As usual, it's been a great week for odd happenings in the world of tech. Robbers, free beer and angry aeroplane passangers - we've seen it all...
Apple iPhone owners take heed: just because you've got your iPhone in 'airplane mode', it doesn't mean you're allowed to watch movies on it mid-flight. It certainly doesn't mean you can argue with cabin crew - even if you do think they're missing the point - without expecting some repercussions back on dry land.
Inflight iPhone plight
An American man found himself talking to policemen in Hawaii after refusing to turn off his iPhone during a flight over the Pacific. Despite demonstrating that he was using it as a media player, not as a phone, staff continued to insist that FAA regulations prohibit talking on mobiles when the cabin door is closed, and demanded he turn it off.
A New Zealand brewery is offering a "lifetime supply" of beer for the return of a laptop containing designs and financial information which was stolen earlier this week. Anyone tempted to dob in their mate would be advised to read the fine print though - apparently for co-owner Paul Croucher, a 'lifetime supply' actually means "about 12 bottles a month".
A man who holds a glider's licence but wasn't good enough at maths to be a pilot has constructed a life-sized reproduction of a Boeing 747 cockpit in his spare bedroom. John Davis, divorced, has now quit his job as a graphic designer to run a flight simulation business from his two-bedroomed terraced house in Coventry.
Largest artificial tornado ever
And the Mercedes-Benz museum in Germany is now home to the world's largest man-made tornado. At an impressive 34.43 metres high, its purpose is actually to save lives (rather than just getting in the Guinness Book of Records) - it'll suck smoke out the building should a fire start.
Meet VinylDisc: CD on one side, vinyl on the other. According to the Guardian, it's intended as the answer to falling CD sales and rising vinyl sales. Drawbacks? Well, the vinyl side only holds three minutes worth of audio. The band they've got backing it is emo rock band, Fightstar (typical fan profile: 15-year-old teenage girl)... need we go on?
And finally...
Two inspired Chinese amateur robbers were chased by 100 police officers for three kilometres after legging it from a hotel with 60kg in coins. According to The Register, the pair "huffed and puffed their way to a cuffing bearing the breathtaking haul of 6,000 yuan (392 quid) in coins, cunningly concealed in sacks".
