During a press conference on 25 January, Takeshi Endo, a representative for, JGC Corp, the construction firm working at the ill-fated Tigantourine natural gas plant told the story of one lucky survivor who was rescued by the Algerian workers there.

According to the press conference, at around 5:40am on 16 January the unnamed survivor heard sirens go off. When they went to peak out the door someone yelled “stay [in your] room!”

For the rest of the morning from 6:30 to 8:00, the employee could intermittently hear shouts of “open the door” among echoing gunshots.

At one point they heard a helicopter that they wished was the local army.

The next day at around 9:45am the worker checked outside the room again.

A small group of Algerian plant workers approached them. The team quickly applied a turban around their head and told them to pull the neck warmer over the face.

This band of workers surrounded the Japanese national and escorted them to a nearby subcontractor’s camp safe from harm.

In a murky incident that seemed to involve a complete waste of human life from ambiguous terrorists to iron-fisted rescue forces, maybe we can salvage some humanity from the small team of Algerian workers who risked their live to save a single person from the other side of the world.

Source: jijicom via My Game News Flash (Japanese)

You wander the Moroccan desert lost, dehydration and the scorching sun draining the life from your body more and more with each passing moment.

An oasis appears. A pool of water at the base of a lush tree promise relief from the heat and hope that you may yet find your way home.

You run towards the oasis but then stop suddenly. Did that tree just bleat at me?

You rub your eyes and, as the illusion evaporates into the unforgiving sun, you realize: that tree isn’t covered in foliage, it’s covered in goats. And that pool of water? That’s goats too.

You murmur to yourself: What the $!&#.

The argan tree is a drought-resistant tree endemic to the semi-desert region of southern Morocco known as Sous valley. The fruit of the argan tree is primarily used to create argan oil, which can be used for in cooking or as a cosmetic product.

The argan tree is also frequently assaulted by hungry goats, who will climb the tree and strip it bear of leaves and fruit.

The goats are said to have learned how to climb trees out of necessity to survive in this harsh, infertile land. They certainly look like they know what they’re doing, as they appear to move as they please between the branches wand whimsically supporting themselves on even the smallest space.

It’s almost as if the tree is producing goat-shaped fruit and naturally, this bizarre scene has become something of a tourist attraction in southern Morocco.

Unfortunately, the argan tree has been on the verge of extinction for years due to being cut down for firewood and overgrazing. The Moroccan government has been working to educate the local community about the importance of the tree and social ventures have even stepped in to help faciliatate the sustainable production of argan oil and make it available for purchase overseas, thereby supporting the local economy.

The real lesson we must take away from all of this is that while a bunch of goats in a tree may look hilarious, it carries serious environmental implications and this is exactly why we can’t have nice things.

Source： Sina.com.cn （Chinese）
[ Read in Japanese ]

[ Read in Japanese ]

They say the most expressive part of your face is the eyes. The rest of the face might be saying “happy times”, but if you focus on the eyes, you might see “sad times,” or vice versa.

Purikura machines, or sticker picture machines, have long had an eye enhancement option, so it only makes sense for an application on your phone to have one as well. Many of them can even be used on everyday objects that have people’s faces on them, like the money resting in your wallet. But how do the respected and historical figures on cash look when you manipulate the size of their eyes? Is some secret emotion going to be revealed? Let’s find out after the jump.

We’ve all seen the impact that overly large eyes have on people. Often times it makes for a disturbing alien-like appearance, but perhaps what is even scarier is shrunken, teeny tiny eyes! The shape and size of the eyes will completely change the look of someone’s face, extreme cases often come with hilarious results. Let’s give it a go on some of the most esteemed figures of our past.

Starting with the revered Japanese yen, the 1,000-yen note, the 5,000-yen note, and the 10,000-yen note all have historical figures on them. Yukichi Fukuzawa…it’s time for your close-up.

▼ 10,000-yen note featuring Yukichi Fukuzawa

Known as one of the most persuasive and influential people in Japan, his powers are magnified by his big eyes and that same power completely disappears when they become really small.

▼ 5,000-yen note featuring Ichiyo Higuchi

Ichiyo Higuchi fairs no better as the size of her eyes plays havoc with her regal look.

▼ 1,000-yen note featuring Hideo Noguchi

Hideo Noguchi’s intelligent look is taken for a loop with some simple eye changes. Although his small-eyed version doesn’t seem to change his feel too much, the new proportions make him look very confused.

Why are we limiting ourselves to just Japanese money? There are plenty of other interesting people we can manipulate with these apps. How about we try this with the US dollar, Korean won, and South African rand?

▼ US one-dollar note featuring George Washington

George Washington makes a huge transformation with big eyes and they turn him into what can only be described as frog-like and very un-presidential.

▼ Five-dollar note featuring Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln looks like he’s ready to appear in the next Love Live! anime with his big eyes, while his small eyed version looks like he is laser-focused and ready to solve all of America’s problems.

▼ 20-dollar note featuring Andrew Jackson

President Andrew Jackson looks like he is about to unhinge his jaw and devour you with his creepy large eyes. On the other hand, his small-eyed version makes it seem like he’s thinking really critically about something, like say the succession of South Carolina.

▼ 100-dollar note featuring Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin looks exactly how you would imagine he would in the story of how he confirmed electricity, eyes bugging out as electrical current runs through his body! His tiny-eyed version just makes him look older and more discerning. Actually, all the American figures look older and wiser with the smaller eyes.

▼ 1,000-won note featuring Yi Hwang

Yi Hwang graces the 1,000-won note in South Korea. He is one of the most prominent Korean Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty, although his large-eyed version makes it seem like he’s a bit dazed and confused. You probably don’t want to be questioning the small eyed version, as it looks like he’s about to drop some Grade A knowledge on us.

▼ 5,000-won note featuring Yi I

The large eyes keep looking like they are out to hypnotize us all, as Yi I is here to teach us more of the Confucian ways. Not only was he a scholar, but he was also a famed politician and a reformer. But his small-eyed version makes him look kind of sad, like he is regretting his decision to participate in this eye-changing madness.

▼10,000-won note featuring Sejong Daewang

On the 10,000-won note is the picture of Sejong Daewang, or Sejong the Great. In the large-eyed version, he is sympathetic to his people as they learn the Hangul alphabet he helped create. In his small-eyed version, it looks like he is very pleased that everyone now uses Hangul. He seems to be saying with his eyes, “It’s so much easier, can’t you see?”

▼  South African 20-rand (elephant) and 10-rand (rhinoceros) notes

We thought it would be fun to see if this app would alter the shape of the faces on South African rand, but unfortunately the app doesn’t seem to recognize animal faces like rhinos and elephants as workable images. That’s too bad because we might have seen a preview of the next big Disney or Pixar characters thanks to the app and South Africa.

While it’s definitely fun to play around with the images of currency on our phones, might we remind you that most countries frown upon defacing its actual banknotes. If you find any more fun faces using a face-changing app, feel free to share them in the comments. Just make sure you don’t post pictures of both sides of the bill and you won’t find yourself in trouble with the law.

Additional Information: Wikipedia
Images: ©RocketNews24
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