The rare beauty found within Google street view | Fordoing It is not often when browsing through Google street view that you come across anything of real beauty but Aaron Hobson has found some rather rare examples of what the Google car cam has caught while traveling around the world. Update: You can now see even more photos from the Google car cam here: The rare beauty found within google street view 2 BWG — Adventures of a BigWhiteGuy living in Hong Kong Hell Money; BigWhiteGuy.com What the Hell is Hell Money? In Hong Kong, the word Hell doesn't carry the same negative connotation as western Hell. The most popular legend has it that zealous Christian missionaries warned all non-Christian Chinese they'd "go to Hell" upon death. In a classic case of misinterpretation, the locals believed Hell was the English term for the afterlife, rather than equating it with Chinese Hell, which is pretty darned nasty in its own right. True or not, it sounds plausible. Some refer to the notes as Spirit Money, Ghost Money or Joss Paper, but whatever name they go by, I love the outrageous denominations. The first set shows the highest dollar amount I've found to date: $50 billion, followed by $8 billion and $5 billion. What's It Made From? Hell Bank Notes come bundled in various numbers, depending on the currency. It doesn't matter, as they're made to be burned. How Is It Used? Who's The Guy In The Hat? Legend has it he was once a living Chinese Emperor. The backs of the notes vary.
First 'Alien Earth' Will Be Found in 2013 The first truly Earth-like alien planet is likely to be spotted next year, an epic discovery that would cause humanity to reassess its place in the universe. While astronomers have found a number of exoplanets over the last few years that share one or two key traits with our own world — such as size or inferred surface temperature — they have yet to bag a bona fide "alien Earth." But that should change in 2013, scientists say. "I'm very positive that the first Earth twin will be discovered next year," said Abel Mendez, who runs the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo. Planets piling up Astronomers discovered the first exoplanet orbiting a sunlike star in 1995. NASA's prolific Kepler Space Telescope, for example, has flagged more than 2,300 potential planets since its March 2009 launch. The first exoplanet finds were scorching-hot Jupiter-like worlds that orbit close to their parent stars, because they were the easiest to detect. What it would mean
Japan’s Bizzare Fast Food Products Japan’s fast food war is so intense. Food companies have had to think of novel ideas to come up with better products. This has resulted in some really interesting things on their menus. Here are some examples of products that were made because of the food war. Wendy’s Foie Gras Burger Wendy’s classic beef patty with the regular fixings and duck liver, priced at US$16 McDonald’s Mega McMuffin Two breakfast sausage patties combined with cheese, egg, bacon, and ketchup — all sandwiched within a McDonald’s English muffin Burger King’s NY Pizza Burger I think the name says it all — a burger the size of a pizza. McDonald’s Ebi Filet-O A sandwich with fried shrimp, dressing, and lettuce Burger King’s Meat Monster Burger A meat lover’s dream — chicken breast, bacon, TLC all in one burger! Domino’s Sirloin Steak Pizza Pizza with grilled eggplant, cheese sauce and sirloin steak McDonald’s Chocolate and Orange Pie McDonald’s famous pie stuffed with chocolate, with a fizz of orange Burger King’s BK Ringo Burger
28 freaky ghost towns you can visit [PICs] | Matador Though the “ghost town” is often associated with the American West, there are abandoned places all over the world. SOME TOWNS GROW QUICKLY from the ground up, surging in population. People arrive to work in the mines or factories and build their lives on the frontier. The photos below capture the way things look after people leave. <IMG src=" alt="" title=""> 'I think it is best you not know', AlabamaMany of these old towns had once been thriving county seats, but as commerce left and transportation corridors changed, the glory faded, creating Alabama's ghost towns.Photo: Naaman Fletcher <IMG src=" alt="" title="">Bannack, MontanaBannack was named after a local Indian nation. I am a traveler, not a tourist.