Taboo News

New bicycle reinvents the wheel

It seems a bit crazy to reinvent the wheel, but that is precisely what the 50-year-old military officer and Chinese inventor Guan Baihua has done. The Qingdao native has devised a rather curious new bicycle that has a pentagonal wheel at the front and a triangular wheel at the back.

He believes people will be drawn to the bike because it provides more exercise for the cyclist than a conventional bike, according to TimesOnline.

Those who have tried it have been surprised at how smooth the ride is. The edges of the pentagonal and triangular wheels are not perfectly straight. The sides of the shapes bulge outwards in such a way that the wheels share an important feature with the circle: the diameter across the shapes is the same however you measure it.

Guan’s Flintstone-esque bike will not be going into mass production in the near future, however, but he is not put off by the lukewarm response to his first invention. Rumour has it that he is now working on ideas for a new social networking site. Twitter and Facebook had better watch out.

Thong wearing burglar

Deputies said a man who was caught wearing a woman's thong was charged with a burglarizing a home in Andersonville, Tennessee.

Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said deputies caught the 42-year-old wearing only panties in an abandoned farmhouse, according to the Associated Press. The officers followed his footprints from a nearby Andersonville home where a burglary had been reported.

The man was charged with aggravated burglary, auto burglary and vandalism.

Man hires neighbor to impregnate his wife but...

A judge in Stuttgart, Germany is trying a bizarre lawsuit in which a man hired his neighbor to impregnate his wife.

Demetrius Soupolos, 29, and his wife were very keen to have a child, but doctors found Demetrius sterile. The couple began sought other options to become parents and decided to hire their neighbor Frank Maus, 34.

Frank was already married with two children, but agreed to do the job for 2.000 euros. Three times a week for six months Maus tried to impregnate his neighbor's wife.

When that was unsuccessful, Demetrius insisted that Frank take a medical examination. The doctor found Frank was also sterile, which forced his wife into admit that their two children did not belong to him.

Demetrius has sued his neighbor for breach of contract and wants his money back. Frank claims he never promised to impregnate the neighbor's wife but just to do his outmost. Frank has filed a lawsuit to divorce his cheating wife.

source: http://makfax.com.mk

Parrot steals man's passport

A brazen kea parrot nabbed a Scottish man's passport from the luggage compartment under a tour bus and disappeared into dense bush with it.

The bird made its move while the bus was stopped along the highway to Milford Sound on South Island in New Zealand.

Milford Sound is surrounded by sheer rock face. Police told the Southland Times newspaper the passport was unlikely to be located in the vast Fiordland rainforest.

The passport owner said the kea's was probably using the document for fraudulent claims or something. "I'll never look at a Kea in the same way," he told the Southland Times.

The world's only snowline-dwelling parrot, the kea is widely known as an inquisitive species that takes delight in attacking rubber items like windshield wiper blades. Covered mainly in brown and green feathers, they have large flashes of bright orange feathers under their wings.

Man cuts off sex organ to spite family

A 25-year old Egyptian man from a prominent household cut off his own penis to spite his family for refusing to give him permission to marry a girl he loved from a lower class family.

He had unsuccessfully petitioned his father for two years to marry the girl before he heated up a knife and sliced off his reproductive organ and mutilated his testicles.

The young man was in stable condition in the hospital after the incident. Doctors were unable to reattach the severed member.

Quick Human Body Knowledge

• It takes your food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.
• One human hair can support 3 kg (6.6 lb).
• The average man's penis is three times the length of his thumb.
• Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.
• A woman’s heart beats faster than a man’s.
• There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.
• Women blink twice as often as men.
• The average person's skin weighs twice as much as the brain.
• Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.
• If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.
• Women reading this will be finished now.
• Men are still busy checking their thumbs.

