This Is Just Stupid!

The warning labels that are placed on products are often stupid. Manufacturers state the obvious because they want to do all that they can to prevent frivolous lawsuits. This is especially true for medicine manufacturers who know that mis-use of their products by stupid people can lead to harm. However, some of the warnings that they bother to put on their products really are stupid.

Dumb Warnings shares these seven stupid warnings found on medicine:

1. “Do not use if you are pregnant, intend to become pregnant, or might be pregnant.” This warning seems normal enough. We want to protect pregnant women from problems with medicine. The stupid thing is that it’s a common warning on birth control pills. Does it really need to be there?!
2. “Do not take if allergic to aspirin”. This is on the label for Bayer Aspirin. Duh. A similar warning can be found on Zantac 75 which says not to take the product if you’re allergic to zantac.
3. “Warning: May Cause Drowsiness”. This warning is on Nytol Sleep Aid and variations of it can be found on other sleep aid medications as well including the well-known sleep aid Ambien. Isn’t that the point?
4. “Do not drive a car or run machinery.” That’s a fair warning that is frequently found on medicine. However, should it really be located on the Boot’s Children Cough Medicine? Apparently t’s a common warning on kids’ medicine, though, because it can also be found on Demazin Infant Drops.
5. “Warning: Do not take this product, unless directed by a doctor, if you have difficulty in urination due to enlargement of the prostate gland.” Fair enough except that this was on the label for Midol, the product that women use for menstrual cramp pain. Women really shouldn’t be experiencing prostate problems!
6. “Use of this product in conjunction with alcohol or sedatives may cause drowsiness.” Medicine like Vicks Nyquil Gel Caps should certainly warn customers about potential interactions with alcohol and sedatives. However, to say that you may get drowsy if you take sedatives with a product is a little bit stupid.
7. “Use before the expiration date”. This warning on the CIBA Vision Pure Eyes label seems a bit redundant, does it?

The United States federal government recently commissioned a pair of artists to create a billboard-sized work of art at the border between the United States and Canada. What the artists ended up making was the absence of the sign. In other words, they received a sum of money from the government’s Art in Architecture Program for not making a sign to be placed at the border.

What are we missing?

Technically the artists did create something. They built a sculptural tangle of wires around the shape of a billboard so that it looks as though a billboard has been erected at the border. All that you’re really looking at is a blank space, a portion of the clouds through the sky.

The controversial piece of artwork has gained some fans. The artists, Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo of Lead Pencil Studio, are award winning artists with a strong following for their work. They provide an explanation of the concept between this sculpture.

“They noticed the way the area is packed with signs—advertising billboards, and then, closer to the border, a proliferation of government signs. Their hope is that their sign, flying by enigmatically (“What was that?”), will add a little bit of awareness to the whole signage landscape in the border zone. Just open up a free space, really. How very American.” (source)

It sounds smart. However, upon closer examination it sounds like the type of wordy description that a lot of artists use to make their art seem much more fascinating than it really is. It is like the white canvas with the lengthy description about how the absence of a painting speaks to the deep question of “what is art?” blah blah blah. It’s an approach to art that appeals to some people but we’re not won over.

Even the title of the piece, Non-Sign II, suggests that there is more of a story to the artwork than the piece itself seems to actually show.

What do you think? Was the federal government wise to invest in this piece of border art or could something a bit less abstract have made the border look better?

The Moscow Millionaire Fair 2010 happened a couple of weeks ago. This is a fair where the very, very rich come to take a look at some of the most expensive luxury items in the world. It’s like a flea market for people with more money than they know what to do with.

One of the most talked about items at this year’s fair was a saucepan made by German cookware brand Fissler. The item has a price tag of $209,000. That’s right; it’s just a single sauce pan and it costs more than most of us have paid for our cars and more than some of us have paid for our homes.

What makes this saucepan so special? Gold and diamonds, of course. The item’s lid and handle were decorated with eighteen carat gold and studded with over three hundred diamonds. The super rich gathered around the glass case that it was contained within at the fair to ooh and ahh over it.

One important caveat to note before purchasing an item like this is that the more you pay for something the more likely it is to just be something that is designed for display. That’s the case with the Fissler saucepan, a pan that is not suitable for actually cooking. A brand representative reports that you can go ahead and serve your food in it in an elegant manner but warns not to actually cook in the pot.

