13 votes

Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: ask.discussion, recurring.weekly, offbeat fridays, offbeat

Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like data.user, litigation and politicians. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was nosy.

But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

2 comments

  1. mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Ursus rotundus: contenders compete in Alaska’s Fat Bear Week The Guardian – Adam Gabbatt – 3rd October 2023

    Ursus rotundus: contenders compete in Alaska’s Fat Bear Week

    Fat Bear Week, the annual competition to see which Alaskan bears can pack on the most pounds before hibernation season, begins this week, with a combination of fan favorites and newcomers vying for the title of the state’s most rotund bear.

    The contest, which has become increasingly popular in recent years, will see 12 bears in the Katmai national park in Alaska face off against each other, in an online vote.

    The Guardian – Adam Gabbatt – 3rd October 2023

    8 votes
  2. JCPhoenix
    Link
    Cat accused of wiping US Veteran Affairs server info after jumping on keyboard The Register - Thomas Claburn - 2023-10-05

    Cat accused of wiping US Veteran Affairs server info after jumping on keyboard

    EXCLUSIVE A four-hour system interruption in September at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri has been attributed to a cat jumping on a technician's keyboard.
    [...]
    So we asked the Department of Veteran Affairs to confirm the yarn. VA press secretary Terrence Hayes responded promptly with the following statement:

    "On September 13, 2023 the Kansas City VAMC [Veterans Affairs Medical Center] experienced an issue with image transfer within Vista due to an inadvertent deletion of server profiles. The issue was quickly identified and the system restored within four hours. There have been no further issues or direct impacts to veterans from this incident."
    [...]
    No mention was made of the cat in the VA's statement. And when The Register explicitly asked Hayes to confirm the involvement of a problem with paws, he declined to comment. We informed him that we would be reporting what we heard and to let us know if our source's account was in any way not purrfect.

    The Register - Thomas Claburn - 2023-10-05

    7 votes