Source: http://eddywu.wordpress.com

Naked hikers face spot fines in Swiss canton

Area tries to protect 'children from these immoral habits' amid nudist influx

In Geneva, naked mountain hikers in the Swiss canton of Appenzell-Innerrhoden will in future face on the spot fines of 200 Swiss francs ($170), Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger reported over the weekend.

A wave of naked hiking — particularly popular with German visitors — outraged people last year in the traditionally minded canton (Switzerland's smallest by population) which gave women the vote only in 1990.

"We must protect our children from these immoral habits," the paper quoted Melchior Looser, head of the cantonal justice and police department.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29094739/

Man's phone footage clears him of rape

Forty-one year-old businessman Gary Taylor has been cleared of raping a 27 year-old university student after jurors were shown footage of the sex session taken on a mobile phone. The woman told jurors that the defendant forced her to perform a sex act on him and then raped her in her living room. But during cross-examination she was shown footage Taylor had taken on his mobile phone during the encounter last September. The footage showed the woman 'actively' performing a sex act on him. The woman had not seen the film of her having sex with Taylor before it was shown to the court.

The prosecution offered no evidence following advice from the judge. Taylor, who runs a multimedia company, was cleared of four charges of rape and walked free from court.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Man runs out of gas after robbing gas station

Cape Haze Authorities said they arrested a man who apparently forgot to fill up when he was robbing a gas station.

The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office said a 23-year-old man used a Bowie knife to rob a Cape Haze gas station. Deputies said the man pulled the 12-inch blade and demanded money. But when he left, a customer followed him and called 911.

While deputies were looking for signs of the robber, a newspaper carrier told them that a man in a car matching the one from the robbery had run out of gas nearby.

Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Blowfish testicles prepared by unlicensed chef send 7 to Japanese hospital with poisoning

Tokyo reports that blowfish testicles prepared by an unauthorized chef sickened seven diners in northern Japan and three remained hospitalized after eating the poisonous delicacy.

The diners developed limb paralysis and breathing trouble and started to lose consciousness — typical signs of blowfish poisoning — and were rushed to a hospital for treatment, police official Yoshihito Iwase said.

The owner of the restaurant in Tsuruoka city, who is also the chef, had no license to serve blowfish and was being questioned on suspicion of professional negligence, according to police.

Blowfish, while extremely poisonous if not prepared properly, is considered a delicacy in Japan and is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets.

Blowfish poison, called tetrodotoxin, is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide, according to the Ishikawa Health Service Association. It can cause death within an hour and a half after consumption.

Source: www.digg.com

Man trapped for two days survives by sipping whisky

Sixty five year old Joe Galliott lost his bearings during a power cut at his home in Yeovil, Somerset, and fell against a three-seater that toppled onto him.

Because of back problems, he was unable to free his 19-stone frame and remained stuck for 60 hours until a neighbour spotted him through the curtains.

He said a bottle of whisky that had rolled within reach kept him going. "The whole settee tipped over catching me like a rat in a trap," he said "I took a sip of [the whisky] and thought, well this isn't too bad."

Source: www.stumbleupon.com

Donor kidney removed via vagina

US surgeons say they have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor's vagina.  Removing the kidney through "a natural orifice" speeds up recovery and gives a better cosmetic result - avoiding a six inch abdominal scar - they say.

A 48-year-old woman who donated the organ to her niece recently is "doing well."

The operation left three pea-size scars on the Lexington Park woman's abdomen, one hidden in her navel, from where the wand-like camera and operating tools were inserted through small incisions.

Once the kidney was cut from its attachments to the abdominal wall and its arteries and veins were stapled shut, the surgeons placed the kidney in a plastic bag inserted through an incision in the vaginal wall and pulled it out through the vaginal opening with a string attached to the bag.

Diseased gallbladders, kidneys and appendixes have been removed through the vagina before.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Wanking Off Now Will Kill You Later

A new study suggests high frequency of sexy times (even "self love") in your 20s and 30s may increase your chances of developing prostate cancer! (I can hear collective OMGWTF NOOO!!!! from all the guys).

