Unusual birthday card.
Always read the small print
"We humans are an optimistic lot," writes Kathy Young. "We have to be. We believe that most people are mostly honest, that public parking won't always cost an arm and a leg ... but, deep down, we also know that if a parking deal looks too good to be true, it most surely will be. And we're not always stupid, particularly when it's parking in Auckland. These instincts mean we do our homework. We peer closely at the sign which tells us that we can park overnight from 6pm for $16. Amazing. We check with our hotel. Yes, out by 8am. Perfect. MasterCard goes in to pay before 8 next morning. $48, plus. Oh well. What were we thinking, anyway? Fatalistic shrug. Another check of the board. This company's not paying a real person who will give too much away. Yes, there it is. The small print means something now, and it tells us 'New day starts at 6am'. Why can't it be up there in larger font? Or, beside the 6pm?"
Leave Boris to clear the dishes
A robot unveiled last week at the British Science Festival will be loading dishwashers next year, its developers claim. "Boris" is one of the first robots in the world capable of intelligently manipulating unfamiliar objects with a human-like grasp. It calculates up to a thousand possible ways to grasp a novel object with its five robotic fingers and plans a path of arm movements to reach its target, avoiding obstructions.
KFC ad not so good ...
Ben writes: "That new KFC ad is good for a few lolz. Teenage son is about to leave an immaculately renovated Grey Lynn or Westmere villa but then decides to stay when he discovers that his architect Dad has bought a big bucket of KFC. The family then sit down to enjoy their meal at what looks like a Nood dining table with some flat bread laid out on a Jamie Oliver chopping board. I think they really nailed the target demographic with that one."
Marathon food race
An annual race in France, which calls itself the world's longest marathon is attempting to ease runners' pain by offering them gourmet food and wine on the way to the finish line. Le Marathon du Medoc - which takes place around Pauillac near Bordeaux in France - sees runners dress up in Carnival-themed outfits to run the 26-mile (42.2km) circuit. Along the way they can tuck into a banquet of French delicacies from oysters to icecream, washed down with glasses of fine wine. Participants get a rather generous 6 hours to complete the race. (Source: BBC.co.uk)
