12 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 search engines, ea and jane goodall. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was inquisitive.

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!

18 comments

  1. [2]
    mycketforvirrad
    Link
    The perils of letting AI plan your next trip BBC Travel – Lynn Brown – 29th September 2025

    The perils of letting AI plan your next trip

    An imagined town in Peru, an Eiffel tower in Beijing: travellers are increasingly using tools like ChatGPT for itinerary ideas – and being sent to destinations that don't exist.

    BBC Travel – Lynn Brown – 29th September 2025

    9 votes
    1. jredd23
      Link Parent
      I think it's not an AI problem, it's a people problem. The idea that a digital <enter tool name here> has all the answers is to me a bit off. Maybe am old-school but common sense is the following...

      I think it's not an AI problem, it's a people problem. The idea that a digital <enter tool name here> has all the answers is to me a bit off. Maybe am old-school but common sense is the following statement:

      "...the key to traveling well – with or without AI – is keeping an open mind and being adaptable when things go wrong."

      3 votes
  2. [6]
    patience_limited
    Link
    ‘Emergency’ naked bike ride plans underway after troops deployed to Portland I guess you do what you can.

    ‘Emergency’ naked bike ride plans underway after troops deployed to Portland

    I guess you do what you can.

    7 votes
    1. jredd23
      Link Parent
      In this case, you do without when you can...

      In this case, you do without when you can...

      3 votes
    2. [4]
      chocobean
      Link Parent
      The article gave no clue as to the connection between military presence and naked bike ride? :/ just ...... show up to demonstrate the right to bare arms?

      The article gave no clue as to the connection between military presence and naked bike ride? :/ just ...... show up to demonstrate the right to bare arms?

      2 votes
      1. [3]
        DefinitelyNotAFae
        Link Parent
        Their Instagram post didn't provide anything else, other than indicating they're working with other protest groups and that one's attire is up to them. It's just being present and provocative in...

        Their Instagram post didn't provide anything else, other than indicating they're working with other protest groups and that one's attire is up to them. It's just being present and provocative in protest to ICE presence.

        2 votes
        1. [2]
          chocobean
          Link Parent
          Oh that's for that ! I don't have an ig account to check. I hope everything goes okay for the riders. No protective layers is gutsy. Hopefully the human inside the ICE uniform will feel decency...

          Oh that's for that ! I don't have an ig account to check.

          I hope everything goes okay for the riders. No protective layers is gutsy. Hopefully the human inside the ICE uniform will feel decency and good humour

          2 votes
          1. DefinitelyNotAFae
            Link Parent
            Portland has thus far (in the lives and videos I've seen) been taunting ICE with donuts on fishing poles, brought a guillotine and tainted individual officers while wearing a tiny plastic hand on...

            Portland has thus far (in the lives and videos I've seen) been taunting ICE with donuts on fishing poles, brought a guillotine and tainted individual officers while wearing a tiny plastic hand on their finger and waving it in their faces.

            There are much more provocative people than the naked bike riders so hopefully they'll be fine.

            2 votes
  3. [4]
    arch_mage
    Link
    ‘Very mean squirrel’ seeking food has sent at least 2 people to the ER in a California city This is why you don't feed wild animals

    ‘Very mean squirrel’ seeking food has sent at least 2 people to the ER in a California city

    This is why you don't feed wild animals

    6 votes
    1. [2]
      CannibalisticApple
      Link Parent
      One of those headlines that sounds like a joke and makes you want to laugh because of the absurd mental image even though I know it's serious. Even the poster shown in the photo opens with "THIS...

      One of those headlines that sounds like a joke and makes you want to laugh because of the absurd mental image even though I know it's serious. Even the poster shown in the photo opens with "THIS IS NOT A JOKE" but... "ATTACK SQUIRREL BEWARE!!!!!!!!" and that particular photo still feel like a joke.

      At least squirrels are very unlikely to have rabies?

      2 votes
      1. chocobean
        Link Parent
        It does sound silly and funny, doesn't it. But then again, the animals we have today, including domesticated ones, have evolved and survived in the wild for eons, for good reasons. A rooster has...

        It does sound silly and funny, doesn't it. But then again, the animals we have today, including domesticated ones, have evolved and survived in the wild for eons, for good reasons. A rooster has spurs, a cow can crush you, horse kicks will mess you up, squirrels have teeth that can open nuts, a panda cuts down a bamboo for snack, and cute weasels are all efficient merciless killers. Meanwhile, the human threshold for how injured we expect to be from nature on a daily basis has never been lower. We expect no injuries at all, every day for a year, sharing a planet with all these species with teeth, fang, claw, venom etc.

        Pretty interesting that cute = safe is a very recent invention.

        4 votes
    2. chocobean
      Link Parent
      :( why squirrel can't be friend 🐿️

      :( why squirrel can't be friend 🐿️

      1 vote
  4. [6]
    jredd23
    Link
    At work I worry about sharks circling around me all the time but a bite? Mexican marine biologist attacked by a shark near remote island in Costa Rica

    At work I worry about sharks circling around me all the time but a bite?
    Mexican marine biologist attacked by a shark near remote island in Costa Rica

    Despite the serious injuries to his head, face and arms, Hoyos arrived to the hospital in stable condition.

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      fefellama
      Link Parent
      ( edit: lmao just realized you probably didn't mean literal sharks, whoosh) I work at a museum, was recently moving a shark jaw around and it amazed me how sharp the teeth were. Like I knew they'd...

      What do you do for work that you worry about sharks all the time? ( edit: lmao just realized you probably didn't mean literal sharks, whoosh)

      I work at a museum, was recently moving a shark jaw around and it amazed me how sharp the teeth were. Like I knew they'd be sharp, but it surprised me just how sharp they were. The slightest touch felt like it was going to pierce skin.

      Can't imagine what it must feel like to be bitten by one, especially a 4-meter one!

      3 votes
      1. chocobean
        Link Parent
        At the Beatty Biodiversity museum (UBC) we got to touch a Megalodon tooth fossil. That thing was still sharp: we were directed touch very carefully. I love sharks

        At the Beatty Biodiversity museum (UBC) we got to touch a Megalodon tooth fossil. That thing was still sharp: we were directed touch very carefully. I love sharks

        2 votes
    2. [3]
      chocobean
      Link Parent
      How terrible!!! Hopefully he's going to have a speedy recovery. So glad he's safe overall, and oh man I'm so thankful for modern medicine. Here's another article from NYT (and archive -- the...

      How terrible!!! Hopefully he's going to have a speedy recovery. So glad he's safe overall, and oh man I'm so thankful for modern medicine.

      Here's another article from NYT (and archive -- the article mention the species is a "nine-foot-long Galápagos shark". It's remarkable how calm he was, and that after the bite he is still very eager to defend her (the shark):

      "Galápagos sharks were usually easier to tag because, as top predators, they are generally not as afraid of humans," he said. “She was heading down and never saw me, and then she felt the puncture” of the tag, Dr. Hoyos said. “It was a defensive bite. She wanted me to stay away from her personal space.”

      It was his first bite, too. “I have been doing this for 30 years,” he said. “She was scared also. It was not her fault.”

      jredd23 what do you do again, that has sharks circling? :< are you usually safer?

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        jredd23
        Link Parent
        My work office environment has some people who are shrewd, and sometimes outright predatory. Luckily they don’t bite, at least with their mouth.

        My work office environment has some people who are shrewd, and sometimes outright predatory. Luckily they don’t bite, at least with their mouth.

        3 votes