The ScienceDaily reports that men sexually active men in their twenties and thirties are more likely to develop prostate cancer, especially if they masturbate frequently.

Led by the University of Nottingham, the study looked at sexual practices of 431 men diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 60, together with 409 controls.

They were asked about all aspects of their sex life from their twenties onwards, including how old they were when they became sexually active, how often they masturbated and had intercourse, how many sexual partners they had and whether they had any sexually transmitted diseases.

The UK research team also found that frequent sexual activity in a man's forties appears to have little effect and even small levels of activity in a man’s fifties could offer protection from the disease. Most of the differences were attributed to masturbation rather than sexual intercourse.

Source: www.shoutwire.com

Introducing The 340mph Supercar

Developed in Switzerland, the bullet-shaped Acabion GTO is the fastest road vehicle in the world with a top speed of 340mph. According to the Times, the GTBO is not a car but a 'road streamliner', whatever that might be, uses jet fighter technology and can do 0-300mph in 30 seconds. Less impressively, the £1.5m GTBO also has two 'stabilisers' for use when in a 30mph zone or looking for a parking space at Tesco.

Man Kidnaps Ex-girlfriend

An Italian man has been charged with kidnapping after forcing his ex-girlfriend out of a pub and into his car. He took the woman to his home and forced her to wash his dishes and iron his clothes. He was reportedly upset because the woman had left him.

Woman Wakes During Surgery, Feels Every Cut of Surgeon's Knife

An Australian woman says she will have nightmares for the rest of her life after a horrific operation gone wrong.

Rebecca Jones claims she woke up during abdominal surgery at a hospital in Australia's Northern Territory.

She could feel every cut of the surgeon's knife, but was unable to scream for help because the anesthesia had paralyzed her, the Centralian Advocate reports.

A study released in March of this year found that as many as 30,000 Americans wake during surgery each year. Jones said she woke up just as doctors at Alice Springs Hospital were about to start the full operation. She could not open her eyes, but could hear and feel everything.

The hospital's general manager Vicki Taylor said in a written statement that Jones was "awake" during surgery, but said the hospital was unaware of the pain she suffered.

Man Loses Several Pounds of 'Flesh' to Bacterial Infection

A man who lost his penis to flesh-eating bacteria in prison has won a $300,000 settlement from the Washington Department of Corrections.

Sixty one year old Charlie Manning told The Seattle Times he settled because he wants the ordeal to be over. The department said in a statement it settled to save the cost of litigation.

Manning was serving time in 2004 for threatening a neighbor. When he became ill at the Stafford Creek prison near Aberdeen it was diagnosed as a reaction to cold medicine.

By the time Manning was airlifted to a Seattle hospital with an internal abscess, doctors had to remove several pounds of flesh from his pelvic region. Surgeons made a replacement penis with skin from his thigh.

Kama Sutra - Oldest Indian sex manual

The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana is the most famous book on the ancient art of desire and love-making. It is the oldest and best known Indian sex manual.

Compiled between the second and fourth centuries B.C., it was written in Sanskrit by the Indian sage, Vatsyayana, based on earlier writings on sexual topics dating back three thousand years.

Written for the wealthy male city-dweller, it was never meant to be a lover's guide for the masses. "Kama" means pleasure or sensual desire. It is the name of the Indian God that represents the sexual nature in man. "Sutra" means short books or aphorisms.

The Hindu "how-to" is divided into seven parts; general remarks, amorous advances, acquiring a wife, duties and privileges of a wife, relations with other men's wives, and a section about courtesans and occult means. The seventh part is an appendix to the main work.

The Kama Sutra details the many kissing techniques, courting practices, ways of treating marriage partners as well as consorts, and the concocting of aphrodisiacs.

The first English edition of the work was privately printed in 1883. Today, this earliest surviving example of a written Hindu love-manual still has the power to fascinate with its insight into the ancient sexual mysteries of the Far East and the senual and sexual play of an ancient culture.

