Sideswipe: July 24: Attention single ladies

Single ladies looking for a bargain should head to Papakura.

Black and white is the new orange

A Michigan sheriff is pointing the finger at TV crime dramas like prison drama Orange Is The New Black for making prison uniforms "cool" and "trendy", announcing that he has overhauled the jumpsuits at his jail. Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel believes standard all-orange jumpsuits have become seen as fashionable because of pop culture, so inmates at his jail will be wearing convict era-style black and white stripes. (Source: USA Today)

Road safety app ... with a risk

As texting at the wheel becomes an increasing concern, scientists in Finland say they've come up with a way of getting drivers to concentrate on the road. VisGuard, a smartphone app, aims to get drivers to put their phones down while driving by flashing a warning triangle on their screens if they spend too long looking at the device. The app also uses location and speed data, and images from the phone's camera, to warn of potential hazards on the road. "The app can give advance warning of a zebra crossing, crossroads or a tight bend," said researcher Tuomo Kujala. He admitted there was a "small risk" the app might actually encourage people to use their phones to identify dangers. (Source: Helsingin Sanomat newspaper)

Footpath just extra parking space to neighbour

A reader writes: "This parking-over-the-footpath lark has been going on for years in Golf Rd, Epsom. Every evening, people across the road from me park across the footpath. The council turns a blind eye to this so there is no use complaining to them. Perhaps some midnight tyre deflating might work!"

Doing a good deed

Tracey writes: "Hope you can help me locate the owner of a children's/baby bracelet? It was found last Friday outside Auckland Zoo on Motions Rd. It is gold and has a MHJ stamp. It is engraved with the names Paola & Mauro and the inscription: 'we love you'." Contact Sideswipe if it's yours.

Power of cashmere compels you! (Via RetailHellUnderground.com)

Video: Harvard students have come up with the Spray Cake, in an aerosol can...and nuked in the microwave.

Picture This: Old School contraception...

Video: An explanation of what a Phantom Traffic Jam is ...

Picture this: Truer words have never been spoken...

Video: Laws that criminalise homelessness are cropping up in cities throughout America, while simultaneously, there is a shortage of shelter beds and housing options. Laws placing restrictions on loitering, begging, sitting and lying down in public have also increased. Would you believe 18 percent of US cities now ban sleeping in public and 42 percent ban sleeping in vehicles. In Orlando, Rethink Homelessness invited homeless people to tell the rest of us one fact from their lives to remind the housed, that homelessness can happen to anyone...

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Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz