Kopiokau: The Double Espresso Blog

The Bangkok Train

gobloggo — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:30:18 +0000

Bangkok is one of the most crowded cities in the world. It is however still interesting to see how well the residents have utilised whatever spare space there is available.
The Bangkok Market in Action

http://view.break.com/368159

Ever Seen A Tornado Close-Up?

gobloggo — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:30:08 +0000

This is one reason why you should have a digital camera handy wherever you go. On Tuesday June 10, Lori Mehmen, who lives in the small farming town of Orchard in northeastern Iowa, U.S.A., looked out her front door and saw a funnel cloud bearing down. She had the presence of mind to run indoors and grab her digital camera, took a quick shot, and ran for dear life. Fortunately nobody was injured. For a fuller report see here

Making An Internet Phone Call? Beware Of Eavesdroppers!

gobloggo — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:30:02 +0000

A new startup IT company has come up with a novel new way of making money on the internet - to use software to listen to internet calls, and then display ads on the computer screen related to whatever the net user was talking about. For example if you were talking to somebody else on the internet about going out for dinner, advertisements would pop up on your screen about local restaurants and restaurant review sites. If you were wondering about getting some computer software, advertisements would appear on your screen for computer stores in the area.

This new idea, of course, while coming as an improvement on Google’s G-mail, which shows ads based on scanning of G-mail users’ email, also raises some very pertinent what-ifs. What if you were having some intimate conversation with somebody whom you were not supposed to be having a conversation of this nature in the first place, and all of a sudden ads appeared on your screen suggesting hotels with the best short-term rates? What if somebody who wasn’t supposed to hear this clandestine conversation passed by and saw the suggestions on screen (just when you thought you had signed off!)? What if (oh horror of horrors) the conversation was recorded? And this despite the chief honcho of this company (Puddingmedia) making reassuring noises that this would not happen?

Are we getting somewhat paranoid?

Japan - The Vending Heaven

gobloggo — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:31:54 +0000

From Japan, the land of vending machines, with machines everywhere dispensing condoms, porn magazines, T-shirts, tobacco and beer, comes a new product: canned bread. At 340yen - 350yen for a can (about USD3), it seems rather expensive, but what the heck - think convenience (portable, compact), think freshness (definitely keeps fresh a lot longer), think easy availability (anytime, anywhere, as long as there is a vending machine) and you have a potential best seller. Vending machines are so ubiquitous you can even find vending machine stores, replacing normal retail shops.

Cop Stolen

gobloggo — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:17:06 +0000

A life-sized cardboard cut-out of a real-life cop, designed to deter shoplifters at a co-op supermarket in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, has itself been stolen.

This 2-dimensional cut-out of PC Bob Molloy had been very successful in reducing thefts from 36 a month just two years ago when it was first introduced, to 1 a month. Apparently the cut-out was so lifelike that some shoppers had been caught having conversations with it.

Some thief obviously did not quite like his movements observed by this silent sentinel standing in the shop doorway (could this have aroused guilt feelings too strong for comfort?) and took off with it September 19. However police are confident that they will recover the prized model as they have CCTV footage of the act.

Guess which of the two figures is real

Seawater- Ultimate Energy Source

gobloggo — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:30:20 +0000

Pennsylvania cancer researcher John Kanzius has accidentally discovered that if you aim high energy radio waves from a generator at a container of seawater, you can break down the bonds of water and release hydrogen.

He demonstrated this recently to Channel 3 News in his laboratory in Erie, Pennsylvania. Reporters watched as Kanzius poured saltwater into a test tube and exposed it to a Kanzius Radio Frequency device. An intense flame erupted over the tube, and this was identified as hydrogen burning.

The Kanzius Radio Frequency device was originally invented by Kanzius to kill off cancer cells by heating up high-tech nanoparticles attached to the cells. This Kanzius Non-Invasive Radio-Wave Treatment is currently undergoing intensive trials and research in a few Cancer Research centres in the United States.

The significance of this discovery was not lost on Kanzius who immediately applied to patent the technique. The potential for using seawater as an alternative fuel is enormous.
View video:

Can-Can Art

gobloggo — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:30:06 +0000

More at the red bull can of art exhibition

Sign In A Chinese Restaurant

gobloggo — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:30:06 +0000

A sign seen recently in a Chinese restaurant in Kunming, China.

The Dancing Skeleton

gobloggo — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:30:46 +0000

Big Butts Pay More!

gobloggo — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:46:00 +0000

Look out for a new airline called Derrie-Air which in its first advertisements in The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News charges passengers by the pound.

In light blue banners throughout the papers — as well as on their Web site, Philly.com — Derrie-Air cheerily trumpets its policy: The more you weigh, the more you pay. The ads direct readers to the Web site http://www.flyderrie-air.com.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_fe_st/philadelphia_newspapers_fake_ads