Sideswipe

E-mail sideswipe if you recognise this picture.

Recognise anyone? A reader's visiting American friends found they'd gained an extra film when they returned home in late October from a holiday in New Zealand. They may have acquired the film somewhere on the Coromandel and are keen to return the photos to the rightful owners. Any takers? Contact Sideswipe.

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It is legal to sell iodine in Colorado, just don't sell too much of it. Neil Cizek, owner of Cherokee Tack and Feed, is facing up to 12 years in prison for doing just that. Iodine can be used to make methamphetamine, and state law makes it illegal to knowingly sell chemicals used to make meth. But Cizek says iodine has many legitimate uses, including treating equine hoof disease and cleaning septic tanks. (Source: Reason)

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Spotted one sunny lunchtime last week at St Patricks Square in the city, a pigeon with its feathers and feet liberally sprayed with fluorescent pink paint. Seen this week, similarly pink pigeon on the pavement outside Curry Cuisine near the corner of Williamson Ave and Great North Rd. Is a cruel vandal at work spray-painting our birds or is it part of a disturbing research project to see how far a pigeon will fly to get Indian food scraps?

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The Los Angeles Times obituaries page on Sunday reported the deaths of 18 American personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq. The oldest was 27, the youngest 20.

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An expat from Melbourne writes: "This morning on the back of the sticky-peel-off bit of my Libra sanitary napkin, I found a list of trivia 'Odd Spots', including 'The first known contraception was crocodile dung, used by the Egyptians in 2000BC', and that snails can sleep for three years."

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Telecom is sucking punters into its heavily promoted high-speed broadband internet monopoly by the thousands. Pity they don't spend a penny or two on expanding their help desk. A reader spent more than an hour on the phone before hanging up on Saturday listening to a message repeating the mantra that the wait time for assistance was currently 20 minutes. Why doesn't Telecom just buy an answerphone so callers can leave a call-back number.

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John Lockwood has already hooked up guns to the internet to let people shoot targets on his Texas ranch. Now he wants to let fans shoot live game through his website, live-shot.com, reports the New York Post. Mr Lockwood intends to have the remote hunts running early next year. Virtual hunters will pay US$40 ($55) and will be be able to use their computer mouse to operate a camera and rifle pointed at a game feeder set up to attract animals. Kevin Armstrong, president of the New York Bowhunters Association, is not impressed: "Sitting remotely and pushing a button to kill another animal is nothing but perverse 21st-century slaughter." (Source: Ananova)