restrooms

Cheeky talking urinal cakes join drunk-driving battle

Michigan State Police have deputized a new sort of law enforcement officer in the fight against drunk driving. Talking urinal cakes are now in residence in bars and restaurants around the state.

The cakes have a motion-activated audio track where a lady tells the restroom user, "Hey! Listen up. That's right. I'm talking to you. Had a few drinks? Maybe a few too many. Then do yourself and everyone else a favor. Call a sober friend or a cab. Oh, and don't forget. Wash your hands."

"Not only do we want to turn some heads and get people talking, we hope everyone takes the message to heart," said Michael L. Prince, director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, in a statement about the project.… Read more

At last! Video ads on public restroom mirrors

I refuse to bow to the inevitable.

Indeed, I look the inevitable in the eye, grab it by its lapels, slap it a little and say: "Hey, inevitable. How do you like that, then?"

And yet it seems that I may now have to face the inevitable somewhere that I hoped I wouldn't have to.

Yes, the public restroom.

I have become used to ads above the urinal. They remind me to drink beer and work out. However, now, I may have to watch video ads while I wash my hands and stare at my uneven eyebrows.… Read more

Study: 19 percent of people drop phones down toilet

Does the world have a problem with coordination? Is the increased level of drug ingestion causing people to lose their grip on the things that are most precious to them?

This certainly seems to be the case when one reads a blood-freezing piece of, no doubt, statistically pure analysis commissioned by online address-book site Plaxo.

As MSNBC tells it, Plaxo's research stunningly reveals not only people's utter incompetence in looking after their smartphones but also their desperate need for, well, Plaxo.

Allegedly, 19 percent of people drop their smartphones down the toilet. Please consider that for a moment. … Read more

MizPee goes 2.0

I have cruelly mocked the restroom rating and locating service MizPee in the past. But I'm here now to atone for my meanness, lock my inner 12-year-old in his room, and give this service, which was recently updated, a fair shake.

Not that kind of shake.

Seriously: this is a service that helps you find a clean restroom when you need it. There's a mobile version of the site, which has more cities than it used to (16 total), as well as a new full-screen version, where users can more easily type in reviews of the restrooms they'… Read more