£009
Features
Strange products stock shelves, more to come
_ P atricia P alczewska ________
Staff Reporter
Everyone loves waking
up in the morning to
grab a piece of freshly
browned toast and
spread it with....a
tube full of butter?
It's true! Many
families are ditching
the knife and turning
to a container filled
with this breakfast
necessity for easier
spread and accessibility.
Foods aren't the only
products that have been
bizarrely altered . As
technology advances,
crazy inventions seem
to continually stock the
shelves. Stores are filled
with self-opening trash
cans, baby bottom fans, air
fresheners that smell like
corn dogs, and other almost
useless trinkets. However,
not all of the things
eccentric geniuses come up
with are unfit to be seen in
public— some are oddly
capable of being used.
A boost in baby
goods
In the world
wide
V*
web
of cra z y
g o o d s,
there are many
sites selling baby
products created by moms
set on lessening the work
that comes along with
their child. Knee-pads
and head gear are donned
by waddling toddlers for
their daily protection, and
infant clothing companies
are now attaching pacifiers
to their fabrics so that
the frustrating dilemma
of losing it is eliminated.
Even baby high heels find
their way into infant
clothing stores!
The Babykeeper
Basic, created by
Mommysentials,
is like a
backpack
for a child,
except
for the
fact
that
it's
____
not
made
to be w o rn .
Its
two metal hooks can clip
onto any home, store, or
public bathroom wall for
those times when a mother
"doesn't have enough
arms."
out of clothes hangers, and
ice cream cups can come
as bobble heads. To throw
even more into the bargain,
the next time someone
visits the beach, they may
see a swimmer with a
large fiberglass dolphin
fin attached to their feet
allowing them to reach
speeds of 33 miles per hour.
Japan: the hearth of
inventions
Though these odd goods
come from all around
the world, most seem
to be concentrated in
the production of one
country: Japan. With its
booming technological
rise, more and more
zany inventions
Strange but
usable products
Adults and
teens are
receiving
a larger
market for
these odd
goods as well.
Things
that look
almost
too silly to
use nowadays
seem more
ratio n al to buy.
Scissors with
multiple
blades for
shredding
paper find themselves
in competition with normal
two-blades. Tables are now
inventively being made
are being thought up
by the Japanese
population, and
food related
contraptions
seem to be
popular.
One
them. Another company
designed their chopsticks
to be able to dispense sauce
while dining on an under
seasoned meal. Their love
of food creations doesn't
stop there, but other strange
developments are also
made by their population,
and not just for humans.
Dogs’ barks are
more inventive then
their bites
In 2002,
Takara,
a Japanese toy
company
created an
electronic
device that
was able to
translate
dog
'language'
to
human. A
microphone attached to
a dog’s collar picks up its
barks and sends it to the
translator, which then
processes the sound
and tells the owner
their pet's mood in cute
sayings. These sayings
distinguish six emotions
of the dog: frustrated,
happy, sad, on-guard,
assertive and needy. The
moods are usually up
to 75 percent right if no
other sounds get in the
way of the dog's bark, but
creators say the device
still should not be used
as a classification of the
dog's personality. Along
with a translator for dogs,
Japan has also produced
the Meowlingual, a cat-to-
human translator that has
so far only been released in
Asia.
With so many ridiculous
products out there, it's
hard not to succumb to
the curiosity of buying
one, or even creating one
of your own. Technology
allows us to create what is
not given and the results
can be hilarious. As we
continue to think up kooky
contraptions, it's hard to
imagine what kinds of
strange things will
be on the market in
the future.
I
woman
attached a fan
to her chopsticks
to cool down her noodles
while she was eating
Rooter bus needed for Girls' Basketball
Rooter bos
continued from page 3
Whether
or not there
was funding
available, you
can't provide
a bus for the
boys' game and
not for the girls' game. Title
IX was supposed to create
equal opportunities for and
treatment of all students,
male and female. No person
in the United States shall
judge on the basis of sex, be
denied the benefits of or be
subjected to discrimination
under any education program
or activity receiving Federal
financial assistance, states
the document. While this
isn't that huge of an issue
of discrimination, it is one
^ ^pfeeds to be addressed
c^ecause if this is allowed,
what else is allowed?
This isn't the first time the
school has had to address
Title IX issues. They have
had numerous complaints
in the past, some that even
resulted in
bus for the girls' game
down at South Eugene.
After the boys game against
Sunset, many people came
up asking for a rooter bus to
be taken to Medford," Rob
Holstrom, athletic director,
said. "In order to actually
be
able to
is less than that of boys'
games, but the problem is
that the bus wasn't even
offered. No one knows
if 30 people would have
signed up to ride on the bus
because people were never
given the
chance
to
lawsuits,
so the
administration
and especially the athletic
department has tried to be
especially careful in their
treatment of male and
female athletes.
"The rooter buses are
a direct result of student
interest and are student
driven. After the girls game
at home against Grant, there
were no students from ASB
or any other group that was
requesting a student rooter
cover
the cost of
the bus trip,
we would
need to have
at least 30
people sign up
for the trip, which
was about how
many made the trip.
I'll agree that student
interest in girls' games
teams were given
equal footing in that the
cheerleaders attended
both games and the band
attended neither, but the
atmosphere was noticeably
different. Any athlete knows
that the energy, positive or
negative, from a crowd can
make a huge difference in
how the game is played.
Both of our playoff-bound
teams should have been
given the chance to have
that positive energy from
their own Lion student
section.
Maybe I'm biased,
because I'm on the team, but
if I don't address this topic,
who will? Maybe students
wouldn't have signed up,
but they should have at least
been given a chance to. To
be fair to the students and
the athletes, a rooter bus
should at least be offered
in the future for all sports,
boys and girls.