Watercooler Stories

Japanese prank caller arrested

MITO, Japan, July 12 (UPI) -- A Japanese man was arrested Thursday for allegedly making as many as 35,000 prank phone calls to a communications company.

Akira Kobayashi, 32, of Mito was charged with obstructing business for making 4,200 calls to NTT Communications between April 5 and May 20, the Mainichi Daily News reported. But police said Kobayashi actually might have made more than eight times that many calls to NTT's free dial service from his father's mobile phone and two others.

Usually, he would hang up immediately when operators answered his calls, police said. But sometimes he would allegedly ask them about their age or clothes, they said.

Merriam-Webster dictionary gets thicker

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., July 12 (UPI) -- It might make a "ginormous" difference only to language purists but the U.S. publisher Merriam-Webster has added about 100 words to its Collegiate Dictionary.

"Ginormous" is a word meaning humongous that made it into the 11th edition of the dictionary printed by the Massachusetts publisher.

Merriam-Webster updates its Collegiate Dictionary every year with a number of new words, senses, and variants.

The company said on its Web site that ginormous "has undeniably proven its true staying power." The company added that many others will be "closely watched" by its editors for future revisions.

A few others that made this year's version are "crunk," a noun meaning a style of Southern rap music featuring repetitive chants and rapid dance rhythms; "smackdown," a noun meaning the act of knocking down or bringing down an opponent; "speed dating," an event at which each participant converses individually with all the prospective partners for a few minutes in order to select those with whom dates are desired; and "sudoku," a popular Japanese numbers puzzle.

Hot sauce spices up presidential poll

SAN FRANCISCO, July 12 (UPI) -- Spicy but not scientific, a San Francisco company is getting customers to name their 2008 presidential choices when buying hot sauce.

So far, the Dave's Gourmet Inc. poll is a virtual dead heat between Sen. Barack Obama at 14 percent, and Rudy Guiliani and Hillary Clinton tied at 13 percent. But right behind that prominent trio is "Nunov Deabove," listed as the Independent candidate, with 12 percent. Rounding out the survey are John Edwards and John McCain at 8 percent, Mitt Romney at 7 percent, Al Gore and Fred Thompson at 6 percent and Newt Gingrich 4 percent. Dave and the Sauce Party also grabbed 6 percent.

This tasty survey has no limits and it's updated daily.

"Our motto is "Vote early, vote often," the company says on its Web site (www.davesgourmet.com/election2008).

Anyone with a big appetite for hot sauce, or at least a big ego, can become a candidate in this poll, as well, by ordering at least 10 cases.

The company also has a warm heart: Profits from the sale of the sauces will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

No-touch toilet paper dispenser revealed

ROSWELL, Ga., July 11 (UPI) -- Scott toilet tissue-maker, Kimberly-Clark Professional, Wednesday rolled out the United States' first electronic toilet paper dispenser.

With the introduction of the Kimberly-Clark Professional JRT Electronic Coreless bath tissue dispenser, all that's left for the hands to do in a public restroom would be the actual wiping.

Public restrooms already offer automatic sinks as well as no-touch soap and hand towel dispensers, Kimberly Clark, of Roswell, Ga., noted in a news release.

Now, "the electronic revolution has entered the bathroom stall," said Kimberly Clark Professional Washroom Business Director Richard Thorne.

Thorne said the dispenser, which drops a pre-measured amount of toilet paper into users' hands, not only improves bathroom hygiene but also reduces the amount of toilet paper wasted.