The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that a computer glitch would cause delays and cancellations of flights nationwide. The Wall Street Journal has more:

The problem involved the FAA computer system that files automated flight plans, forcing air traffic controllers to revert to the much more time-consuming approach of entering flight plans by hand.

Delays began on the East Coast and were rippling out to the west. The problem wasn’t affecting radar coverage or communications with planes in the air, the FAA said. The air traffic controllers union, however, said the FAA systems that provide information on weather and wind speeds at airports also weren’t functioning.

USA Today elaborates:

CNN reports the FAA computer system affected by the malfunction is centered in Atlanta. “The system — the National Airspace Data Interchange Network, or NADIN — appears to be the same one that failed in August 2008. The FAA said flight plans are being processed through the network’s Salt Lake City, Utah office,” CNN says on its website.

CBS adds “the practical ramifications of this problem are that the entire air traffic control system on the East Coast is slowed to about 40-50% of what a normal day would look like. Controllers must input flight data for each takeoff and landing manually.”

The FAA has a history of similar technical failures. They blamed the previous NADIN failure, in 2008, on a Windows upgrade, but offered no more specifics than that, according to Portfolio. By all indications, this was a) not unprecedented, and b) will probably happen again sometime.

Sometimes, however, companies design truly creative outdoor ads. They’re original enough to penetrate consumer ad fatigue, and innovative enough to convince you their product might actually be worth checking out. We’ve compiled 35 brilliant ads that make you do a double-take:

1. Bite: Ogilvy & Mather

Image: Comunicamos

This Indonesian billboard makes it clear that Formula Toothcare gives you really strong teeth.

2. Engagement Ring: Robbins Diamonds

Robbins Diamonds reminds drivers that no engagement ring means angry girlfriend. The sign is on the way to the Philadelphia airport.

3. Barbell: Fitness Company

This German metro advertisement adds levity to weight-lifting.

4. Nail Biter Bag: Jung von Matt Berlin

Image: How Advertising Spoiled Me

The woman on this bag is supposed to be biting nails, not eating a hand. Either way, she catches attention for the nail-biting balm Stop n’ Grow.

5. Beau Rivage Resort & Casino

Source: Frederik Samuel

A Mississippi resort and casino brings much-needed tranquility to the baggage claim.

6. Smoking Bus: Nicotinell

Image: Billboardom

As long as this bus is moving, this man is smoking. And suffering. The solution? Nicotinell gum.

7. Cracking the Sidewalk

Image: Highly Optical Illusions

Placed around Singapore, these martial arts school ads make good use of sidewalk cracks.

8. Lettuce Billboard: McDonald’s

Image: GroovyGreen

Yep, that’s really lettuce growing on a McDonald’s billboard. Fresh.

9. Mini With Boobs: FHM

Image: AdFreak

British men’s rag FHM Magazine painted boobs on this Mini. Eye-catching and genre-appropriate.

10. Shaving the Lawn: BIC

Image: Brian Sibley

A giant BIC razor shaves grass in England. The razor mows well, but unfortunately, the brand name is hard to see.

11. Clean Sidewalk Stripe: Mr. Clean

Image: Branding & Marketing

Mr. Clean keeps one stripe on this Italian crosswalk clean. And he’s proud of it.

12. Miele Vacuum Cleaner: Miami Ad School

Image: AdArena

Two art students from the Miami Ad School created this vac-tastic Miele billboard.

13. Lego Crane: IDB-FCB

In Chile, building companies don’t work on weekends. So one ad agency hung a giant Lego from a crane in a visible Santiago location. The result: A sweet ad. (Source)

14. Weighed Down: Silberman’s Fitness Center

Obviously overweight? Silberman’s offers a solution.

15. Goalkeeper: Adidas

Image: Say No to Crack

Drivers literally can’t miss this massive Adidas ad, which the company posted at the Munich airport during the 2006 World Cup.

16. Big Idea: The Economist

Image: Funny Billboards

The Economist posted an award-winning London ad whose motion sensor light illuminates when someone passes by.

17. Dropped Call: Cingular

Image: AdFreak

Located outside the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, this Cingular ad makes the dropped call issue very visible. (Source)

18. Popped Gum

Image: Billboardom

This kid in Mumbai had a nasty pop.

19. Strong Tape

The tape “holding up” this billboard is really strong. Simple, yet effective.

20. Kill Bill

Image: Toxel

Ad designers did a bloody good job with this Kill Bill-board.

21. We’ll Match It: Benjamin Moore Paints

Image: Billboardom

Benjamin Moore paints gets the hue right.

22. Leaky Mascara: Max Factor

Image: Say No to Crack

The eyes in this Max Factor ad cry mascara when it rains. Catchy–and, to women, scary.

