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Giant Insect Invades Germany

Noryungi writes, "It seems the alien invasion of the Earth has just started! A 50-meter insect has been spotted roaming the German countryside! Let the 'I, for one, welcome our new giant insectoid overlords' joke contest begin!" A moderator at a Keyhole forum IDs the bug as a thrip, about 1mm long, squished under a glass plate during scanning.

41 of 264 comments (clear)

  1. No... by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

    It seems the alien invasion of the Earth has just started!

    No.. it's really Richard Branson's newest Eco-Friendly transportation mode. See, we'll strap seats to the backs of these giant genetically modified insects and they'll run us or fly us anywhere we want to go. What could possibly go wrong?

    microsoft europe strenuously denied it was a bug from their code, "ours are a few metres smaller."

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:No... by Rockinsockindune · · Score: 5, Funny

      Or we can plant a thumper (they are attracted to rythmic vibrations), and use hooks and ropes to climb to the tops of their backs.

      --
      I abuse commas, I cannot help myself.
    2. Re:No... by ackthpt · · Score: 1, Funny

      Or we can plant a thumper (they are attracted to rythmic vibrations), and use hooks and ropes to climb to the tops of their backs.

      I heard that was one of the possible scenarios for after privatising the tube*

      * London underground

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    3. Re:No... by griffjon · · Score: 5, Funny

      The European community have known about this bug (and there are many others) for years now. Why do you think they're so solidly against genetically modified food? This is a Thwips Monsantoi

      (btw, I'm joking, but just to be safe, I for one welcome our new genetically-modified-food-created insectile pooping overlords!)

      --
      Returned Peace Corps IT Volunteer
    4. Re:No... by Orange+Crush · · Score: 2, Funny
      If only bicycles were to ride on the roads, they'd only need to be 12 feet wide, very thin, and would last forever.

      They wouldn't last long under a stampede of 50 meter giant insects.

  2. Ich fur ein... by Mateo_LeFou · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... Willkommen unsere neuen Insekt overlords

    --
    My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
  3. That's pretty cool. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I wonder what other shit like that is in google maps.

  4. Bugs! by The+Outbreak+Monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looks like Google Maps still has some bugs.

    1. Re:Bugs! by tonyr1988 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Time to bring it back to beta for a while . . .

    2. Re:Bugs! by stunt_penguin · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think they should leave this one in for posterity, and call it a feature......... as if anyone's going to take it's presence too seriously :)

      It's got more value as a cool link than a fixed bug.... I hope someone's got a sense of humor ^^

      --
      When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
  5. Way to spoil the joke by spoco2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know... I don't think it was really neccessary to have right there in the heading the little note that it's some tiny bug squished during the scanning process.

    The fact it was posted with the Monty Python foot should be enough for anyone to know it shouldn't be taken seriously.

    We could have had hundreds, if not thousands, of posts as to exactly what it could all mean, how it got there, why it was taking a large dump at the time of the photo...

    But now... now you've ruined it.

    I hope you're happy... go and sit in the corner and think about what you've done.

    1. Re:Way to spoil the joke by Schraegstrichpunkt · · Score: 3, Funny
      I don't think it was really neccessary to have right there in the heading the little note that it's some tiny bug squished during the scanning process.

      Of course it was. It's what they want us to think. If they didn't put that idea in our heads, we'd be free to think about what really happened.

    2. Re:Way to spoil the joke by nwbvt · · Score: 4, Funny

      "The fact it was posted with the Monty Python foot should be enough for anyone to know it shouldn't be taken seriously."

      So if they didn't include the Monty Python foot, people would have seriously thought there was a giant bug in Germany?

      --
      Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
    3. Re:Way to spoil the joke by mooingyak · · Score: 4, Funny

      Personally, I'm not entirely sold on this whole "insect stuck in the scanner" story. I smell coverup.

      --
      William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
    4. Re:Way to spoil the joke by Bo'Bob'O · · Score: 2, Funny

      New Volkswagon SUV?

      (Ok sorry, latenight at work)

    5. Re:Way to spoil the joke by ArtStone · · Score: 2, Funny

      And if you look just to the west of the Alien Bug, you'll see the town named Aalen.

      A coincidence? I think not.

      --
      Final 2006 "Proof of Global Warming" US Hurricane Count -> 0
  6. Other OB by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Re:Ich fur ein...... Willkommen unsere neuen Insekt overlords

    In Soviet Russia Google Maps bug YOU!

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Other OB by PresidentEnder · · Score: 4, Funny
      Wir heißen unsere neue Insektenüberlordschaften willkommen!

      Letztes Jahr gab keine Insektenüberlordschaften.

      --
      I used to carry a bottle of whiskey for snake bite. And two snakes. -Nefarious Wheel
    2. Re:Other OB by Lane.exe · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sagen sie! Im Amerika gibt es ein Insekt overlord für sechs Jahre!

      --
      IAALS.
    3. Re:Other OB by Traa · · Score: 2, Funny

      I thought you guys got rid of that "ß" thingy (eszett?) a while back?

