Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more
But can the phone phone?
CHINESE electronics giant Huawei has ambitions to become the world鈥檚 top smartphone maker. In June it launched the Ascend P6, touted as the slimmest smartphone ever, in London.
A colleague who went along tells us that an international audience of phone enthusiasts applauded and whooped when it was announced that the device is only 6 millimetres thick. They also got very excited by the 鈥淏eauty Level鈥� feature: every time a portrait photo is taken, a slider appears on the screen marked 1 to 10, offering the chance to make the subject look one to 10 years younger by automatically airbrushing their face.
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Our colleague was more taken by a bulky mechanical robotic gadget built from Lego by chipmaker ARM. This had an Ascend P6 and the 4脳4脳4 version of Rubik鈥檚 cube fixed to it. The robot proceeded to use the phone鈥檚 camera and processor to solve the cube puzzle in what was claimed to be a record 50 turns, taking under 200 seconds.
It wasn鈥檛 until our colleague was leaving that he realised one thing had been missing from all the presentations. 鈥淒oes it make phone calls?鈥� he asked a Huawei spokeswoman.
鈥淥h yes, I am sure it can,鈥� she assured him, after a telling pause.
Budgens supermarket sells chickens labelled 鈥�100 per cent British鈥�. As a colleague says, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine a chicken that is 53 per cent British鈥�
Spies offer back-up
OUR colleague Jeff Hecht forwards 鈥渁 clever bit of foolishness making its way round the internet鈥�. It is an email, supposedly from the US National Security Agency, offering to come to the rescue of those whose hard drive has crashed or whose PC has been stolen.
鈥淗ard drive crash?鈥� the email asks. 鈥淧C stolen? No problem! Just call the NSA for a back-up of all your files. Just call 1-Got-Your-Stuff鈥�
鈥淥ffer void where prohibited by law, but we don鈥檛 really care about that part.鈥�
What鈥檚 that in blue whales?
PONDERING the power consumption of a supercomputer, Feedback lamented recently that we were unable to convert 17.8 gigawatts into the standard unit used for the sake of readers who do not enjoy an intimate relationship with numbers 鈥� the 鈥渂lue whale鈥� unit (6 July). Reader Alistair McCaskill is happy to fill this lacuna.
It is a that the daily energy requirement of an adult blue whale is 1.5 gigacalories. Sparing you the arithmetic in the spreadsheet that Alistair provides, we can report that 17.8 gigawatts, sustained over 24 hours, converts to the daily energy consumption of about 240,000 blue whales.
鈥淪adly,鈥� he notes, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 somewhere between 20 and 50 times the remaining global population of blue whales.鈥�
Nobel prize for 15-year-olds?
FEEDBACK is as puzzled as Don Roworth by the practice examination paper that a young acquaintance showed him. The test is to help students with the 鈥淐ore Science鈥� exam at GCSE level 鈥� the General Certificate of Secondary Education for 14 to 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
One question asks students to suggest ways in which an experimenter could increase the rate of evaporation of water in a beaker. On the sheet of answers Don sends, one of those listed as acceptable is: 鈥渄ecrease the density of the water鈥�.
We, too, wonder how this might be achieved. Don asks whether any student who found a way of doing this would be in line for a Nobel prize for a fundamental advance in physics, rather than a mere school qualification.
Undercutting the puff
AFTER all the spurious claims reported by Feedback, says Ian Cutter, he finds it is refreshing to read what appears on a packet of Strepsil lozenges.
Ian sends us a scan of a packet of orange-flavoured Strepsils purchased in Mentone, Victoria, Australia. At the top it states: 鈥淪trepsil lozenges contain an effective combination of two antibacterial agents to help kill the bacteria which can cause sore throats and mouth infections.鈥� Lower down, the packet tells us: 鈥淭he efficacy of an antibacterial agent in lozenges in reducing the severity or duration of throat infections has not been clinically established.鈥�
鈥淣ow that is real truth in advertising,鈥� says Ian.
Dumb instruction
FROM the department of the blindingly obvious: to cope with the UK鈥檚 recent heatwave, a friend of Feedback bought a Kingfisher oscillating electric desk fan. Inside the box, she found four plastic bags containing a total of six parts making up the fan, along with a collection of screws. The instructions advised her: 鈥淏efore using the fan for the first time it is necessary to assemble the appliance鈥︹��
Satnav cracks a joke
FINALLY, whenever Jeremy Hodge drives round the M25 motorway that encircles London, his Mercedes satnav lets him know if there is traffic congestion 鈥渂etween Reigate and cubic metres鈥�.
鈥淚 think it means the M3 motorway,鈥� he says.