You can call Shiv Charan simple, foolish, or just plain stupid if you want. The one thing you can't call him is a quitter. Starting in 1969, Shiv has devoted his life to passing India's year 10 exam. Since then he has taken the test every year except two (to study, I guess), and has failed every time. He has vowed not to marry until he can pass the test and is still single, which is now his main motivation. "As long as I am alive I will go on giving examinations in order to get a wife. For me, success is not merely about clearing the examinations. It will also throw open the doors of marriage," he said. By now Shiv must have the most impressive collection of prom wear in all of Asia. It seems like he'd pass just so he wouldn't have to dance to Alphaville's Forever young again.

Apparently, NASA sent a memo to its employees at the Johnson Space Center asking for their urine so they, NASA, could use it to test the Orion space capsule. How much urine? 30 liters per day, including weekends. Disposal of urine for up to six months would be required if Orion is to work as planned.

Alert reader nettamere adds a link to story at Discovery.com, excerpting: "Donations will be treated with a chemical that can hold solid particulates in the liquid so they don't clog up the tubing in microgravity, said Leo Makowski, company spokesman for Hamilton Sundstrand, a contractor designing the new spaceship's toilet. ... "It's difficult to come up with a faux urine, explained NASA's Jim Lewis, the systems manager overseeing development of Orion's potty. 'That's why we depend on collections.'"

A new child protection curriculum being implemented by the Education Department in Australia urges teachers to give children safety messages after reading them fairytales. The goal is to make sure that children understand not to engage in unsafe behaviors such as talking to strangers like Little Red Riding Hood and not to enter strange houses like Hansel and Gretel. While I can see the value in teaching kids not to talk to strangers, I want my kids to know that is is perfectly acceptable to push any elderly cannibal into an oven should they be kidnapped and kept in cages.

Robyn Eades, a Tasmanian grandmother, has taken the crazy cat lady thing to a whole new level. She runs a business that makes hats, purses, rugs and lots of other stuff out of cat skins. Most of her creations come from the skins of feral cats, however the trapper that provides her with most of her skins admits that his catch does include a few unlucky pets. "I feel like I am saving them from their fate. They are going to live forever in my creations," said Ms. Eades. She added, "They were just so soft and easy to skin. Wallabies were getting a bit hard as my hands are getting arthritic." Thanks to Robyn, you will be able to remember "Mittens" by having him turned into mittens.

As part of a research study to determine if an octopus has a favorite tentacle, twenty-five of them have been given Rubik's Cubes to play with. Although marine experts don't expect them to crack the puzzle, they hope to prove that the sea creatures have a preferred arm out of eight that they use to feed and investigate with - just like humans are right or left-handed. Claire Little, marine expert at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth, says, "Uniquely, octopuses have more than half their nerves in their arms and have even been shown to partially think with their arms. We hope the study will help the overall well-being of octopuses. They are very susceptible to stress so if they do have a favourite side to be fed on, it could reduce risk to them." Most importantly, if the cepholapods are able to solve the cubes they might one day replace a room full of Shakespeare writing monkeys in Infinite Improbability Drives across the universe.

Residents in southern India are earning close to an extra dollar a month by using public urinals. In Musiri, a remote town in Tamil Nadu state, it not unusual to find dozens of people queuing up to use the new toilets. S. Rajasekaran, a truck cleaner said, "In fact, many of us started using toilets for urination only after the ecosan (ecological sanitation) toilets were constructed in the area." The article doesn't say how the government knows exactly when or how often you've relieved yourself. I suspect an elaborate series of tubes, graduated cylinders, spigots, and one very sad Indian official keeps everyone honest.

"The Washington Times is reporting that the DHS wants to replace your boarding pass with a GPS-enabled shock bracelet. Plans for the device include subduing passengers remotely as well as onboard interrogation. There's even a promotional video." Perhaps Paul Ruwaldt (the official named in this story) has been watching "The Coneheads" a bit too much, or not actually flying enough. Expressing interest is not quite the same as ordering mass quantities, but it's scary enough.

The National Children's Bureau, a government sponsored agency in the UK, has issued guidelines to people who work with young children advising them to be alert for racist incidents among kids in their care. This includes youngsters who say, 'yuck' when fed an unfamiliar foreign food. Not even babies are exempt from scrutiny according to the 366-page guide as they can 'recognize different people in their lives.' I wonder if they think it's good or bad to like Aunt Jemima pancakes?

Attila Dimedici writes "A Russian man has just been crowned world champion in the sport of chess boxing. Apparently the idea originated in a French comic strip from the early '90s. In 2003 a Dutch artist decided to bring the 'sport' to life. The 'sport' is played by starting a chess match in the middle of a boxing ring. After four minutes, the chess board is cleared and the opponents box for three minutes. A match consists of six rounds of chess and five rounds of boxing. A match is decided by knockout, checkmate, or points."

