Sideswipe: December 10: Reassuring parking sign

Reassuring parking sign.

Out of the mouth ...

Controversial remarks attributed to the Duke of Edinburgh:

• "If it has four legs and is not a chair, has wings and is not an aeroplane, or swims and is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it."

• To a British student in Papua New Guinea: "You managed not to get eaten then?"

• To a Scottish driving instructor: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough for them to pass the driving test?"

• On a visit to the new Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, he told a group of deaf children standing next to a Jamaican steel drum band, "Deaf? No wonder you are deaf, standing so close to that racket."

• To an Australian aborigine: "Still throwing spears?"

• To the president of Nigeria, who was dressed in traditional Muslim robes: "You look like you're ready for bed."

• When a 12-year-old boy told the prince that he aspired to be an astronaut, he replied, "You're too fat."

'Lazy Bones' from 50s

Photo / Supplied

The first TV remote control was the Zenith Flash-Matic, developed in 1950. It was nicknamed the "Lazy Bones". A cable ran from the TV set to the viewer and a motor in the TV set operated the tuner through the remote control. Viewers changed the channel by rotating the tuner clockwise or counterclockwise. The remote control included buttons that turned the TV on and off.

F-eel-ice Navidad

An electric eel is using electricity to power Christmas lights at an aquarium in Tennessee. A system connected to his tank allowed the eel's shocks to power strands of lights on a nearby tree.

On his Twitter account, the eel remarked: "KA-BOOOOOOOM!!!!!" and "Quem não arrisca não petisca!" which translate as: "Those who do not risk do not snack".