Sideswipe: September 9: Let the oldies decide

Ana Samways

8 Sep, 2014 05:00 PM3 mins to read

On the window of the University of Otago's sociology/gender studies department.

A little trick to get the children to bed

Getting kids to bed without dithering, stalling or tantrums is not easy, but a new iOS app might be just what the frazzled parent needs. The Siesta Testa uses modern technology and good old-fashioned trickery to get children to bed with minimal fuss. These days kids are used to the idea that gadgets don't work when the battery goes flat. The Siesta Testa app lets them believe that they too have batteries and the only way to charge them is through sleep. Simply hold their finger on the screen and the app will "scan" it using "biometric analysis". The result is based on the child's sleep routine entered during set-up, giving a high battery result after wake-up to a low result just before bedtime. Sadly it is unlikely to work on older/smarter kids. You're on your own there.

Clearing the closet of any skeletons?

Employees at a Goodwill store in Austin, Texas, received a shock as they sorted through donations during July. Someone had donated a human skull. The Austin Police Homicide Unit responded, and the skull was turned over to the Medical Examiner's Office. But police announced there did not seem to be any foul play, and the skull was wired together in such a way as to indicate it was an anatomical specimen.

Misheard or misunderstood

1. I was horribly shy as a teenager, particularly around girls. I must have been 14 when I was getting my hair cut by a pretty girl, and therefore speechless with shyness. At one point she asked me if I was having a party. I was a bit surprised that she'd try this as a conversational opener, but I plucked up my courage and said yes, I was having a Halloween party next week, and (blush, sweat) she could come if she liked. "No", she said, "are you having a parting?" I never went back to that barber again.

2. Back when my oldest child was still young, I took him for a walk around the park. While there, I made note of the fine posterior of a lady jogger who passed me. Unfortunately my child heard me, but fortunately he had a limited vocabulary. Later on, the missus asked me whether something odd had been happening in our local park. It seems that the little one told her daddy had seen a "nice horse" when they were out. (Source: B3ta.com)

Iain Bremner spotted this sign in Auckland. "I believe Chinese is not the easiest language to learn, but this could be a real challenge," he says.