Fun Stuff

Lace packing tape may not be an innovation that is ground-breaking or life-altering and we could go on very well without it, but it is one of those little innovations that make life just a little more beautiful and fun. Why keep sending plain brown paper packages when you can dress them up and add just a touch of sexy to them? And just because it is called packing tape why should you stop there?

For years the way everyone stored extra toilet paper by hiding it in one way or another. Who were we kidding? Why were we ever being modest in the least modest room in the house? Now you can not only store your extra loo rolls out in plain sight -- and even be making a design statement with them. The Toilet Paper Tree is a new way to store your extra tissue and hearkens back to the days of your misspent youth when you put toilet paper in trees for a different reason.

If you're riding your horse at night or you have other ranch animals or pets out at night, you want them safe from passing cars and trucks. Albeedo 100, a British company, has licensed a reflective spray that adds 'night lights' to your beloved beasts. Developed in Sweden, Albeedo 100 Horse and Pets really makes your animals 'glow in the dark.'

If there is one chore that most people really hate in the winter it is shoveling snow. If only there was a way to shovel the walks as easily as walking. Well, apparently some people think that there is! Enter the Shoe Shovel. Instead of breaking your back you can work out your thighs and glutes by shoving the snow out of the way.  So simple, so easy, so . . . unreal.

It is a growing trend to for businesses that have nothing to do with sex, to use it to give them an edge in their market. They use provocative tricks to grow, which is of course controversial.  Women are typically the ones putting themselves on display for the benefit of men in such businesses. The reverse business structure is marginally less common, not because there isn't a market, but because many women prefer to be more discreet when it comes to male ogling. At least, they did until Hollywood decided to make a movie about men shaking what their mommas gave them.

There are many places that you might expect to find a vegetable garden these days, from schools to rooftops. No longer are they limited to farms and backyards. Even with all of these new places opening up, it is still very odd to think of a garden at a busy airport. Not just a garden -- a vertical, aeroponic garden full of fresh vegetables that supply the restaurants inside Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

Two clever apps have recently been released that encourage cats to take selfies.... if you can keep your cats interested in the moving object long enough to snap the photo.  After all, they're cats!

Enter its 64th year, the Good Design International Award continues to celebrate the latest and greatest innovative products and industrial goods from all over the world. With dozens of categories available to showcase your ingenuity, there’s surely a special place for your bright ideas to this classic Chicago-based contest!

Looking to build a small NAS? Gigabyte's latest ITX motherboard might be right up your alley, with its energy-efficient yet speedy Intel processor and numerous expansion options.

The art of making special, beautiful coffins is many hundreds of years old -- from the sarcophagi of ancient Egyptians to the figurative caskets for the chiefs and priests of the Ga people in Africa. Over the past few decades this has evolved into an amazing art form practiced by artists in Ghana. You can be buried in pretty much any kind of coffin you choose -- from a Mercedes, to a Coke bottle, to a chicken.