and three in Braithwell, south Yorkshire.

They were accompanied by a riddle, reading: "Twinkle twinkle like a star does love blaze less from afar?"

Security camera footage caught a man leaving three of the heads outside a post office, but detectives had until Tuesday drawn a blank over who was behind the bizarre nocturnal activity.

George Griffiths, an artist from Arthington who was among those to receive the heads, says he has tried to contact Johnson through the website.

But he received an email in return to say the artist was out of the country for a few weeks, does not have a phone, does not use the Internet and does not have access to television.

[Elvin]

I had heard about the heads. So what was the point about all this? Seems too much trouble for a prank.

[asandir]

advertising?

Thai chilli triggers London chemical alert

A Thai chef cooked up fears of a chemical attack in London when fumes from his eye-wateringly hot chilli sauce led to the emergency services being called out.

Chalemchai Tangjariyapoon, who works at the Thai Cottage restaurant in the Soho entertainment district, was dry-frying bird's eye chillies as he prepared a huge batch of nam prik pao, an extra-hot dip served with prawn crackers.

The smoke from the kitchen drifted out in the street, creating an acrid cloud which sent shoppers spluttering for cover and prompted police to seal off several streets and evacuate homes and businesses.

The scare comes with Great Britain facing a severe threat of terrorist attack, according to security service MI5, and following foiled car bombings in London and Glasgow in June.

Restaurant staff, who are used to the pungent aroma, were baffled when firefighters broke down their door Monday evening (local time).

"I can understand why people who weren't Thai would not know what it was," Tangjariyapoon told the Times of London newspaper.

"But it doesn't smell like chemicals. I'm a bit confused."

Waitress Supranee Yodmuang added that she and other staff were led out of the restaurant by firefighters and had to wait in the street for three hours.

"They said there was a chemical smell and I remember saying to someone that maybe the smell was the chillies, but then we said that that was not possible," she said.

"The restaurant has been here for 17 years and this has never happened before."

The chef was cooking about four kilograms of dried chillies at the time.

To make the sauce, he would have added them to four-and-a-half pounds of garlic flakes, two pounds of dried shrimp, six and a half pounds of palm sugar, two and a half pounds of shrimp paste, two pounds of tamarind and nine pints of vegetable oil.

[Elvin]

Holy crap Strange that it would happen after 7 years but everything is possible. Must have been a strong combination

[ThunderTitan]

Must have been a strong combination

Or a concentration of idiots...


Hmmm.... hot thai food

[asandir]

the latter I'd imagine

[ThunderTitan]

Yes, if the record company doesn't make money off it it's stealing...

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20 ... aling.html

Sony BMG's chief anti-piracy lawyer: "Copying" music you own is "stealing"
[/size]
By Eric Bangeman | Published: October 02, 2007 - 09:12PM CT

Duluth, Minnesota — Testimony today in Capitol Records, et al v. Jammie Thomas quickly and inadvertently turned to the topic of fair use when Jennifer Pariser, the head of litigation for Sony BMG, was called to the stand to testify. Pariser said that file-sharing is extremely damaging to the music industry and that record labels are particularly affected. In doing so, she advocated a view of copyright that would turn many honest people into thieves.

Pariser noted that music labels make no money on touring, radio, or merchandise, which leaves the company particularly exposed to the negative effects of file-sharing. "It's my personal belief that Sony BMG is half the size now as it was in 2000," she said, thanks to piracy. In Pariser's view, "when people steal, when they take music without compensation, we are harmed."

Pariser has a very broad definition of "stealing." When questioned by Richard Gabriel, lead counsel for the record labels, Pariser suggested that what millions of music fans do is actually theft. The dirty deed? Ripping your own CDs or downloading songs you already own.

Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied, "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," she said.

Countless studies have shown that the majority of music on portable music players like the iPod comes from sources other than download services. For most people, that music is comprised primarily of songs "ripped" from CD collections to MP3 or some other comparable format. Indeed, most portable music players comes with software (like iTunes) which is designed to facilitate the easy ripping of CDs. According to Pariser's view, this is stealing.

We've actually heard something similar to this view before. As part of the 2006 triennial review of the effectiveness of the DMCA, a number of content-related industries filed a joint reply with the government on the effectiveness of the DMCA and the challenges that lay ahead for copyright. The argument relating to CDs espoused in the joint reply could be summarized: although nothing has prevented consumers from making backups of CDs, this cannot be construed as authorization from the music labels for them to do so. Thus, there has been no authorization of said backups, and the coincidental ability to make backups currently should not be mistaken for fair use.

Pariser's views appear to be similar, insofar as she clearly suggests that consumers have no right to make backups of the music that they have purchased in CD form or even in download form.

[Omega_Destroyer]

Now that's an interesting argument.

[asandir]

it's ludicrous, and unenforceable to boot

always knew that guy was dodgy, was the shifty eyes that gave him away

Mr Potato Head, Action Man in drug busts

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and their Irish counterparts are trying to pinpoint the source of attempts to smuggle drugs inside an Action Man figure and a smiling Mr Potato Head toy.

Australian Customs officers say they found 293 grams of ecstasy tablets inside the Mr Potato Head, contained in a package that arrived at the Sydney International Mail Centre from Ireland, in late July.

