The Future is Here, and it is...

[notyou2]

I'd talk like a chipmunk forever.

[AndyDufresne]

...a blast from the past. The ancient, turned modern.

Spoiler

Click image to enlarge.

--Andy

[BigBallinStalin]

nice!

[AndyDufresne]

...filled with amputees making prosthetic limbs out of LEGOs.




--Andy

[AndyDufresne]

...filled with "Forever Alone" tables.

One of Japan's most prestigious institutions, Kyoto University, has installed new lunchroom seats for students who don't want others to watch them while they eat. Alone.

The seats are called "bocchi seki"　(ぼっち席), with "bocchi" meaning "alone" in Japanese.

According to Asahi News, Kyoto University first installed the "lonely seats" last spring at its engineering school campus while it was refurbishing the dining hall. The university special ordered ten dining tables with 50-centimeter dividers in the middle.

The lonely seats are apparently popular with students, Asahi reports. Students are busy, and they don't always have time to meet with friends. Also, for some people, eating alone is not enjoyable. It's nice to have some privacy when you do.

"If you are sitting at a big table by yourself it's like you don't have any friends and that is embarrassing," said one 22 year-old male student. "When I don't have much time or I'm in a hurry, the lonely seats are convenient," said a 22 year-old female student.

Kobe University has also installed its bocchi seats, helping students avoid uncomfortable dining hall experiences. Now, if only they'd install side dividers so that lonely diners don't have to rub elbows with the people next to them.

--Andy

[BigBallinStalin]

Lol, Japanese awkwardness.

[rishaed]

...filled with amputees making prosthetic limbs out of LEGOs.




--Andy

I must admit I watched her build the leg, until i got distracted by the fascinating tattoos on her legs! I must say I am amazed that she built it but that it still as seen in the end remains impractical due to structural instability and weakness.

[AndyDufresne]

...filled with people falling in love with intelligent computer operating systems.




--Andy

[AndyDufresne]

...filled with slightly terrifying puppet-esque fast food employees.

In Japan, fast food chain Lotteria had a special store manager last Friday for one terrifying day only: Sadako from The Ring.

At the Lotteria in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood, Sadako worked the register by popping out, frightening customers, and serving up a special shake created in her likeness. What better way to send a chill down your spine than this?

Click image to enlarge.

--Andy

[Gillipig]

The future is dead.

/ Nietzsche

[AndyDufresne]

Nietzsche, did you really say that? If so, please post here in the future.


--Andy

[AndyDufresne]

...full of cheating prevention hats.

A university in Thailand offered a novel way to prevent students from sneaking peeks at classmates' tests: Anti-cheating hats. ...

According to the Bangkok Post, the Kasetsart University held a press conference to explain what the hell was going on and explained that it was actually the students who came up with the hats. "No student was forced to wear a hat. Instead, all were happy to do so and thought it was fun. They felt more relaxed during the test," said Nattadon Rungruangkitkrai, a lecturer in the school's agricultural department.

This was the first time the hats were used. After the backlash on social media, the Bangkok Post reports that it will be the last.

Also, one the dude students made his into a crown.


--Andy

[Lootifer]

THE KING OF CHEATS!

[2dimes]

It's Jughead.

[PLAYER57832]

Wonder why no one suggested the REAL reason for the hats was micro-writing, giving the answers on the paper (LOL)

[AndyDufresne]

...polluted. But luckily, we can fix that.

Here are some tourists in Hong Kong, which has some pretty terrible air pollution.








--Andy

[BigBallinStalin]

It's not that bad. Not nearly.

Looks like fog.

[AndyDufresne]

...filled with toast art. Eventually, we'll move beyond traditional canvases, and take up exotic ones, like the toast below:

Toast Art

--Andy

[rishaed]

Thats pretty awesome andy

[AndyDufresne]

...a bit surreal.














--Andy

[BigBallinStalin]

[BigBallinStalin]

...a bit surreal.














--Andy

[Lootifer]

Wow those are fantastic.

[AndyDufresne]

...taken over by cats. We know that the internet is actually part of a feline empire. But we should all be wary of them moving offline. It looks like they are starting in Japan, and already trained the locals to tolerate and watch out for them.

The island of Iriomote in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture is home to a rare breed of indigenous cat that can be only found on the island, and is suitably dubbed "Iriomote mountain cat". This is a small cat , weighing between 8 and 11 pounds—much like a house cat.

On the island's roads, there are numerous warning signs that either read "Mountain Cat Warning" or simply, "Cat Warning". Some of the signs say "Animal Warning", but show a picture of the feline.

But the reason for these signs is rather serious: the Iriomote cat is critically endangered, with only a hundred or so in existence.

--Andy

[AndyDufresne]

...not as filled with speedos, relaxation, and robot butlers.

The 1981 children's book Tomorrow's Home by Neil Ardley imagined that living in a rural community of the future wouldn't mean giving up any of the luxuries more commonly associated with urban living. In fact, even if you were a rancher living far from a major city, you'd still enjoy the greatest in technological wonders that society had to offer.

A rancher of the future takes things easy at his remote home. A robot waiter brings him a drink and a terminal linked to the house computer provides entertainment and messages. His wife relaxes in the computer room while, at ground level, a computer-guided truck delivers a package.

--Andy