You might think that this is a one of a kind item. However, it actually appears to be an upgrade to a similar saucepan that was created by Fissler about three years ago. That saucepan was sold by Harrod’s. It was only $203,000 and had only 200 diamonds so it’s just the little sister to the item currently on display. Perhaps over the years the bored rich housewife could collect an entire line of these saucepans!

What do you have on your car? If you’re smart, you don’t add a whole lot to the outside of your vehicle. You let it shine in all its glory (or slip beneath the radar) without a lot of excess baggage. Unfortunately, the people driving around you may not be doing the same thing. In fact, people add a lot of stupid things to their cars.

For example:

1. Fake bullet holes. Do you really want to drive around making it look like your car got shot up? It may seem funny for a moment but to go forward and really put it on your car seems like nonsense.

2. Fake baseball through the window. Likewise do you really want it to look like a baseball went through your window and you didn’t do anything about it?

3. Stickers showing who is in the family. You have surely seen these popular stickers that show how many parents, kids and pets are in the family. The pedophile who lives around the corner has probably seen your sticker too. Think about that.

4. Trolls. It’s hard to say why anyone thought these dolls were cute in the first place but they definitely aren’t cute en masse on your car. Take a look:

5. Offensive bumper stickers. Keep your strong social and political opinions to yourself. Or let them out in an appropriate setting. However, don’t create excess road rage by displaying them on your car. This is not the right forum!

6. Crochet car cover. To each their own, we suppose. Take a look:

7. Diamonds. A car like this is begging to be stolen:

Snooki reads up before writing her own book

Salon.com recently reported on ten different celebrities who have published books that are not worth reading. Take a look:

1. A Shore Thing by Snooki. The Jersey Shore star is the latest in a string of celebrities to publish a novel. It’s a romance novel. Go figure.

2. The Truth About Diamonds by Nicole Richie. This book was all about the Hollywood nightlife, something that we all need to be a little bit less exposed to these days!

3. L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad. This star of The Hills wrote a book about two best friends who move to L.A. together to start a new and exciting life. It’s not very exciting.

4. Mission Compromised by Oliver North. Salon.com reports that a thriller with a Christian moral and references to Oliver North is not a very good read.

5. Star by Pamela Anderson. This novel is about a cosmetologist who gets discovered and becomes a Playboy centerfold model. Does that sound like something you’d want to spend your time reading?

6. A Model Summer by Paulina Porizkova. Salon.com reports that this book “was generally dismissed for plot reasons”. What’s a book without a good plot?

7. Fan-Tan by Marlon Brando and Donald Cammel. An actor and director might come together to write a script and have it work out to their advantage. However, a duo teaming up to write a book is always a tough thing and an actor/director team may not be the best duo to take on this challenge.

8. Junior by Macaulay Culkin. Salon.com points out that the author prefaces the book by saying “I am not a writer” and then goes on to prove that point throughout the rest of the book.

9. Swan by Naomi Campbell. The idea of an ugly duckling turned stunning model is a great story but Campbell’s written version leaves readers wanting something more.

10. All Books by Joan Collins. She has written half a dozen fictional novels and ten non-fiction books. They sell well around the world but anyone who has bothered to read them knows that there’s not a lot of literary value to these works.

The Cookie Doodle app is a relatively popular app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Do people not realize that this ridiculous app is really a big waste of time?

What the Cookie Doodle App Does

The entire purpose of this app is to allow you to make virtual cookies. You get virtual dough, virtual cookie cutters and virtual frosting so that you can make your virtual cookies. At the end of the process what do you have? Nothing except for virtual cookies.

You Can Waste a Lot of Time with this App

It is really unbelievable how many different combinations of cookies you can make with this silly app. There are seventeen different types of dough, twenty five different types of frosting, quite a few options for additional candy toppings and dozens of different cookie cutter shapes. You could spend days on end making different virtual cookies. But what for?

The Sharing Features of this App

This app, like many others, has a sharing feature. That means you can send your cookie creations to your friends and family. But why? Do you really have any interest in receiving a fake cookie from someone that you know?

What Would Make this App Cool

This app has the potential to be cool some day in the future. For example, it would be cool if it could be combined with advanced sensory technology that allowed your home to fill up with that great smell of fresh baked cookies. You still wouldn’t have cookies to eat at the end of the process but at least you would have something! As it is, you end up with just a made up batch of cookies to do nothing with.