DISQUS

I note the total lack of a nonius or vernier scale. (The plate is marked in degrees, not millimeters by the way.) They call that fair? A 360th of the cake! What kind of precision is that?

Besides, the cake's a little thinner on my side. How very convenient for you. What's the formula to compensate for that? And has it been approved by the international committee of cake ethics?

Now don't give me your "let's just weigh the pieces" idea again. Can't you see it's a marble cake? You'll have all the good chocolate parts again, and all I get is dry and crumbly bits. No way.

I demand we do an MRI scan to calculate the spatial integral of the distribution of cocoa solids. What, you don't have an MRI scanner? Okay, go and make arrangements to rent one. Meanwhile I will watch the cake.

There's 2GB for €29.50 now. That's just a 3x markup for a novelty design product. Dunno, sounds fair. Or do you think they're trying to SCREW us?

(hey, you started it)

You mean, instead of today's Christian Bale, this keyring could accidentally make 1967's Yvonne Craig show up? If so, shut up, you fools! :)

Whoaaa... I think I finally wrapped my head around it. (Should I be worried about this?) If I'm not mistaken, the translation should be:

We watched fishes. They like to be in some places better than in others. We modelled a fishtank whose walls got pushed in where the fishes don't want to hang around anyhow. Look at the pretty shapes.

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/04/01/from-the-road...

A pull-tab? Blasphemy! Whatever happened to the nice traditional screw-caps? :) Heh, at least it isn't one of those self-heating cans...

Meh, wine. Can't stand that stuff either. Beer too, if you can believe it. On the other hand, I really enjoy (non-alcoholic) sweet-fermented rice milk that some people compared to the taste of cardboard, so I think I better be quiet.

Max Headroom on wheels?

The colors! That sure is a vacation worthy of most people's envy.

You mean, all I can do with it is fly?

Hmmm. $20 million bucks... and it only transports matter... I'll give you 25 cents for it.

Could this be from the same manufacturer as this "ecobutton"? http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/01/30/ecobutton-pro... I mean, once you register the design patents for USB buttons, you may as well try and get the most out of them. People must find at least ONE of these ideas useful...

USB drives as a transport medium for promotional material, sure. But letting an external device control your machine at the push of a button? Removable devices are becoming a fast growing attack vector for spy- and malware, especially in the business area, because everybody's so careless about autorun. Any business where a device like this is expected to work has a seriously flawed computer security plan.

So I don't understand why any self-respecting advertiser would distribute USB devices that rely on autorun features.

Unless you WANT to single out people with low-grade security. Because this usually also means they'll be gullible enough, er, I mean, valuable enough as a new customer. Hum.

>> Bear in mind that I’m skeptical of any serious product with the words “miracle” “magical” or “incredible” in their names.

GOOD thing! More disturbing is, giveaway phrases such as these are only the tip of the iceberg. The vast majority of manipulative advertising - and thus the most lucrative - always tries to stay juuust below the waterline of customer attention. It's amazing how quickly the markets can adapt to more subtle forms of deception once there is a need for it.

In this case however it's perfectly legit to use the word "miracle" in the product description since it's indeed part of the proper common name of the fruit. (Incidentally, speaking of funny protein names that end in "-ulin", there's also "draculin", found in the saliva of vampire bats.)

Chronos The Bear's christmas present!

You know, the Johnny Bravo character. "I am Chronos, master of all time!"

The episode where Johnny was substituting for Santa. How did that go again, "and for Chronos a clock so precise that even he won't be whining", or something like that.

Anyone remember it too?

And why do *I* remember this?

"was designed for the audio enthusiast" - I think this says it all.

NO cable is immune from bit errors. They're easily caught by the error correction, and even in the cheapest cable they're only one in a billion or so to begin with. Or is the "Denon Link feature" such a crappy protocol, with no error correction whatsoever, that you can only PRAY that no frame gets dropped?

