8 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 christmas, sermons and 60 minutes. 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!

10 comments

  1. patience_limited
    Link
    Here's a twofer, happy holidays all! Uncles Tremble as Man Invents Vaccine Delivered by Beer This one also gets me because of the Ratatouille Easter egg in the name of Buck's company. Defense...

    Here's a twofer, happy holidays all!

    Uncles Tremble as Man Invents Vaccine Delivered by Beer

    By day, virologist Chris Buck works for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Maryland, where he’s discovered four of the 13 polyomaviruses we know to affect humans, Science News reports. But by night, he runs Gusteau Research Corporation, a one-man shell company he established so he could experiment on his bubbly inoculation: an ingestible polyomavirus vaccine.

    To make the beer, Buck engineered a special strain of yeast infused with polyomavirus-like particles. Similar particles, delivered via purified insect chitin, have successfully increased antibody levels in rhesus monkeys tested in India, according a 2023 research study published in the journal Vaccine.

    This one also gets me because of the Ratatouille Easter egg in the name of Buck's company.

    Defense department sends woman letter demanding she stop selling intimate toys to soldiers

    Grace Bennett, the co-owner of Bonjibon, a company that makes "sexual wellness" aids, was sent a letter from the Department of Defence after she began filling orders to soldiers stationed abroad in Bahrain.

    The letter, which she has since framed and hung on a wall, appeared on Department of the Navy stationery.

    "Framing the angry letter the American Department of Defense sent my Canadian spicy toy business on behalf of the Kingdom of Bahrain, telling me to stop mailing [peach emoji] plugs to their American soldiers stationed in Bahrain, even though their soldiers are the ones who ordered them in the first place!" Bennett said in an Instagram video.

    She had followers of the company vote on what kind of frame the letter should be put in. "Glitter" was the overwhelming winner.

    9 votes
  2. [9]
    mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Blank canvas or tone-deaf? Pantone's white Colour of the Year sparks backlash BBC News – Yasmin Rufo – 20th December 2025

    Blank canvas or tone-deaf? Pantone's white Colour of the Year sparks backlash

    This year, Pantone has chosen white as its colour of the year.

    More specifically, Cloud Dancer - a white described as "lofty" and "billowy" that "serves as a symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection".

    It is the first time white has been chosen as the colour of the year, and it has raised more than a few eyebrows.

    BBC News – Yasmin Rufo – 20th December 2025

    4 votes
    1. [8]
      chocobean
      Link Parent
      Pantone people are laughing at us aren't they. Openly this year, I mean. I always thought their business model was rather unsavory but this one feels intentional.

      Pantone people are laughing at us aren't they. Openly this year, I mean. I always thought their business model was rather unsavory but this one feels intentional.

      4 votes
      1. [7]
        AugustusFerdinand
        Link Parent
        How so?

        Pantone people are laughing at us aren't they. Openly this year, I mean.

        How so?

        2 votes
        1. [6]
          chocobean
          Link Parent
          I feel like they have built themselves a nice little monopoly as an indispensable part of the design world, and carry a lot of clout. Their entire business model seems like a mockery of common...

          I feel like they have built themselves a nice little monopoly as an indispensable part of the design world, and carry a lot of clout. Their entire business model seems like a mockery of common sense, of indie designers, and a celebration / enforced continuation of industry capture, eg, their entire business is to laugh at us behind our backs. Their colour of the year choice of White feels open mockery this time. White isn't a colour: there's no product that needs to purchase this exact hue shade value for. It feels like an exercise for them to see how far they can push everyone and how people will still feel compelled to purchase the right to call it whatever Pantone name they gave, to use in their presentations

          5 votes
          1. [2]
            DefinitelyNotAFae
            Link Parent
            I saw people mocking it as "landlord white" which is very apropos I think. It has a very "disconnected with what the people want" vibe. There are some other neat colors of the year from other...

            I saw people mocking it as "landlord white" which is very apropos I think. It has a very "disconnected with what the people want" vibe. There are some other neat colors of the year from other companies though!

            6 votes
            1. chocobean
              Link Parent
              Haha landlord white. It's pretty bougie I guess, to be able to afford white, minimalistic homes.

              Haha landlord white. It's pretty bougie I guess, to be able to afford white, minimalistic homes.

              2 votes
          2. [2]
            AugustusFerdinand
            Link Parent
            White is a color, so you're wrong from the outset. Secondly, it's a shade of white, which is just as nuanced as the shades of any other color. The exact same can be said of every color they have...
            1. White is a color, so you're wrong from the outset. Secondly, it's a shade of white, which is just as nuanced as the shades of any other color.
            2. The exact same can be said of every color they have chosen for color of the year. No one needs to purchase any of the colors they choose and arguably, they don't. Pantone chooses a color, hopes that the next year's designs focuses on that general color, but no one is going to swathe themselves or their homes in a a single color.
            3 votes
            1. chocobean
              Link Parent
              Hmmmm, that's a reasonable take

              Hmmmm, that's a reasonable take

              1 vote
          3. MimicSquid
            Link Parent
            I dislike the way they wield their power, but I do think that the ability to have actually standardized colors is of value. I dont care about their names for them, but being able to pull out the...

            I dislike the way they wield their power, but I do think that the ability to have actually standardized colors is of value. I dont care about their names for them, but being able to pull out the pack of color chips and compare the color the manufacturer says they're making to the brand standard they're supposed to hit is invaluable.

            2 votes