strange stuff

From strange crimes to strange celebrity deaths, read all of the latest weird and strange stuff news stories on Newser.com

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Woman Sues Sex-Toy Maker for Invading Her Privacy
Woman Sues Sex-Toy Maker
for Invading Her Privacy
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 18, 2016 3:20 PM CDT

Woman Sues Sex-Toy Maker for Invading Her Privacy

'Smart' vibrator tracks data on how customers use it

(Newser) - It's a tale for the ages: A woman buys a vibrator, uses it, and discovers the company that built it is tracking just what she does with it and how often. And yes, she's suing. In a class-action lawsuit representing what the Chicago Tribune reports is tens of...

Darth Vader Is Cleaning Up Va. Roadsides

Luke, I am your litterbug-shamer

(Newser) - A Virginia man troubled by litter along the highway has decided it's time for the empire to strike back, reports the AP . Henry Wakley of Blacksburg on Thursday dressed as the Star Wars character Darth Vader while cleaning a stretch of highway that he "adopted" through the Adopt-a-Highway...

Museumgoers Can Poop in This 18-Karat Gold Toilet

It's named 'America'

(Newser) - Consider it the No. 1 way to take a No. 2. New York's Guggenheim Museum on Friday swapped out a plain old porcelain toilet for a solid gold one in a private unisex washroom on its fourth floor and is allowing any paying visitor to use it, reports PIX...

Philadelphia Will Start Using Urine-Repelling Paint

City is fighting back against public urination

(Newser) - The city's main transit agency plans to try urine-repelling paint to combat smells and complaints about cleanliness, the AP reports. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will run a trial this fall of a product called Ultra-Ever Dry, a surface coating that makes urine spray back on the offender. SEPTA...

A Blurred Cow Has the Internet in Stitches

Check it out on 'Google Teat View'

(Newser) - Hey, cows deserve privacy, too, right? Plenty of people are giving "Google Teat View" a hard time after Guardian editor David Shariatmadari noticed the software that automatically blurs people's faces in close-ups on Google Street View had also blurred the face of a cow in Cambridge, UK. Following...

Heart in Plastic Bag Found in Ohio Field

Authorities working to determine whose it is

(Newser) - An EMS crew discovered a "fresh" heart inside a plastic bag in a Norwalk, Ohio, field in late August, and police are now attempting to determine whether the heart is human and whose it was, Cleveland 19 reports. A Cleveland 19 reporter said on Facebook that the heart, which...

Black Metal Frontman Accidentally Elected to Town Council

Fenriz of Darkthrone has a new gig, is less than pleased

(Newser) - The frontman of Darkthrone, a Norwegian "black metal" band , has accidentally gotten himself elected to his local town council, Pitchfork reports. As Glyve "Fenriz" Nagell explained to Clrvynt last week, "basically, they called and asked if I wanted to be on the list [of backup representatives]. I...

Have Thumb, Will Marry, Says Hitchhiking Bride

Angelique Arsenault didn't let her limo's flat tire ruin her big day

(Newser) - "For richer and for poorer, through broken-down cars and in health" is how Angelique Arsenault could have rewritten her vows after a pre-wedding roadblock in New Hampshire. The AP reports Arsenault was in her limo with her bridal party on Saturday, on her way to say "I do"...

Now, an Explanation for Russia's Blood-Red River

Norilsk Nickel blames the rain

(Newser) - As one of Russia's northernmost rivers turned a bloodlike red last week, plenty of fingers were pointed at the nearby Norilsk Nickel factory. But the world's "largest producer of nickel and palladium" initially had only denials, going so far as to say that "the color of...

Boy, 2, Takes Late-Night Joy Ride in Toy Car

He's OK, fortunately

(Newser) - A joy ride ended safely for a 2-year-old South Carolina boy who was found driving down the street in the middle of the night in a battery-powered toy car, the AP reports. Sumter County Sheriff's spokesman Ken Bell says the boy was wearing a diaper and gray jogging pants...

