Back when I was a teenager, all of my female friends acquaintances were checkout chicks. They’d spend their weekends working at Coles, or Woolworths or Target or somewhere similar, for a minimum wage and a lower self-esteem. But, as they said, at least it was better than working at Maccas.
Now though, it looks like the days of teenage checkout chicks (and guys these days) may be coming to an end with the news that Woolworths is set to trial a self-checkout system in their Carlingford (NSW) and Camberwell (VIC) stores this month. More than 70 stores are expected to introduce the system b the end of June.
The system will be like the setup currently at many Big W stores, where you scan your own items, swipe your credit card or insert cash, sign a panel and get your receipt. The difference is that Woolies will also let you weigh your own fruit and veg.
There will still be some staff there, standing about to make sure you scan everything and helping the technologically illiterate through the process, but the days of the checkout chick seem to be numbered.
When you die, instead of having your grave marked by granite, you can now peg it to something even more immutable: latitude and longitude. A new eco-friendly forest graveyard promises a new kind of service, according to the Sydney Morning Herald:
A recent patent filing by Apple Inc. entitled Enhancing Online Shopping Atmosphere indicates that Steve Jobs’ next BOOM could involve a hat tip to virtual worlds like Second Life. According to the filing, Apple is considering a more interactive visual representation of its online store complete with changing weather and avatars. Let the griefer brainstorming session begin.
This limited edition set of knife hooks is the perfect way to show guests that you are on the cutting edge when it comes to hanging coats, hats, cadavers or whatever. Designed by Tiyani Chang’s TC Studio, these matte black hooks are made of polyurethane and steel. Sadly, they are not stabbed into the wall; they are screwed in more or less like normal hooks. Only 50 will be made available when they go on sale in May, at US$50 a piece. The concept is so simple, it makes us wonder: How many of you have already created this design a hundred times over after burning dinner or mangling a Hot Pocket? [Bouf via Freshome]
A California congresswoman has proposed yet another spectrum auction—the 2,155MHz to 2,180MHz range—with some hefty public-service requirements: • Within two years of receiving the licence, launch an “always-on” broadband with at least 200Kbps downloads • Service is to be free of subscription, airtime and other usage fees • “A technology protection measure” that would keep kids from the porn • Publication of specs and standards, royalty free, so that others can develop for the network Let me get this straight: You want some well-heeled for-profit corporation to pay potentially billions for the privilege of hastily launching a network that it can’t charge money for, and let competitors provide devices for it, again for no extra money? I don’t think so. I’m not pro-corporation, so much as I am pro-reality.
Sure, Wilson, there is plenty of information out there today on flat toasters, but what about mattresses that look like toast? You didn’t consider that, did you? Well, worry not, because I’m here to serve up this toasty, delectable looking 1.8m by 2.1m Inflatable Toast Mattress to top off our crispy brunch coverage for the day. Don’t let the looks fool you though. Since this toast is made of rubber, not wheat, it is more for the sleepy, not the hungry. Sleeping with a knife and butter is optional but not recommended, since the Inflatable Toast Mattress retails for US$170. [Archie McPhee via Fabulist]
Christiaan Postma’s morphing, malleable matchstick clock is pretty amazing, though a tad flawed. A portion of the 150 white lines plastered about the clock’s 160 cm by 160 cm face form a word corresponding to the hour of the day. If it’s three o’ clock, the area where the number three appears on a typical clock would read “three.” As four o’ clock approaches, “three” disassembles and “four” slowly takes shape. There is one omission that could be painful if you’re trying to use it to, well, to tell time. See a time lapse photo of shifty clock in action and the reason for its failings after the jump.
The phone blogs are abuzz with this sighting of HTC’s lineup, showing both existing models and a mystery or two on the bottom row. Boy Genius thinks the first, third and fourth are the same, but I’m wondering if the first is a slide-out key version of the second (a P3470), while the third and fourth are something else entirely. In any case, it’s a peculiarity that will hopefully be clarified soon, as it’s also a damn nice looking phone. WinMo, Android or whatever, we’ll be ready to have a look. In the meantime, your guess is as good as ours. (Hint, hint.) [BGR]
At Giz, we’re in the habit of introducing new products every day, and in the world of gadgetry, specialty kitchen products are a dime a dozen. Today, though, I was taken by surprise by the simplest of inventions: a flat, barbecue-style toaster. When I spotted the Fagor TP-2006 X (with “acoustic warning device”) on Appliancist today, not only did the form of it surprise me, but—after a little Googling—so did the fact that the flat toaster is not a new concept:
