Levitating fluffy animals, well ladybirds

Levitating animals seems a bit mean and pointless don't you think - especially for the fish which "did not fare as well, due to the inadequate water supply". But the YouTube video of the Nasa project is really pretty.

http://www.livescience.com/technology/061129_acoustic_levitation.html

Spray-on condoms

German sex educators plan spray-on condom

Dec 01 (Reuters) - German sex educators plan to launch a spray-on condom tailor-made for all sizes.

Jan Vinzenz Krause from the Institute for Condom Consultancy, a Singen-based practice that offers advice on condom use, told Reuters on Thursday the product aimed to help people enjoy better and safer sex lives.

"We're trying to develop the perfect condom for men that's suited to every size of penis," he said. "We're very serious."

Krause's team (spraykondom.de) is developing a type of spray can into which the man inserts his penis first. At the push of a button it is then coated in a rubber condom.

"It works by spraying on latex from nozzles on all sides," he said. "We call it the '360 degree procedure' -- once round and from top to bottom. It's a bit like a car wash."

Krause said the plan is to make the product ready for use in about five seconds. He said it would function more effectively as a contraceptive because it would fit better and not slip.

However, before the new condom can be sold in shops, the firm must ensure that the latex is evenly spread when sprayed, as well as optimise the vulcanization process.

Krause hopes the high tech condom, which will be available in different strengths and colours, will on the market by 2008.

He said the spray can would likely cost some 20 euros ($26) as a one-off purchase. The latex cartridges -- sufficient for up to 20 applications -- would cost roughly 10 euros, he said.

Krause said he had hit upon the idea when considering the difficulties some people faced using condoms, and drew inspiration from spray-on plasters now used in medicine.


Publish Date: December 01, 2006

-----------------------------

how do men feel about this mini car wash?
mmmm, the Institute for Condom Consultancy sounds like a fun place to work.

Chronic Armpit Rash Source of George W. Bush Swagger

This made me chuckle:

Avant News - armpit swagger

Using God to sell dubious health supplements

"Choosing a biblical lifestyle that emphasizes God-made, natural fruits, vegetables and whole grains as well as healthy habits and exercise will help you achieve a healthy body weight. But sometimes, that is not enough."

"At FaithMeds.com you will find biblically based answers to your health questions."

FaithMeds.com

Encouraging thought from Steinbeck

"It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again."

(Rockpooling in Log from the Sea of Cortez)

Open plan offices: a more friendly environment?

Why do we assume that open plan offices foster more friendliness and openness just because they are laid out like that? In fact I think that open plan offices are more likely to encourage the opposite behaviour because they allow people to hide in anonymity.

If you work in a small office, and your fellow colleagues give a cheery "hello" in the mornings, it is just downright unfriendly if you do not acknowledge them and wish them a "good morning" too. But the scale of open-plan offices is such that people can just keep their heads down and not reply.

Not having barriers is artificial because one cannot have a conversation without everyone, however unintentionally, listening in. Later on, when the subject is brought up again, for the sake of politeness you must pretend not to have heard already and greet the news with fresh interest.

Sad for the lost railings

As I walk to work I pass many house flanked by walls pitted by sad little dimples, a reminder of iron railings salvaged during the Second World War and largely never replaced.

The thing is I always wonder quite how this salvage was carried out. Was it a compulsory thing with a glorified rag & bone man from the home guard clearing a whole street of its railings at once? Did people object? Was it a more voluntary thing where you would donate your railings to the war effort? Would neighbours frown if you were sentimentally attached to your railings? Would they excuse you if a couple of your sons were off fighting the war?

Some of the surviving railings near where I live are fantastic. It makes me sad that there are so few Victorian railings left, especially as it appears that a huge number were never used and just went to waste. Although its true to say that the dimples that remain are a reminder of the history of the war effort and that remarkable collective sacrifice that we can't imagine today.




Links
BBC war memories archive Brief remark on this site suggests that the railings were collected in an organised way.
Some old duffer who sensibly hid his gates down a well