Friday Snippets and Soundbites

Ready for this week’s dose of weird news? Yep, so are we. And you can get even more on page 38 of the September issue of ec!

ACT up!
We know that many of are taking the ACT tomorrow. Yes, taking a test that is that long isn’t our idea of a fun Saturday morning, either, but it is important. So, relax tonight. Maybe even go to bed a little early. And if you need some tips go here. If you’re taking the SAT next month, check out these tips.

Going to the . . .birds?
This week, a company in South Africa proved it was faster for people to transmit info using carrier pigeons than Telkom, the country’s largest Internet service provider. A local news agency reported that it took an 11-month-old pigeon, Winston, one hour and eight minutes to fly the 50 miles from Pietermaritzburg to the coastal city of Durban with a data card was strapped to his leg. In that time, only four percent of the data was transferred using the Telkom line. Apparently, Internet speed and connectivity are slow because of a bandwidth shortage in South Africa. To read more about the problem and plans to alleviate the long wait times, go here.

Can I be your neighbor?
Think your neighbors are a bit annoying? Try this one on for size: a Pennsylvania man recently fired a cannon into his neighbor’s home. Of course, it wasn’t on purpose. The man rebuilds artillery from old wars as a hobby. A few weeks ago, he fired a cannon he’d finished in his backyard. The cannonball ricocheted and hit a house 400 yards away, smashing through a window and a wall before landing in a closet. No one was hurt, but the man says that was the last time he’ll fire on of his revamped weapons in his yard! To read all about it, go here.

And the beat goes on
On August 29 (which would have been Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday), thousands of Mexicans gathered to dance to Jackson’s well-known hit, “Thriller.” Their goal was to break the record for the most people dancing to “Thriller” at one time in one place. It’s still unclear if they did or not; the Guinness Book of World Records has yet to announce if they have certified the event as a record. The current record was set in May by a group of 242 College of William & Mary students who performed the routine in Williamsburg, Virginia, according to Guinness. Organizers in Mexico claim 12,937 people danced during their attempt to break the record. They were led by a Michael Jackson impersonator wearing a red-and-gold sequined jacket. "More people responded than we even imagined!" Hector Jackson (the impersonator) said. "Mexico gave the best tribute in the world to Michael Jackson." We’ll have to wait to see if Hector and his friends will indeed hold the world record. Until then, read all about it here. Read about Mexico’s attempt to break a number of world records here.