Welcome to Talking Points, a daily roundup of digital miscellany
CHANGE SPARED
A Illinois man forced to pay back more than $500,000 (U.S.) in insurance money that stemmed from the death of his son did just that – in quarters. The four tons of coins were delivered last week on a flatbed truck to two law firms that represented other victims of a car wreck that killed Roger Herrin's 15-year-old son in a car crash in 2001. The boy was a passenger in a jeep that was hit by a truck that ran through a red light. All three other passengers in the jeep were uninjured. Following an appeal from the crash's survivors disputing how the insurance money was divided, Herrin was forced to pay back $500,000. The coins he paid back last week totalled $150,000. Herrin, 76, told the Associated Press there was "no satisfaction" in his coin stunt. "I just wanted to draw attention to what went on here. I really wanted to do it in pennies."
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SWEET BUILDING
A group of engineers from Princeton University have teamed up with Belgian chocolate makers to create a pavilion made entirely out of chocolate, LiveScience reports. The structure, composed of about 70 frames of chocolate that fit together into an open-air domed pavilion, is made from approximately 400 kilograms of the stuff – sort of. Because it does not contain cocoa butter (which melts too easily) it cannot legally be called chocolate in the United States. But it looks, smells and tastes like the real thing, said a representative from the Belgian company Barry Callebaut, which is providing the chocolate for the project. The pavilion, which measures up to 15 metres high, was set to be built in New York this summer, but that plan fell through for logistical reasons. Wherever the pavilion ultimately ends up, it will be a temporary installation, an engineer from Princeton said.
QUOTED
"No no no no! Refrain … means don't throw. … Do you guys wanna keep throwing things on stage or do you want me to keep performing?"
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Justin Bieber
The pop star was getting pelted at a show in New Jersey (lovingly, reportedly, with bandanas and letters) and shortly after asking the crowd to stop, he took a cellphone thrown at him and put it down his pants, then gave it to a different member of the audience, a video of the concert shows.