- The Spanish government discovered an employee had been skipping work for six years while recognizing him for his dedication to the job. Joaquin Garcia, a 69-year-old building supervisor at a water treatment facility in Spain, managed to rake in ~$242k for six years of work he didn’t do, thanks to a miscommunication between two local departments that resulted in neither one overseeing his work. (Shout out to bureaucracy.) Ironically, the OG quiet quitter was being nominated for an award for his 20-year tenure when someone finally took notice.
- We wish we were joking: AI is funnier than humans, according to a new study. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California, asked 105 participants to provide their funniest responses to a series of prompts, then had 200 judges assess the human answers against ChatGPT-generated ones. The result: AI punchlines won out ~70% of the time. Admittedly, not all of us are funny.
- This Trader Joe’s pantry staple is banned in South Korea, where it’s considered a drug. The country is cracking down on narcotics-related products, which includes foods that contain poppy seeds — like TJ’s Everything but the Bagel seasoning — given their use in opium production. Though such products have been banned since 2022, the popular seasoning is specifically being called out at airports, as travelers apparently can’t live without it, which we suppose makes it addictive though maybe not a drug. (Note: Eating the seeds, even a lot of them, can’t intoxicate you, but it can result in failed drug tests.)
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Weird Week
