Month: February 2021

Scientists cloned a black-footed ferret from the frozen cells of another black-footed ferret that died 30 years ago when the species was declared extinct.

The NYPD deployed a Boston Robotics “dog” into a tense hostage situation. “We can send it into complete darkness and get an idea of what’s going on inside” said a member of the Technical Assistance Response Unit. Meanwhile, performance art group MSCHF’s attempt to use a similar robot for an art project flamed out spectacularly.

China apologized to the State Department after acknowledging that they were giving US diplomats anal Covid swab tests, “in error.”

19-year-old Brandon Soules hated his job at the local tire repair shop. He hated it so much that he staged an elaborate kidnapping “excuse to get out of work”. He was fired instead.

52-year-old Latvian sailor Vidam Perevertilov fell overboard in the middle of the South Pacific without a life jacket at 4am. As his supply freighter steamed off into the distance he spotted an old fishing buoy which saved his life.

Federal agents in Cincinnati seized $2.8M in cocaine sprinkled on a shipment of corn flakes from Peru.

The Jeep brand has had a tough couple of weeks. First there was the on again/off again drill around Bruce Springsteen’s DWI arrest that ruined their expensive Super Bowl spot. Now an actual Chief Cherokee is asking they no longer use the Cherokee name because it’s literally wiping out the tribe on Google.

Silicon Valley electronics retailer Fry’s closed its doors for good. They blame Covid but we all know “change in retail environment” is code for Amazon.

Japanese contractor Taisei developed a method to convert carbon dioxide into concrete using CO2-infused calcium and blast furnace slag. At the same time, Purdue University researchers developed a new concrete recipe that will double the speed that concrete naturally absorbs carbon dioxide over its lifetime. It’s not clear if these two groups are talking to each other.

NYC, Portland, and Seattle are happy to report that they are no longer “anarchist jurisdictions” thanks to Biden unwinding another Trump proclamation.

Hasbro announced that Mr. Potato Head will become just Potato Head in order to “broaden the franchise” and “allow it to be a platform for many characters.”

Someone is recreating the entire Hamilton musical inside the video game Animal Crossing. What have you been up to lately?

TWTW is a weekly collection of bits and pieces I run across each week while looking after things at SmartNews. Feel free to sign-up to get this via email or forward to a friend.

Mardis Gras kicked off in New Orleans but there was nothing Fat about the Tuesday – bars were closed due to Covid regulations and the temps dipped near freezing.

ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas was forced to initiate a series of rolling blackouts due to power plants being knocked offline due to the cold weather.

Will we finally get our flying cars? The FAA granted one company a special Light-Sport Aircraft certificate but meanwhile residents near Gatwick Airport were nearly killed by a prototype gone out of control.

Need water? Chinese scientists have figured out a way to literally shake rain out of clouds with low-frequency sound waves.

A UK man wanted by the police couldn’t stand being locked down with his roommates anymore and turned himself in so he could get some “peace and quiet.”

Researchers at Northwestern University have figured out a way to communicate to people while they are dreaming.

Video graphics card maker NVidia announced a version of their popular GeForce GPU optimized for cryptocurrency mining.

It snowed in Jerusalem.

More Information on today's #implosion of #Trump Plaza in Atlantic City from @GeorgeSolis on @6abc at 5pm and 6pm. pic.twitter.com/1FwRaiq9Sa

— Dan Patrick (@6abcDan) February 17, 2021

3000 sticks of dynamite brought down Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and there was much rejoicing. Probably loudest from the ex-employees.

Bill Dorris, a successful Nashville business man, was often on the road, away from his beloved Lulu. When he passed, he specified that $5 million of his fortune be put into a trust to care for Lulu. Lulu is a boarder collie.

Someone paid nearly $600,000 for a digital Nyan Cat gif.

TWTW is a weekly collection of bits and pieces I run across each week while looking after things at SmartNews. Feel free to sign-up to get this via email, follow on Facebook, or forward to a friend.

A Canadian couple was fined $880 for violating lockdown restrictions and traveling outside on non-essential business. They were playing Pokémon GO.

Bruce Springsteen had one of the more poignant Super Bowl ads featuring the Boss driving a Jeep. Then his recent DUI arrest came to light so they pulled down the commercial.

Trump’s impeachment defense team misspelled the “United States” again.

“I’m here live, I’m not a cat” said the Texas prosecutor on his now infamous Zoom call. Internet sleuths are calling foul because that particular filter is hard to find and he may have been trying to whitewash his Google results to hide a darker past.

A photo of a purple daisy was responsible for 90 million hits/day on a Wikimedia server. The company tracked down the spiking traffic to a Tik Tok knock-off app in India with some sloppy code,

A hacker infiltrated a Florida water plant and attempted to poison the water supply. The water system was controlled by an outdated Windows 7 machine connected to the internet without a firewall running remote access software with a shared password. The intrusion was detected when the person on duty saw the mouse pointer on his computer “move across the screen.”

An Israeli company unveiled the first 3-D-printed rib-eye steak. Aleph Farms uses living animal cells instead of plant-based alternatives in their new bio-printing system.

Why be an old man yelling at clouds when you can take out a $10k ad in the Wall Street Journal to complain directly to AT&T’s CEO?

TWTW is a weekly collection of bits and pieces I run across each week while looking after things at SmartNews. Feel free to sign-up to get this via email, follow on Facebook, or forward to a friend.

A YouTuber with the handle of “Stephen Ignoramus” was arrested by the FBI who watched his videos of his “epic” tour thru the capitol and thought otherwise.

A Russian man was disciplined by authorities for cooking shish-kabab over the eternal flame honoring soldiers who died in World War II.

New Yorkers who fled the pandemic-inflicted city for their summer cottages in the Hamptons are discovering life on Long Island in February isn’t so great. The septic tanks have overflowed and it’s impossible to get a tin of caviar anywhere.

The rapper Lil Uzi Vert had an 11-carat pink diamond worth $24 million attached to his forehead.

A German man was arrested for playing air traffic controller and giving directions to aircraft over Berlin. He had become increasingly professional with his communications, but gave “potentially dangerous” instructions.

After claims that their foot-long sandwich was only 11″ and their bread wasn’t really bread, Subway is now having to defend its tunafish sandwich containing ingredients that only imitate the appearance of tuna.

A K-pop girl band profusely apologized after it was pointed out that their video showing one of their stars dreamily embracing a mannequin dressed as a Nazi soldier was probably not in the best taste.

A fitness instructor in Myanmar became world-famous after her daily workout streamed on Facebook featurea military coup in the background.

Police in Mount Vernon, NY were called to investigate a suspicious packaged that turned out to be banana bread.

TWTW is a weekly collection of bits and pieces I run across each week while looking after things at SmartNews. Feel free to sign-up to get this via email or forward to a friend.