afabbro writes "Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 once offered a night’s refuge to salarymen who had missed the last train home. Now with Japan enduring its worst recession since World War II, it is becoming an affordable option for people with nowhere else to go. The Hotel 510’s capsules are only 6 1/2 feet long by 5 feet wide. Guests must keep possessions, like shirts and shaving cream, in lockers outside of the capsules. Atsushi Nakanishi, jobless since Christmas says, 'It’s just a place to crawl into and sleep. You get used to it.'”

I knew these couldn't all be scams!

Cytalk writes "Working at Google is a dream job for many engineers. So the Googlle Institute of Software Studies might seem like the perfect place to get an education if only it weren't for the extra letter. From the article: 'Yes, it appears that some jokers in India are attempting to leverage not only Google's name, but their logo and even favicon to trick people into thinking they their quite-possibly-bogus online university is related to the real Google somehow. Dubbed the 'School For Future Software Engineers,' the Googlle Institute has a website that looks like it could be some sort of legitimate online training school — if it weren't for the sketchy naming, branding, and plethora of dead links.'"

the4thdimension writes "Online dating site BeautifulPeople.com has apparently decided to cancel over 1,500 of its customers because they were found to have put on too much weight this holiday season. The site, which bases its business model on having only attractive people on its site, requires that a user be voted in by current members as being beautiful in a 48 hour period. The site claims that having overweight people on its site is directly damaging to its business model, but promises that expelled members can register again once they lose the weight."

Police in Southland, New Zealand are using a new strategy in their work. They now take a less heavy-handed approach which includes visiting criminals at home for friendly chats. Commander Inspector Barry Taylor says they now focus on reducing crime rather than just arresting criminals. As a result the overall crime in Southland was down 17 per cent for the first five months of the reporting year. "We have just had a bit of a look at how we are going about our business and we felt we could do it a bit smarter, and the initial indicators are we are on the right track. A lot of it is problem-solving work. For example, houses we may regularly visit over the weekend may be visited again during the week to work out why we were called and what interventions can be put in place to prevent us being called the following weekend," he said.

Greg Lindahl writes "From the woman who jumped in a swollen creek to rescue her drowning moped, to the man who hopped over the divider at the edge of the highway to take a leak, and plunged 65 feet to his death, 2009 was a year both exceptional and unexceptional for Darwin Award-worthy behavior!"

krou writes to tell us that according to a new study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, a team from King's College London has found no evidence to suggest that the G-Spot actually exists, and they believe it may be a myth encouraged by magazines and sex therapists. The study performed is the largest of its kind, including some 1,800 women, and still was unable to find meaningful proof. Of course, the studies were probably all led by men, who everyone knows can't find the G-Spot anyway.

ectotherm writes "See the most obvious scientific discoveries of 2009, actually backed up by scientific studies. These include such no-brainers as 'Men are much more interested in casual sex than women.'"

Noel and Margaret Foreman thought their oldest son was helping them invest £120,000 for their retirement. But instead of using the money to help his parents, 52-year-old Neil spent all the money on cars, luxury holidays, golf lessons, fine wines and expensive meals. Neil felt that his siblings got more than he did as a child and this was his chance to live the life of luxury he always wanted. "We have always done the very best we could for each of our three children. It appears that Neil has formed the opinion that his brother and sister were treated differently in that they both had a private education. What he fails to appreciate is that at the time he was going to school I was a very junior police officer earning just £9.50 a week. Only when we went into business could we afford a better education for his younger brother and sister," said Mr Foreman.

s1acker writes "Stewart Smith of Stewdio has created a version of Pong in HTML 5 and JavaScript, in which you play using the windows of your browser."

theodp writes "Among the last batch of patents granted in 2009 was one for IBM's Resolution of Abbreviated Text in an Electronic Communications System. The invention of four IBMers addresses the hitherto unsolvable problem of translating abbreviations to their full meaning — e.g., 'IMHO' means 'In My Humble Opinion' — and vice versa. From the patent: 'One particularly useful application of the invention is to interpret the meaning of shorthand terms ... For example, one database may define the shorthand term "LOL" to mean "laughing out loud."' USPTO records indicate the patent filing was made more than a year after Big Blue called on the industry to stop what it called 'bad behavior' by companies who seek patents for unoriginal work. Yet another example of what USPTO Chief David Kappos called IBM's apparent schizophrenia on patent policy back when he managed Big Blue's IP portfolio."

snl2587 writes "You may remember the story of the man who was selected for 'the best job in the world' as a blogging island caretaker in Australia for the tidy sum of 150,000 Australian dollars ($120,000). Now it seems that the stunt may have backfired as a tourism boost since the man has been stung by a potentially fatal jellyfish in his last days there. As he said, though, he 'really should have been wearing a full stinger suit.'"

