Girls With Mops. Only in Japan

Girls. Plaid pleated school girl skirts. Knee socks. Mops. Yes, that last one is correct. Only in Japan do you find these wonderfully odd combinations. Apparently, it's to promote a television drama called Life. All this courtesy of Flickr user antjeverena.

Hey. Third World Adolescents Need Porn, Too

The OLPC, an organization devoted to bringing open source laptops to children in Third World countries for less than $200 a pop, have discovered an awkward residual outcome in their well-meaning scheme.

The News Agency of Nigeria has reported some kids at an Abuja primary school "have gone awry as the pupils freely browse adult sites with explicit sexual materials."

Oops. The OLPC has since reported they'll be including porn filters in the newer models of the otherwise-durable computers.

Nokia N95 Makes Computers Bite, Scratch and Otherwise Maim Owners

It may not be as cute as the iPhone, but the Nokia N95 - and its ad campaigns - might just be cleverer.

The premise behind jealouscomputers.com is that the N95, which boasts music, GPS, camera, and video cam all in one (okay, really ugly) phone, may spark the jealousy of lesser-seeming technologies - like your laptop, for example. And along with footage of tech gone awry are flight attendant-type videos about protecting yourself from dangerous hardware, as well as camouflage tactics for the N95.

You might want to try the latter, even if you don't have a laptop raring to bite you. (Seriously. Look at it.)

Even Rugby Players Love Each Other in Paris

Leveraging for the billionth time Paris' position atop the cities of love list, the Regional Tourism Committee of Paris in London has launched a campaign for the Rugby World cup that proves even rugby players feel the love. Of course any game that requires fully grown men to forcefully embrace and thrust themselves into each other must certainly have something to do with love. The only thing missing from this campaign is a Snickers bar.

Those Foreign Lyrics Sure Are Catchy

They say music is the universal language. It moves us similarly no matter what language we speak. It breaks down cultural barriers caused by language and political differences. This family, enjoying a nice car ride, has been infected by a catchy tune on the radio that's appealing to both mom and dad as well as the kids. Give it a listen. But, catchy as the tune is, you would be well advised to listen with headphones on or the volume down.

Folgers Sponsors Coffee-Induced Heart Attacks

We just can't get enough of this stuff! We love it when computers are left to do the work of humans because, well, computers are dumb and dumb nets dumb no matter how much the things try not to be dumb. Ah yes, our favorite whipping boy, contextual advertising, has risen his ugly head once again in a ad for Folger's coffee directly next to an article about hoe coffee could trigger the first heart attack in some people.

Oddly this story is dated August 15th so either there's some time travel going on here, this thing is a year old or it just came up in a Yahoo News search. No matter. It's still fun to witness idiocy in action.

Krystal Food Mashup Nets Chicken Popsicles

They might taste good. They might even contain a bit of chicken. But, these batter-encrusted, popsicle-like Chik'N Stik'Ns are, well, gross. Not to be deterred from the fact chicken isn't usually served up like ice cream on a stick, Krystal is promoting their new creation by bribing...uh...giving away two music downloads for each order of Chik'N Stik'N purchased. Next, chocolate covered chicken-filled candy bars.

Denver Ad Club Launches Self-Esteem Fueled Award Show

Well what do you know. Alex Bogusky Moves to Boulder and Denver launches a new ad club. And that's not all. Properly following America's march toward self esteem-fueled mediocraty where there are no winners and loser only proud participants, the New Denver Ad Club has kicked off an awards competition in which there are no golds, no silvers, no bronzes, no categories and no Cannes-like category shifting to please judges' whimsy.

The only thing the 50 winners get is a slot in the Denver50 show book and a party at which much alcohol will be served. Entries are due August 10 although how one submits is a mystery given the Denver50 site doesn't exist yet. Entries are limited to creatives living in Colorado when the idea was developed and must have appeared in media between January 1, 2006 and August 10, 2007.

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Bright House Hunts Down Asterisks

We're not sure why a company would position itself as an asterisk hunter when, in fact, it's impossible to run a company, or anything for that matter, without certain ground rules, terms, conditions and guidelines but broadband company Bright House thinks it's asterisk-free and wants to celebrate. So, who are we to stop a company that wants to have some fun with the annoying asterisk found in so many advertisements these days. Here's their Fry Hammond Barr-created commercial and here's the Asterisk Hunter website.

Team Italy Wins Nokia Nseries Young Creatives Competition

OK, then. If this semi lame-ass thing won the Nokia-sponsored Young Creatives Competition recently held during Cannes, we really don't want to spend the rest of the day viewing the other 19 finalists. Huh? Did we just trash the work of up and coming creatives? Indeed, we did. But, don't listen to us. After all, they only had a tiny little Nokia Nseries camera to work with and zero budget of which to speak. The videos documenting the competition are more interesting than the actual work. Especially the Team Finland video during which the interviewer asked whether or not the team was in disguise when, in fact, they were simply dressed in the usual goofy, wannabe garb most creatives don the world over.