To transmit perfect digital audio you need nothing more than unshielded bell wire. Especially at these laughable data rates and cable lengths. If you need a better cable, you're doing it wrong.

Any company that advertises like this has lost all credibility.

Purchase decisions, buying patterns, all the privacy details that go along with it, face recognition databases http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-566181/... OUR EVERY MOVEMENT http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/te... ... And now where you're looking at.

Great. What other unconscious body functions haven't been commercially exploited yet? I always considered eye contact to be a rather intimate gesture.

I assume these systems are perfectly able to gather their data without having to display a user interface, without needing to give you any feedback that you as a passerby are under "marketing surveillance".

So, no more expectation of privacy even when you're looking at inanimate objects. Constant fear that someone is trying to manipulate me into giving them even MORE money. (Well, SOMEONE is going to have to pay for these systems. Guess who that'll be...) Wrap our eyeballs in tinfoil, or what?

Heh, there's electricity, and there's blinking lights. It's still a gadget, just a very big one.

Way cool. A volcano eruption AND lightning bolts. Excuse me now, watching such displays of raw energy always gives me the urge of rubbing my hands together and laughing like a maniac.

Perverts.

NEWS FLASH

Airline passengers should expect substantial delays today as the local airport was evacuated following a bomb threat.

Two bottles of unknown contents were found by a watchful flight attendant. Special forces raided the plane after the pilot made an unscheduled emergency landing. Two terrorism suspects were detained. Possibly the fluids were meant to create a liquid explosive when combined. It is unclear if there are any connections to Al Quaida.

Homeland Security officials are still puzzled how it was possible to smuggle two filled bottles onto the plane. Surveillance records show that the suspected extremist suicide bombers carried two containers when they boarded, one pink and one blue, but they were empty. "It's still a mystery," according to a TSA spokesman.

Forget about indoor images.

The rotation point has to be below the nodal point of the lens, which for the vast majority of cameras is not aligned with the mounting screw. An offset of a few millimetres can already mean that closer objects cannot be aligned.

Even if you only intend to photograph wide open spaces, you'll get difficulties because the images won't exactly add up to 360 degrees, which makes the pano want to buckle.

This product is of limited use, unprofessional, and overpriced.

Strangely appealing, in a weird and twisted way.

You just have to stop and gawk.

Nonono, don't blame "Mother Nature", she's a loving, life-giving, nurturing woman. Whenever there's an event of wanton destruction and vengeful devastation, that's an "act of God".

Just remember to put the lid down before you load the machine. You know those socks, they use ANY opportunity for getting lost... I imagine sitting there during the spin cycle could be an interesting experience though. :)

They missed the opportunity to give it a bright red LED display that shows a countdown when the snooze timer is active. Aw, once again, cost effectiveness triumphs over coolness.

7000 square feet is a radius of 14.4 metres, not all that incredible, as far as the usual claims for these so-called "pest control" devices go.

The FTC has sent warning letters for false and deceptive advertising to dozens of manufacturers. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2001/05/fyi0128.shtm The result: the market switched away from calling it "ultrasonic", now using "subsonic" or "interval sonics". Either way, the efficacy claims are not supported by scientific evidence, on the contrary.

Bottom line is, these devices just don't work.

The market for hawking flimflam products to uninformed customers is big enough already, no need for providing additional credulous publicity for these. I wish you'd focus more on the nerdy gizmos instead. You know, on products whose function is undisputed, or on toys where it's OBVIOUS when you're spending your money on something silly and useless.

Cite?

Without any information, you must assume that this is just another magic sham product to exploit the lucrative market of gullible germophobes.

Wavelength? Surface dose? Who's the manufacturer that makes these efficacy promises? (and who would be held responsible for damages from prolonged exposure?) I'm inclined to believe that if this really worked as advertised it would give you retina damage and eye cancer.

Perhaps the other way around. When the kid's coming at you, get a few seconds of warning time. :)