A 'free' one-way car rental
How about a free trip to Florida? There's a catch. You have to drive. But you get a free car and a free tank of gas! But there's another catch. You have three days to get there. And then give up the car. And getting back home is up to you. That's the idea behind Transfercar, which unites volunteer drivers wanting a (mostly) free one-way trip with rental car companies needing to relocate their fleets. At transfercarus.com, drivers can search for rental cars that need relocating. The process is similar to renting a car — except the car is free. Precise terms of each offer are up to the rental company, which may tack on a facility fee or other small charges. Pickup and drop-off locations vary based on the season, or the day. Last week, up to 172 economy cars were listed for pickup in the Twin Cities, with destinations including Orlando, San Francisco and Austin, Texas.
Chicago Tribune
More cellphone searches
U.S. customs agents conducted 60 percent more searches of travelers' cellphones, laptops and other electronic devices last year. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it searched 30,200 devices, but the inspections affected 0.007 percent of the 397 million travelers — U.S. citizens as well as foreign visitors — who arrived from abroad. The agency said the increase was an indication that electronic devices are increasingly viewed as critical sources of information on potential security threats. "In this digital age, border searches of electronic devices are essential to enforcing the law at the U.S. border and to protecting the American people," customs official John Wagner said in a prepared statement.
Washington Post
Largest ice festival
If you live in northeastern China, you expect long, cold winters. The residents of Harbin embrace the season. The city is home to the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, which claims to be the largest ice festival in the world. Crowds head to city parks to see giant ice sculptures, many bathed in colored lights. The 34th festival features several thousand sculptures, some depicting famous buildings or monuments. This year's display includes one of Red Square in Moscow. Visitors can climb ice stairways, walk through ice tunnels and shoot down ice slides. They can also take part in sporting events. The city holds the Guinness World Record for the largest snow sculpture, a 656-foot-long and 115-foot-tall landscape from 2007. The festival runs through February or until the sculptures melt.
Washington Post
Lake Superior vs. the volcano
The latest Twitter feud doesn't involve the president. Lake Superior, whose Twitter account (@LakeSuperior) is a stream of cheeky jokes and self-aggrandizement, took on Mount St. Helens (@MtStHelensWA) last week. It started when Lake Superior took a dig at the Washington volcano's lack of fingers. Mount St. Helens had expressed excitement about the news that it has experienced 40 earthquakes since New Year's Day, but Lake Superior pointed out the volcano's lack of beauty since its deadly 1980 eruption. Mount St. Helens fired back. Lake Superior turned to its Twitter supporters, who lobbed their own insults at the volcano. Then Mount St. Helens got some help from its taller neighbor Mount Baker. Lake Superior pointed out its safe location in the Midwest and resorted to creative name-calling to shut down the volcano.
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