American Jailed for Floating Into Canada on Mattress

John Bennett says he needed to cross border to protect girlfriend

(Newser) - As the judge put it, “Pardon the pun, but it seems to me you wanted to get there, come hell or high water.” That was apparently the case for an American nabbed while crossing illegally into Canada on an air mattress, CBC reports. Officials say John Bennett, 25,...

Pilot&#39;s Typo Sends Plane on a Very Wrong Path
Pilot's Typo Sends Plane
on a Very Wrong Path
in case you missed it
Sep 11, 2016 6:31 AM CDT

Pilot's Typo Sends Plane on a Very Wrong Path

Flight from Sydney to Malaysia ends up in Melbourne instead

(Newser) - Data entry errors are often harmless enough, unless you happen to be an international pilot punching in your longitude before a flight. Then, they get interesting. As Australia's 9News.com reports, an AirAsia flight crew learned this lesson when it attempted to fly from Sydney to Malaysia—only to...

Catfish Falls From Sky, Hits Woman on City Street

Bird probably dropped fish over Philadelphia

(Newser) - Falling catfish weren't generally considered to be one of the hazards of life in Philadelphia—until now. Lisa Lobree tells the Philadelphia Inquirer that she was walking near the city's art museum on the morning of Labor Day when she heard a "rustling" in the trees above...

Teen Has Made Almost $65K Naming Chinese Babies

Her website idea is strange, but apparently it works

(Newser) - A 16-year-old British girl came up with an odd, but apparently very good, idea: Start a website designed to help Chinese parents choose an English name for their babies. Her specialname.cn asks parents to pay a small fee, input their baby's gender, and choose five personality traits, out...

Latest Web Craze: Livestream of a Dull Wyoming Street

It’s a video of an intersection in Jackson Hole where nothing much happens

(Newser) - Could a livestream of a street in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, replace cat videos as the latest online time waste? Probably not, but for whatever reason, thousands of viewers have been clicking on webcam footage of the town’s central intersection since “See Jackson Hole” went live. While picturesque Jackson...

Red River in Russia Is Freaking Everyone Out

Some are pointing the finger at pollution possibly caused by local nickel factory

(Newser) - Russian officials are looking into a phenomenon that's been documented by a flurry of pictures on social media: one of the country's northernmost rivers turning a bloodlike bright red. CNN reports that the Daldykan River shifted to a rouge hue on Tuesday, and while some are saying the...

Much Drama in Connecticut Over 'WTF' Lawn Sign

Supposedly it means 'Woodbury wastes taxpayer funds'

(Newser) - A Connecticut homeowner who planted on his lawn three large wooden letters that spell "WTF" is rankling neighbors and town officials who say the message is offensive, the AP reports. WFSB-TV reports the phrase "Woodbury wastes taxpayer funds" is written on the letters along Main Street in historic...

6 Weird New Guinness World Records
6 Weird New
Guinness
World Records
Sep 8, 2016 8:38 AM CDT

6 Weird New Guinness World Records

Longest full-body burn sounds fun

(Newser) - Casey, Ill., is giving Justin Bieber a run for his money . The small town—home to the world's largest clogs, mailbox, knitting needles, crochet hook, golf tee, pitchfork, rocking chair, and wind chime—has just as many Guinness World Records as the Biebs, according to the 2017 record book,...

Cops: 70-Year-Old Robs Bank to Get Out of Living With Wife

The couple had a fight, he explained to investigators

(Newser) - Home life not going so well? Just rob a bank and get yourself relocated to jail. That's what a 70-year-old Kansas man allegedly did Friday, the Kansas City Star reports. Police say Lawrence John Ripple walked into Kansas City's Bank of Labor and gave the teller a note...

DC Cops Drop Littering Ticket —for Toddler

But it wasn't easy for 2-year-old Harper Westover

(Newser) - City officials in Washington are tearing up a littering citation issued to a toddler, reports the AP . Harper Westover, age 2, received a "Notice of Violation" Thursday from the Department of Public Works, reports the Washington Post , with a $75 fine. Her mom, attorney Theresa Westover, also received a...

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