Sing

95% of people surveyed at the British International Motorshow love to sing whilst they're driving. But 75% stop if there's someone else in the car. Top artists to sing along to:

1. Robbie Williams
2. Michael Jackson
3. U2
4. Madonna
5. Elton John

Real art

You can make something just like this, here. Keep the mouse moving, and left-click change colour. Click Refresh for a new blank canvas.

Rat Pack stories and so much more

From BBC7, via the excellent Listen Again feature, Martin Kelner meets olden-days showgirl Dora Dale. It's a bit rude.

The most annoying things in Britain

From a new survey, the things we hate the most:

1) Cold callers
2) Caravans
3) Queue jumpers
4) James Blunt
5) Traffic wardens
6) Tailgaters
7) Brown nosers
8) Chantelle and Preston
9) Ex-smokers
10) Noisy neighbours

Highlights from lower down the chart:

12) Carol Vorderman
13) Loud mobile users
14) Men in flip-flops
23) Rude shop assistants
24) People who read over your shoulder
25) People who complain they are fat when they are skinny
34) Novelty ring tones
48) David Blane
95) Craig David

Don't be quiet

Do you like working in a noisy office? Is it good for you? According to Wired, background music can make you smarter.

The more you can concentrate with background noise, the more it strengthens the brain. Isaac Asimov used to set his typewriter up in stores and other loud places to work. His claim was that you get really good at writing when you’re in a crowd. You want to be energized by that background noise, rather than distracted.

More here

The West Wing

So, The West Wing is over, and here are a few highlights.

Here's Abbey tending to Elmo in hospital. Can't for the life of me remember how this came about.

Here are some photos from the final episode, at the official NBC website. They don't make a lot of sense unless you saw the show - but if you did, they might make you smile. (Even though it was all a bit soppy.)

And some quotes:

Bartlet to a diary farmer, explaining his voting record: Today for the first time in history, the largest group of Americans living in poverty are children. One in five children live in the most abject, dangerous, hopeless, back-breaking, gut-wrenching poverty any of us could imagine. One in five, and they're children. If fidelity to freedom of democracy is the code of our civic religion then surely the code of our humanity is faithful service to that unwritten commandment that says we shall give our children better than we ourselves received. Let me put it this way: I voted against the bill because I didn't want to make it hard for people to buy milk. I stopped some money from flowing into your pocket. If that angers you, if you resent me, I completely respect that. But if you expect anything different from the President of the United States, you should vote for someone else.

Matt Santos, TV ad: Good Evening. I'm running for President. And if you don't know who I am, I wouldn't be surprised. I've been shut out of tomorrow night's debate for suggesting that it actually be a debate, and this is the only ad I can afford. I got in this to improve a broken school system; to fix entitlements, because they're going bankrupt; to expand health coverage, because it'll save money if fewer people show up in emergency rooms. What I've found is that Presidential campaigns aren't about these things. They're about clawing your opponent's eyes out, so long as you don't get tagged for it. So how about this - I will never say anything about my opponents, or anything about anything - without saying it myself, right into the camera. You might not get to hear much of me but when you do, you'll know I stand by it. I'm Matt Santos. And you better believe I approved this ad.

Josh: Okay, what I need people to do is knock.
Toby: I did knock.
Josh: But you didn't wait for a response.

Finally, here's the next big thing. From Aaron Sorkin, who created The West Wing, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, behind the scenes of a TV comedy show.

Come forward for boarding

A scientific study suggests it would be a lot quicker if they didn't board planes by row number. If everyone got to go onto the plane at the same time - even when seats have been allocated - there would be less pushing and shoving. One of the major airlines is apparently thinking about it. More here.

The Onion Radio News

Spoof American news site The Onion has been running a daily radio news service for the last few months. Try this one to get the idea. Also available as a podcast - drag this link into your iTunes.

You either love it or hate it

Dualit's marmite toaster

The end of the internet

Here.

Shut it

I can't work out if this is real or not. It's the Isolation Chamber chair. To my left, you can see it with the top down. When the world gets too much, you just close the lid, as demonstrated.

Is golf good for you?

Two thirds of America's amateur golfers are overweight. 9% of them drink more than nine beers during a round.

Gimme all ya got, Kitt

Wired's list of the 50 Best Robots Ever. Look no further than 48 for mine.

Very funny

This book's great fun.

You can see the comedy disasters strolling towards us from the far distant horizon. You just know what's going to happen, time and time again.

Beaming up Scotty

A year on from his death, a date's been set for sending the ashes of Star Trek actor James Doohan into space. Scotty's remains will make a short return trip to the skies in October before being blasted into permanent orbit three months later.

Well, not actually "permanent". The BBC report here that the ashes "will remain there for several years, after which they will drop back towards Earth, burning up on re-entry".

Discrete, subtle, businesslike.

