Category: News

Japanese toilets catching fire

Sitting on Japanese all-singing all-heating toilets was strange enough while I was over in Japan recently and at the time we discussed what problems there would be in relying on British plumbers and electricians getting together to install the things.

Well, it seems they’re not that safe, as 180,000 are up for repair through catching fire spontaneously.

“Fortunately nobody was using the toilets when the fire broke out and there were no injuries,” a company spokesman said.

“The fire would have been just under your buttocks,” she added.

BBC NEWS | Business | Free repairs to flammable toilets

Breaking news – Madonna finally flips

Madonna

“Pop star Madonna has said she ‘wants to be like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and John Lennon’.”

If you’re thinking that perhaps she means that in a very specific, music-related way, then you’re wrong: it’s quite literal. Her aspirations don’t stop there, and she sees no reason why we can’t all reach such heights: “We all need to be Jesus,” she said.

Madonna ‘wants to be like Gandhi’

M&S uses ‘slimming mirrors’, says Kilroy-Silk

Marks and Spencer has said it is mystified by a claim by MEP Robert Kilroy-Silk that it uses “distorting” mirrors in its changing rooms.

Mr Kilroy-Silk has accused the store of misleading women with mirrors that make them look slimmer in its clothes.

By an amazing coincidence, I’ve noticed that every photograph of Robert Kilroy-Silk seems to have been taken with an orange filter over the lense.

Orange Kilroy-Silk

M&S; denies Kilroy mirrors claim

Cruciate ligament: the footballing injury to be seen with

Owen was the first cruciate signing
Ashley Cole is contemplating backing cruciate

In recent years no Premiership footballer worth their salt would be seen dead without a metatarsal injury. The metatarsal is a small bone in the foot that was brought to the nation’s attention as a result of David Beckham’s injury in the world cup of 2002. Beckham’s endorsement of the injury is said to have earned him millions over the past four years and, partly due to his backing, it’s market position has been unassailable during that time. The popularity of the metatarsal can be seen as recently as Wayne Rooney’s injury incurred during the build-up to the world cup of 2006.

But now, it seems, the metatarsal is just so last year. Instead, the “must have” footballing injury of 2007 is the cruciate ligament. Michael Owen is the first big name to endorse this new brand and was somewhat ahead of the times, signing a one year deal for the label during the World Cup of 2006. Never one to be seen to be behind with the latest fashion, Ashley Cole also appears to be backing the cruciate.

Like so many chav accessories, it seems that as soon as Wayne Rooney gets one, no-one else will touch them. Ledley King appeared to be about to put his name behind the metatarsal but has pulled out at the last minute with just a stress fracture, probably after taking advice from his agent.

How many other big name footballers will be backing the cruciate label is yet to be seen.

US military looks to ‘black ice’

The US military has appealed to scientists to help develop a novel weapon – artificial black ice.

The good thing about this article is the number of different ways to get across the main advantage of this new ‘weapon’ i.e. it makes the ground slippery:

  • “to get from point A to point B, one must have sufficient traction with the ground”
  • Darpa believes a polymer-based compound could replicate the properties of black ice – a thin, translucent slippery coating, typically found on roads in winter – to reduce traction.
  • “Such a system will provide unprecedented situational control and sustained operational tempo,” said Darpa.
  • “It would degrade the ability of our adversaries to shoot and chase us.”

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | US military looks to ‘black ice’