Saturday, October 6, 2012

Coke cellphone




Designer Daizi Zheng brings us an interesting concept: a Nokia phone that runs on Coca-Cola. Yes, you read right. It may sound incredible, but it seems this eco-friendly cellphone model really works. The designer has called it Nokia green phone and it works generating electricity through carbohydrates such as the sugar contained in this and other similar drinks. It does not pollute because the end-product of the process is water and oxygen. And to top it all off, Daizi herself assures us that this completely biodegradable battery can last up to 3 and 4 times the normal life of lithium batteries

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Celebrity underwear museum



A Belgian artist Jan Bucquoy has created an underwear museum in Brussels to display underwears that he collected from famous folks. The rule for the real celebrity underwear is that their owners must have worn them for at least one day.

The most valuable item found there is a framed pair of faded blue boxer shorts with white stripes that allegedly once belonged to Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders.



“The certificate confirms the underwear’s authenticity,” Bucquoy says, pointing to a signature written with a shaky hand that he says belonged to Reynders. Bucquoy claims that Reynders donated his knickers to the museum, which opened in early July.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Room 39



Room 39 is a secret government organization located in North Korea. It is a bit of an unusual place because nobody knows for sure where it is. Many people feel that the operation takes place out of the Labor Party building in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Room 39 was established in the late 1970s and has been described as the head of North Korea’s “court economy” centered on the Kim family. Many people have reported that it is the slush fund of Kim Jong-il. A slush fund is typically a monetary account or a reserve fund. However, within a government it can also refer to corrupt political dealings. Room 39 holds as much as $5 billion in funds and may be involved in many illegal activities. It appears that North Korea is looking for ways to get Kim Jong-il large amounts of foreign currency.

Today

It has been widely speculated that the organization uses ten to twenty bank accounts in China and Switzerland for the purposes of money laundering and other illegal activities. People have also alleged that Room 39 is involved in drug smuggling, weapons sales, and even the sale of nuclear weapons secrets. The seclusion of the North Korean state makes it difficult to evaluate this kind of information, but it is thought that Room 39 is critical to Kim Jong-il’s continued power, enabling him to bribe people and fund North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

The United States accused Room 39 of selling military technology to obtain foreign currency, which North Korea denied. Room 39 could also be operating overseas through the North Korean restaurant chain Pyongyang. The main operating center is one of North Korea’s most protected areas. It is also one of the most dangerous locations in the world, unless you are a high ranking North Korean military official.