DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
Who’s making your coffee? PICTURE: Athena Lam/Unsplash.
• Warning, warning! Is the day of the (human) barista numbered? A new cafe opened in Japan recently where the main attraction is the robot Sawyer whotakes on the role of barista. The single armed robot, who takes tickets from customers and then makes them what he calls a “delicious” filter coffee, even boasts about making better coffee than his human counterparts as it exchanges banter with customers. The cafe, located in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, is operated by a travel agency.
• Stuck at Deadman’s Head, Tom Tiddler’s Field or Nuncle Dicks and unsure if rescuers will be able to find you? A new database of local nicknames for coastal locations has been created by the UK mapping agency Ordnance Survey with the aim of helping coastguard units locate those needing help. Some 6,000 nicknames of places across the UK have so far been added to the database. Jeremy Morley, chief scientist at Ordnance Survey, says the work – which has been carried out in conjunction with the Maritime & Coastguard Agency – has been a “great success” and OS was now looking to take the concept to inland sites as well. So if you’re at Borstal Boy’s Ponds, Yellow Dog with No Teeth Bridge or Pom Pom, have no fear, the coastguard will now be able to find you.
• A Chinese man who made his own tank has lost his licence after taking his rather unusual vehicle onto the streets. The man, who reportedly lives in Laibin, in southern China, is said to have spent two months refurbishing and altering an old vehicle, changing its shape, daubing it with a camouflage plaint-job and adding features such as a gun turret. The vehicle was intercepted by police as he attempted to take it onto a road and he was fined and lost his licence. The man was apparently hoping to gain some fame on the internet for his creation – which apparently he has.
