CURIOUSTIMES BY ANDREAS OHRT
ANOTHER REASON TO BLAME YOUR PARENTS FOR YOUR CRUMMY LIFE A study by scientists claims that the more “unpopular, uncommon or feminine� a boy’s name, the greater his chances of starting a life of crime and ending up in jail some day. After analyzing more than 15,000 names, the researchers concluded that boys with these types of names are more likely to be ridiculed by their peers and face workplace discrimination. This, in turn, causes them to engage in socially delinquent behavior. Among the most troublesome names (at least for North American children) are Alec, Ernest, Garland, Ivan, Kareem, Luke, Malcolm, Preston, Tyrell and Walter. A previous study published by the University of British Columbia last year calculated that for every 10 percent increase in the popularity of a name, there is an associated 3.7 percent decrease in the number of troublemaking kids with that name. (Orlando Sentinel)
SHITTY MEDICINE Entrepreneurs in India are cashing in on the latest hot item on the streets of New Delhi—health cures made out of cow urine and dung. “You won’t believe how quickly some of the products sold out,� says Manoj Kumar, who sells a wide variety of cure-alls, including a “multi-utility pill� that claims to cure anything from diabetes to piles to “ladies’ diseases,� and a liquid medicine that claims to battle cancer, hysteria and irregular periods. Along with the medicines made from cow dung and cow urine, a wide range of health products are also gaining popularity, including cow dung toothpaste, detergents, a skin-whitening cream, baldness and obesity cures, soap and a cow urine antiseptic aftershave. And, from the “Gee, your hair smells atrocious� department, the inventor of the cow-dung detergent next hopes to create a cream that will help stop hair loss. (The Telegraph)
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THE COMPUTER ATE MY HOMEWORK
JUST THINK: NO TAXES IN JAIL Or, if you’re done with school and running your own business but still want to cheat the system, you can head over to falseexpense. com, where they will create a batch of fake receipts that you can deduct from your taxes. You send them a range of dates and the city you live in, and they will create a full set of authentic-looking receipts for airfare, hotel, meals and anything you else you think you might be able to use during your tax audit.
TRIPPY TRIPS The creators of a new Web site called Atlas Obscura are looking for input from anyone who can help them ďŹ ll their atlas with “singular, eccentric, bizarre, fantastical and strange outof-the-way places that get left out of traditional travel guidebooks and are ignored by the average tourist.â€? Or if you don’t know of any such places, the atlas already has dozens of entries, including miniature cities, gigantic aming holes in the ground, bone churches and phallological museums. Go plan your next adventure at atlasobscura.com.
YOU MAY NOW SNIFF THE BRIDE’S ASS A Ghanaian woman married her dog last week after deciding that it was the only being on earth who displayed the qualities she was looking for in a husband. “I’ve been in relationships with so many men and they are all the same—skirt-chasers and cheaters. My dog is kind and loyal to me and he treats me with so much respect.� The wedding was attended by curious onlookers from her village but boycotted by her family, who called the marriage “a stupid step to combat her loneliness.� (Ananova)
HEY! FREE TRIP TO TIBET Turkish television has created a new reality show in which various religious leaders will try to convert atheists to their belief systems. The show will pit a Greek Orthodox priest, a rabbi, an imam and a Buddhist monk against each other as they each lead a group of atheists on pilgrimages to Mecca, Tibet and Jerusalem. (CBC)
Next semester will be a little bit easier now that you can go to corrupted-ďŹ les.com and order a corrupt computer ďŹ le that you can hand in to your professor the next time you partied INTERNET FACT OF THE WEEK too hard and need some extra time to ďŹ nish On one square inch of human skin, there your assignments. “Don’t hand in garbage paper,â€? advises the Web site, when you can hand are 20 million microscopic creatures. in a perfectly corrupted homework assignment More bizarro news at curioustimes.com. for just $5.95.
October 29 - 31, 2009 in Sun Valley, Idaho UĂŠ-ÂŤi>ÂŽiĂ€ĂƒĂŠ>˜`ĂŠ*>˜iÂ?Ăƒ UĂŠ/ÂœĂ•Ă€ĂŠÂœvĂŠ Ă€iiÂ˜ĂŠ œ“iĂƒ UĂŠ Ă?…ˆLÂˆĂŒĂŠ >Â?Â? UĂŠ Ă€iiĂŠ*Ă•LÂ?ˆVĂŠ >Ăž Exhibit Hall Booths and Sponsorship Opportunities are available. www.sunvalleysustainability.org
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| JULY 15–21, 2009 |
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