Victoria and the Lesbians

The myth

Lesbianism was never made illegal in Britain because Queen Victoria refused to sign the proposed legislation since she wouldn't believe that lesbians existed: "Women do not do such things," she was reported to have said. In other versions of the story, government ministers struck out all references to women in the Act since they couldn’t think of a way to explain the issue to the dear old queen.

The "truth"

The idea that Victoria refused to sign the Labouchere Amendment to the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, until it had been de-lesbianised, is easily dealt with.

The British monarch in the late 19th century did not have the power to overrule parliament – any attempt to do so would have triggered a political earthquake. The myth apparently started in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1977, to explain why a demonstration for lesbian equality centred on a statue of Vicky. Some historians suggest that the male establishment avoided legislating on lesbianism for fear of drawing women’s attention to its existence.

Man marries dog to lift curse

We have all heard the 'man bites dog' stories. But this one is new and different. Man marries dog.

It actually took place during a traditional Hindu ceremony at a temple in the southern India state of Tamil Nadu. The groom, a 33-year-old Indian farmer named Selvakumar, was wed to a female dog named Selvi. He married his four-legged bitch to atone for stoning two other dogs to death and stringing them up in a tree 15 years ago.

He believes the act cursed him and he had been suffering since, he told the Hindustan Times. After he stoned the dogs he said his legs and hands got paralysed, he lost hearing in one ear, and his speech was impaired. With doctors unable to help, Selvakumar turned to an astrologer who told him he was cursed by the spirits of the dogs he had killed. He could undo the curse only if he married a dog and live with it, the soothsayer warned.

Family members chose a stray female dog who was then bathed and clothed for the wedding. Selvi the bride was brought to the temple by village women and a Hindu priest conducted the ceremony. The paper showed a picture of Selvakumar sitting next to his canine bride, which was adorned in an orange sari and flower garland. The paper said the groom and his family then had a feast, while the dog got a bun.

The Times reported that Selvi attempted to make a bolt for it but was tracked down and returned to her new 'husband.' A friend of the groom says the dog is only for lifting the curse and after that, Selvakumar plans to get a real bride. Deeply superstitious people in rural India sometimes organize weddings to dogs and other animals, believing it can beat certain curses.

Tongue piercing blamed in Israeli soldier death

An Israeli hospital is blaming complications stemming from a tongue piercing for the death of a 20-year-old soldier. Rambam Hospital spokesman David Ratner said the soldier collapsed in July a few days after having his tongue pierced. Ratner said doctors determined the piercing caused a rare brain infection.

He said the soldier spent a month in intensive care, was transferred to a smaller hospital to recover, then collapsed again. The 20-year-old soldier returned to Rambam, was diagnosed with liver failure and died. Ratner said experts are trying to determine whether human error contributed to his death.The Israeli military says it has banned tongue piercing.

Horny Old Man

Yemen man's horny dream came true

A Yemen man dreamed often that he was growing a horn on his head. Now aged 102, he recounts how a horn began to sprout on the left side of his head 25 years ago.

It did not bother him and there were no local medical facilities, so he just ignored it. Eventually, it grew into a horn 1ft 8in long. His fellow villagers were astounded and assumed it must be painful. But the man, Saleh, said they came to realise it was simply "something Allah wanted to happen to show the people that he can do as he desires". As the horn grew, it became weaker and more difficult for Saleh to manage, especially during sleep.

It finally fell off and a second one started growing in its place. Hundreds of people from Yemen and other Gulf states have visited Saleh and touched his horn. "I have no idea why Allah chose me," he says, "but I thank God for his mercy and show of greatness. I only say al-hamdu lillah."

