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Teens Arrested For Motorized Office Chair

Posted by samzenpus on from the crazyboy dept.

German police have confiscated the world's fastest office chair and arrested its 17-year-old inventors. The duo added a lawnmower engine, brakes and a metal frame to the office chair and were reported to be driving it all over the streets of Gross-Zimmern. Police did not comment on the chair's handling or acceleration but I look forward to it being profiled on Top Gear.

24 of 338 comments (clear)

  1. So much for the seeds of .... by BitterOldGUy · · Score: 5, Funny

    German engineering.

    1. Re:So much for the seeds of .... by janeuner · · Score: 5, Insightful

      God forbid that a bunch of kids make something on their own. They might, you know, invent something useful.

    2. Re:So much for the seeds of .... by ByOhTek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think the problem isn't that they invented something, it's that they were very irresponsible with it (driving a motor vehicle on the streets without proper training or safety measures).

      And I wouldn't call a lawnmower-engine powered office chair "useful". Interesting, and amusing, but not useful.

      --
      Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
    3. Re:So much for the seeds of .... by R2.0 · · Score: 5, Funny

      "I for one welcome our rocket chair creating overlords. "

      In fairness, the picture is wholly unrelated to the story - unless they have started making Barcalounger shaped office chairs and 8 hp piston engines that shoot gigantic flames out the back. Both of which would be AWESOME!!

      --
      "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
    4. Re:So much for the seeds of .... by MBGMorden · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's an office chair isn't it? I'd like to roll up to a departmental meeting in one of those.

       

      Depends on which company we're talking about. If Microsoft, I shudder to think what Balmer could do with one of these. It'd be as if millions of programmers suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    5. Re:So much for the seeds of .... by zamboni1138 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Imagine how much less congestion there would be on our highways if we all drove office chairs to work.

      Yes, I do understand that semi trucks would be an issue.

    6. Re:So much for the seeds of .... by e2d2 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Much like the shamwow, it's from Germany and you know those guys make good stuff.

    7. Re:So much for the seeds of .... by R2.0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Good engineering accommodates the errors and omissions of users. Bad engineering relies on laws and conventions to overcome inherent systemic flaws. Laws and conventions are, therefore, indicative of bad engineering."

      Good engineering accommodates errors and omissions INSOFAR as it is practical/cost effective. Your solutions all require significantly more capital investment than the ones in existence now.

      There is also a similar hazard in that relying on engineering to make something idiot proof allows the idiots to have a false sense of security, inevitably leading them to strive to newer, previously unimaginable heights of stupidity that the engineers hadn't even thought possible.

      --
      "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
    8. Re:So much for the seeds of .... by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Use a roundabout instead of a 4-way stop.

      You do realise that if there are no traffic regulations, then people are free to drive straight over the roundabout, go the wrong way around it, or use it as a meeting place for a pimped-out-bouncy-suspension car convention?

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    9. Re:So much for the seeds of .... by k2r · · Score: 4, Informative

      > I don't see much difference.

      In Germany every motorized vehicle driven on public roads needs to pass a regular safety test*1 , has to have vehicle insurance and you'll need the right driving license.

      Everything else is /very/ illegal.

      The definition of "public roads" includes publicly assessible parking lots.

      That's a set of laws that really makes me feel safer.

      *1) http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Technischer_Ueberwachungsverein&oldid=230576541

    10. Re:So much for the seeds of .... by RenderSeven · · Score: 4, Funny

      "In fairness, the picture is wholly unrelated to the story"

      ...and the picture isnt taken in August in Germany (note bare trees and winter driving gear) and the driver isnt 17 unless they've been taking East German steroids. Which would ALSO be AWESOME!

  2. Re:Ahh, the nanny state. by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't this the country that banned potato guns?

    Yes. They kept shooting potatoes at all the motorized office chairs.

    --
    If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
  3. Re:Images on front page by cowscows · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe you should just get over it. It's just a little picture, what's the problem? Did an image kill your dog or something?

    --

    One time I threw a brick at a duck.

  4. Re:Images on front page by truthsearch · · Score: 4, Funny

    Give him a break. It takes a very long time to download an image over a 300 baud modem.

    And I suggest you stay off his lawn.

    --
    Developers: We can use your help.
  5. Re:disconnect by Kozz · · Score: 4, Informative

    FAIL!

    The AP story does not contain the word "arrested" anywhere, it only says that the device was confiscated and the individuals were being investigated.

    --
    I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
  6. Re:disconnect by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The AP story does not contain the word "arrested" anywhere, it only says that the device was confiscated and the individuals were being investigated."

    Well, you apparently read the story - there's your first problem...

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  7. Re:ACHTUNG! by megaditto · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well you gotta nip that sort of youthful "creativity" in the butt.

    Remember that German kid who wanted to become an architect? They let it slide, and the next thing you know, he was annexing Poland.

    --
    Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
  8. How I yearn for the days by nightfire-unique · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I suppose this is probably one of those "happy-days" fantasies, but how cool would it be to live back in an age where regulation didn't exist. Where danger was all around. Where you could invent, and wow people. Where accidents happened. Where imagination was your only limit.

    The lawyer has replaced the priest.

    --
    A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
    1. Re:How I yearn for the days by Otter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You'd most likely have died in infancy from improperly pasteurized milk. Pretty freaking cool, huh?

      --
      What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
    2. Re:How I yearn for the days by nightfire-unique · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You'd most likely have died in infancy from improperly pasteurized milk. Pretty freaking cool, huh?

      And yet, somehow they got by. People exercised their own judgment, self control and personal responsibility. No government body was looking out for them; they simply smelled the milk before they drank.

      --
      A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
    3. Re:How I yearn for the days by gad_zuki! · · Score: 4, Insightful

      >And yet, somehow they got by.

      Sure did, except your mom had 9 kids of which 5 survived into adulthood.

      Good old days!

  9. Re:Images on front page by Translation+Error · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, maybe he's a Protestant and doesn't believe in icons! Ever think of that?

    --
    When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
  10. Picture by Sven+Tuerpe · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is a picture of the actual vehicle on the Web. It seems that the office chair really constitutes just a minor component of it, which becomes obvious if you compare the vehicle to the racing chairs used in official championships (page in Germany, I'm sorry).

    --
    http://erichsieht.wordpress.com/category/english/
  11. Re:Segway Competitor by geeknado · · Score: 4, Interesting

    See, this is what /really/ should've been visualized in the Minority Report movie...Millions of office workers rolling to work in their powered office chairs, whisked up buildings and directly to their desks to toil...Silently sliding up to the bar at the end of the day...Ugh. I think I've just visualized the end of legs.