They say they found the MDMA tablets, destined for a home in western Sydney, in a small taped bag inside the toy after an X-ray examination spotted suspicious substances.

AFP Commander David Stewart says officers later intercepted another package destined for the same home, containing an Action Man figure with 50 grams of cocaine inside.

No arrests have been made but Commander Stewart says the supply chain to the home has been stopped.

"We've been quite confident that we've disrupted this operation as far as this syndicate is concerned," he said.

"It does not look to be widespread."

Customs and the AFP say they avoided releasing information of the haul until now to avoid disrupting the police investigation.

The maximum penalty for importing drugs into Australia is life imprisonment.

[winterfate]

I knew his role in Toy Story was a cover!

[asandir]

indeed

academics .... *sigh*

Subprime crisis stumps French linguists

In an interesting twist to the global credit crisis that is impacting international markets, the French Government is struggling to actually translate "subprime" into simple French.

The country's "Commission of Economic and Financial Terminology" says previous translations of the term are not good enough.

"Therefore, the Commission... advises French people to use the expression 'prets hypothecaires a haut risque' (high-risk mortgage loans) which is a term already used by the banking industry," it said in a statement this week.

But there have been few signs of that phrase in the French media where the snappier "subprime" rules when talk is of risky property loans that have caused widespread banking losses.

France has mounted a stout defence of its native language in the face of the increasing use of American and English terms in everyday French life. It often turns to the Academie Francaise, set up in 1635, to maintain linguistic standards.

[ThunderTitan]

yes, the french are still crazy... what's so new about that?

and aren't both sub and prime rooted in latin, what the problem adapting them to french pronunciation? Defending your language doesn't mean not allowing any new words dammit.

[winterfate]

France has mounted a stout defence of its native language in the face of the increasing use of American and English terms in everyday French life. It often turns to the Academie Francaise, set up in 1635, to maintain linguistic standards.

RIGHT!!! Since we don't use any English-based (or other language) words over here in Puerto Rico...

Since I'm in that type of mood...I'll list some:

1) Parking - We use this word instead of using the proper word, estacionamiento.

2) Planning - We use planear, when the more proper word would be planificar.

3) Tripping (slang word meaning to mess around. Example: Don't trip with me = Don't mess with me) - We say tripear. Try finding the latin influences in THAT!

4)Mofongo - Puerto Rican food. The word itself is actually African in origin.

And I could go on forever...
All languages are influenced by other languages. It's a necessary process of human evolution.

[asandir]

not wif ze french it seems

[Elvin]

Plants Communicate to Warn Against Danger

Plants chatter amongst themselves to spread information, a lot like humans and other animals, new research suggests.
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A unique internal network apparently allows greens to warn each other against predators and potential enemies.

Many herbal plants such as strawberry, clover, reed and ground elder naturally form a set of connections to share information with each other through channels known as runners—horizontal stems that physically bond the plants like tubes or cables along the soil surface and underground. Though connected to vertical stems, runners eventually form new buds at the tips and ultimately form a network of plants.

“Network-like plants do not usually produce vertical stems but their stems lie flat on the ground and can hence be used as network infrastructure,” said researcher Josef Stuefer from the Radboud University in the Netherlands.

Stuefer and his team let loose caterpillars on white clover plants and watched them eat a single leaf on the network. Then a second set of caterpillars was allowed to choose between the damaged leaf—one that has been alerted to up its defense status—and leaves from an undamaged network.

Over the course of 20 trials, most or all of the approximately 15 caterpillars in each trial preferred the undamaged leaf to the leaf from a damaged network.

“The feeding caterpillars will be deterred and walk off to feed on other non-induced plants,” Stuefer told LiveScience. “[They] understand plant defense language very well as it is directed exactly to them.”

Here is how it works: If one of the network plants is attacked by caterpillars, the other members of the network are warned via an internal signal to upgrade their chemical and mechanical resistance—making their leaves hard to chew on and less desirable. This system works to spread the information amongst the plants and to ward off caterpillars.

“This is an early warning system, very much like in military defense, but then more effective: each member of the network can receive the external signal of impending herbivore danger and transmit it to the other members of the network,” Stuefer said. The attacked leaf is lost. However, the remaining leaves are protected against predators.

The study is detailed in this month’s issue of the journal Oecologia.

According to the researchers, the principle of network transfer of substances is known for very many species, including numerous invasive plants such as bracken and reed and commercial crop species such as bamboo.

The downside to these connections is that viruses often use the runner infrastructure to quickly spread. They enter the plant via the leaves, find their way into the stems and are then passively transported to all the network members where they cause new infections.

“Many pathogens are host specific, meaning that they can infect only very specific plant species,” Stuefer said. “Their main challenge for survival is to find a new host after one has been infected. Such specialists have an especially big advantage from network infections as the physical connection between plants enables them to find genetically identical copies of the original host.”

This, Stuefer explains, is comparable to a computer virus specialized to infect computers with a certain version of the Windows operating system. “Such a virus spreads very fast if all terminals on a network have the correct Windows version while its spread is slowed down if there is variability in the systems,” he said.

Maybe not something new but it's amazing nonetheless.