The Null Device
2001/3/31
An industrial design student at Brunel University in Britain has designed a toaster which burns the weather forecast onto slices of bread. The device, programmed in Java, retrieves the weather from a telephone number (presumably by modem), and uses an 11x11 heat-shielding mask to print it onto the bread.
Update: Not only did professional sad-sack Morrissey foretell the death of Princess Diana, but the aliens were involved. Or so claims one "veganmozfan".
Last night I went to see Harmon Leon's show at the Comedy Festival. (Harmon Leon is the "infiltrative journalist" and media prankster who infiltrated the Scientology Celebrity Centre disguised as a German industriogothic rocker, among other exploits). The show was very enjoyable, taking the form of a visit to the Nine Circles of Hell as represented in contemporary American life. Among the things he recounted were his visits to institutions such as the Most Beautiful Baby contest, ventriloquists' conventions and Christian Hardcore Punk concerts, and empirical evidence of how easy it is for an obviously deranged person to buy guns. I laughed a lot in this show; I highly recommend going to see it. (It's on at 7pm from Tuesdays through to Sundays until April 22.)