weird

Can people explode?

No, I'm not talking love, politics, or terrorism here. I'm talking about a 76-year-old man in Galway, Ireland, who, at least according to the local coroner, spontaneously combusted.

I am aware that those who remember "Spinal Tap" will remember the notion expressed within it that dozens of people spontaneously combust every year. There are even times when one feels one has witnessed it.

However, this BBC report presented the notion of a human body apparently being burned without anything from outside actually setting it on fire.

The victim in this case, Michael Faherty, … Read more

Dish and Blockbuster announce their Netflix-killing movie delivery and streaming plan, but it's kind of a letdown unless you're a really happy Dish subscriber. HP puts Meg Whitman in charge and boots Leo Apotheker, which no one seems all that happy about except maybe HP's wildly dysfunctional board. The entire foundation of the world and physics is rocked by the possibility of particles that can travel faster than light, but mostly, you just wish we could go back in time and un-announce that the show's going weekly. Hey, but bonus show Monday! See you then!

Surrealist movies offer the strangest happenings just to make us feel better about ourselves.

Streets become beaches. Nun's clothing appears on the sidewalk. And yet I don't remember a surrealist movie where a 9-inch Canon camera lens crashes through the roof of a house.

Perhaps the notion seemed too far-fetched. But not for one woman in Petaluma, Calif., who recently experienced precisely this occurrence.

It all started so innocently. Speaking to CBS 5 San Francisco, 55-year-old Debbie Payne told of a hearing a crash.

Might it have been an earthquake? Might it have been a storm-trooping blackbird with … Read more

Is Britain turning into a police state? You know, a little like San Francisco.

Both places seem to have influential factions--in Britain's case, politicians seeking votes; in San Francisco's case, the people who run the trains--that wish to monitor and control the means of communication in slightly Mubarakian ways.

You might remember that the Brits, after last week's riots, were overcome with the urge to monitor BlackBerry's Messenger service, as well as every other imaginable social-networking system.

Well, now they've gone and arrested someone for allegedly trying to organize a water fight.

I have … Read more

You will, by now, be familiar with those wild and needy people who line up outside Apple stores days and weeks before the company releases a new emotional security blanket.

I fear that the enthusiasm of these previous actors may ultimately be mere hopscotch when compared to the actions of Rob Shoesmith.

TechCrunch tells me that Shoesmith intends any day now to pitch a tent outside the Covent Garden Apple store in London.

On hearing this, you might be muttering: "But there's no release date for the iPhone 5." You might be even be wondering if there will be an iPhone 5.

This, however, doesn't deter Shoesmith. For he is not merely a lonely boy looking for a little attention. No, he claims to be a marketer and therefore is looking for a lot of attention.

What marketers do is set up Web sites--here's Shoesmith's iPhone5experiment.com. They also create Twitter pages--here's Shoesmith81. Then they wait for the swag. Um, I mean the engagement.

Shoesmith's idea is that he will use the launch of iPhone 5 to launch himself and his power to get companies to give him things. So, claiming that he will be entirely cash-free as he bunks down in one of London's prettier areas, he is asking companies to send him stuff to keep him alive and offer him sponsorships.… Read more

If you want to get a job at Google, all you need to do is make a video of yourself in your underwear. Oh, and it helps if you're wearing a false mustache.

This, at least, seems to be the view of Matthew Epstein who has raised some considerable personal visibility by creating just such a video and, indeed, a Web site, Googlepleasehire.me.

His video, thanks partly to the championing passions of TechCrunch, has already enjoyed almost 100,000 views.

Yet I must leave it to you, the great hirers of tomorrow, to decide whether Epstein is someone … Read more

Does the world have a problem with coordination? Is the increased level of drug ingestion causing people to lose their grip on the things that are most precious to them?

This certainly seems to be the case when one reads a blood-freezing piece of, no doubt, statistically pure analysis commissioned by online address-book site Plaxo.

As MSNBC tells it, Plaxo's research stunningly reveals not only people's utter incompetence in looking after their smartphones but also their desperate need for, well, Plaxo.

Allegedly, 19 percent of people drop their smartphones down the toilet. Please consider that for a moment. … Read more

From the same man who brought us the songs "Nature Trail to Hell" and "Trigger Happy" comes an iOS app geared for kids. The Al Yankovic: When I Grow Up app expands on the Weird Al children's picture book of the same name.

The picture book portion is chock full of interactive Easter eggs that can be found by swiping, tapping, and turning the device. The story itself is a breezy and creative look at a young boy considering his career options. Snail trainer? Giraffe milker? Anything is possible.

Choose between the read-it-yourself option or have Weird Al read the story in his own enthusiastic way. This may or may not scar your kids for life.

There are several mini-games built into the app that are just challenging enough to keep an adult occupied for a few minutes. I sucked at being a masseuse for gorillas, but I pulled off the tarantula shaving pretty well.… Read more

"I'm currently in a standoff...kinda ugly, but ready for whatever."

This is, perhaps, not the average Facebook update. But it seems that it's one that was posted by Jason Valdez, 36, while he reportedly held a woman hostage for 16 hours.

According to the Associated Press, Valdez held the woman in a motel in Ogden, Utah. While he was there, he used Facebook to send messages to his friends and his family.

It seems that Valdez had barricaded himself and the hostage in the motel room after the police attempted to serve a warrant for … Read more