Yemen Observer

Man makes 3 photocopies of his buttocks

Police arrested a man who allegedly dropped his pants in the crowded lobby of the St. Louis County Courthouse and made photocopies of his buttocks. Police found Daniel Everett holding two copies he had already made and was about to make a third. "What did I do? What did I do?" witnesses said Everett asked police. Everett, an immature 38, told police that the copies were intended as a practical joke for his girlfriend.

Police Can't Have Lovers

Italy's highest court has ruled that the nation's paramilitary police, the Carabinieri, may not engage in extramarital affairs. The ruling stems from a case where an officer was sentenced for four months in jail for physically threatening his superior after being told to end his affair with a married woman. The court believes these affairs tarnish the Carabiniere's image.

Romanians' Dead Vote

A village in Romania has elected a dead mayor. The beloved mayor, Neculai Ivascu, who ran the village for almost 20 years died of liver disease just after the voting started. People knew this but still continued to vote for him rather than his opponent. One villager said they knew he died but simply did not want change. Obama, take note!

Angry Cow Escapes

An angry cow escaped from a California livestock market, entered a tire shop and chased its employees trying to buck them with its head. The employees escaped unharmed and the cow trotted outside where it was later recaptured on its way down the street.

Bow Wow Beer

People who dine out at cafes with their dogs and take them to doggy spas can now have a drink with their pooches, too. A US company has created the first beer for canines. Without the hops used in human beer, this brew is alcohol free and a safe alternative to water. Called Bowser Beer, it consists of beer, barley and beef broth, and comes in a six-pack for US $20.

Russia Plays God

Attempting to control summer weather, the Russian Air Force has seeded clouds with a combination of cement, silver iodide and liquid nitrogen. The concoction is supposed to rid the air of moisture. One bag of cement failed to explode, however, and made a large hole in a woman's roof. She rejected compensation and intends to sue the government for moral suffering.

A Grass Roots Band

Filipinos have been putting a twist on the traditional brass band for generations. They have been playing bambo instruments since the first revolutionary uprising against Spanish colonial soldiers. The instruments were used as a show of support. The trick to playing them they say is not blowing air, but knowing how to sing.

No More 'Guess Your Food'

English-speaking visitors in Beijing for the Olympic Games this summer will have no problems ordering in Chinese restaurants. Officials are encouraging restaurant owners to create less extreme-sounding English translations of Chinese dishes. For example, "chicken without sexual life" is now "steamed pullet".

Eternal Maiden Actualization (EMA)

The old girlfriend won't be able to compete! Soon guys will get a 38cm female companion who will even help them network. She blows kisses, sings, wiggles her behind for her master's pleasure and will even hand out your business cards. The game company Sega invented the humanoid female called EMA (Eternal Maiden Actualization). The sexy robot uses infrared sensors to detect humans nearby. Target market? Lonely men over 20 years old.

Icelandic Boasts Large Penis Collection

Sigurdur Hjartarson, founder of the Icelandic Phallological Museum, plans to add four human male penises to his collection on the owners' death. Hjartarson began his hobby of collecting male members in 1974. Starting with a single bull's penis, his collection has since grown to 261 preserved members from 90 different species. The largest is from a sperm whale and is 1.7m long; the smallest is from a hamster and only measures 2 mm. Sixty percent of visitors to the museum in Husavik are women.

Computers Now Read Dogs' Minds

A technology firm called Bio-Sense in Tel-Aviv, Israel has joined forces with the prison services there to interpret dogs' barks. The company developed software that is able to distinguish types of barks by reading a dog's stress level. A sensor is placed within 15 yards of a dog and its bark transmitted and read in a prison control room. The gravity of the bark is based on how high the dog's stress level is. With this information, guards may react more quickly to an escape attempt. The technology was developed because guards were not hearing or not reacting quickly enough to their barking dogs.

Canadian Sex Game Gone Wrong

A Canadian man asked his partner to carve a heart in his chest during a drunken, rough sex game. His lover went too far, however, and accidentally pressed down hard enough to pierce the man’s heart. The 24-year-old man has since fully recovered from his severe injury while his partner has received three years probation.

