Pigeons

Gold Porsche

This 22-karat gold-plated Boxster goes by the name of Gold Porsche.

There will be limited production of models for sale (nine worldwide).

However, if you've got the cash (and a real burning desire to ensure everyone knows you've got some), any Porsche model, regardless of engine configuration or interior, can be covered in the beaten gold.

As a buyer, you can choose which of the vehicle's parts to goldenize (the body, the steering wheel, the doorknobs, the wheels and so on).

For the smallest Boxster, pricing starts at around 150,000 Euros (around $190,000 U.S.).

No word on how much heavier the Porsche gets with the flash, but we're sure it's worth its weight in gold

Kolkata Beggar now Bank Account Holder

A bank in the Indian city of Calcutta has opened an account for a beggar who deposited 91kg of coins in one of the bank's branches. Laxmi Das says she has been saving the coins since she started begging more than 40 years ago as a disabled child because of an early attack of polio.

"I saved for the days when I cannot beg," she said.

"I knew one day I would grow old and have diseases, so I was prudent and saved for my pension."

Now the fruits of her labour from a busy traffic intersection in north Calcutta have been realised.

"She can be projected as a role model to encourage people to begin saving," said TK Haldar, manager of the Central Bank of India's Maniktola branch.

Ms Das says that she has been prudent and saved

"Her efforts show that you can save even if you earn a pittance."

Mr Haldar said Ms Das now has a bank account and those who want to help her can send in account payee cheques in her name to his bank branch.

Several people have written to the BBC News website offering financial help to Ms Das after her story first appeared earlier this week.

Ms Das began begging aged 16 and saved coins in iron buckets at her home in a shanty town near the crossing.

In all, she collected four buckets of coins of all denominations. Some were minted as far back as 1961 and were clearly out of date. But bank officials said they would still accept them as legal tender.

It took staff - more used to counting notes - three days to count all the coins.

"But be it a billionaire or a beggar, our doors are open for all," said bank spokesman Shantanu Neogy.

Ms Das was encouraged to deposit the money by police who feared it could have been stolen from her home.

She chose to ignore - or did not know about - a thriving racket in this part of the world in which old Indian coins are smuggled and melted down in Bangladesh to make razor blades that sell for up to seven times their value as coins.

The practice has caused an acute coin shortage in eastern India, forcing government mints to cut down on the amount of metal they use to make the coins.

World's Largest Swimming Pool

Can you believe this place in Chile? Imagine doing 10 laps of this pool lengthwise! On a jet-ski maybe. It is 1.3 kms long, 800 mtrs wide (8/10 of a mile long by 1/2 mile wide) at its shortest point and varies from ankle depth to 8 mtrs deep.

It employs 41 life guards and has lifesaving devices which pop out of the bottom in various locations in case of rescue requirements. Built jointly by Korean/Japanese interests, it's expected to have a business life scale of 15 years. Wonder how they clean the thing?