Sideswipe: December 20: Corporate poo patrol

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Businesses have turned to drastic new tilted toilet designs to stop workers spending too long on the porcelain throne. The StandardToilet has a seat that sits at a downward angle of 13 degrees. After around five minutes of sitting, this will cause strain on the legs, similar to a low-level squat thrust. Mahabir Gill, founder of StandardToilet, explains: "Thirteen degrees is not too inconvenient, but you'd soon want to get off the seat quite quickly." British workers are extending their toilet breaks much longer than the average time taken for a bowel movement. Research undertaken by some lucky scientists has shown that the average mammal takes just 12 seconds to pass a bowel movement. For humans, we have to factor in time to remove the necessary clothing, check your fly is zipped afterwards, and wash your hands, which means the average toilet trip takes around 2 minutes and 50 seconds. But workers in London take an average of 28 minutes 35 seconds. One respondent said: "I check Twitter, I have a look at the football news, horse racing news, American handball news, hide from the kids, maybe make a few bets — nobody ever notices I'm gone, so I don't see why I should hurry up!" In January, staff at a call centre in Scotland were asked to sign a contract forcing workers to register toilet breaks online, which were limited to a maximum of 1 per cent of their working day — over a four-hour shift that would amount to two minutes. (Via Wired Magazine)

Some weird cushions — oyster pillows

Some weird cushions - oyster pillows.

Signs of a good human being

"My dad was a difficult person to know but I do know he loved all animals. One day driving in the country he saw a car accident — an elderly woman rolled her car. He stopped to help, she was okay, but her cat was in a cage and escaped.

For a couple of weeks after the accident he kept stopping at the same spot and left an opened tin of catfood at the cage. One day he found the cat and was able to return it to the old lady. He never told anyone (I got the story from Mum) but I was so proud of him for doing this." (Anne van Alkemade on Bored Panda)