Hello Kitty Gets Her Props

The world famous feline from Japan has been adding cute to children's and women's accessories for years. She is frequently seen on pencils, bags, books and numerous items of clothing, over 50,000 products in 60 different countries. Well on Monday, the kitty was named government envoy and will represent Japan in China and Hong Kong. China and Hong Kong account for the second largest group of tourists in Japan. Hello Kitty currently has her own musical "Hello Kitty's Dream Light Fantasy" touring nationally in China, and when she is not working lives in London with her family.

Donkey Delivery Service

Villagers of Chalford in Gloucestershire, England long complained they needed help getting their shopping home. The narrow village pathways made homes inaccessible by car. A local came up with the idea of using rented eco-friendly donkeys to carry people's goods home. The plan will be implemented in six months when the donkeys are trained.

Rip-Off Ferraris?

Cheap designer knock-offs are one thing, but police in Sicily recently discovered a mafia-owned factory producing fake Ferraris. The Telegraph reports that seven cars were seized, along with £350,000 worth of machinery, tools and cash. Either a Pontiac Fiero or a Toyota MR2 would be stripped down and fitted with a mix of genuine Ferrari spares and fibre panels, before being sold on the internet and at dodgy second-hand car dealers across Italy.

Privates Off Limits: No Ball Games For Italians

It is a criminal offence for Italians to touch their genitals in public, according to the country's highest appeal court. The court in Rome was ruling on the unsuccessful appeal of a Como workman convicted of "ostentatiously touching his genitals through his clothing", reports the Guardian. The decision could have far-reaching (pun intended) implications for the average Italian, who superstitiously greets a passing hearse with a quick grab at his, er, attributi.

Bourne Again: Matt Damon signs up for 4th Film

Rumour (and Variety) has it that Matt Damon has signed up to reprise his role as amnesiac killing machine Jason Bourne. British director Paul Greengrass, who helmed the last two instalments in the Bourne series, has also reportedly put pen to paper for the fourth, supposedly called The Bourne Eternity. Hard-to-kill assassin Bourne has thus survived even his creator Robert Ludlum, the writer of the original trilogy of novels on which the movies are (loosely) based. Ludlum died in 2001. In 2004, Eric Van Lustbader wrote The Bourne Legacy, book with the same characters.

Long and Short of it: Small People Live Longer

Tall people often look down on those shorter than them, but the vertically challenged could have the last laugh with news that they live longer than their lofty peers. Scientists have identified an anti-ageing gene in those who live to over 100 that produces less growth hormone but also extends their lifespan by as much as a third. According to the Telegraph, the oldest recorded person was Frenchwoman Jeanne Louise Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122. She was 4ft 11in.

Cheapskate Husband Pays it with Flowers

Pity the Iranian man who has been forced to pay his wife a dowry of 124,000 red roses after she took him to court over his "very stingy" ways. "Shortly after marriage I realised that my husband was very cheap. He even refused to pay for my coffee if we went to a café," said the man's hard-done-by bride. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the man claimed he could only afford five roses a day, the flowers costing the equivalent of about £1 in Teheran. According to the Telegraph, under Iranian law a wife can claim a dowry from her husband at any time - even when getting a divorce.

Masseuses told to padlock pants

Indonesia's East Java province is attempting to curb prostitution by asking masseuses to wear a pants padlock. Women's rights activists are protesting the recently implemented policy in the tourist area of Batu as insulting, according to Reuters. Indonesia's flourishing sex industry, where massage parlours are frequently a front for prostitution, has led to vigorous debates over morality in the Southeast Asian Muslim nation.

Germany putting the brakes on speeding

Bremen became the first state in Germany to introduce a speed limit on its motorways, breaking a taboo (wink, wink) in a country proud of its fast cars. The 120 kph limit in Bremen will affect just 60 km of road because the city state is so small.

