Look into the crystal ball

A lawmaker in Norway says she won't run for re-election after piling up thousands of dollars in phone calls to fortune-tellers on Parliament's tab. The problem for the lawmaker isn't that her soothsaying advisers didn't see the scandal coming -- it's that they knew she'd stop calling if they warned her about it.

After a painful 66-13 loss against Oregon State, the Cougs would probably like someone to predict a brighter future for them. As it is, even Richard Simmons might have a hard time remaining optimistic about the rest of their season.

Roughing it: One camping enthusiast advocates that every kid learn their outdoor skills from a thorough 1913 text by Francis H. Buzzacott. You may wish to take the recommendation with a grain of salt, though. A passage describing Buzzacott's delight at cooking fresh game in a campfire while wet, tired and hungry suggests he never went camping with any wet, tired and hungry children.

2008: A Space Suit Odyssey. Scientists in Japan have invented a robotic suit called HAL, which helps people with disabilities walk by reading their brain signals. That is, HAL helps people as long as he doesn't become concerned they might disconnect him.