Well, the Swiss have done it and it's been verified by Guinness World Records. The world's smallest gun measures no more then 5.5 cm long and fires 2.34 mm caliber ammunition. It's a double action revolver that functions just like it's bigger siblings. Unfortunately for you American gun collectors out there the SwissMiniGun is not available in the U.S. and cannot be imported, but it's fun to look at. For those of you who may be able to purchase one, they are available in either steel or gold and can apparently be tricked out with diamonds. SwissMiniGun
Well, folks, here it is: the last FOLLIES OF THE MAD MEN for the foreseeable future, and my last regular post after one year's worth of nearly two per day. I didn't quite achieve two FOLLIES per week over that year, but close.
In any case, read the convoluted logic here about how your choice of TV reflects your sexual prowess.
Time to point our telescopes of weirdness at "the old country", methinks.
Speaking of old, recent research carried out by the University of Michigan has revealed that US seniors are smarter than their UK counterparts. The study, lead in the US by Kenneth Langa, measured the recall abilities of over 8000 elderly Americans and over 5000 elderly Brits, and found that the yanks scored 1.4 more on the memory tests, out of a possible 24. Langa suggests that part of the difference was due to higher average levels of education and income in the US group, and higher levels of depression in the UK sample, but points out that nothing is certain at the moment. "It's like a view from 30,000 feet" said Langa (New Scientist).
And it's not just British brains that are shrinking, the UK's sheep are getting smaller as well. Because of a trend towards milder weather believed to be due to climate change, Sheep on the Outer Hebridean island of Soay are getting smaller at the rate of 100g/year, say researchers from Imperial College, London. Though it might seem that warmer winters and a greater abundance of food might make for bigger sheep, Tim Coulson, the professor leading the study, points out that fewer weaker and smaller lambs will die over winter, bringing down the average size (Telegraph).
Now, in some good news, UK campaigners have won a second victory in a three-year battle... to bring back a chocolate bar. The "Wispa Bar", made by European confectioners Cadbury, was introduced in 1995 along with a caramel laced version called the "Wispa Gold", only for both to be discontinued in 2003. This prompted some die-hard fans of the bubbly chocolate bar to start a petition to have it go into production again, resulting in a "limited edition" run of the original Wispa last year. When the 40 million bars produced sold out in just 18 weeks, Cadbury decided to relaunch the brand. Not satisfied with just one bar, campaigners have kept up the pressure, causing Cadbury to start producing Wispa Golds "for a limited period," as before. However to some commentators, this latest move looks more like slick PR than grassroots victory (Sky News).
[From The Saturday Evening Post for April 29 1950. Two scans, top and bottom.]
This campaign uses what I like to call "the artificial linkage" method. You take something natural and inevitable and try to tie your product to it. In this case, the entire grand eternal season of Spring means nothing more than digging out your paintbrush and ladders and tackling your peeling house.
You gotta love the name of the paint, though: "Barreled Sunlight."
Heinz (of ketchup fame) recently introduced the Beanzawave, a tiny microwave that is powered by a computers USB port and would be the world's smallest microwave (7.4 inches tall x 6.2 inches wide x 5.9 deep). Only a prototype at the moment, the Beanzawave is a major breakthrough for its use of cell phone radio frequencies to cook your food in under a minute. If you don't like to lug a laptop around with you when you leave your house, but still have the need to microwave your food wherever you go there is an option to use a battery. When/If Heinz decides to go ahead and manufacture this microwave it'll cost about $160 and you'll never have to leave your computer every again. Daily Mail
Tired of people stealing your mug at work? The people over at Perpetualkid.com seem to have the solution. They bring you one of the only coffee mugs with a built in anti-theft that renders it useless unless plugged. No more worrying about who molests you mug... unless they have one too.
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.