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When good toys go bad VI: baby monitor swipes NASA shuttle feed
Looks like Summer Infant has a whole lot of explaining to do after one of its baby monitors has reportedly been able to "pick up black-and-white video from inside the space shuttle Atlantis." A Chicago-based mother probably had uncomfortable flashbacks to Signs after her newly purchased monitoring system chose to broadcast video of the mission right on the screen, but a NASA spokeswoman has already deflated hope that it was somehow coming directly from the shuttle. Apparently, a live feed is also available on NASA's website, which is leading investigators to focus on more earthly origins -- the mom, however, will probably just cancel her cable and keep on watching intently "to see what happens next."[Thanks, Joe]
When good toys go bad IV: explicit CD player triggered during mass
While we've seen quite a few toys pulling stunts that they should definitely be ashamed of, the latest edition ups the ante by doing its dirty deed in a Roman Catholic cathedral. Following the "if it blinks, obliterate it" mentality so well exemplified at various Boston transit arteries, a team of Santa Fe bomb squad experts were called onto the scene after three CD players were triggered to start blasting "sexually explicit language in the middle of an Ash Wednesday Mass" at the Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Reportedly, the players were "duct-taped to the bottoms of the pews," apparently causing the innocent church dwellers to assume the worse -- you know, like C4 explosives camouflaged as a mid-range driver. Nevertheless, the bomb squad removed the devices, took them outside, and probably had a thrilling experience whilst detonating two of the players as a safety measure. Once the crew realized the only explosive tendencies were captured in the inappropriate lyrics, they salvaged the third unit to comb for fingerprints and hopefully arrest the perpetrator(s). Now, which cop is going to cave in and post the fireworks on YouTube?[Via BoingBoing]
When good toys go bad III: toy police belt drops the F-bomb
We have a certainly level of patience with run-of-the-mill toys that call you demeaning names and have speech impediments, but when an actual police toy, of all things, begins dropping the F-bomb at the press of a button, that's pushing it. Apparently using sound clips ripped directly from the unrated edition of Cops, Tek Nek's police belt -- which comes fully equipped with a speaker-loaded nightstick -- vocalizes certain words and phrases that stereotypically come out of a (filtered) cop's mouth. Of course, when contacting the manufacture, it insists that the word being pronounced is "stop," but according to Michelle Luciano, the vocabulary coming out of her son's new toy isn't so harmless. Interestingly, only "four customers" out of the 30,000 that purchased this gizmo have complained, leading Tek Nek to believe the mishap should be blamed on a malfunctioning speaker rather than ill intentions, but nevertheless, the company has vowed to replace the family's belt and restore order in the world by producing versions that lack the potentially misunderstood verb.[Via Fark]
When good toys go bad II: toy cellphone botches "six"
There's acceptable ways to drop the H-Bomb and F-Bomb, and there's "when good toys go bad." Presumably turning a joyous, thrilling Christmas morning into one giant moment of awkwardness, a South Carolina mum was aghast when her son's toy phone, which was purchased from K-Mart as an innocent symbol of motherly love, vocalized "profanity" (mmkay?) instead of "the number six" when pressed. The phone reportedly shouts out numbers when the respective keys are mashed, but unfortunately for Brandy Cunningham, "six" didn't exactly turn out like it should have. Leading to eventual embarrassment, she claims her son has repeated the taboo vocabulary in places like "church" and "the grocery store," leaving the parent in quite a predicament. She even purchased yet another one just in case the phone was a one-time mishap, but found that not to be the case. A spokeperson for Sears / K-Mart has assured everyone that the company is investigating the incident and the toy itself, as it doesn't "intend to sell children's products that contain profanity." It's just a hunch and all, but we think somebody in the manufacturing line is going to have a little explaining to do if all this proves accurate.
