Where an engraved plaque might otherwise be found on a pedestal, such as the pedestal for Putting Yourself On [link] is instead the P4.
At the rear or side of said Pedestal is a text entry terminal where one can select the "engraving" to be seen on the P4, as well as a suitably realistic choice of engraving fonts.
A granite textured rubber-like stretchy membrane is fixed to an array of servo actuated push-rods. The P4's control system pulls the appropriate push-rods Pillarwards to create a true to life engraved dedication to the Person on the Pedestal, with all the correct angles that would appear if the text was, indeed, engraved.
Thus, those with limited Photoshop skills would have their moment on the Pedestal properly presented with the perfect purple prose, complete with true to life lighting and shadows.
To prevent puerile passers-by from pushing their pallid prosody on the populace in perpetuity, I propose a five minute fade to blank.
Moss optional.-- BunsenHoneydew, Jan 12 2007 Put Yourself On A Pedestal Put_20Yourself_20Up_20On_20A_20Pedestalwith a tip o' the top hat [BunsenHoneydew, Jan 12 2007] your name in Fading Granite Italic - how could I not like it ? +-- xenzag, Jan 12 2007 <slightly off topic>
I think pedestal *permanence* is a good thing. Unstable societies are forever changing their monuments, re-naming their streets, etc., with every passing revolution.
Stable societies are able to say, 'Sure, he was a brutal old ****, but we've moved on so far from there that we don't feel threatened by his image any more, and we can just treat this old statue/plaque/place-name as a bit of history to be contemplated dispassionately.'
</sot>-- pertinax, Jan 15 2007 random, halfbakery