h a l f b a k e r yJust add oughta.
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I must admit that I have a love-hate
relationship with the slightly curved
"skinny mirrors" in the fitting rooms at
many clothing boutiques. Everything I try
on seems to look flattering, which is great
until you take that dreadful dress home
and discover that the svelt siren in the
skinny
mirror has turned into a manatee.
The SMDD would be a small, portable tool
based on one of those new laser
carpentry levels. It would stick to the
surface of a mirror and shine a laser
straight down to the floor...if
the mirror is true, that is. If, however, the
mirror has a curve to it, the laser will
refract off of the mirror at some point and
send the red dot straight to the fitting
room wall. If only you could combine the
SMDD with an Obsequious Salesperson
Early Warning System.
[link]
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I have actually been pressed into service as one of these. |
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Is the use of skinny mirrors in a store indicative of false sales or advertising thingymajiggies...? because it's pretty deceptive. |
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[bwv61] - does it thin your hair? |
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Not unless they actively claim that the image you see is what you will look like [GoffyBoi]. |
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Easy enough to spot a non-flat mirror, I would have thought - just look at the reflections of straight lines - if they're not straight, the mirror's not flat. |
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Just use a regular laser pointer. If the reflected dot is no longer the same shape as the original, you've got a deformed mirror. |
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Has nobody else noticed that [julie] is actually talking about a short mirror? |
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Yes - this one would be good at a Weight Watchers meeting. |
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I've heard that at gyms they have the opposite--their mirrors make people look fatter so they'll spend more time there. |
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I don't think I'm talking about a short
mirror...a tall mirror actually...one that
would make you look proportionally
thinner by making you appear taller. I
think this is actually how they do it...a
convex bend in the vertical axis...as
opposed to a concave shaping in the
horizontal. There is, however, a flaw in
my explanation. In my head, I was
imagining the mirror to have a bulge in
the middle which would redirect the
laser, but if the mirror was uniformly
bent in a convex shape, the laser would
never touch the mirror at all, but the
laser point would still land outward
from the bottom of the mirror...you'd
still be able to tell if the mirror was
untrue. It should be rather obvious, no
matter how or in which direction the
mirror has been distorted. Does this
make any sense? Say no to drugs, kids. |
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Pointing down you're not going to be able to tell if it's making you appear skinnier or fatter - only shorter or taller. Think of a mirror concave along the vertical axis. You'll look thinner, but the laser will hit directly next to the mirror at the bottom. All you need to do to fix this idea is aim the mirror horizontally. If that laser touches the mirror then it is making you look thin. |
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The laser should have an additional setting for incinerating dishonest store owners. Trust me Jules, husbands everwhere will rejoice... |
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A small camera designed to measure how many times the sales person rubs their hands together might help in detecting the other problem. |
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Alternately, you could just locate some hideous item, and ask the sales person about it. When they say "Oh, you would look lovely in that camouflage prom dress..." you know what you're dealing with. |
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Why not just hold up any straight or flat object you carry on
your person against the mirror? If it doesn't sit flat, the
mirror is dishonest. |
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