QUIRKY WORLD ... A daily look at some of the world’s stranger stories
The boy was born Manuel but likes to be called Lulu. Now he has received an amended birth certificate and a new ID with the change in gender. It is the first case of a gender change on a document for a minor in Argentina since the country’s groundbreaking gender-identity law last year.
People can change their names and sexes on official documents without getting approval from a judge or doctor. The mother said her child’s new name is Luana. She thanked those who, in her words, “trusted the identity of my daughter” and “respected her rights”.
Microsoft has paid out a $100,000 (€73,850) bounty to a British security researcher who discovered a bug in a preview version of the Windows 8.1 system.
James Forshaw, who works for Context Information Security, found a way of getting round the software’s in-built defences, which could have been exploited by hackers.
It is the first time the giant corporation has paid out such a big bounty, and Microsoft believes the information will make its new system more secure when it is released.
An orphaned otter cub is being nursed back to health after she was found wandering along a remote road. The eight-week-old animal, who has been named Murkle, was discovered by a member of the public in Caithness last week.
They contacted Scottish SPCA with concerns for the cub after spotting her at Shilvrag Top, Occumster, Lybster. She was taken to vets in Thurso and then cared for overnight by senior inspector Audrey Gunn before being taken to the charity’s National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Clackmannanshire.
Ms Gunn said the young otter, who was in a bad way when she was discovered on Oct 3, appeared to be perking up on a diet of fresh trout.
People who pass off their own dogs as specially- trained service dogs are causing problems for the disabled community and businesses, so officials are looking for a way to tell the real dog from the impostor.
Owners who refuse to leave their dogs at home are putting vests or backpacks on them that say “service animal” and using them as all-access passes to places permitting only service animals for the disabled. Some pets are interfering with real service dogs, leading to worries about their safety.
Passing pets off as service animals is a federal crime, but prosecuting pretenders is nearly impossible under laws meant to safeguard the privacy of those questioned about their animals.
Officials in Montana want to make salvaging roadkill for the dinner table as easy as a mouse click.
They plan to let drivers who accidentally kill big game to print out permits at home which allow them to harvest the meat for food. Later on, there will be an app too.
State politicians earlier this year passed a bill allowing motorists to salvage the carcasses of deer, elk, moose, and antelope struck by vehicles. They left it to the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks agency to sort out how to issue roadkill permits.
A dozen people were stuck for more than two hours on a roller coaster at Universal Studios Florida.
The 12-person train stopped near the top of the first hill of the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. A glitch caused the computers to go into safety mode, stopping the ride, said Universal spokesman Tom Schroder. “The safety system did exactly what it’s supposed to do,” he said.
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