A few creative and innovative crowdfunding projects

Crowdfunding websites like kickstarter are all about encouraging creativity and originality, and some really cool ideas have been brought to life through the crowdfunding business model. However, there have also been a few unusual projects, and this week I take a look at some of those 'less conventional' projects, including some projects featuring fresh air, water melons, and pay to not to play...

1) Fresh Air

Fresh air ... now available in a bottle!

Just to prove that there are people out there who will literally buy anything, crowdfunding website indiegogo featured a project from a company which planned to sell bottled air!

The blurb reads...

"Have you ever roamed an Irish mountain, or indeed dreamed of roaming one or sat by the Irish sea as the waves lapped gently over your frozen toes? We've bottled the essence that makes these experiences so unique. Fresh Irish Air."

I visited Ireland a few years ago and I have to say the Irish countryside air was lovely and fresh, so if you were going to sell bottled air then Irish air is the perfect choice. However, I don't think it was quite that amazing that I would pay money for it.

Prank facebook hacking

"Hello everyone. I am about to learn a hard lesson today. I am about to learn not to leave my facebook account logged in at work..."

That was a friend's status on facebook a few weeks ago, and it's also the theme for this week's blog post. I should first of all clarify that Charles Fudgemuffin in no way condones prank facebook hacking, but if you do find yourself with access to a friend's facebook account and you decide to post an embarrassing prank fake status, then the following examples, taken from my own facebook timeline, may provide inspiration for ideas.

A loving husband makes a generous promise to his wife
... or does he?

First of all, here's a standard classic hack...

1) "Best piece of advice you'll ever get... Listen to your wife. She knows best!"

Hmm, I wonder who could have been behind this status?



And a variation on the same theme...

2) "Well today I am going to take my wife shopping and buy her lots of nice things."

Strangely, the husband in question must have then had second thoughts because he replied to his own status with the comment:

"I am soooo not!"

Things that happen every second

At the third stroke, the time will be 11:59 and 60 seconds precisely... 

Every second counts.

If you think last Tuesday seemed to drag and felt like a long day ... you were right! That's because the International Earth Rotation And Reference Systems Service (IERS) added an extra second to Tuesday. This additional second is known as a 'leap second' and is kind of like a leap year only a lot shorter.

To explain the reasoning behind leap seconds, without getting too scientific, the speed of Earth's rotation varies by tiny amounts due to geological occurrences, as well as the pull of the Moon and the Sun, so the leap second is basically a way of ensuring our calendar remains precisely accurate.

You may think, "It's only a second! What's the big deal about a second?" but in actual fact a surprisingly high amount of activity can take place in a single second.

For example, every second...

1) ...the Earth orbits 18.5 miles around the Sun!


2) ...the Solar System travels 155 miles around the galactic centre of the Milky Way!

Supermarket signs, labels and vouchers

When you want to be amused, the supermarket isn't perhaps the first thing that comes to mind. Nevertheless, this week the Charles Fudgemuffin blog takes a lighthearted look at supermarket signs, labels and vouchers, with examples highlighting poor math(s) and poor geography...

1) What a bargain!

First up, here's a great deal at my local supermarket...

A brilliant offer for stupid people!

One pizza for £1.50, or 2 for £8!

Wow! What a bargain! I think I'll buy, er ... one.

Giving excellent stuff the credit it deserves (part 3)

Some people are very hard to please...

Previously on the Charles Fudgemufin blog, I've highlighted a selection of gushingly enthusiastic music reviews with confusingly stingy ratings. It's not just music reviewers who give harsh review ratings, so this week I've decided to look at a few similarly stingy reviews focusing on TV shows, movies, and first of all books...

1) Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

Withering Tights: "The most hilarious book ever!"
3 stars.

I'm a big fan of Louise Rennison's 'Angus' books, so I was interested to read this extremely enthusiastic review of her new 'Tallulah Casey' book...

"...this book is insane. It could have easily killed me with its hilarity, and to be entirely honest it might just be the most hilarious, most ridiculous book I've ever read. I wish I read this when I was younger - I'd have loved it! Or well ... it could have easily killed me then. It's just too funny! 3/5"

So just to recap, the 'most hilarious book' you've ever read...
...3 out of 5?

A book so funny it could have killed you...
...3 out of 5?

A book which is so amazingly hilariously funny it has the potential to kill, and yet you give it only 3 out of 5? Seriously!? 3 out of 5!?

!?!?!

10 funny quiz show answers (part 3)

"Sorry, you've failed the audition for Mastermind."

London. Famous for Big Ben,
Downing Street, and of course ... pasta.

As I've highlighted before on the Charles Fudgemuffin blog, contestants on quiz shows have come up with some very silly answers over the years. Here's another collection of silly answers from quiz show contestants who most definitely weren't appearing on Mastermind...

1) "Name something London is famous for."
Answer: "Pasta."


2) "Name something a blind man might use."
Answer: "A sword."


3) "Which letter of the alphabet sounds exactly the same as the term for a female sheep?"
Answer: "Baa!"

Scientists as comedians: Stephen Hawking

Time, the universe and parked cars...

A few weeks ago I featured a collection of quotes from Albert Einstein which showed that as well as being a scientific genius, Einstein perhaps also fancied himself as a bit of a comedian.

Einstein isn't the only scientist with a sense of humour, and another scientist known to make the occasional amusing remark is Stephen Hawking. Some of his quotes might not read that funny, but when you listen to Stephen actually saying them, his robotic straight laced voice only adds to the humour...

1) The end of the world

When giving a lecture in Japan, Stephen was asked not to mention the end of the universe in case it affected the Japanese stock market. This was his response:

"I don't know if or when the universe will end, but for those of you who are nervous about your investments, I think it's a bit early to sell."