Love this. It's a hands-free phone for Skype. It waves its arms when a call comes in. And it lip-syncs the words of the conversation you're having. Such fun. More here.

Mind tools

Haven't had a chance to check it out properly yet but www.mindtools.com comes highly recommended as a site to help improve your efficiency at work.

Have-a-go Nuns

1010 Wins in New York claim that you couldn't make up this story of derring-do by nuns. They may be right.

Relax

Desirable beanbags from Fatboy.

Tourist remover

This website claims to take your photos and "remove unwanted objects", like people who were hanging about spoiling the view, or mortal enemies. Examples include the rather charming couple here, who in this version have been vaporised. The techniques of revisionist despots, now available on your PC.

Talk is cheap. Whisky isn't.

Harrods have just put their most expensive whisky on sale. Previously, their priciest bottle was £1,400, but for some people that's not good enough. So here comes an exclusive 1965 vintage, with only 100 on the market. Yours for £2,000.

That's your 47th cappuccino, now stop

How much coffee will kill you? Find out here.

Already eaten

If you take sandwiches to work, there's a 70% chance you'll have eaten them by 11.25am.

From cafe to iPod

Now here's technology and luck working the way I like it. Sitting in Costa Coffee, hear a catchy song, play it to Shazam down the mobile phone (just dial 2580), find the album on iTunes, and that day it's mine. ("More Adventurous" by Rilo Kiley, as it happens.)

Hands off

Sony's new bluetooth handsfree kit. The screen tells you what the phone's doing. Just in front of the gear stick (down a bit) there's a turny dial thing, which gives easy access to the phone's functions.

Blog in the news

Petite anglaise

Stop, or drive on by?

55% of men say they would stop to help a woman motorist change a tyre, but when it comes to it, only 3% do.

Climb aboard your luggage if you're three

Trunki

Black is the new silver (which was the new black)

Top ten colours for cars:

1. Black
2. Silver
3. Blue
4. Red
5. Yellow
6. White
7. Grey
8. Green
9. Pink
10. Gold

Pink and gold should surely be higher up? No, sorry, they should be lower down. My mistake.

Brain box

British scientists are building a new type of computer which mimics the human brain. It's being made at the University of Manchester, at a cost of £1 million.

The two special things our brain does, which the researchers wish to copy, are the ability to carry on working despite the failure of individual internal components, and the capturing of complex visual scenes.

I wasn't aware that my brain did actually carry on working when some of its internal components were failing, but apparently it does it all the time. (If my brain's typical. Which many would say it is not.)

Put your weapon on the floor and step away

The room defender has a built in motion sensor and will fire at anyone who comes in when it's armed. Granted, the foam discs it shoots may not deter the true evil-doer, but casual intruders will flee in distress.

Back to school

Just to keep us feeling cheerful, news today that the average parents spend £185 getting a child kitted out for the new term. Parents in North West England spend the most on uniform, and those in East Anglia the least. All in all, we'll spend £990 million on school clothes before September.

Relax

A real panpiper or harpist could appear in the doctor's waiting room if your surgery is in South or West Bristol. The council are jointly funding the £6,000 "Music While You Wait" project, along with lottery money. Musicians will play in 13 health practices and walk-in centres, keeping patients relaxed and boosting live music in the area.

Find your Hillbilly name

Just call me Big Hoss Tractor. Thanks to the Hillybilly Name Generator.

Landscapes

From Wikipedia, a collection of landscapes from around the world.

Sumo

Channel 4 is looking for women who are happy to put weight on, not to lose it. They're putting together a team for the World Sumo Wrestling Championships in Britain this year. It'll be the first female team Britain has ever entered, and previous experience is not required. Watch out for the resulting TV programme.

Can you set Sky Plus for me?

I haven't tried this yet, but you can now set your Sky Plus box to record by sending it a text message. Register here.

Stay home

14% of American workers could spend all or part of their time working from home, but choose not to. They only have to travel an average of 20 minutes to get to work, but if they were to work from home for one or two days a week, they'd save $4 billion in petrol.

Living longer

According to tonight's BBC 10 O' Clock News, with every hour that goes by, life expectancy in the UK increases by 16 minutes.

Deal

Play Deal Or No Deal on NBC's website. I turned down the banker's offer of $145,000 and won a cent. Still, at least I understand how the game works now.

Mrs Mozart

You wouldn't have thought that Mozart's wife could have still been alive in the age of photography. And indeed you would have been almost right. But she was. And there she is, on the left, with the serious parting. The story of the photo is here.

Streaming

Not the most beautiful device in the world, but this internet radio is clever.

You've been talking in your sleep

Over a third of us talk in our sleep. But what do we say?

The most common subjects for nocturnal mutterings are:

:: Work (24%)
:: Family (12%)
:: Partner (5%)
:: Food (4%)
:: Friends (4%)

And 11% of the time, we're telling secrets.

Print it yourself

So much more fulfilling than it sounds - design your own lined paper.