23. Checkmate: Santa Monica BMW

The real message here: Do not mess with Santa Monica BMW.

24. McDonald’s Time

Source: Chicago Business

It’s always McDonald’s time, according to this sundial-like billboard in Chicago.

25. Paint Spill: Coop Paint

Image: Hojimoto/Flickr

Columbus, Ohio’s Atlas Building just didn’t look the same after a Coop’s Paint spill.

26. Not American: Smart Car

This Smart Car ad pokes fun at American auto engineering.

27. Hidden Danger: Mexico Unido

Image: Coloribus

Mexico Unido reminds innocent passerby that danger lurks around every corner.

28. Coca Cola Ladder

This Coca Cola ad embodies desperate thirst using only a bottle, a ladder, and a giant straw. Kind of makes you want one, doesn’t it?

29. Run: Nike

Image: Billboardom

For a transparent billboard, this Nike ad is mighty eye-catching.

30. Mars Chilled

Image source

Mars Chilled will transform your tongue into a frog-like appendage. Or it will capture and freeze your tongue. It’s that good.

31. Giant Cork: Heye & Partner

Image: Bored.com

This advertising pillar turned into a giant cork for a German wine trade fair. It works–as long as nobody pins flyers on it.

32. Accessories: Saatchi & Saatchi

Image: Bored.com

This guerilla marketing campaign took place in Geneva, for an accessory store. Saatchi & Saatchi replaced chains with giant jewelry in several locations. (Source: Adverbox)

33. Irresistible Scent: Gain

Image: Say No to Crack

You can just see the fresh smell on this 3-D billboard.

34. Rubber Duckies: Adidas

Image: Thomas Rockstar

Adidas filled a Copenhagen fountain with blue rubber duckies for Copenhagen Fashion Week. The bottoms of the ducks said “Reward for my return at Adidas original store.” People would keep the cute ducks…and wander into the local Adidas store. (Source: Thomas Rockstar)

35. Butt Billboard

Image: Creative Juice

This billboard is eye-catching…in a bad way.

Demand for the aniseed variety of the 65-year-old winter warmer has meant an unprecedented rise in production. Key ingredient star anise – pure aniseed – is also contained in the swine flu treatment Tamiflu, reports the Daily Mirror.

“We make no claims for our product – though enjoying a Fisherman’s Friend will certainly do no harm. People are making the aniseed link themselves.”

In any case, Fisherman’s Friend has got to be a better swine flu bet than Cocoa Krispies.

These sneakers apparently build your body 12 different ways, just like Wonderbread. Reebok claims these sneakers provide 28 percent more gluteus maximus muscle activation, and 11% more calf and hamstring activation.

(Reebok also claims that) “due to the instability of the balance pods, activities with unplanned side-to-side movement and/or any lateral-movement-sports such as tennis or basketball-should be avoided.”

Okay, so they work, as long as you don’t really exercise. This sounds like yet another fad shortcut to losing weight while expending little extra effort.

The idea that shoes can help tone you is in fact gaining traction among footwear manufacturers. The Wall Street Journal has more on the physiology behind “physiological footwear”:

Unlike traditional athletic shoes that are built to be stable, rocker-sole shoes are deliberately unstable. The effect, companies that make the shoes say, is similar to using a wobble board or balance board in a gym. To stand or walk in these shoes, you must engage more muscles than you do using regular shoes, the companies say. Manufacturers recommend you wear them during your normal activities, starting with short periods until you get used to them.

The test involved only 500 steps, and Reebok acknowledges that the effect may diminish as wearers get used to the shoes.

Studies done on the Masai, the first physiological shoe to hit markets, show that physical therapy patients given Masai shoes for three months recovered faster than their non-Masai-wearing counterparts. The shoes strengthened the small muscles around the ankles, and their weight helped wearers burn more calories, according to the WSJ article.

Reebok’s EasyTone shoes, on the other hand, are lighter. They also have only one study supporting that they strengthen muscles.

Reebok EasyTones, as well as the other physiological shoes on the market, strike me as yet another something-for-nothing fitness fad. By simply wearing the shoes, you firm up your glutes. I see this eventually going the direction of fads like the Atkins Diet and ankle weights (remember those?). Physiological footwear may have a permanent place in a niche market, but it’s not going to revolutionize female American butts. Only squats, lunges, and fewer donuts will accomplish that.

The Financial Times reports on a recent Sky News Australia interview with News Corporation’s Rupert Murdoch. He threatened to sue the BBC and ABC for stealing content, and Google for employing Fair Use:

Rupert Murdoch indicated on Monday that News Corporation would sue the BBC over breach of copyright for “stealing” material from his newspapers round the world. Mr Murdoch…was asked how he would be able to instigate his proposal to charge for newspaper websites such as The Times in the UK or The Australian when the BBC and ABC produced free news content on their sites.

