Weekend Diversion: Revenge of the Sparkles (Synopsis)

“There is a concept that is the corrupter and destroyer of all others. I speak not of Evil, whose limited empire is that of ethics; I speak of the infinite.” -Jorge Luis Borges

Have you ever been so mad at someone that you needed revenge? That you needed to take something delightful and use it for the most nefarious of purposes? Even something sparkly and sweet, as Tower of Power would sing you,

Sparkling In The Sand,

can turn into vengeance in the right (or wrong) hands.

Well, that's exactly what young Australian entrepreneur Mathew Carpenter had in mind when he decided to create a brilliant website, product and service: to Ship Your Enemies Glitter!

Go find out about the whole, crazy story here!

More like this

So much for the luminati; now we have the glitterati ............

Who would open an envelope from an unrecognized address that had something thick or shifting around inside it? I guess the anthrax attacks are still in the back of my mind.

Interesting that several of the reviewers evidently purchased this as a 'joke gift' for friend or loved one. What were you thinking? Its not like the owner was saying people would like it; he was pretty clear in his advertising how he thinks a recipient will react. Caveat glitteremptor, folks.

Van der Waals forces make me think of geckos, but after reading the article I shall also think of glitter -- or perhaps a puzzled looking gecko wondering why it can't remove glitter from its toes!

Do Not Do This. The Post Office may detect it as powder in the envelope, or the recipient may interpret it as a "powder threat."

Either way, next thing you know, you'll be talking to two very serious people in suits who have lots of questions.

You may be charged with making a threat or sending threatening things through the mail, either of which can put you in federal prison for a few years.

Sure, the idea of sending someone a packet of glitter sounds funny. But you know the joke and the recipient doesn't. The Post Office doesn't, and the FBI and Postal Inspectors don't either. Which means it really isn't all that funny after all.

If you really want revenge on someone, it's far better to send your victim a cloyingly cute cat card, or a sarcastic cute cat card. Or if they have cats, send them a doggie card.

@5: the particle sizes are not at all comparable. Orders of magnitude different. The postal and detection machinery might get gummed up with giltter, but it's not going to false-positive the glitter as an anthrax attack.