29 July 2006

War in Iraq, will it ever stop?



Samir Mizban/The Associated Press
A man sits armed with his gun as his children play at home in Baghdad, on Friday, as efforts to curb violence in the capital failed.

19 July 2006

The King of Thrones

Does your toilet satisfy you?



When I was in the US the last time in 2002 I met a VP in my now previous company who had lived in Japan and bought a 5000$ toilet and brought him back to the US with him?!!! Yes a 5 Thousand US Dollars for a toilet. I almost fell off my chair. But when you get to know what this toilet can do, you all your surprise is gone.

Japan is the world leader in high-tech toilets. Where else would you find a toilet whose lid automatically lifts up whenever one approaches it? A toilet whose Power Catalytic Deodorizer function engages as soon as one finishes business and rises from the seat? A toilet whose superpowered, fully adjustable, aerated warm-water spray (Bidet) sensually cleanses one's nether regions after the fact?

The toilets basically look like a standard toilet, except that clean themselves, have coatings that resist germs , and have a state of the art control pad, which sometimes comes with a digital clock to tell you how long you have been in the bathroom. Some of the buttons control the temperature of the water squirted onto your backside, or frontside. The bottom-washer function, combined with the bottom blow-dryer, is designed to do away with the need for toilet tissue. Other buttons automatically open and close the lid; the button for men lifts lid and seat; the button for women lifts the lid only. Some toilets even have a hand-held remote control: a clicker for the loo :)

You can also hit the noisemaker button that makes a flushing sound to mask any noise you might be making in the john. There is also a model that chemically analyze urine.

Many foreigners say once you get used to these toilets -- which cost $2,000 to $5,000 -- it's hard to do without them, especially the automatic seat warmer. As they stated: “These toilets are something else. They do just about everything, including warm the seat.”, and as another places it: “Open Sesame: The lid automatically rises when one approaches it. Ladies need not worry, as the automated seat then waits to see if one needs to sit or stand”