Sideswipe: October 6: All Black Santa

Santa has been dressed up as an All Black in Hastings. Photo / Supplied

Rob Buckett saw this All Black Santa on the New World supermarket in Hastings. "Who doesn't believe in Santa now?" he wonders.

Just give me a sign

Researchers from Taiwan have developed a machine that reads people's hand gestures to open locked doors. The secret is a chip that can detect movement in three dimensions, as used in Nintendo's Wii video game console, which allows users to easily unlock their doors by repeating a gesture preset in the sensor. You'll just have to be careful about your body language. (Source: Neatorama.com)

Old-world courtesy lacking

Jo writes: "I went to New World in Milford and queued behind a clean-cut elderly gentleman who was having trouble getting his cheque (for $33) accepted because he didn't have a New World cheque authentication identification card. He had an AA card and a driver's licence, which they would not accept. He explained that his wife normally does the shopping so he wasn't aware of New World's ID rule and didn't have the card. The duty manager got involved and would not budge. I ended up paying for his groceries and he wrote me a cheque - which cleared. A great shame that for one of our senior citizens, New World could not bend the rules for such a small amount and what was obviously not a heist."

Payback for unwary Crip

Chris writes: "Good on Nav for refusing to give the abusive Crips gang member a dollar. One of these Crips came into a shop where I was and, unbeknown to him, $30 of taxpayers' money fell out of his pocket [so] I quickly scooped it up and popped it into the Christchurch earthquake appeal box on the counter."

Sharing the jean pool

A reader from Kerikeri says her husband has tried female denim too! "While rushing to get dressed for an AGM presentation he was giving, he inadvertently put my jeans on and wore them in front of several dozen people. The designer name of his wife's jeans? Not Your Daughter's Jeans."

Nowhere to spend a penny

"During my 11-year membership of the local community committee," writes Chris Kiwi, "we tried repeatedly to persuade Auckland City Council to install public toilets for the Westmere shops. The nearest toilet block was way up the top of Garnet Rd by the zoo. As for the people who witnessed the golden shower incident outside the local coffee bar, I am as 'hissed off' as they are."