The wall material, roughly an inch thick, is made out of pressed newspapers, glue and varnish—which keeps it waterproof. After finishing the walls in 1924, Stenman began using paper to build things around the house. He would roll newspapers up until they were roughly half an inch thick, and then cut them, glue them and nail them to create one-of-a-kind pieces of papercraft.

All furniture in the house is made out of paper, except for the brick fireplace and the insides of the piano. Stenman's grandniece told local reporters she had no idea why her granduncle decided to embark on the project, but quipped that it could have been because paper was cheap—everyone gave him the materials for his house for free. [The Contaminated]

Working up the courage to talk to a woman in a skimpy outfit like one would find in the well-publicized maid cafes can be nerve-wracking for the shyest of the shy. This is perhaps what gave Mother Café boss Asahi Geino his golden egg idea; that Osaka's loneliest otaku crowd would be more comfortable talking to someone that reminded them of their mothers.

So, what do you get at a mom café? According to Geino, "We staff our cafe with women who look older than they actually are, but they're also capable of understanding worries people have and have experience in dealing with people of all ages. Our aim is to become a kind of therapeutic cafe where customers feel at ease enough to be able to open their hearts to staff."

There are 10,000 manga titles to choose from, the opportunity to be hand-fed a slice of cake by a woman that may or may not remind you of your actual mother and if you are a regular; you get some lifestyle-related nagging thrown in for good measure. [Mainichi Shimbun]

We wanted to write and let you know that we sincerely appreciate the patience you have shown in receiving your Keyport. While innovative design and quality craftsmanship are certainly tenets to which Keyport is steadfastly committed, it is our customers who serve as Keyport's foundation, and your satisfaction is our top priority. Therefore, we would like to refund your money in its entirety and hold on to your keys. Once we have completed the final design modifications, we will send you your new Keyport Slide. After you receive it, you may pay us what you think is appropriate. We intend on earning your trust and delivering what we have promised. Again, thank you for your patience over this long haul. We look forward to your feedback once you have received your Slide. In the meantime, please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.

On the same note, they've had my keys since December but haven't actually shipped anything to me yet. They're very lax in return emails as well. It's sad to say this since the Keyport is such a good idea, but you should probably stay away from these guys until they get their manufacturing, shipping, and customer support issues down. [Thanks Josh!]

One guy might've had it right: Maybe it was a plastic bag. Could it have been an out-of-focus blue plastic bag dancing around with the wind like that one in the film American Beauty? Could an image artifact like this have been caused by a cheap security camera? In this video, it's unclear whether people saw this "ghost" with their own eyes, or just watched a video of it. Mysterious. Pranksters at work? [Liveleak, via Neatorama]

Michael Ayers, speaking for the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) licensing group, said Hollywood film studios and content owners may allow buyers of HD DVD and Blu-ray discs to make one backup copy of each disc, and one digital copy to reside on a home media server. Studios may charge more for these Managed Copy privileges, and will be able to dictate just how many copies you make of your movies you bought.

This is a step in the right direction. After all, DRM can go beyond an all-or-nothing equation. If the studios would simply let people make enough copies so they can use their paid-for media on whatever hardware they own, the problem of oppressive DRM restrictions might be closer to a solution. At least, this would be a better deal for the honest people.

One studio said it's hoping this Managed Copy system will be in place for the 2007 holiday season. Meanwhile, the HD DVD Promotional Group added that Managed Copy will be backward compatible on HD DVDs, while it won't be on Blu-ray discs. No matter what, there will still be DRM slathered all over both formats.

How many times do these copy protection schemes need to be cracked, hacked and sacked before the movie studios realize it's not going to work? The studios and the AACS licensing group might have finally seen the futility of trying to completely lock up their content. Let the people fairly use their media, and maybe it won't be so tempting to steal it. – Charlie White

Copying HD DVD and Blu-ray discs may become legal [Macworld, and Ars Technica]

This should be an especially grating entry into our pantheon of combo-weirdness, especially for those Gizmodo-reading sociopaths who begin to foam at the mouth at the mere sight of a wristwatch.

Anyway, what will those zany marketers think of next? You're invited to send us a pic of your fave weird combo of the day, or take a look at this hilarious rogue's gallery of strangeness, showing weird combos of days gone by. – Charlie White

Thanks, Kelton!

Mummified body found in front of blaring TV [Reuters]

It's a remarkable image, and a tribute to the human brain which is acutely attuned to the shape of faces. Let's face it, we see them everywhere—in clouds, pieces of toast, on the sides of water tanks, on Mars, and indeed, in satellite images. – Charlie White

Huge Native American face on Google Earth [Dark Vision Hardware]

Product Page (in Japanese) [Rakuten via The Red Ferret Journal]

Perhaps while you're extreme hammocking this weekend, you could use the time to try out a couple of extreme gadgets, such as a carbon fiber toilet and, um, an extreme ice cream maker. Bring on the weekend! – Nicholas Deleon

Home Page [Extreme Hammock]

$39.99 at Thinkgeek, but they're out for a few weeks. – John Biggs

Product Page[Thinkgeek via BoingBoing]

That last one isn't so practical, since with all these empty booze bottles on our desk, we'd just get confused and try to drink our computers—frying both it and us. – Jason Chen

10 Strangest PC Setups [TechEBlog]

Among them, Korea's Ever-1 and the Ri-MAN human-carrying, feel-copping robot.

Oh boy, here come the nightmares.

Wists Automata [Wists]

Top 10 Strangest iPod Accessories [Techeblog]

Browse iPod accessories

Zentai Suit [eBay]