Pirx Danford writes "The world record sale for a virtual item was surpassed yesterday by the avatar known as Buzz Erik Lightyear, when he acquired a very special piece of property. For the incredible amount of $330,000, the space station Crystal Palace has been won by Buzz in the in-game auction system of Entropia Universe. The player who won the auction is known as one of the best crafters within the game, and like with Chuck Norris jokes, there are a bunch of sayings about what Buzz Erik Lightyear can achieve."

A funeral home in Rome, Georgia has decided to give back to the community this holiday season by offering free burials to impaired drivers who die in accidents. Between now and noon Thursday, you can sign a contract stating you plan to drink or take drugs and then drive on New Year's Eve. If you are lucky enough to be in a fatal accident, McGuire, Jennings and Miller Funeral Home will pay for your funeral. Services included in the package are a casket, grave, limousine and preparation of remains.

A pharmaceutical company is offering a free trip to Mexico to anyone willing to test their new diarrhea drug. Almost 1000 volunteers will be able to have some fun in the sun on Intercell's dime as long as they wear a patch that delivers the new drug, and they agree to regular testing should they fall ill. Nigel Thomas, clinical director of Intercell, said: "We are looking for people who have already planned to go to Mexico or Guatemala and think this would add another interesting aspect. We cover their expenses – flights and accommodation – nothing beyond that. It is almost like going on a package holiday. They will be met by a concierge who will take them to their hotel and arrange for them to give their first blood sample within 48 hours."

An anonymous reader writes "Apparently an avid Lifehacker reader, a guy named Dietrich managed to drop his Palm Pre in a puddle and didn't realize for half an hour. You would think that after a thirty-minute soak the Pre would be dead, but Dietrich remembered a tip on Lifehacker involving uncooked rice to dry out wet gadgets. 'I remembered articles on Lifehacker about what to do so I immediately popped the battery out and dried the phone. When I got home I put my Palm Pre in a bag of rice for ten hours. Adding insult to injury, I forgot to take the phone battery out of my pocket and put it through the washing machine. Ten hours later I'm typing this on my Pre. Good job Palm on making an excellent phone.'"

A couple got stuck in snow for three days after letting their SUV's navigation system guide them through the high desert of Eastern Oregon. The pair found themselves stranded on a remote forest road in the Winema-Fremont National Forest. After three days, atmospheric conditions changed enough for their GPS-enabled cell phone to get a weak signal, and they could call for help. "GPS almost did 'em in and GPS saved 'em," Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said. "It will give you options to pick the shortest route. You certainly get the shortest route. But it may not be a safe route."

An Orlando thief with no regard for his hardening arteries stole $40k in cheesecake and a refrigerated truck. Police currently have no leads in the case but are on the lookout for my aunt Gloria.

Scores of New Yorkers celebrated the third annual Good Riddance Day in Times Square by throwing bad memories into an industrial shredder. Most people put in bills, love letters, newspapers or photographs. A dumpster and sledgehammer were available for items that couldn't be shredded. The winner of this year's $250 prize for most creative shredding was 12-year-old Alissa Yankelevits of Los Angeles. She shredded the memory of a counselor on a school trip who was featured on the America's Most Wanted. "I just spent a week with him," Alissa said. "It was really terrifying because I just found that out."

Forget tubes, saucers, Flexible Flyers or Ziffy-Whompers: the discerning sledding enthusiast now has an option from Porsche. The £328 sled features an aluminum racing frame, stainless steel runners, and a black imitation leather seat complete with the Porsche logo. A Porsche spokesman said: "The new aluminum sledge with stainless steel runners was created by the Porsche Design Studio. A practical folding mechanism ensures that the sledge is ready to hit the snow in seconds, so nothing stands in the way of winter sledging fun."