Friday Laughs – When Technology gets funny!

Technology – this single word conjures up images of grim looking people, swathed in spotless white lab coats and bent over their workstations, assiduously working up some wonderful invention one after another! But once in a while, the façade is broken to reveal sparks of humor – or still rarer – a roar of laughter!

It is Friday today, just the right day to recount some of the most humorous side-effects of technology. Here is the first one –

1)      iPotty

This could be a great blow for parents who have been ceaselessly toiling in their efforts to train there little one to do the daily business in a peaceful way – or at least remain stationary in the required spot till nature takes care of the job itself!

2)      Clocky

For those who have deduced that this would be a clock, congratulations – you are right. But this is no ordinary clock – consider yourself warned! It is an alarm clock – and if you hit the snooze button a second time, it kicks into action – literally! It will simply run away, hide into a place unknown, and then sound a shrill alarm. What choice do you have, except to get up, find it and shut it up, and by then, you will be very irritated and very awake! And oh, it has a smarter sibling now – imaginatively named Tocky.

3)      Bra-cum-Gas Mask

Its patent application is deliberately innocent sounding – saying the patent is simply for a “garment device convertible to one or more face masks”. In case of a deadly gas attack, for example, the wearer of the said “garment device” can convert it into two gas masks – one for herself, and one for the nearest stunned bystander.

4)      Speech Jammer

A pair of Japanese researchers has come up with this device. It can be used to disrupt speeches – it just records the speech on the fly, and plays it back after a very small delay. To the person inflicting the speech, it will sound like an irritating listener who is repeating everything that he is saying. It is most likely to find use with political activists – who will probably use it at political conventions!