He also challenged the idea that Google and others could take just the headlines and opening lines from his papers’ stories, indicating that he would not tolerate even that. “[They use] a doctrine called fair use, which we believe can be challenged in the courts and will bar it altogether,” he said. But he added that News Corp papers currently benefited to some extent from the advertising around its freely available internet content so “we will take that slowly”.

BNet’s David Weir speaks to the apparent insanity of Murdoch’s words:

…it appears there will continue to be delays in implementing the paid content strategy, which continues to strike me as a non-starter for newspaper content. Murdoch seems unwilling to concede that news is a commodity in today’s world, and placing it behind a paywall would simply help his competitors grab audience share.

Then again, Murdoch is a man used to getting what he wants, so the delays and other problems (including possible anti-trust issues) plaguing his paid content plan must be frustrating him beyond belief. Thus the angry threats, but it remains to be seen whether he actually carries any of them out in the end.

Mediabistro has more commentary:

Look, the entire publishing industry is grappling with how to craft a winning business model. It’s not easy. But “the world’s most powerful media owner,” as Sky News Australia interview David Speers calls Murdoch (video below), clearly is letting his frustration cloud his judgment. What he’s saying is nonsense. Blocking Google and other search engines is tantamount to online publishing suicide. Does he really think that subscription revenue will more than make up for the ad revenue he’ll lose when page views plunge? I don’t know what News Corp.’s traffic data says, but plenty of sites out there get half their PVs or more from Google.

Rupert, never mind all this talk of pay walls and banning Google. The solution to your problem is clear: More Page 3 girls!

Amen to that.

7. Rhodes Scholarships

What they do:

The Freemasons select and indoctrinate the finest minds of every generation by giving them Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford University, where they have access to the best teaching and others sympathetic to Masonic ideology. Rhodes scholars invariably go on to positions of power in finance, law, politics or the media, from which they are able to ensure that Masonic interests are promoted and protected.

How they do it:

Cecil Rhodes himself became a Mason whilst studying at Oxford in the 1870s. After hearing a speech by fellow mason, John Ruskin, calling for ‘a ruling class with a powerful army to keep it in power’, he became obsessed with the idea of bringing the entire world under the rule of the British Masonic elite, and sought to do so through extensive business projects in Africa and the Empire. In his estate Rhodes entrusted Nathan Rothschild with continuing his program of intellectual world domination, and today Rhodes scholars occupy key positions throughout the global business world.

Do they really?

Although the link between Rhodes and the Masons is clear for all to see, it is entirely implausible that such a venerable institution as Oxford University would allow any external political agenda to play a part in its entrance policies. Accepting the Rhodes scholar conspiracy is akin to accepting that the whole academic world is quietly shaping the world – which is probably true in a very obvious, non-sinister way.

6. Federal Reserve

What they do:

Freemasons use the notion of the Federal Reserve as a public institution to trick the public into believing no single group has a monopoly on the production, distribution and manipulation of currency. The Masons control the Federal Reserve, operating it as essentially a private bank. Profit is created by charging 5% interest (according to the Act) on every dollar bill that is issued – 5% of the face value that is – so if a dollar bill stays in circulation for 20 years, we pay back the dollar itself, plus a dollar in interest into the pockets of the Federal Reserve.

How they do it:

The great banking families, such as the Rothschilds, Warburgs and Rockefellers, exercise almost total control over the Federal Reserve. Many of these are directly descended from the Knights Templar and the Masonic European elite. When these families decided to create the Federal Reserve in 1910 they wrote their own domination into the very constitution of the American people, as well as a license to print money from thin air.

Do they really?

The notion that the Federal Reserve is a private institution controlled by any group or individual is probably both right and wrong. The Federal Reserve derives its power from Congress, and is considered an independent central bank because its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branch of government. Congress periodically reviews its activities and can alter its responsibilities. On the other hand it’s undoubtedly true that a handful of powerful families exercise an inordinate amount of power – although the amount of political infighting suggests they are far from aligned with each other.

5. The Square and Compass

What they do:

Write into our everyday business and political language tacit signs of Masonic dominance. According to this conspiracy, everyday sayings and names of initiations or processes are actually based upon Masonic ritual and symbols.

How they do it:

One of the most significant Masonic symbols is the mason’s square. In court we say “his testimony doesn’t ‘square’ with the facts of the case”. When you go to jail they give you “3 ‘square’ meals”. Meetings have always traditionally been held at the Town ‘Square’. If you’re not cool, they say you’re a ’square’. Remember to play “fair and square”. Equally, another Masonic symbol, the compass, also codifies the everyday language we use to conduct business. When you graduate college, you receive a ‘degree’ (you are also called an Alumni – for Illuminati, another group connected with Freemasonry), as the Masons set up the institutions of learning in the first place. If you get in their way they give you the ‘3rd degree’, which was, in fact, the highest degree in Freemasonry for many years.

