Just in time for the season, I found a fabulous British gift to put on my Christmas list from Iwantoneofthose.com, the Paintball Panzer. These made-to-order miniature versions of the WWII German mainstay tank fires paintballs from its cannon. At least twice a day, I think to myself, "If I only had a paintball tank..."

While we're on the subject of tanks, I SO wish I lived in the U.K., just so I could rent a real freakin' Chieftain battle tank to drive to a prom, business meeting or film premiere. Better yet, for only £375, Tanks A Lot will set me up to run over a complete car with it! I wonder how much extra they would charge to allow me to pick out the car of my choice from the freeway, with its text-messaging, cigarette-butt tossing driver still inside.
via Boing Boing

Another item in our "If this isn't the end of civilization, I bet we can see it from here" collection is the smart shopping cart concept recently unveiled by Electronic Data Systems (NYSE: EDS). According to Reuters, the carts will keep track of what we place in the basket and warn us if we're buying too much junk food. As if, when I top off my cart full of Pepsi, Ho-Ho's, and frozen chicken wings with a bag of pork rinds, I don't recognize a disaster in the making. I predict a healthy business in replacing the interface on these after I beat them into submission with the business end of a Pringles can.

Finally, if you enjoy smart advertising, check out this photo from Dancewithshadows.