Technically Incorrect

So what kind of car are you going to get next? Perhaps, I might tempt your credulity by asking you to consider a new eco-car called the LEKO.

A Toyota? No, an IKEA.

A strange Web site has appeared, roulez-leko.com, on which a very relaxed, modern, eco-friendly chap, allegedly the great car designer Christophe Grozs, stands next to an apparent car draped with the word LEKO and the tagline "la voiture selon IKEA."

Yes, the car according to IKEA.

The LEKO (L'eco, get it?), allegedly has the backing of the World Wildlife Fund in France. Which might mean the fund has put money into the creation or that the car will have plastic panda-skin seats.

It also will save you untold (because unspecified) amounts of money on your expenditure. And it is humongously eco-friendly.

This is an ad, right?

If IKEA made a car, the doors might not fit quite perfectly into the body. Then you'd really have to work hard to use those tiny screwdrivers to make sure the engine didn't wobble. And just imagine the number of screws it would take to put in the cup holder.

There's the name too. Real IKEA product names never make sense. They always seem to resemble a fair to middling Scrabble hand--for example, KLIPPAN or LYCKSELE. LEKO is far too meaningful.… Read more

If you were able to get on a bicycle, put a little child or two into the front basket, and fly off into the bluest yonder, would you make your home in Berkeley Heights, N.J.?

That is the troublesome question patting at the heads of certain UFO experts, whose attention has been drawn to the apparent apparition of E.T. on Google Street View.

The image, which you can see here, suggests that E.T. has lost his way. Perhaps he has lost his bike.

The kindly Google Street View camera took the image on the corner of Diamond … Read more

We all die. And none of us wants to breathe our last without experiencing everything.

This is precisely why one can admire Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's attempts to dance the samba with a bad hamstring on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

However, on Monday night, he walked a delicate line between parody and embarrassment. And I am not sure many police officers would have let him back into the driver's seat after his walk.

Actually, for a part of his samba, he rolled a less than delicate line on the floor, attempting a "worm&… Read more

Can Twitter move people to do more than, well, just Twitter?

Tonight will see an interesting and very public experiment that will prove whether 140 characters can mobilize millions to do what the characters behind the 140 characters want. Yes, we are talking about the sweet and spirited movement called Twitter/votewoz.

This group, dedicating to furthering the presence of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars", has amassed more than 54,000 followers. Which seems to be around 52,500 more than his Facebook Support Group.

The Votewoz Twitterdome was erected by a … Read more

It's been a tense 24 hours for those who love high-class entertainment.

But Steve Wozniak has finally decided that, hamstring be damnedstring, he will samba with his professional partner, Karina Smirnoff, on tonight's "Dancing with the Stars."

In a typically emotional e-mail to his Facebook Support Group, Woz revealed that he was wincing when he walked. This is much more painful than mincing.

However, Karina, the wily, sophisticated, slightly moody Russian, has modified their samba routine so that Woz's strained hamstring can take the strain.

However, the artist's heightened consciousness of subterfuge and conspiracy … Read more

When you're so data-driven that you drive your own design guru out of the company, perhaps there's a moment when you pause to think that numbers aren't all they seem to be.

Google, which launched its Street View in the U.K. this week to considerable amusement and consternation, reacted to the latter by claiming, according to the "Independent" newspaper, that "99.99 percent" of the faces featured were blurred.

However, as thousands of real, human, non-blurred, non-vomiting faces were discovered (naked children, policemen on security duty), the company was forced into a … Read more

If those who died generations ago were to be reincarnated, they would surely choose to come back as Steve Wozniak's mind rather than his body.

On Friday, he rehearsed his way into a hamstring strain and was seen hobbling around a CVS Pharmacy in Los Angeles. As far as I am aware, he was not in search of more chocolate.

According to E! Online, a CVS shopper reported that the Apple co-founder was "limping pretty badly."

In truth, his tenure on "Dancing with the Stars" was already limping pretty badly.

Having accused ABC's producers … Read more

It was touching to see that Douglas Bowman, Google's visual design leader, chose, in announcing his resignation, to stroll down Steve Wozniak Honesty Avenue.

In a blog post, he summed up his feelings, as all the best designers should, in one simple statement: "I won't miss a design philosophy that lives or dies strictly by the sword of data."

He talked of how data was being collected (and one can only wonder what fine, laborious methods are used in the process) to judge the acceptability of a shade of blue, the width of a pixel, or … Read more

When you arrive in a foreign country, it is best to note the customs, and accept and appreciate them as much as you can.

That is why Google, which launched its Street View voyeur site in the United Kingdom this week, seems to have misunderstood the locals.

Naturally, many strange images, captured by Google's kind and thoughtful camera car drivers, have been spotted by a rapt British public.

Two cyclists crashing into each other. Naked sunbathers. Many of you are used to the fun by now.

But the image that seems to have upset people the most is the … Read more