Strange, Odd, Weird or Wacky

Get Smartphone: China's Counterfeiters Create an Adidas Handset

by China.new

The Adidas S-808 Sneaker Flip Phone is a triumph of cellphone styling seemingly inspired by Maxwell Smart, Agent 86. Adidas, however, is less than impressed considering the Germany-based sports apparel manufacturer doesn't actually make mobile phones. Sorry about that, Chief.

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Coffee May Wig You Out Or Save You From Depression

by T Goodman

Coffee seems to be the new miracle drug. A minimum of 4 cups of coffee has been shown to be effective in reducing risk of diabetes, skin cancers, and strokes (in women), among the other powers it possesses. Now, the Harvard School of Public Health has explored the effects of the magic 4+ cups on depression among women... men have not been studied yet.

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Apple 'iFoot' Shoes from China are a Logo No-No

by China.new

Apple makes sneakers? Who knew? Not I, not you, and definitely not Apple Inc., holders of the logo's copyright. Not that this matters to dozens of online shoe sellers in China who've slapped the tech giant's familiar fruit on their footwear.

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Scientists Witness Brain Chilling Yawns

by T Goodman

There is nothing more discouraging in human discourse than someone yawning in your face while you're speaking to him. "Oh, excuse me," he might say, "I guess I'm just very tired." (Yeah, sure!)

But now, scientists have evidence that your listener may not be bored at all; but just chilling... his brain.

Obama vs Osama Awesome Limited Edition Action Figure

by China.new

Action figures don't get more awesome than this: U.S. President Barack Obama standing over the late (by mere seconds) Osama bin Laden, an assault rifle slung over his shoulder and his trusty Blackberry clipped to his belt.

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'Vampire Teeth' Take Japanese Cosmetic Dentistry into the Twilight Zone

by Steve Levenstein

The latest cosmetic dentistry trend out of Japan is “Yaeba”: Vampire Teeth. Dental Salon Plaisir, located in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district, specializes in this cosmetic procedure that lengthens, sharpens and enhances one's canines to fang-tastic proportions.

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China Reinvents Chuck Taylor High-Tops with Even Higher Bottoms

by China.new

These faux Chuck Taylor High-Tops have nothing to do with Converse or basketball, though their extraordinarily thick soles might trim a few inches off your layup.

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Giant Tunic Suit Salutes Sun Yat-sen and China's 1911 Revolution

by China.new

A huge gray “Mao Suit” now on display in the Chinese city of Ningbo celebrates both the 1911 Revolution against China's creaky Qing Dynasty and revolutionary Father of the Nation, Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

Social Media Building Blocks are a Series of Cubes

by Steve Levenstein

An innovative system of social media cubes adds style with substance to your virtual world. Tomodachi (“friends”) Blocks, a design concept by Japanese designer Aya Shimada, allow you to build your social network with two-fisted determination.

'Time of the Sky' Watch Gives Minutemen the Blues

by Steve Levenstein

Watchers of the sky (even those who aren't Genesis fans) will love the “Time of the Sky” wristwatch, a small window on one's arm that distills the passage of the hours down to their essence: the changing hues and tints of the sky above.

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Adidas China Hits Overstressed Commuters with Giant Punching Bags

by China.new

Adidas China has installed giant punching bags on a Shanghai subway platform as part of their interactive “Don't Waste Your Wait” ad campaign. Commuters are encouraged to take out their frustrations on the huge, three-striped bags while waiting for their train.

Breakfast Time is Anytime with the Toast Clock

by Steve Levenstein

Ticked off by too-hard toast? Burned by boring, IKEA-style dials? Then it's time for a change, and the Toast Clock is first when it comes to seconds.

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Cool Cat Hoodie is a Back to School Faux Paws

by Steve Levenstein

Wanna be the teacher's pet? Then make a feline beeline for the Hachiware Cat Parka from Japan. Available in black or gray with a rose-red zipper "tongue", this cool cat hoodie is absolutely purr-fect for students looking to show some style before school's out and it's time to join the rat race.

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Android App Allows Jealous Girls to Remotely Follow Their Boyfriends

by Steve Levenstein

Spyware just got personal. "Karelog" (Boyfriend Log) allows jealous girls to keep track of their boyfriends through their Android cell phones, without said boyfriends knowing they're being monitored from afar.

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Pandas Release Secrets Of Biomass Processing - In Their Poop

by T Goodman

Giant pandas are still very rare, so it's not likely that their poop will be used as a substitute for gasolene, but the chemical analysis of panda poop has provided new information about the microbes that assist pandas in digesting some of the roughest roughage in nature - lignocellulose - and that information could certainly lead to a biofuel that is much more efficient than any biomass fuels that are being produced currently.

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Thick Fake iPhone 4 is China's Coolest Smartphone Fan

by China.new

If you thought iPhones and smartphones were getting thinner with every new release, think again: the White “iPhone 4″ Air Cooler from M.I.C Gadget bucks the trend by evoking the original thick brick cell phones. It's also very cool... for a non-phone iPhone 4 fan.

Milk Mint Drink is Too Cool for School

by Steve Levenstein

You can't get this “cow chiller” in Chowchilla but you can in Japan! Yes indeed, Milk Mint from Nissin-York has arrived on Japanese supermarket and convenience store shelves just as another stiflingly hot and humid summer is about to close... hey, better late than never.

Domino's Pizza Japan's Moon Branch Project: 30 Light Years or it's Free!

by Steve Levenstein

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's... just another delivery for Domino's Pizza! It could actually happen, someday, if the Domino's Pizza Japan Moon Branch Project ever gets off the ground.

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Lobster Motorcycle? I Can Harley Believe It!

by China.new

A Chinese seminar on cooking art took an unusual turn – some might say, popped a wheelie – when Taiwanese artist Huang Mingbo unveiled his carefully crafted lobster shell motorcycles.

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Pink Panther Strikes Again as Cherry-Coated Cats Cavort

by China.new

Blame industrial pollution in China for creating a cat of a different color. At least one cherry-coated kitten has been seen in Lanzhou, western China, and odds are it isn't there to audition for the role of a real-life Hello Kitty.

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