On the Lamb: 50 Sheep Break Away From Flock and Storm German Supermarket

Last week, about 50 wayward sheep broke off from their flock and stormed the Penny supermarket in Burgsinn, Germany, startling and delighting customers. The woolly incursion occurred on Monday during a routine seasonal migration of the sheep in the Bavarian municipality. A few dozen of the sheep had other ideas about the route and made their way into the supermarket. Store manager Jürgen Kippes said it was impossible to tell whether the sheep were looking for something in particular or just wanted to warm up, noting that the flock seemed particularly fond of the checkout area where shoppers were present. While the animals resisted the urge to nibble their way through the fresh produce on display, their foray into the store left mess of droppings and a path of destruction in the drinks section, as their bustling knocked glass bottles off the shelves. The approximately 20 customers seemed to take the spontaneous animal visit in stride. After about 20 minutes, the sheep were successfully coaxed out the door and rejoined their flock. Philipp Stiehler, Chairman of the Board of the Penny chain, said the supermarket does not plan to bill the shepherd for the damage or cleaning costs. Instead, in exchange for the nationwide media attention, Penny will donate feed for the 50 runaways for a year.

 

 

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Bridge Set to Open This Year Will Allow for Walking and Biking Between the U.S. and Canada

The Gordie Howe International Bridge — 20 years in the making — is set to open in early 2026, providing the first new link between the United States and Canada in many years. Once the bridge is finished, it will become the only bridge from Michigan to Canada that allows for foot and bike traffic. The bridge will have the longest steel and concrete composite deck of any cable-stayed bridge in the world, with six lanes — three in each direction — for vehicular traffic. The added bridge is expected to alleviate slowdowns on the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge, which has four lanes of traffic. The bridge will connect directly from I-75 to the Ontario highway system, known as Highway 401, without traffic having to stop at traffic lights along the way. In the case of backups, cars will be contained within the port of entry to avoid congestion on I-75 and trucks will also be required to turn their engines off during inspection to reduce noise and air pollution. The roughly $4.4 billion bridge was financed by Canada, which will reap the toll revenue, while providing the maintenance for the next 36 years. The bridge won’t only connect Detroit and Windsor, I-75 and its Canadian equivalent, and the United States and Canada, but also two hockey-loving nations.

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Ring Doorbells Can Now Identify Faces, But Experts Say It’s a Major Privacy Invasion

Video doorbells are incredibly popular these days, but now they’re getting a new feature that’s raising concerns about privacy. Ring doorbells now have a feature called "Familiar Faces," which has the ability to scan, store and potentially identify the face of anyone who walks up to the camera. That could be a potential burglar, or it could be your neighbor coming to borrow a cup of sugar. From there, your neighbor’s face scan could end up on an Amazon cloud server, without their knowledge or consent. Familiar Faces is inactive by default, meaning owners must opt in and activate it if they want to use the feature. The concern is that consent is not being required before a person’s biometric data can be collected. That means your face — or your kids’ faces — could be saved and stored on a server somewhere without you even knowing. When you don’t have control over your own data, there’s a risk that it could be used for purposes beyond your control. While Amazon says that facial data is stored in the cloud for up to six months, it’s not like a password. Your face is your face, and if your face print is stolen, you can’t exactly reset it like you could a compromised password. Privacy groups warn that this collection of biometric data could be used for unwarranted government surveillance. Some states, including Illinois, Texas and Oregon, have already passed laws limiting the gathering of biometric data. As biometric technology becomes increasingly available and faces more intense scrutiny from legislators, users can expect the list of jurisdictions limiting its use to grow.

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Man Horrified After Hearing Mother-In-Law's Excuse For Donating All His Furniture

A man, identified only as John, and his wife Paula, who had been away from home on a romantic getaway, were shocked when they returned to find that all of their furniture was missing. At first, they thought they had been robbed, but after the initial panic wore off, they noticed a big smile on Paula's mother’s face as she welcome them home. The couple had given Paula’s mother, Hakiko, a spare key to check on things if necessary. John explained that his wife is sentimental, and when her grandmother passed away she left her two hand-carved mahogany pieces — a desk and a vanity. They were Paula’s absolute favorite possessions, and now they were gone. It turns out that Hakiko had surprised her daughter and son-in-law by “getting rid of that old, dusty junk” and giving them a modern look. She had replaced their furniture with what the couple described as “cheap, flat-black furniture.” Outraged, John ordered his mother-in-law to hand over her key to their house and made a call to a locksmith to have the locks changed. Needless to say, social media users chimed in with their advice: “You should call the police and report the theft. You may be able to get the furniture back that way,” said one user. Another added: “Find out where she donated it immediately. You might still be able to go and get it back.” So far, there’s no word on how things ended up.

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