Do they really:

This conspiracy is for those that watch the movie, the Number 23, and then start counting the objects in their room. Masonic codes are no more written into the language of business, politics and education than any other codes we care to find. ‘Working like a dog’, ‘a dog’s dinner’, ‘dog tired’ – shall we conclude that dogs control the business world? No, you morons.

4. US Dollar Bills

What they do:

Further proof that the Masons control US money and the business done with it (and in particular the Federal Reserve) may be seen in the fact that on the back of the U.S. one dollar bill there is a pyramid with the All-Seeing-Eye of God, with the message,  “New Order of The Ages” or “New World Order”.

How they do it:

In Europe, occult leaders were told by their Familiar Spirits as early as the 1740’s that the new American continent was to be established as the new “Atlantis”, and its destiny was to assume the global leadership of the drive to the New World Order. By controlling the Federal Reserve and banks the Masons have been able to gradually familiarize us with their symbols to the point we are entirely unaware of them as they surround us. The all-seeing pyramid is a symbol of their dominance, written under our noses into the very currency with which we conduct business.

Do they really:

Short answer – no. Benjamin Franklin was the only Mason on the first design committee, and his suggestions had no Masonic content. None of the final designers of the seal were Masons, and the interpretation of the eye on the seal is subtly different from the interpretation used by Masons. The eye in the pyramid is not, nor has been, a Masonic symbol – the eye of providence is in fact Trinitarian reference to the God of Christianity and considered a solely Christian symbol, and in any case, Freemasonry was only just beginning in England and hadn’t arrived in the US by that time. So that pretty much wraps that one up.

3. Washington DC Street Design

What they did:

Freemasons embedded Masonic symbols into the Washington, D.C., street plan designed mainly by Frenchman Pierre L’Enfant in 1791, writing their codes into the very seat of political power. He hid certain occult magical symbols in the layout of U.S. Governmental Center which, when united become one large Masonic and Luciferan symbol.

How they did it:

The street layout of Washington contains a plethora of Masonic and associated symbols, including the set-square, compass, pentagram, 666, figure of the Godhead and the Eye of Providence. The implication is that the Mason dominance over the US meant that even the origins of its political and financial structures were based in Masonic ideology.

Did they really?

It can be said with a high degree of certainty that Pierre L’Enfant wasn’t a Mason, and in any case, what would be the point of laying out street designs in complex geometrical shapes few people would appreciate? Mark Tabbert, a self-confessed Mason and director of collections at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, has said that “there has to be a reason for doing such a thing. Dan Brown will find one, because he writes fiction. But there isn’t one.”

2. Monopoly on Recruitment

What they do:

Masons ensure, through programs such as the Rhodes Scholarships, that their members occupy positions of key significance in the business world. Of prime importance are the recruitment departments of the worlds largest corporations – by controlling these the Masons ensure only those who they approve of may find work in the most powerful establishments and only their own can rise to weld such power.

How they do it:

Masons fill the corporations with those sympathetic to their cause by total dominance of human resources departments and ensuring that they have a man on the board of every major corporation. Unless you are one of them or gain approval, you will never rise to any position of significant power. To conceal this fact they encourage the creation of thousands of meaningless bureaucratic positions in business, which fool people into thinking they have authority when in actual fact they are merely pawns.

Do they really?

Recruitment and promotion are under more scrutiny today than ever before, what with equal opportunities and all that. It would be very difficult to mount a huge scale program of selecting by allegiance without attracting attention somehow. Also: the sheer number of HR departments in the country make this a stupefyingly insane proposition. Never in my time have I or anyone I know been asked if I am a Mason at a job interview, or prompted to give a secret sign. Maybe I’m just not in on it though . . .

1. The World Bank

What they do:

The Freemasons use the World Bank as a front for an international banking cabal under their control. They plan to eventually subvert the independence of the U.S. by subordinating national sovereignty to a strengthened Bank for International Settlements with the intent to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole

How they do it:

Control of the World Bank allows the Masons to extend their global influence in a similar way to how they control the Federal Reserve. They control the Board of Directors and the recruiting structures and from there are able to dictate policy and ensure that these policies are not objected to.

Do they really?

Although many of the Bank’s practices are dubious the idea it is controlled by one group (other than of course America) is preposterous. The World Bank was created as a result of the complex political minefield that was the Second World War – after such a historically significant event, it was widely held that a radical overhaul of global economics was needed. Some countries are undoubtedly held back within the Bank, but generally it strives for democracy at every turn.

Sources: 1, 2

Images: acameronhuff, cliff1066, hansbrastad, wikimedia.