Things you never knew you needed, until someone invented them

I've been reading about this year's British Invention Show with great interest. Each year, a parade of new products is laid out for public inspection, ranging from the sublime to the utterly ridiculous. 2009 has proved to be no exception.

Essential, gotta-have items this year include:

• Aphrodisiac bedsheets, impregnated with jasmine and a form of Viagra, guaranteed to 'lift you up where you belong' (with apologies to Joe Cocker - although his name and the product may make for an unfortunate confluence!);
• The 'Bra Angel', a device to make instant repairs to underwire bras and prevent the wearer from being jabbed, stabbed and impaled;
• The 'Bathomatic', an iPhone-connected device you can use to call home and run your bath to a precisely measured depth, temperature, bubbliness, etc. (if, that is, you're prepared to trust any device to switch on taps when you're still on the road home . . . personally, I think Mr. Murphy would have far too much fun with it for me to buy one!);
• The 'Diet Tile', a computerized floor tile that one places near the refrigerator to help with attacks of weakness of will. It allegedly yells, "Put down the cream cake!" if you try to cheat. It can also reportedly be programmed with suitable comments for burglars and other unwanted intruders (although I suspect they might just steal it after having had their attention thus drawn to it . . . );
  
• The 'Throw-Me Tea Towel', impregnated with magnetic strips. One simply throws it at any convenient metal surface (refrigerator, stove, whatever) to have it cling to its target and hang itself out of the way. (No word on what happens if it clings to something it shouldn't, like a red-hot stove plate!)

More details and pictures at the link, and another report here. Here's a brief video report on the event from British TV programs.

What will they think up next year?

Peter