Wind-generated electricity at home

Now this is smart. For less than $10,000, an Arizona company will supply Americans with their own residential generator, harnessing wind power. It's integrated into the household power supply. When the wind blows, it takes over from the electricity provided by the local power company. When the wind stops, the normal supply kicks back in. It'll supply about half the electricity needed by a normal household, and will pay for itself in five to twelve years.

Hold the front page

The British Library has an exhibition of newspaper front pages, running until October. The one on the left is from the first Cup Final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium, in 1923.

"Military grade" PDA

This PDA is not quite indestructible, but I think we can call it "rugged".

Please, have a savoury biscuit

Good weather and the World Cup has meant good news for sales of "gourmet nibbles". Olives are up 22% year-on-year. Chilled dips are also on the rise, along with speciality pickles. Even the Twiglet's having a good summer.

Anti-glare

From 1932, a useful clip-on invention for glasses, to stop you being dazzled by the lights from oncoming car headlights. Why did they never take off?

The future of English football

It's rounder then ever (don't they always say that), it's fresh and exciting, it's Umbro not Mitre (so the one of the left is out), and now at last everything's going to be OK. England has a new official match ball. Stand by for the X Ball.

Twinned

For the Bush family, it's father and son. For the Clintons, husband and wife. But Poland has a political power family to beat them all. President Lech Kaczynski has chosen his twin brother Jaroslaw as prime minister.

Comedy moments

The blog of Paul Daniels and the website of Jim Davidson.

Ta ta Tata

Tata, the world's oldest crow, died this week. He was thought to be 59. An ornithologist at his local university in Long Island commented "It was an incredibly old bird". Indeed.

Photo blog

360 pixels

Flash mic

At last... a broadcast quality mic which will record straight onto a flash card.

Wild tractor ride

In Poland, a drunk-driver used a tractor to escape from police. The 43-year-old has been sentenced to 10 years in jail. A close encounter with a tree brought the chase to an end.

Eat, drink and exterminate

It's a Doctor Who talking mug. Don't mess with it.

Broken glass

Amplify your mobile phone's alarm function using a wine glass with a broken stem.

Appetite of an elephant

In the Chinese province of Yunnan, elephants have been causing devastation to crops in the village of Xishuangbanna. At last, a solution. They're setting up jumbo-sized dining halls where the elephants will be encouraged to gorge on bananas and sugar.

Hot diggety dog

A day late with this... July 4th was the day when the world-famous international hot-dog eating contest was taking place. See it previewed here.

Engrish

A whole site dedicated to those times when Japanese translations go bad. (There are many joys here. Click "next" for more.)

Big Boy

The five most tasteless porcelain figurines in the world.

Foreign Accent Syndrome

A woman from Newcastle has experienced a rare side-effect following a stroke. She woke up in hospital, and gone was her Geordie accent. Instead, her intonation had turned Jamaican. Doctors say it's a known condition which occasionally affects people who have suffered brain injuries.

For England And St Alban

St Alban could become a new patron saint for England, alongside St George, according to some of the Church of England's movers and shakers. He was Britain's first Christian martyr, a soldier who was beheaded by the Roman authorities after he sheltered a priest.

History matters

A new campaign is just getting under way, with support from the main heritage organisations throughout the UK, promoting the value and importance of history. It's supported by founding members including David Starkey, Stephen Fry, Bill Bryson and Boris Johnstone.

Cut the wrap

I seem to have missed the demo by Women's Institute members last week, protesting the 4.6 million tons of packaging we throw away in the UK every year. The ladies wrapped themselves up in clingfilm to make the point. Individually, you understand. Not all together.

Look no hands

Here's the Timesphere Clock. "A seemingly gravity-defying ball travels around the dial to mark the time." I'm trying to work out how you can tell what hour it is. Maybe you can't.

Work for Google

Design a gadget for the Google Desktop in their July competition and win a t-shirt, cash, and worldwide appreciation.

The World Cup

Estonia has won the Wife-Carrying World Championships, staged this year in Finland.

Bluetooth for iPod

Now I'm not sure this is going to be worth it, but then I said that about the idea of connecting your PC to the outside world via a modem. It's bluetooth for the iPod. So you pop a device onto the iPod, and wear special bluetooth headphones, thus dispensing with the wire. Apple themselves aren't doing it at the moment, but Jabra will have a device in the States next month.

Just like Charlie and the Chocolate factory

Amsterdam is getting a chocolate theme park. It's called The Sweets Park, and it'll be in a disused railway tunnel.

It's called Love

The new Beatles thing by Cirque du Soleil has premiered in Las Vegas. "Thing" because it looks a bit hard to describe. It's the world of their songs, brought to life on stage - here's the page on Cirque's website. It involves a soundtrack by George Martin and his son, and is the first big project from Apple Corps since the "1" compilation in 2000.