William Davie

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – People generally know Charles Cornwallis, a British general during the Revolutionary War. But who the hell is Davie? Do people know who Davie is?

Doritos inventor Arch West, RIP

@EricStangel
Eric Stangel Inventor of Doritos dies. By expiring, he did something his product can't do...
Sep 27 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

@pourmecoffee
pourmecoffee Doritos inventor's grave will be sprinkled with chips, but let's not forget Fredric Baur was buried in Pringles can. http://t.co/bVGconvA
Sep 27 via TBUZZFavoriteRetweetReply

Prior to inventing Doritos, Arch West "worked as a traveling cheese salesman." You know, I don't hear much about traveling cheese salesmen these days.

Skyscrapers of Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Behold, the tallest building between Philadelphia and Atlanta: the Bank of America Corporate Center. Pretty much this exact photo was in my Charlotte guidebook, so I figured I'd recreate it. Not pictured: the Charlotte skyline's newest tower, which I mention only as an excuse to link to an interesting article about a skyscraper built for Wachovia that will instead become the headquarters for Duke Energy.

Your safety is our priority

The TSA line at National Airport has a handy sign informing travelers that children 12 and under do not have to take off their shoes. The QR code on the sign directs users to a website that reads: "Intelligence and history have shown that allowing passengers of this age to leave their shoes on poses little risk to aviation security."

That's nice to hear, but now that we're advertising the belief that 12-year-olds can't possibly cause security issues, aren't we pushing the terrorists toward that direction?

Wash your hands

NEW YORK – The hand-washing process in public bathrooms is problematic. That's been well established.

This week, I came across the sign pictured above, and it turns out I've been doing things wrong all along. Switching Step 5 with Step 6, I've been turning off the water before I dry my hands. I figured it was the better option since it saved water from running needlessly while I dried my hands.

Also, the diagram shows that we're supposed to touching the faucet with the towel we used to dry our hands. But what if the bathroom has one of those Dyson Airblade hand-driers that use no paper? In that scenario, what should we use to make sure we don't get our hands dirty from the faucet that was previously touched only by people with hands so dirty that they necessitated washing?

My trip to the Meadowlands

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – My hotel would be great if I was attending something at Giants Stadium. (Or MetLife Stadium.) (Or whatever that thing is called.)

But I'm not.

Instead, I'm left to look out the window at the city that will require a New Jersey Transit ticket to visit. (My dad, a native New Yorker, called me a "commuter.")

Making it worse was reading today about the exciting guests that night at the very midtown hotel where I'll be in two weeks (after they've all left): Henry Kissinger, Desmond Tutu, Dikembe Mutombo and the athletic directors and presidents of all the Big East football schools.

Next time, I'll plan more than a day in advance before coming to town during U.N. Week.

Serena Williams

NEW YORK – It's a compliment to call a male athlete a "beast." Not so for a woman. After meeting Serena Williams, I'll go with "muscular." I thought about taking a photo of her legs as proof of that description, but I chickened out.

The fine print

Usually the fine print exists to hide bad news by using the smallest possible letters. But Macy's seems to take the reverse approach. Evidently the department store has decided that it's a good idea to be subtle about the fact that customers may save more money than the 25-percent-off sale implies.

Tasy laser beams

As we get set to start the football season, it's time to discuss the possibilities of a First Down Laser System. Rather than use a virtual first down line on TV, this $300,000-per-stadium system would be a real line visible to the players on the field.

Inventor Alan Amron, according to CNBC reporting, is working on securing FDA approval.

Wait a minute. The FDA? Why is this under the purview of the FDA? Are they worried players may eat the laser beams?

CNBC didn't explain, but the Palm Beach Post has our answer: It turns out the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health wants to make sure the laser turns off when a player falls to the ground in the path of the line and does not come into contact with a player's eye.

The FDA regulates lasers.
FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) is responsible for regulating firms who manufacture, repackage, relabel, and/or import medical devices sold in the United States. In addition, CDRH regulates radiation-emitting electronic products (medical and non-medical) such as lasers, x-ray systems, ultrasound equipment, microwave ovens and color televisions.

Now we know.