There are 1 million industrial robots around the world (as of Dec 2008), and Japan has the highest density with 295 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers.
Singapore and Korea are second and third respectively on the chart, but significantly behind Japan in numbers [illustration by Mike Vella; more on IEEE]
The largest truffle found in Italy this year was sold for USD200,000 at a charity auction that was held simultaneously in Abu Dhabi, Macau, London and Rome on November 29.
Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho was the highest bidder for the 1.08-kg white truffle. The tycoon was also the highest bidder for last year’s largest truffle, a 1.5-kg piece that fetched a record $330,000.
Truffle is a precious ingredient in Italian and French gourmet for its pungent aroma and taste. White truffle is considered the best truffle; a kilogram of normal size white truffle could cost over $5000.
A total of $284k were raised from this auction event, with a few smaller truffle being sold as well. The money will be donated to selected charities in the cities that held the synchronised auction.
[Updated Dec 17] E! Entertainment recently released its “25 Sexiest Men of the World” 2008 list, in which Canadian-Chinese star Edison Chen somehow ranked higher (15th) than Chinese-Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro (20th).
Well, Edison might be sexier than Takeshi in E!’s point of views (I guess the sex pics might help a bit), but the sexiest Asian title goes to Dingdong Dantes (3th) from the Philippines instead.
Bollywood actor John Abraham is the other Asian celebrity that made the list, and he too was ranked higher than the two Chinese stars at 10th.
This E! sexiest men list is a bit unique as the chosen celebs covered a wide range of different nationalities and ethnicity as compared to most other sexiest/hottest lists which are dominated by Hollywood stars. Arguable… but nice try.
Here are the top 25 sexiest men of the world according to E!…
An Italian priest was planning to organise an online beauty pageant for nuns to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour.
Father Antonio Rungi, a theologian and schoolteacher from Naples, was planning to run the “Miss Sister” (or “Sister Italia”) contest via online voting in hope to give the nuns a chance to show off their work and image [via News and ABC]
Update – the plan is suspended.
The 6th annual World Cosplay Summit was held in Nagoya, Japan last weekend.
WSC is getting bigger every year with thousands of cosplayers from around the world joining the party; it’s becoming so popular that the Japanese government is officially endorsing it.
A cosplay contest was held in conjunction with the event since 2004. 14 teams from 13 countries participated in the 2008 contest; two teams from Japan and one each from Brazil, China, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand and USA.
The Brazilians won the contest this year.
Moscow is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates for the third consecutive year, according to the latest Cost of Living Survey from Mercer.
Mercer’s survey is arguably the world’s most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.
The survery covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
Top 10 most expensive cities in 2008
Moscow (Russia), Tokyo (Japan), London (UK), Oslo (Norway), Seoul (South Korea), Hong Kong (China), Copenhagen (Denmark), Geneva (Switzerland), Zurich (Switzerland) and Milan (Italy).
Surprisingly US have only one city in the top 50 (New York at 22nd)… and Canada don’t even make it into top 50. Perhaps we should migrate to that region instead lol.
Chilli, a 6ft 6in tall Friesian bullock, is as big as a small elephant.
His owners have contacted the Guinness Book of Records who are currently assessing his credentials and comparing them to other big bovines.
The 9-year-old bullock lives at the Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Chard, Somerset, UK. Despite his grand stature, Chille only grazes on grass during the day and enjoys the occasional swede as a treat.
The closest in height (in Britain) to Chilli was one recorded in Dorset at 6ft 1in in 2007. The current British record holder is The Colonel at 6ft 5in tall, but he died in 2005.
The world’s tallest bovine at the moment is 6ft 8ins Fiorino, who lives in Italy.
I thought it was a photoshopped image when I first saw the picture… it’s just so huge. Can’t believe that there is still another bull that’s taller than him.
