Military perfects long-service pizza
The US military has developed a pizza that lasts three years. The key to perfecting pizza that stays fresh, even after sitting on a shelf for 1000 days, was the invention of a proprietary packet filled with iron filings, reports Boston's wbur.org. It soaks up moisture and rusts so the pizza doesn't become a mouldy petri dish. The food is tested extensively with soldiers because they're the ones who will be consuming these, out in the field, in the cold and in the rain, sitting on a mountainside in Afghanistan, and it has to be good and something they enjoy eating. For the military, food is far more than fuel. It's a taste of home and a morale booster.
If ID request seems totally daft, blame criminals and terrorists
Andrew works for one of those "stupid organisations" who ask you to identify yourself, even though they just called you, and he explains: "If you're committing fraud, have provided a fake ID, and are pretending to be someone else, then of course you're going to answer the phone number you have given us using that name. You are pretending to be that person after all ... I know that these ID requirements that exist as a result of the Privacy Act and Anti Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism legislation are boring and annoying. They are for us too. And expensive. In fact, we have to employ compliance officers to ensure that we are complying with the legislation. It isn't a 'dumb excuse'. It's the law. So your annoyance at the companies is misdirected. We are merely seeking to adhere to legislative requirements. Blame the Government. Better yet, blame the criminals and terrorists who were behind the Government introducing such legislation."
Random compliment leaves target keen to hear more
"Wanted: A date with the lovely [Irish?] man, wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and sporting a dark, short beard who smiled and then came up to me to say, 'I know this is completely random, but I wanted to let you know that you look really nice', to me on the corner of Albert and Customs Sts [Auckland] at approximately 7.30 on Friday night." Please contact Sideswipe if you were this guy.
