It seems that the clever people at Rentokil have invented a better mousetrap [^]. The new and improved mousetrap has been dubbed The Mouse RADAR – Rodent Activated Detection And Riddance.
Rentokil bill this as being a more efficient and humane way of ridding us of our small furry friends. The Mouse Radar is a box with pressure sensitive pads in the base that detect when a mouse enters the box. Once the “engaged” sign goes on, the box is sealed and a dose of carbon dioxide is released, sending the mouse into oblivion. No nasty pesticides and no visible dead mouse.
The Radar Mouse can even be set-up to send an email or SMS to notify trained “operatives” of the capture.
Zooillogix on ScienceBlogs [^] have an interesting discussion on whether or not the CO2 induced death is humane or not. They also suggest that the next improvement to the mousetrap will be “a satellite-mounted, laser that vaporises mouse from space, using Google Earth as a tracking system.” Now that’s what I call a mashup [^]!
USA Financial Meltdown
The best commentary that I have seen on the financial meltdown in American, and the rescue package is here at buymyshitpile.com [^].
The idea behind the site is to allow ordinary Americans access to the same deal as the big banks. From the website:
In line with the deal that the banks are getting, the site suggests that the estimated value that you use should be what you think the asset is worth, not what you think you can sell them for. All of a sudden Billy Ray Cyrus and Men at Work LPs have a value again, rather than having to pay to dispose of them!
After looking at it this way I have one question for you: Does it make sense?