Double Whammy Wednesday

With the UK General Election on some few days away now, I have decided to title this post in dedication to the magnificent Tory campaign of 1992 and their coining of the phrase Double Whammy:

The phrase came to be used widely, in the UK at least, during the Conservative Party’s 1992 election campaign. The Tories used a poster to undermine the Labour Party. It contained the text “Labour’s Double Whammy” and, on the boxing gloves, “1. More Taxes” and “2. Higher Prices”. The poster proved to be a highly effective part of the campaign for the Conservatives – who won the subsequent election.

The rest of the post however, has nothing to do with politics. [Cue sighs of relief from those people still reading this far]
I have decided to do one of my legendary “Recommended Site” posts, but I’ve hit the plural overdrive and you’re getting two for the price of one. Which was free anyway. You’re getting something for nothing and nothing for nothing. All in one go.

First off – a little bit of silliness with the Instants! Collection. This is a collection of 56 (and counting) brightly coloured buttons, each of which plays a different sound effect when pressed. At first, it all seems rather childish (because it is), but believe me, it can make a dull day in the lab seem so much more fun as you hit the TaDa! button each time the Lab Assistant walks in to the room or let out a Homer Simpson “Doh!” when someone drops XDR-TB all over the floor and we all leg it for the exit.
Oh, how we laughed, before coughing our lungs up and drowning in bloody phlegm.

And then, something a bit more topical: FlightRadar24.com, where you can Watch Air Traffic LIVE! 
After that volcanic ash cloud covered Europe for much of the last week, there hasn’t been much going on in the air traffic sector up there. But now things are (for the moment, at least) getting back to normal and you can sit for hours and hours watching the little yellow planes flying all over the place. Click on them and you’ll get all the details of the plane, flight number, destination, heading and altitude. It’s perfect for any terrorist cell who might be after that sort of information. Maybe a good thing then, that the system doesn’t cover South Africa.

Just don’t expect to get much done though, as you will be sitting mesmerised, following flight BA117 from Heathrow to JFK.