Kent Couch plans on attaching 150 giant latex party balloons filled with helium to a lawn chair and flying from his home in Oregon to somewhere in Idaho, preferably Boise, this 4th of July weekend. This is actually Kent's third attempt. The first trip ended abruptly when he shot out too many balloons trying to descend and he had to use a parachute to land. This time Kent has corporate sponsorship, duct tape and zip ties for emergency repairs, extra clothes and a blanket to ward off the cold at higher altitudes. If all goes well, the lawn-chair pilot says he'd like to fly across the English Channel and even Australia. Assuming he can remember the lyrics to 'The Imagination Song,' Mr. Couch might even make it to Imaginationland one day.

Greg Locke, a machine designer and bass player, has created a self-playing rock band that is becoming an Internet sensation. "The Trons" took six months to build, and Locke lists The Velvet Underground and washing machines as their biggest influences. The band consists of Wiggy, the lead guitarist, Ham, on rhythm guitar, Swamp the drummer, and keyboard player Fifi. Along with their success on YouTube, The Trons have performed five live gigs in their hometown of Hamilton in New Zealand. I wonder what their groupies are like.

It seems that some athletes are turning to the little blue pill to get a competitive edge. Authorities say Viagra has gained a following among certain athletes in the hopes that it will give them a performance boost. Some preliminary studies have shown that cyclists taking Viagra improved their performances by up to 40 percent but more research has to be done. Whether or not Viagra will make you stronger or faster still seems to be up for debate, what is certain however is its devastating effects on hurdle running.

The guys at Red vs. Blue put together a fun PSA listing a few things that you've never seen in a forum and a few ideas for online conversation starters. In the words of the late great George Carlin, "Do what you want with the girl, but leave me alone!"

beadfulthings writes "In light of recent discussions about the Internet habits of the older generation, it's comforting to know that in North Carolina, up to 10,000 license plates containing the potentially offensive 3-letter WTF combination will be replaced by the Motor Vehicles division at no cost — if the owner of the vehicle finds the plates offensive. As reported on Winston-Salem's television station WXII, the MVD was alerted to the problem by an irate 60-year-old technology teacher who'd been clued in by her grandchildren. The article includes a helpful slide show of twenty Internet acronyms every parent should know. The article doesn't include any information on how you could actually apply for a WTF license plate."

Keiko Wakabayshi, a 77-year-old Japanese grandmother and master of jujitsu, jojitso, kenjitso, judo, kendo and karate, has been hired by the Italian military to teach soldiers hand-to-hand combat and humility. Standing a mere 5ft tall she easily wipes the floor with the soldiers in the Folgore brigade, most of whom are over 6ft and a third her age. I hear her best move is forward, forward, heavy kick and you should watch out for her laser attack.

A company was told that when their lease was up they'd have to move to a new suite a floor below. A new business would be taking over their space. This wouldn't have been a problem, except that they had just built a server room in the back of their office — equipped with air conditioning units, ventilation, dedicated and backup power — which couldn't be relocated. The solution building management came up with was to wall off the old door to the server closet and allow access to the server room via the handicapped stall in the ladies restroom. The door in our handicapped bathroom just leads to Narnia.

An anonymous reader writes "A recently-introduced law in Japan requires all businesses to have mandatory obesity checks (video link) for all their employees and employees' family members over the age of 40, CNN reports. If the employee or family member is deemed obese, and does not lose the extra fat soon, their employer faces large fines. The legislated upper limit for the waistline is 33.5" for men, and 35.5" for women. Should America adopt universal health insurance, could we live to see the same kind of individual health regulations imposed on us by the government? By comparison, the average waistline in America in 2005 was 39 inches for men, 37 inches for women."

What's in a name? Sometimes everything you need to know.

Cliff Arnall, a psychologist and former tutor at Cardiff University has come up with an equation to calculate the happiest day of the year. Guess what? It's today. According to Arnall the feeling of optimism caused by the combination of lighter evenings, the prospect of holidays and memories of childhood summers is at its peak on June 20. So remember as you sit at work today and stare at the clock, wondering if time somehow slows down while you are in this brick and mortar coffin, wasting the best years of your life, it's never going to get better than it is right now.

In a decision that is sure to make pre-teens everywhere up the brat ante, a Quebec Superior Court ruled that a father couldn't discipline his daughter by grounding her from a school trip. The father is filing an appeal because his moral authority over his child had been undercut by the court, said his lawyer, Kim Beaudoin. The 12-year-old girl was not allowed to go online after she posted photos of herself on a dating site. She then got into an argument with her stepmother, so her father said she couldn't go on a school trip. I wonder what the statute of limitations is on a grounding? I'm still a little pissed about not being able to go over to Eric's sleepover birthday party in 2nd grade.