Amusing: IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is showing up on everything from beer to cameras. [via Language Log]

Not Amusing: So is corporate advertising. Thought U.S. Cellular Field was bad? Try the NEXTEL Las Vegas Monorail. [via Kottke]

You know, I'm not that surprised about the NEXTEL train...here in Chicago we've had advertising-covered "L" trains for years, a la the Target® Train and the Smoker's Lung Train®, covered with vinyl wrap printed to look like a 9-foot high tarry cancerous lung. I just loved sitting in one of those:

CTA trains have exterior ad "wraps" that feature actual pictures of lungs. Done in pairs, one entire train has a picture of a diseased lung representing the damage caused by smoking and the next train has a picture of a healthy, pink lung representing someone who does not smoke.

"Are you a good lung or a bad lung?" And then, there's the Invisi-Loo, a.k.a The Wonder Woman Water Closet: A functional toilet inside a one-way mirrored box, situated on a busy street corner. You can see out, but others can't see in. Or at least, so they say. [via LDMA's Life In The Wor Zone]

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