DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
• It’s ‘Word of the Year’ time at Oxford Dictionaries but this year the word is actually a pictograph – that of the ‘Face with Tears of Joy’ emoji. Oxford Dictionaries said the rather self-explanatory ‘word’ “best reflected the ethos, mood, and preoccupations of 2015” and was the most used emoji globally this year, making up 20 per cent of emojis used in the UK and 17 per cent in the US. Other words on the short-list included “sharing economy”, “refugee”, “Dark Web”, and “lumbersexual” – defined as “a young urban man who cultivates an appearance and style of dress (typified by a beard and check shirt) suggestive of a rugged outdoor lifestyle.”
• A police officer in California pulled over one of Google’s self-driving car prototypes last week – for travelling too slowly. Mountain View Police Department said the car was pulled over after it was spotted travelling at 24mph in a 35mph zone causing traffic to bank up. The Google Self-Driving Car Project said it had capped the speed of prototype vehicles at 25mph for “safety reasons”, noting that “(a)fter 1.2 million miles of autonomous driving (that”s the human equivalent of 90 years of driving experience), we”re proud to say we”ve never been ticketed!”.
• Where do they come up with the ideas for these records? A three-year-old bulldog named Otto is among the latest to have his name inscribed in the Guinness Book of Records by setting a world record for the “longest human tunnel travelled through by a skateboarding dog” (the tunnel was 30 people long). The feat was reportedly set in the Peruvian capital of Lima as part of the 11th annual Guinness World Records Day. Other world records set for the day include the “tightest parallel parking in reverse” (just 34 centimetres between cars in front and behind), and the “fastest 100 metres running on all fours” (15.71 seconds).
