Sideswipe: January 12: Instant messaging

Richard spotted this double-sided sign on SH16 north of Waimauku.

Instant messaging helper quite the character

"Had a problem with my Spark and tried calling and got automated responses or cut off after telling my story, but before anything was resolved," writes Paul. "In the end I thought I would try the live chat. I hit the return too soon before I finished my sentence ...

Carlos from Spark: Hi Paul
Paul: I'm Livid
Paul: My neighbours' fibre was installed yesterday down a shared drive and now my phone and fibre has been disconnected.
Carlos from Spark: Hi Livid."

Peak traffic light oblivion in the digital age

"Since the advent of mobile phones and texting, we've all seen or been stuck behind that driver sitting at a green light, oblivious to the green light in their favour as they focus on their phone," writes a reader.

"Now there is a new phenomenon: getting stuck behind that driver at the lights who is on their phone, and ALSO listening to music via their headphones. Not only are they totally unaware of the green light, now they also don't hear the cars behind them tooting and trying to get their attention that the light is green!"

Is that a flavour or a fashion statement? "I declined the offer of a free taste of this at Wagga Wagga ice cream over Christmas," writes a reader.

Turtly appropriate

"One of my girlfriends, Lindsay, has a habit of putting specific emoticons beside the contact names of her close friends and loved ones," writes Lauren Ramesbottom on Quora.com.

"When our friend, Summer, spotted her name with a turtle beside it, she asked what the relevance of that emoticon was. Lindsay laughed and explained, "Well you know, because you're kind of slow sometimes." (Summer is a book-smart girl who notoriously makes incredibly hilarious, clueless and spacey comments). Summer looked back at Lindsay, confused, and replied "No, I'm actually really fast. I used to run track."