Happy Toilets

The island nation of Singapore is no stranger to cleanliness programs, with laws banning spitting and leaving used gum on objects, but now they have taken it to a new level with the Happy Toilet Program. What exactly is the Happy Toilet Program, you ask. The Happy Toilet Program was created to rate all of Singapore’s 70,000 public restrooms. But again, why? Because as the Restroom Association of Singapore’s president, Jack Sim explains “Today when you go to a public toilet you do not know what to expect inside, sometimes you are very happy but sometimes you are very shocked—disgusted. When toilets are clean, people are happy.” (Click Read More to read more!)


But how are the bathrooms rated? They’re rated on a “five-star” system (Like hotels), a normal restroom that’s clean and stocked will receive a 3-star rating. Want higher? The restroom will have to be designed so that you don’t have to travel a long distance from the toilets to the sinks, it also will have to have a good “Ambiance”; such as having paintings and plants decorating it. If a restroom fails to get at least three stars it won’t be awarded a plaque, and is to be assumed to be in poor condition.

You also best respect their restrooms. Failure to flush a toilet (If you get caught) will result in a $150 dollar fine. And on a related note: Make sure not to pee in an elevator, as many elevators in Singapore are equipped with Urine sensors. Should they detect urine: the Elevator will stop and lock its doors until a police squad arrives. You will then face a hefty $400 fine.

And remember, as Environmental Minister Lim Swee Sim would like to remind you “A country with dirty toilets has no future.” So do you part and go clean the bathroom!

Singapore's very own Toilet.org.sg


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Numbers on the Air

The days of the radio are dying. Television and the internet have become the main source of entertainment and communication today. Seemingly forgotten is the world of shortwave radio, and one of the biggest mysteries in it.

You’re driving down a country road; your radio is on a low AM frequency just picking up static, when all of a sudden you hear a tone, a few beeps, and then a female voice saying 1-2-3-4-5-6. The sequence repeats, and then stops. You just heard the mystery many call a Numbers Station broadcast; named such because mostly all broadcasts contain a number sequence. (CLICK READ MORE TO CONTINUE READING!)


Numbers Stations can be traced all the way back to near the start of shortwave radio during World War I. They normally start at very specific times, and go by a strict schedule. They can be found all over the world, in many languages. So, what’s the purpose of them?
Although there is no sure explanation for any one broadcast, most of them are believed to be a coded message sent from a government, for spies to decode using a one-time pad, on undercover missions. It may sound made up but there is some compelling evidence that this is the truth.

Perhaps the biggest reason to believe that this is true was the case of the Cuban Five. The Cuban Five were a group of 5 Cuban intelligence officials, who came to the United States to infiltrate anti-Cuban organization, and government offices in the Miami Area. They were charged, and convicted of many crimes, including conspiracy to commit murder. During the trial it was revealed that they were receiving information from the Cuban government through the Atención Numbers Station. A well known Number Station based out of Cuba, which broadcasts throughout the Caribbean. They are said to have had written down the number codes, received using Sony hand-held shortwave receivers, and decrypted them using a computer program on a laptop. The FBI testified that in 1995 they had entered the accused spy’s apartment, and copied the decryption program. Which they later used to decrypt the Altención messages. Here are a few messages translated from Spanish.

"prioritize and continue to strengthen friendship with Joe and Dennis"

"Under no circumstances should [agents] German nor Castor fly with BTTR or another organization on days 24, 25, 26, and 27." (BTTR is the anti-Castro airborne group Brothers to the Rescue)

"Congratulate all the female comrades for International Day of the Woman."

Numbers Stations are also mentioned in Robert Wallace and H. Keith Melton's book Spycraft.

A Numbers Station has also been tracked to the British military’s Royal Air Force base on the island of Cyprus. The station has gotten the nickname” Lincolnshire Poacher” since it plays two bars from the popular British folk song. You can find a schedule for the Lincolnshire Poacher station here.

Some would think that they would have died down after the Cold War ended, but that isn’t the case. In fact, in a world where anything on a computer can be hacked into. It seems that the simplicity of a shortwave signal and a one-time pad are gaining more favor. Some also believe that drug smugglers are now using their own Numbers Stations to communicate across borders.

Anyone interested in Numbers Stations should see the Conet Project. The Conet Project is a four CD set of recordings from Number Stations from around the world. The Conet Project was done by Akin Fernandez, and published by England's Irdial-Discs record label in 1997. Irdial-Discs released the CDs .mp3 files for free online for anyone interested in listen to them. Some of the records have also been used in various films and music, such as the movie Vanilla Sky.






For more information on this fascinating subject, check out the links below.

Wikipedia Page
Damn Interesting Article
Conet Project wiki page (Links to everything about it in there)
CBS story about Numbers Stations


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The Truth About Lucia Zarate

Many people know about the world’s tallest person, and there are countless TV shows about some of the world’s heaviest. However, few know about the world’s smallest person. That person is Lucia Zarate.

Lucia Zarate was believed to have been born in San Carlos, Mexico, in 1864 (Although, it is well known that circus showmen often exaggerated the age of little people to help sell their shows to the public. And new facts now seem to show she was actually born in 1870 in Vera Cruz, Mexico. A group of Oxford University medical professionals did pay Zarate a visit in 1876. And while they could not confirm her supposed age of twelve, they could confirm that she was at least six years of age through her dental development) She was born at only eight ounces, and seven inches long. She is said to have became fully grow by the time she was one, although that fact is disputed. When she was fully grown she was only 21. 5 inches tall, and a record (Guinness Book) of only 4.7 pounds; although at times she weighed as much as 13Lbs. (CLICK READ MORE TO CONTINUE READING!)


Lucia first made her way to America in 1876, and then debuted in Philadelphia, at The Centennial Exposition (A celebration of America’s 100 birthday), and was a huge hit. She soon began her carrier as one of the biggest sideshow attractions of the era. After some time on East Coast, Lucia went to tour Europe with her family. In perhaps her most famous stop in Europe, on February 26th, 1881, Lucia visited Queen Victoria and the Royal Family. Lucia would continue to tour Europe and the United States, mostly the East coast, for the next ten years.

Lucia’s demise would ultimately come on the West coast. On January 15th 1890, during the “Great Snow Blockade of 1890”, Lucia was on a train headed to a show in San Francisco, when her train, after a cattle train jump the tracks, became stuck near Truckee California. No one was immediately alarmed, but soon it became clear that the railroad was not prepared to handle such a catastrophic storm and over 12 trains became stuck in the Truckee area. It should be said that before the storm ended around 25ft of snow had fallen on Truckee!

The Zarates had brought special food for Lucia to eat, but after 10 or so days, they ran out of food and had to feed her some of the train’s emergence rations. No one is sure whether sure caught influenza, which was going around the train, or food poisoning from eating the canned food her family receive, but soon after eating it she became sick. With the trains still being stuck, and the train company now having to bring in over 4000 men to shovel the tracks, there seemed no end to the train being stranded. And on January 28th, 1890, Lucia passed away. Some reports have her death being from hypothermia (The night time temperatures were reported as low as -20f), some have it from being from pneumonia. Two days later the trains where freed from the snow, and made their way towards San Francisco.
Her parents then made their way (And reportedly were extorted by customs agents at the border) to their home in Vera Cruz, where Lucia was Buried.
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