    4. Re:Other OB by Minwee · · Score: 4, Funny

      You wouldn't believe how many of those things are still filling up warehouses out in the country. Now that nobody wants them for official use any more they're practically free and poor people have been making up new words to use as many of them as they can.

  7. absolutely preposterous by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Funny

    we all know giant (fill-in-the-blank) overlords always appear in japan first, specifically in tokyo

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  8. From the Googleplex by NetDrain · · Score: 5, Funny

    But from the Corp network, we have:

    http://theblight.net/misc/germany.jpg

    The Maps team is going to be -pissed.- It'll be awesome.

  9. This is News? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    If i step on a bug with my sneaker, take a picture of it and upload it to the internet, will I make the front page of slashdot too?

  10. 'Bugzilla' users? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ok, so that's what they meant when they said they were using an in-house version of Bugzilla ?

  11. Re: Big German insect...identified!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I think it's a Volkswagen bug...

  12. That's Not a Bug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's a fucking feature, alright?

    1. Re:That's Not a Bug by Lord+Ender · · Score: 3, Funny

      And here I thought you were going for "It's a space station!"

      --
      A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
  13. figures. by not+a+cylon · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well that's what happens when Google tells their employees to spend 20% of their time doing whatever interests them. Giant, mutant, killer insects.

    Damn Ph.D's, with their genome maps and fancy internet tubes.

  14. Re:Works great in Google Earth too by Psykosys · · Score: 2, Funny

    But do they have 3d data for it?

  15. With apologies to Kafka... by yuriismaster · · Score: 5, Funny
    As Gregor Samsa woke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself in his bed, transformed into a monstrous insect.

    ...and invaded Germany.
  16. Nothing to see here, move along by naoursla · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is just Google's new crawler.

  17. Re:I checked the photo and by Main+Gauche · · Score: 3, Funny

    "That doesn't look anything like Germany."

    Because in Germany, bugs don't leave their excrement in the middle of a nice clean field like that?

    Ok, I admit it. You got modded both +1 Funny and +1 Informative, and I'm left very confused. Not by the usual random moderation, mind you, but by what I'm supposed to be thinking right now....

  18. You're right! by idonthack · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nobody over there actually names things in German. That's just a myth.
    I hear "Kugeltalstraße" is a really popular Chinese street name. Yep, sure looks like China to me.

    --
    Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
  19. Nice try, Google... by gd23ka · · Score: 3, Funny

    but it's yet only another marketing ploy. Wait till you see Snoopy or Scooby Doo turn up
    on the map, or they start the Google Maps Treasure Hunt next year.

  20. Re:Germans subpoena Google by Anonymous+Cowpat · · Score: 4, Funny

    In other news, world renowned military strategist, The Ghost of Sir Basil Liddel-Hart has commented that the bug made a major strategic flaw. "He, and we are assuming this bug to be a 'he' made a serious error." Sir Basil's Ghost, said. "Making his initial landfall target in one of the most millitarily keen nations the world has ever seen was a very poor idea. Because of this mistake the bug has triggered the full mobilisation of the german armed forces and a full scale search and destroy mission has been initiated by the Luftwaffer. My own strategic analysis of the situation leads me to conclude that the bug would have done better to land across the border in France where he would have been almost immediately surrendered to and would have been able to demand any surrender terms he so desired. My advice to the bug now would be to make for France with all haste and use the freshly-surrendered French army to fight the Germans." When queried about how long the French army could be expected to hold out against the most dedicated military machine in the world Sir Basil's Ghost spluttered into his tea and continued: "Oh good gracious me no. The plan wasn't for the French to FIGHT the germans, no-one would expect that and if the French actually tried firing back the Germans would just laugh anyway. No the idea is that the French will immediately surrender again (as is to be expected) and dealing with all the PoW's will hinder the panzer divisions persuing the bug. This should give him the time necessary to hop across the channel and claim asylum in Britain. I hear the benefits are very good".

    In a further development, Russia has started to mobilise its troops onto it's western border in anticipation of a German attack. President Putin said: "Germany has a history of doing this, they did it in the first world war and they also have a history of ripping off old first world war battle plans for use again."

    Asked to step in and resolve the situation by bombing the lot of them back to the stone-age, President George W. Bush said "It is not the policy of the US Government to interfere in the internal issues of sovereign states. We also don't bomb places that don't end in -stan or start with an 'I'" he said, "It's apples and grapefruits really. None of our turtlewax."

    --
    FGD 135
  21. My wife's pun by Fortran+IV · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's definitely not the lesser of two weevils.

    (My wife is an incorrigible punster. I try not to incorrige her.)

    --
    I figure by 2030 or so my 6-digit UID will be something to brag about.
  22. Forgive me, but... by alienmole · · Score: 4, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new overlord-joke hating overlords!

  23. Of course he's not alone! by commodoresloat · · Score: 2, Funny

    None of us are! There's a giant fucking bug out there!

  24. wrong way by Smoking · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hey dude, turn left, Oktoberfest is definitely not this way...