Flannel Shirt

BBC looks at little cars

A history of small cars.

The Nazi "Sun Gun"

It didn't work.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, what's the weirdest Nazi concept weapon of them all? The "sun gun."

That seems to be the takeaway from a long-forgotten article in Life magazine's July 23, 1945 issue, titled "The German Space Mirror." The article, which has been making the rounds on the Internet, credits unnamed U.S. Army experts for revealing a Nazi plan to construct the extraordinary device. Consisting of a reflective, slightly concave disk approximately one mile in diameter, the sun gun would focus solar rays onto enemy cities -- and burn them.

An accompanying illustration shows a large mirror, "located 22,300 miles above the equator," focusing massive amounts of solar energy onto a city in America's Northeast.

Read it all. It's fascinating.

Is there a version for adults?

As Elvis Costello once sang, "I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."

For the child who has everything, it could be the ultimate toilet training accessory.

With recent figures showing a huge rise in the number of toddlers being given iPads and other expensive gadgets, the iPotty - a potty with a built in iPad holder, might not be as daft as it first seems.

The firm behind it claims the gadget, revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, can help children feel more comfortable by allowing them to watch videos or play games while answering the call of nature.

The first improvement in boxer shorts in centuries

And there's a place to hide a credit card, too!

Pee guitar

In my neverending search to find important developments in mankind's growth I give you Pee Guitar.

Reminds me of a joke by George Carlin that involved a group of men, a keg of beer and a Kent micronite filter.

 

Ouch!

Another reason why too much media attention is bad. And why the "mistletoe cam" may not be a good idea. And why, like a lawyer in court, you should know the answer before you ask the question.

Grrrh

If you read my old blog you'd know that I've written this before.

I get an electronic device or computer device or an electronic device that has something to do with my computer and spend painful hours battling against a non-intuitive (for me) interface or menu and end up frustrated.

Again.

At least this time I managed to get through the barriers at the website set up to keep me from getting useful information and the person who finally answered my email said that perhaps they included the wrong "quick start instructions". In his email he said he would call me.

He didn't.