Hiking nude across the Swiss Alps became that much harder this week as a Swiss court upheld a court decision against a Swiss man fined for hiking in the nude past a family area. Not to fear though, other countries in Europe offer nude hikers and “nakation” (a real word!) enthusiasts a warmer welcome.
As part of it’s “off-season spring cleaning,” Google today announced the end of a handful of services, including Google Buzz, Google Wave, and Google Knol. The thinking behind the initiative is to free up resources for Google+ and other higher-priority projects. While some of the shut-downs make sense, others are a little more unexpected.
Saturday Night Live fox and Bridesmaids star, Kristen Wiig has taken the honour of “Bro of the Year” in the Stateside Men of the Year edition of GQ. Being GQ, they were unable to give her the award without getting a glossy snap of Kristen in her undies, which she dutifully provided.
Members of Parliament have voted in favour of the Protection of State Information Bill. The bill still needs to be passed by the National Council of Provinces next year, but it has effectively been adopted by the National Assembly today based on majority vote. It has NOT yet been enacted. Editors staged a walkout as the announcement was made in Parliament.
I feel a little bad for Widen + Kennedy, Old Spice’s advertising agency; everything they’ve done since introducing Isaiah Mustafa as the Old Spice Guy has been subject to comparison, not always fairly. Which is a pity, because they’re killing it here with their new “Smell Better Than Yourself” campaign. Check out the video, after the jump.
Pretoria mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, has reportedly declared that South Africa’s capital city will be re-named Tshwane by the end of 2012, no matter the cost to the city, nor the opposition to the move.
This is why you always double check if you have clicked “reply”, and not “reply to all”, when sending an email, especially when it concerns your annoyance about something. The email in question has to do with repairs being made to a car at a Johannesburg dealership, and, well, it’s rather self-explanatory. Click through to cringe.
Those sneaky Russians! News anchor Tatiana Limanova gave Barack Obama the middle finger during a recent TV bulletin. After mentioning that her president is soon to be taking over the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leadership responsibilities (that were previously held by Obama), she flashes a zap nonchalantly, before continuing her bulletin.
Sylvester Stallone is teaming up with Ukranian heavyweight boxers, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, to produce a stage musical based on Rocky. Is it worth making a joke about this? I mean my feeling is that the ridiculousness of the situation sort of speaks for itself, but let me know if you need more.
If you’ve been following the US X-Factor, you might be aware that a country group of four stunningly beautiful angels is currently in the top nine of the competition. One of the group’s four members, it turns out, is from Cape Town.
There appears to be a growing trend among rich New Yorkers in response to the increased attention being paid to “the 1%”. They’ve taken to buying cargo vans that look plain on the outside, but are opulent on the inside, tricked out with massage chairs wi-fi and widescreen televisions. Some of these guys cost upwards of ZAR 4 million.
Jaco Haasbroek is a designer from Cape Town. This guy designed a t-shirt so cool that it has now been worn twice on one of the biggest TV shows at the moment. The shirt is called “High 5” and it popped up in an episode of Modern Family last month, and again on last Wednesday’s episode. High-five!
A county north of Houston has set the trend in American drone policing by taking delivery of a set of squat, remote-controlled helicopters called ShadowHawks. These can be weaponized to fire Tasers or beanbags at people – although the manufacturer, Van Guard Industries, claims that they’re strong enough to carry a shotgun. Which is comforting.
Scientists at UC Irvine (a university in California) have unveiled what is currently the world’s lightest man-made substance, an “ultralight metallic microlattice,” that is 100 times lighter than styrofoam, and 1 000 times less dense than water.
Never underestimate the power of well-organised and well-funded lobby group, especially when it comes to federal regulations in the United States, as opponents to the obesity crisis in American schools were unable to convince Congress that frozen pizza is not a vegetable.
Joao Leite dos Santos is one loco ese! On Sunday he visited a Brazilian zoo in Sao Paulo, got drunk, and decided to take a swim in the monkey enclosure. As you’ll see from this video, he ended up being attacked and badly injured. According to experts, the only reason why he survived was because the monkeys were afraid of the water.
It’s the Year of Setsuden in Japan, which Google tells me means “saving electricity'”; this means that the lavish Christmas illuminations that Tokyo usually sets up are a little hard to justify. Minna no Illumi has found a pretty neat solution to the problem, though, with an entirely biodiesel-powered display.
The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 is upon us and those admirably awesome geeks at io9 have scoured the darkets pits of electronic bay to unearth the Twilight merchandise your collection is sorely missing. Two words: glitter lube.
20-year-old Egyptian activist Aliaa Mahdy has caused uproar by posting nude self-portraiture on her blog, to protest “a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy,” which isn’t the usual motivation for uploading naked pics, but whatever. Worried about losing the moderate vote, liberal politicians are making a point of criticizing Mahdy’s apparent impropriety.
I don’t know that there are such things as iconic photographs anymore, what with the proliferation of media and all, but if there are, this is one – of Seattle activist Dorli Rainey, 84, reacting to being hit with pepper spray by cops during an Occupy Seattle protest on Tuesday, November 15, 2011.
Controversial New Zealand referee, Bryce Lawrence has finally spoken out in response to allegations of his incompetence during a crucial Rugby World Cup match which the Springboks lost to the Wallabies. Before the red mist descends once more, let’s hear Bryce out.
Did you know that many private financial traders take home anything between R500 000 and R10 million a year? That’s a lot of gravy, my friends. But you don’t nail that kind of income bracket without the right sort of smarts, guile and experience. And how do you get that? Practice, friends. And what equips […]
A brand-new, fully electric superbus has been purchased to make traveling between Dubai and Abu-Dhabi more enjoyable. It is designed to be capable of driving 250 km/hr whilst carrying 23 passengers! I believe the term “amazeballs” is appropriate here. Pics and a video of this delicious monstrosity after the jump.
The American Senate has officially begun holding hearings on the the ‘Internet Blacklist Bill,’ also known as the “PROTECT IP Act” or the “Stop Online Piracy Act.” It is potentially the most harmful bit of Internet censorship legislation to date, and you should know what’s going to happen if it passes.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association have announced that they have invited controversial UK comedian, Ricky Gervais, back to host the upcoming 69th Annual Golden Globes ceremony for a third successive time, and he has accepted.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said yesterday that racial insults on the soccer field are nothing more than “on-field provocation”. He also suggested that players should accept this as part of the game and simply shake hands at the end of the match. I was actually trying to think of something sarcastic to insert here, but I’m too busy weeping for humanity at the moment.
“Frozen Planet” is the latest big-budget series from the BBC’s Natural History Unit; its seventh and last episode deals with global warming. Except apparently climate change isn’t that big of a deal, because the BBC has dropped that episode from its international line-up to help sell the series outside of Britain.
Right people, this is actual “dreams come true” material being dropped on you right now, because NASA, of “one small step for man” fame, has recently opened a job call for trainee astronauts!
Plastic or plastic? Canada is set to join the list of countries that use polymer bank notes. These shiny plastic notes are smooth to the touch, practically impossible to tear, and will last much longer than the paper notes we’re used to. It’s also a lot more secure.