So speed demons, book your tickets fast! Reinhard Loske, Bremen's local government minister, says the goal is to eventually introduce a general speed limit on motorways nationwide.

Happy Hour Taxes not really an oxymoron.

In Hoboken, New Jersey doing your taxes has become a social event. Certified public accountant, Carmine Sodora offers his services in local bars for 10 weeks leading up to the April 15 deadline to submit U.S. income tax returns. In 2005, Sodora founded "Tavern Tax" so that on weekday nights and weekend afternoons people can take care of business while they sip on a beer. In an interview with a Reuters reporter Sodora said, "I always say to people, 'Where's your beer? I can't have one but you can."

Dry cleaner gives same-day service to thieves

A dry-cleaning shop owner in Papua New Guinea has found a unique way of encouraging thieves to clean up their behaviour: giving them a steam cleaning.

Police in the northeast coastal town of Lae said a 20-year-old man suffered burns and scalding to his abdomen, chest and back after the owner turned a steam cleaner on him after he was caught stealing pants worth 14 kina (U$5.50).

Reuters reports that Police seemed unconcerned about the radical punishment and released the thief after being assured he had learned his lesson. Commissioner Lewin, are you taking notes?

Losers Weepers

Russian car cleaners got a surprise this week when they cleaned out a vacuum cleaner: a diamond pendant worth up to 300,000 euros (U$475,400). Vladimir Shapiro, owner of the car cleaning firm in Russia's northern city of St Petersburg, told Reuters that he would return the pendant to it's rightful owner.

Every Harry Potter Book Up For Sale

A Harry Potter fan who has amassed over 533 first-edition volumes in 63 languages will soon be "Rowling" in it after deciding to part with his collection, reports the Times. The books, scheduled to be sold 28 February by Bloomsbury Auctions, are expected to fetch £40,000. The 33-year-old enthusiast began collecting every single Harry Potter book back in 2002.

Microsoft Opens Door For DIY Games

Microsoft has announced a service that will allow Xbox users to share homemade games over the internet. The company freely distributes software tools that let amateurs try their hand at developing, but now they will be able to distribute their work through Xbox Live. "Ten million people will be able to play your games," said Microsoft's Chris Satchell at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. A sequel to the hugely popular game Gears Of War is also in the pipeline, it was revealed.

Who Needs a Bimmer

Swiss company, Rinspeed has come up with an ingenious way of avoiding rush hour traffic. This James Bond-style submersible car, powered by electric motors, can be driven down to 10ft underwater, and was inspired by the Lotus Elite driven by Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me. With that kind of style who needs a Bimmer?

Not-So-Complimentary Meal

Some British diners found their bill somewhat hard to swallow - not least because it contained an unexpected and sexually explicit item. Sandwiched between "1 Cab Sauv Glass, £4.00" and "1 Fish cakes, £4.95" was the immortal line "1 SUCK MY D**K F**K FACE, £0.00". The owner said the message was meant to be a private joke between two members of staff, and has invited the group to return for a free meal, reports the Telegraph.

No Smoke Without a Fire Extinguisher

An anti-smoking German man was so incensed by his girlfriend's habit that he used a fire extinguisher to put out her cig - while she was smoking it. According to Reuters, the man sprayed her and most of the apartment with foam, shouting obscenities as he did so, after his partner ignored his entreaties not to smoke. "He said he wasn't bothered by the damage it caused," said a police spokesman. "And that he's through with his girlfriend." Anger management counselling seems to be in order.

Prostitutes Incorporated

The world's oldest profession may now be legitimate in Canada. A group of prostitutes there won the right to incorporate themselves and create a safer environment for "working girls." Susan Davis, a development co-ordinator for what will be called the West Coast Co-Operative of Sex Industry Professionals, told Reuters: "It defines a structure for us to work together as a community." said. Brothels are illegal in Canada, but the prostitution laws have recently been challenged as unconstitutional.