Residents near Concord, Mass., are being treated to a spooky sight: A headless horseman, er, bikeman, has been riding around on a blacked-out bike, strumming his guitar and waving to passersby. The Boston Globe reported that the ghoul is really Matthew Dunkle, 38, who has been known as the "bike-riding guy" in the area since 2015, when he went through a divorce and lost a grandparent. "I needed something special in my life," Dunkle said. "I had a few smiles and people waved and people laughed and stuff. So that was kind of the beginning of it." He donned the headless horseman costume in April, at the start of the pandemic. "It just feels like we are kind of in the dark right now," he said. "We are all just running around with our heads cut off."
Naming rights up for grabs
Twifi, a startup internet provider in Switzerland, posted a Facebook ad with a compelling offer to parents-to-be: Name your child Twifus (for a boy) or Twifia (for a girl) in exchange for 18 years of free internet service. And sure enough, KidSpot.com reported, one young couple bit, giving their daughter the rewarding middle name. "The more I thought about it, the more unique the name became to me, and that's when the thing acquired its charm," the baby's dad, 35, said. Mom went even deeper: "For me, the name Twifia also stands for connection in this context. The more often we say 'Twifia,' the heartier the name sounds!"
Man's best medical provider
Veterinary researchers at the University of Helsinki have been testing whether dogs can sniff out COVID-19, and Dr. Anna Hielm-Bjorkman has the good news: They can. With almost 100% accuracy. "A dog could easily save so, so, so many lives," she told DW. A pilot program at the Helsinki Airport is having travelers wipe their wrists or neck with a cloth, which the trained dogs then sniff. They can identify the virus up to five days before symptoms appear. People who test positive are directed to the airport's medical unit for confirmation. Hielm-Bjorkman said travelers have been eager to participate, waiting up to an hour in line.
An 'Alien' invasion
Superfan Luis Nostromo, 43, of Barcelona, Spain, has spent the past three years turning his apartment into a stunning replica of the set of "Alien," the 1979 Ridley Scott film starring Sigourney Weaver. His locations include the laboratory where the face-hugging monster attached to actor John Hurt was first examined, the spaceship's corridors, and the pod that Weaver escapes in. Oddity Central reported that Nostromo hopes to finish his "Alien Museum" project by the end of the year and is already accepting visits from other fans.
Run for the order
In July, Taco Bell announced changes to its menu, provoking uproar among some of its fans, Riverfront Times reported. But Bryant Hoban of O'Fallon, Mo., saw an opportunity. When Hoban heard that the Potato Soft Taco was being sliced from the menu, he headed to his nearest outlet and bought several of the items and put them in his freezer. He listed three of them on Facebook Marketplace for $200. "These babies are rare!" he gushed. "Never been eaten!" It's all part of Hoban's scheme to start an "investment sandwich" business, he said. "You know, like the McRib — McDonald's only offers it once a year, but the demand doesn't go away." Hoban has sold two of the tacos for $70 each: "I recouped my investment."
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